48 Hours In Corfu

WHY GO NOW?

WHY GO NOW?

Forget the package holiday scene - Corfu has produced a disproportionately high number of composers and poets and is the cultural capital of the Ionian Islands. September sees an arts festival taking place in Corfu Town, featuring excellent theatre as well as concerts performed by some of the island's seven schools of music (see www.corfu.greece.biz for details). And once your cultural appetite is exhausted, you can explore some of the best beaches in the Med.

TOUCH DOWN

Thomas Cook (0870 111 1111; www.thomascook.com) flies to Corfu from 10 UK airports and return fares start at £135. Other companies offering direct charter flights include MyTravel (0800 028 8808; www.mytravel.com); Thomson (0870 550 2555; www.thomson.co.uk); and Unijet (0870 533 6336; www.unijet.com).

Olympic Airways (0870 606 0460; www.olympic-airways.com) flies via Athens, but fares are likely to be higher.

There are no buses from the airport to the centre of Corfu Town. A taxi making the 3km journey costs a hefty €8 (£5.70); if you have light luggage, it is easier just to walk along the seafront into town.

GET YOUR BEARINGS

Barely 5km across at its narrowest point and a little over 60km from top to tail, Corfu is the second largest of the Ionian Islands (after Cephallonia) and the closest to Italy. The capital, Corfu Town (locally known as Kerkyra), is in the east. The quietest beaches are in the north-east, close to Mount Pantokrator and its foothills. The infamous package holiday party resort of Kavos is at the island's south-eastern tip. The Corfu tourist office has recently closed, so instead plan in advance with the help of the Greek National Tourist Organisation at 4 Conduit Street, London W1S 2DJ (020-7495 9300; www.gnto.gr).

CHECK IN

The Corfu Palace Hotel (00 30 26610 39485; www.corfupalace.com) in Corfu Town can't be beaten for old-fashioned seaside charm, starched sheets, a loyal British clientele and an enormous salt water swimming-pool. Double rooms cost €215 (£154) per night, including breakfast. Another classy base is the Bella Venezia (00 30 266 104 6500; www.bellaveneziahotel.com), a recently renovated neoclassical hotel with lovely gardens in which to breakfast. For such smart digs, rates are competitive: from €85 (£61) for a double including breakfast. Out of Corfu Town, overlooking the dramatic rocky bay at Paleokastritsa, Hotel Zefiros (00 30 266 304 1244; www.hotel-zefiros.gr) is a pretty pink-hued Italianate building. The 10 newly renovated double rooms cost from €40 (£29) with breakfast. Hotel Levant (00 30 266 109 4230; www.levanthotel.com), just above the clifftop town of Pelekas, is another beautifully restored neoclassical building. With plenty of dark oak panelling this is perhaps the island's most romantic spot, not least for its panoramic restaurant terrace which draws a snap-happy crowd for the spectacular sunsets each night. Doubles cost from €90 (£64) including breakfast.

TAKE A VIEW

To cast your eyes over what the novelist Lawrence Durrell, once a Corfu resident, called the island's "delectable landscape", head to the top of Corfu Town's Palaeo Frourio (Old Fortress). Built by the Byzantines on a natural promontory, the fort was extended in the 1500s by the Venetians who gave the defences their deep canal-like moat, vaulted tunnels and ramparts. Climb to the lighthouse for the best sea view. It opens 8.30am-7pm daily, admission €4 (£3)

TAKE A HIKE

...around the Campiello, or old town, of the capital. This is the best place to appreciate the elegant architecture left by the Venetians, who occupied the island for more than 400 years. Start at the Spianada (also known as the Liston), the Greco-Italianate esplanade peppered with posh cafés from which, since the 1800s, locals have watched games of cricket. Following the pretty, balcony-like coast road overlooking the satellite island of Vidhos will bring you to the Byzantine Museum. Housed in a 16th-century church, the museum contains around 100 jewel-like Byzantine icons (open daily except Monday 8.30am-3pm, €2 (£1.40)). From here head south through the maze of streets of the old town, calling in at the ornate church of Ayios Spryridhon and the even grander Mitropolis (Orthodox cathedral) before working your way though the shops of the old Jewish quarter that hosts the daily fish and vegetable market (open until noon). Finish up at the little archaeological museum, the finest in the Ionian and home to the fierce Gorgon Medusa, one of the best-preserved pieces of archaic sculpture in Greece; open 8.30am-3pm daily except Monday, entry €3 (£2.20).

LUNCH ON THE RUN

Take a break from the midday sun at Aleko's Beach, a café just underneath the old fort. With a small menu of mezedes (Greek tapas-like starters), grilled fish and meat, lunch here costs around €10 (£7). Then cool off with a quick dip, followed by a siesta under one of the beach umbrellas. Open May-September only.

CULTURAL AFTERNOON

Quite apart from being the home of Prince Philip as an infant, the villa estate of Mon Repos contains Corfu's best-preserved archaeological remains. Built in 1831 by the British High Commissioner, Sir Frederick Adam, the villa houses a collection of ancient sculpture, tools and pottery found at the nearby archaeological site of Paleopolis. Don't miss a wander around the shady wooded park that contains two Doric temples dating back to 500BC. Mon Repos villa (00 30 266 103 0680) is open 8.30am-3pm daily except Monday; entry is €3 (£2.20). The grounds are open daily from 8am-7pm; entry free.

WINDOW SHOPPING

Corfu is the resting place of Saint Theodora, the Byzantine empress who played a key role in the Orthodox church's reinstatement of icon worship. As a result it is full of shops selling religious paraphernalia. One of the more tasteful outlets is ICON at 18 King George. Its stock varies in age and size (from keyrings to huge antique altarpieces) and is priced accordingly, from a couple of euros to several hundred.

AN APERITIF

Take a seat at one of the up-market (and a tad overpriced) cafés along the Spianada/Liston. This is the best place to watch the "Volta", Corfu's equivalent of the Italian passagiata. The fashionable spots, such as Cofinet A and Bar Chocolat, are at northernmost end of the strip.

DINNER WITH THE LOCALS

Mouragia Ouzeria (00 30 26610 33815) at 15-17 Arseniou is a rustic eatery with standard blue-and-white checked tablecloths. Set back from the road that runs from the old to the new forts, it offers great sea views from its pavement tables. The inexpensive menu has an extensive selection of fresh seafood. Dishes cost around €4-8 (£3-6)

SUNDAY MORNING, GO TO CHURCH

Take your pick from Corfu Town's numerous Orthodox churches. My favourite, for its atmospheric dark recesses and an altar as minuscule as it is ornate, is Ayion Pandon. Originally built for Corfu's butchers' guild, it is no bigger than a small taverna but manages to cram in a dazzling display of silver liturgical vessels and rich gold icons.

OUT TO BRUNCH

The village of Agni is considered something of a culinary centre. Locals argue over which of the three seafront tavernas here is the best: a consistent favourite for traditional Corfoit dishes and family hospitality is Toula's (00 30 26630 91350; www.toulasagni.com). Sunday lunch here (the closest thing you'll get to brunch in Corfu) is something of a pilgrimage for islanders and tourists alike. Wriggle your toes in the sand while dining on the divine spicy shrimp or burdetto (fish stew seasoned with paprika). Agni is a 30-minute ride from Corfu Town's Green Bus station, on board the coastal bus to Kassiopi. Get off at Kalami, the nearest village to Agni, and either take a short but spectacular walk around the headland, or hire a pedalo from one of Kalami's beach touts. Bus services run every couple of hours from 9am-4pm and cost €2 (£1.40) one-way.

A WALK IN THE PARK

The recently opened Corfu Trail offers 200km of panoramic walks. From the mountains of the north to the moonscape dunes of Korisson Lake in the south, the trail avoids the more built-up areas and varies in difficulty. For more information go to www.travelling.gr/corfutrail

TAKE A RIDE

Agios Stephanos, just north of Kalami, is popular with well-to-do Londoners. It is a peaceful bay and a good base for nautical forays along the northern coastline. Hire your own 15hp speedboat (seating six) from Yannis Boats on the seafront from €40 (£28) per day including a quick driving lesson.

WRITE A POSTCARD

Kalami is the spot to pen a literary postcard to your family and other animals. Buy a card of the bay from one of the town's few beachfront shops and head for the White House. Located at the far end of Kalami's bay, this one-time home and writing retreat for Lawrence Durrell is now a rental villa and trellis-covered cafe with inspirational views across the Ionian towards Albania.

THE ICING ON THE CAKE

Paleokestraki and the dramatic cliff-backed shores of the west coast make for the best beach excursions within a 40-minute car or public bus ride from Corfu Town. Tour operators at Paleokastritsa harbour offer boat trips to surrounding bays and sea grottoes inaccessible by road (30 minute trips cost €8/£6). Wilder beaches are to be found a little further south, including the naturist beach beneath the clifftop town of Pelekas.

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