INTRODUCTION Dangling off the northwest coast of mainland Greece, at the point where the Adriatic meets the Ionian Sea, the lush green sickle of Corfu (Kerkyra) is the closest Greek island to Italy and almost brushes against Albania to the north. Historically, the island has always been on the margins of mainstream Greek history and at the mercy of northern invaders, whose cultures, particularly those of the Venetians and the British, fused with that of the island. Although not the largest of the Ionian Islands, it has long been the cultural heart of the group and the best known to foreigners, especially as it was one of the first Greek destinations to attract large numbers from abroad.
Corfu has some of the best beaches in the archipelago no fewer than 33 of them were awarded blue flags in 2002 with idyllic bays that still retain echoes of the "delectable landscape" Lawrence Durrell described in Prosperos Cell. In the last decade islanders have worked hard to dispel the questionable reputation Corfu earned with the coming of mass tourism in the Sixties. Although there are a couple of destinations on the island where visitors still come to party hard, the majority of the resorts are relaxed, family-friendly affairs. These days you are as likely to meet someone visiting Corfu on a hiking holiday, or renting a villa, as holiday-makers on all-inclusive packages. Even the busiest resorts are only a few minutes walk away from quieter coastline and the interior. A little exploration further afield soon reveals authentic villages and unspoilt rural areas, where agriculture the other mainstay of the islands economy thrives.
Corfu is a holiday destination that people return to again and again; many northern Europeans have been coming to the island for twenty or thirty years. One of the reasons they return beyond the landscape, the sunshine and some of the finest swimming and watersports in the Mediterranean is the welcome extended at all but the largest resorts. The Corfiots friendliness and kindness to strangers the quality of filoxenia can still astonish with its generosity and grace.
