Sightseeing in Corfu (island)

Corfu is the one part of Greece that barely knew Ottoman rule: four centuries of Venice, then the French, then the British until 1864. Hence an island that looks nothing like the Aegean: ochre and shutters instead of whitewashed cubes, olive groves — which the Venetians paid people to plant — instead of bare rock. Sightseeing tours gather that thread into a day: the Achilleion, the palace of Empress Elisabeth with its marble Achilles in the garden, the hill villages of Sinarades and Pelekas, Paleokastritsa with its monastery above the coves.

The high point is Pantokrator, nine hundred and six metres. The road up switchbacks through villages, and on a clear day the summit shows the Albanian coast and the outlines of the neighbouring islands. Jeep safaris head the same way — northwest and south, along dirt tracks past abandoned settlements, with stops at viewpoints and lunch in the hills. The sunset version is timed so that the last hour falls on the west coast.

The sea part runs south. Paxos and Antipaxos are two small islands two hours away: the first has the Blue Caves under its cliffs, the second water of a colour that makes photographs look edited. Another route crosses to the mainland — the Blue Lagoon at Sivota and the town of Parga rising in tiers from the water. Meteora stands apart: a ferry to Igoumenitsa and a drive inland, a long day, but the monasteries on their rock pillars repay it.