Corfu on the north-easterly side is a million miles from the package holiday image, says Adam Bloodworth
Trekking Corfu, from historic heart to some of Greece’s most magical beaches
If you thought lying around on a beach was the ultimate way to ‘do nothing,’ you should try going to Old Perithia on Corfu. No one lives in this abandoned town in the shrub land in the heart centre of the island. Even the staff at the handful of restaurants drive back to civilisation when the sun sets, and if you finish eating after dark you need to navigate the hellish twisty-turny half-hour drive down the mountain towards civilisation.
It feels pretty Wild West: all there is to do is sit and admire the zig-zag of slate grey mountains as they trail off towards the coast, framed by the abandoned churches of Old Perithia that a few dozen tourists curious enough to leave the sun lounger venture to. Oh, there is one more thing to go here for: to join the Corfu Trail, a 180 kilometre walk snaking (quite literally, but more on that later) through the centre of the island towards the coast, showing how much more Corfu has to offer, with its centuries of history and amazingly diverse natural habitats.
We arrived at Corfu Airport and slipped past the package holiday reps hoarding Brits towards all-inclusives to find the Sixt car rental point. Then we were bolting north, through coastline villages decreasing in tackiness as we jetted further and further north-east, towards the posh part of Corfu and the village of San Stefanos.
Our place for the week was booked through Vintage Travel, experts in Corfu holidays with accommodation around the island and further afield in Greece. Local guides are part of the package, as is a “welcome home” message as you arrive. Villa Eleni is a traditional three bedroom villa with a handsome outdoor pool decorated with sun loungers. Look out towards the Ionian sea from the terrace and a kilometre away you’ll spot the pretty village of San Stefanos, with seaview restaurants and boat hire. It’s walkable down but heart attack-inducing on the way back up, so I’d recommend car hire.
All easily reachable by car, we explore the beaches of Barbati, Kalami and Kerasia throughout the week, each offering a different flavour of Corfu and none with overbearing crowds. One day we hired a boat from San Stefanos and sailed south, stopping for an excellent lunch at Thalassa Seafood Taverna around the headland from Nissaki Beach where there was pindrop silence except for the repetitive clap of the waves.
Two of my group spent the week enjoying Villa Eleni and the spectacular views across to Albania , playing cards on the outdoor terrace late into the night and cooling off with pool plunges, but my dad and I had another adventure in mind, starting from Old Perithia.
SNAKING INLAND
The path leading down from Old Perithia is a chalky white stone farmer’s track some 650 metres above sea level. Perithia was built here in the 14th century to protect villagers from pirate attacks common near the coast. The brilliant blues of the water were viewable but looked impossibly far away through the fold of the mountains. Following the app, downloadable on the Corfu Trail website, we marched through pretty villages where preening cats stretched in doorways and through shrub land where the skins of horned vipers looked intimidatingly like they still had snakes within them.
So prone to viper sightings is the Corfu Trail that it has developed the nickname of ‘snake road.’ Then we punctured a forest and walked sharply downwards enjoying the shade, wondering how on earth people managed their daily walk to catch fish 600 years ago. Out into the relative shade of ancient olive trees we found a pile of stones to sit on and have lunch after another of my anxious reminders to check for snakes.
Through more olive groves, then the sobering reality of a country lane not unlike one you’d find in Surrey, then across a main road and we were hammering the path on flatter land towards the beach town of Almiros with its bouji midsize family hotels on the northern strip of the island. Here, a spectacular Miami-esque strip of sand stretches to the east and west. The final leg of the Corfu Trail goes along wild beaches and is absolutely gorgeous but be warned, hiking on a beach in 30-something climes isn’t for the faint-hearted.
At Saint Spiridon Beach I found a couple of beers for me and my dad to clink for a celebratory photo. Then the sea was the ultimate reward after a long day’s hike.
VISIT CORFU YOURSELF
Villas with pools specialist Vintage Travel offers an extensive programme to Greece. A week’s stay for six at Villa Eleni in Corfu this May costs from £694. To Book visit Vintage Travel online at vintagetravel.co.uk or phone 01954 261 431. August prices for Villa Elani start from £2995 for a week and September £1396.
For the Corfu Trail visit thecorfutrail. com or email info@thecorfutrail.com. Adam walked the final day of the seven-day Trail
