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Northwest Corfu - Arillas, Agios Georgios and Agios Stefanos

Corfu, Kerkyra in Greek, is the most northerly and second largest of the seven Ionian islands – Corfu, Ithaki, Kefallinia (Cephalonia), Kythira, Lefkada (Lefkas), Paxi (Paxos) and Zakynthos (Zante). Geologically these are the old limestone summits of former mountains. Corfu is Greece's most westerly large island, and is 65 km long and 29 km at its widest, with an area of approximately 600 km². (Five reference works consulted while researching gave areas of 502, 585, 593, 637 and 1,060 km²!). Situated in the northwest corner of Greece, Corfu faces Italy some 80 km to the west, with Albania and the Greek province of Ipiros to the east.

Historically, Corfu has been a part of various empires, although it was the one part of Greece never ruled by the Ottoman Turks. The British took it from Napoleon in 1815 and passed it on to the fledgling Greek state in 1864. It was arguably featured in Homer's Odyssey and Shakespeare's the Tempest, and was definitely the location for Lawrence Durrell's Prospero's Cell and brother Gerald's more widely read My Family and other Animals. Prince Philip was born in a small house on the island, but locally its most famous inhabitant is St. Spyridon(as), a Cypriot monk and bishop whose body was only brought to Corfu eleven hundred years after his death.

The recent development of tourism has affected the island considerably, particularly along the southeast coast, some of which has been completely abandoned to lager sales. However the west and northwest of the island have retained much of their Greek character, have the best scenery, and are still to a large degree the Corfu familiar to readers of Gerald Durrell.

NORTHWEST CORFU

Most of the traffic from Corfu Town to the northwest goes via the Troumbeta Pass, over the high limestone ridge that runs from Paleokastritsa to Spartylas, and which divides the rounded, northern part of the island from the attenuated, less mountainous, southern part. At its eastern end the ridge joins the island's main mountain mass – and highest peak – the bare-topped Mount Pandokrator (906m/2974ft). At the western end the ridge plunges into the sea near the spectacularly positioned fortress of Angelokastro, a thousand feet above the picturesque village, monastery and bays of Paleokastritsa resort. In the northern folds of the ridge are numerous old villages.

The western coastline north of the ridge starts with the huge sweep of Agios Georgios Bay, one of Corfu's most scenic, and bordered to the north by the headland, Akrotiri Arilla, the last major limestone outcrop and the site of Afionas village.

Behind the bay, the hills gradually rise to a low ridge which forms the watershed between the two sides of this corner of the island. The view over the other side of the ridge extends across a wide basin full of grey-green olive trees and pointed cypresses, while beyond the Kerkyras channel, the mountains of Albania can be seen on clear days, the highest over 2100m (6900ft).

To the north of Afionas is the bay of Arillas, ending in the lower headland of Akrotiri Kefali (sometimes incorrectly labelled Akrotiri Arilla), beyond which the coastline swings northeast, past Agios Stefanos.

Fading in the haze to the northwest towards Italy are the Diapontia islands, Mathraki, Othoni, Trakhia, Karavi, Diaplos and Diakopo. To the northeast, the last of the Diapontia islands, Erikoussa, is out of sight from Arillas, but visible from Agios Stefanos or some higher viewpoints.

THE CORFU TRAIL

This is a 10-day, 220km walking route that runs from Kavos and Panagia Arkoudilla in the south of the island to Akrotiri Agia Ekaterini in the northeast, going through the southern part of the area covered by this book. Its route is waymarked by diamond-shaped yellow "CT" signs. More details can be found at www.corfutrail.org.

WEATHER

Corfu often has heavy rainstorms in summer – unlike most of the Greek islands, the summer drought is not so sustained. The annual rainfall varies considerably, but averages 130 cm, more than three times that of south Aegean areas such as Crete, and the humidity is consequently higher. Sixty percent of this rain falls between November and April. The temperature in winter in coastal areas rarely drops much below freezing, averaging around 5-10 C in January, but snow does fall at sea-level every few years.

FIREFLIES

In late spring and early summer evenings, when the day's excitements are finished, there is further entertainment after dark, with remarkable firefly displays over low-lying fields. These insects are small beetles, which produce a winking green fluorescent light to attract mates. Both sexes flash, but it is the males that fly around searching for the females. Glow-worms also occur in the area, though less commonly. Only the wingless females produce light, a pale glow as they sit among plants.

ACCOMMODATION AND CARHIRE

Accommodation is available for UK customers through Meon Villas and Olympic Holidays

For accommodation in Agios Georgios, contact THEO at Theo's Hotel, tel/fax: 0030 26630-96482. He also has copies of the book and map for sale. When Theo told me, in September 2008, that the Pound would be worth the same as the Euro by 2009, I thought he was joking. I now wish I had listened to him and invested in Euros...

For carhire in Arillas (or from the airport) contact THEO at Arillas Rent-a-Car.

(Both these Theos speak good English.)

LINKS

See the following websites for general information about individual resorts and the island:

The Friends of the Ionian is a registered not-for-profit membership organization working for sustainable tourism in the Ionian island region. See their website for detailed information on many aspects of the islands' environment and heritage.

For extensive general information on Corfu and many other Greek islands, see Greek Island Postcards.

If you want an accurate map of the whole island of Corfu, we recommend ROAD Editions map 301 "Corfu", ISBN 960-8481-07-4. We were unable to find this in rural Corfu in October 2004, so would suggest buying a copy before you go. It is stocked by Hellenic Bookservice, 91 Fortess Rd, Kentish Town, London NW5 1AG.

Lance Chilton and Marengo 2010

Marengo, 17 Bernard Crescent, Hunstanton PE36 6ER, England