With its beguiling landscape of vibrant wildflowers and slender cypresses rising out of shimmering olive groves, Corfu is considered by many to be Greece's most beautiful island. It has enchanted visitors through the centuries.

The island has something for almost everyone. Its charming capital, Corfu Town, with it's historical centre is an elegant place with fine examples of Venetian architecture. The west coast is famous for its long sandy beaches while the inland villages still preserve a life little changed over hundreds of years. The north coast has long sandy beaches, while the north-east of the island is probably the most popular destination, with winding roads leading up to Mount Pantokrator and down to pebbly coves with crystal clear water. To the south the landscape is flatter and the ubiquitous olive groves abundant.

Corfu is Greece's western gateway and entrance to the Adriatic. This enviable position is one of the main reasons why it feels more "Western" than most other parts of Greece. Almost 500 years of Venetian, French and British occupation have left their influence. parts of Greece. Almost 500 years of Venetian, French and British occupation have left their influence.

Approximately 120,000 people live on Corfu. Some of them do emigrate, attracted by life in the big mainland cities, but countless others have never left the island. Instead the world comes to them. Yet despite this seasonal influx of visitors, the inhabitants retain a fresh, open simplicity. The Corfiot pace of life is casual and unhurried.  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 in the Mediterranean - is the Corfiot's friendliness and kindness to strangers - the quality of filoxenia - that can still astonish visitors with it's generosity and grace.

Corfu has absorbed so much yet changed so little. The modern world exists alongside a traditional way of life. This, together with the stunning natural beauty of the island, is what makes Corfu so unique.

While visiting Corfu try not to miss some of the following:  taste one of the Traditional Corfiot Specialties, drink Ginger beer, try Kumquats, walk the Corfu trail, visit St. Spyridon church, walk in the olive groves, watch a cricket game, gaze while having coffee at the Liston, visit the Old and the New fortress, lay in the sun and swim in one of the west coast's sandy beaches and finally let yourself get lost in the amazing maze of narrow streets in the Old part of Corfu Town.