Corfu

Corfu – or Kerkyra (ker-kih-rah) in Greek – is the second-largest and the greenest Ionian island. It is also the best known. It was Homer’s ‘beautiful and rich land’, and Odysseus’ last stop on his journey home to Ithaki. Shakespeare reputedly used it as a background for The Tempest. In the 20th century, writers the Durrell brothers – among others – extolled its virtues.With the nation’s highest rainfall, scores of vegetables and herbs thrive here, especially in spring. With its beguiling landscape of wildflowers, and cypress trees rising out of shimmering olive groves, Corfu hangs in there as one of Greece’s most beautiful islands. Sadly, areas are suffering from blatant and unheeded over-development.