Corfu is an Ionian island located between mainland Greece and Italy especially popular with British Tourists. Corfu like the other islands on the Ionian Sea shared a different past from the rest of the country, in fact when Greece was under heavy Ottoman oppression they were ruled by Venice, which continued to govern there until the end of 18th century. The Venetian ruling was then taken over by a brief French presence and finally the Ionian Islands went through a long period of British protection until they reunited with the mainland in 1863. The different history is visible in the architecture where the Venetian and neo-classical lines are predominant, the typical white houses so popular everywhere else in Greece here are replaced by villas of Italian and French style.
It owes its sophistication and charm to the meshing of the different civilizations that have occupied the island and to the natural beauty with which it is so abundantly endowed. An amalgam of natural beauties, traditional features and archaeological sites, Corfu island lies to the north of the Ionian sea at the entrance of the Adriatic.
The greenest of the Greek islands, Corfu, has three million olive trees. As well as flower-strewn countryside and Adriatic-style villages, it has splendid coastal scenery and some excellent secluded beaches. On this cosmopolitan island, you'll be able to combine relaxation with good times and a full nightlife, for Corfu is an international tourist centre which can satisfy the demands of the most difficult visitor. The capital city of the Island, Corfu town, is set on an outcrop to the east and has characteristic narrow streets, old churches and tall houses with step-out balconies in wrought iron, small piazzas where Italian character meshes with Greek colours in perfect harmony. The town is overlooked by two towering forts built by the Venetians.
In the lawn of Spianada, the ample garden square stretching to the eastern edge of the old town, people still play cricket like during the British years.
A network of roads lead out from the capital across the island, whilst the quiet byways and lanes of the rural interior have been re-surfaced but are still relatively traffic free, the hamlets and villages they connect remain unspoilt. Before leaving the island the visitor should find the time to visit Kanoni and the Mon Repos quarter of Corfu Town. Although now a suburb of residential streets, the odd store and many hotels, it was here that the first recorded Corfiots built their palaces and temples over 3000 years ago. Much later the Greek royal family also built a residence here. Continue along the promontory to Kanoni at the south end of Garitsa Bay, named after the canon installed here by the French occupiers. Take a look at the early Byzantine church of Christ Pantokrator or you could continue the walk along the causeway across the Chalkiopolou lagoon to Perama. Alternatively you could climb up the promontory to one of the tavernas overlooking the bay and lagoon. Try and get a table with a view. You should be able to make out the graceful lattice of traditional fish traps and a fisherman tending to his nets as he and his ancestors have done for a thousand years or more.