The Rough Guide to the Ionian Islands (Rough Guide Travel Guides) Book

INTRODUCTION The Ionian islands comprise a core group of six ? Corfu (Kerkyra), Paxi (Paxos), Lefkadha (Lefkas), Ithaki (Ithaca), Kefallonia (Cephallonia) and Zakynthos (Zante) ? which trace a ragged line down the west coast of Greece*. None is more than 30km from the mainland, yet this has been far enough to exclude the Ionians from many of the key events in Greek history, most notably occupation by the Ottoman Turks. However, their position at the south of the Adriatic instead put them at the mercy of northerly invaders, primarily the Venetians and, later, the British, whose cultures fused with those of the islands. The Venetians, who first arrived in the archipelago in the late fourteenth century, imported language, art, music, law and architecture; the British turned up in the eighteenth century and unpacked local government, education, civil engineering, cricket and ginger beer. To a lesser or greater degree, all these things can still be found in the islands, and the Italians and British remain the region?s main summer invaders. * Kythira, isolated at the foot of the Peloponnese along with its satellite Andikythira, is officially part of the Ionian group, completing the seven islands of the Heptanese. We haven?t covered them in this Guide, as they bear few similarities to the core group of islands, share no transport connections with them and would not be visited on the same trip. As the big narrative happened elsewhere, the Ionian has no major archeological sites ? though Olympia, just two hours? drive from Patra on the Peloponnese mainland, is accessible from the southern islands. However, there are some spectacular medieval fortresses, and museums on the larger islands trace the archipelago?s cultures back to the Paleolithic era. Ithaki is still the favourite for the disputed site of Odysseus? Homeric home and has some scattered remains as proof, with neighbouring islands laying claim to particular settings and events from the Odyssey. But the major feature that distinguishes the Ionians from the mainland and the central swarm of Greek islands in the Aegean is climatic: a reliable rainfall pattern has allowed centuries of fairly stable agriculture and has nurtured olive trees, vineyards, rich fruit and vegetable crops, and even wheat and cereal farming on some islands. The Ionian islands display similar geographical characteristics, too: all are mountainous (even tiny Paxi has a small mountain of sorts), with their east coasts tending to be gentle dip slopes above flat, sometimes reclaimed, farm land. The west coasts are often rocky, with cliffs up to 200 metres high. This geology conspires against tourism, placing most of the best beaches on the less accessible west coasts, and the worst on the handy east coasts ? where lazy developers have tended to concentrate their attentions. With the exception of Corfu?s southwest and north coasts, the south coast of Kefallonia, southern Zakynthos and pockets of western Lefkadha, most beaches are pebbly, usually shelving into sand. Island-hopping through the Ionian is not as tricky as some people imagine and, with a month on your hands, you could easily get a taster of all six major islands, though you would be unlikely to see any of them in depth. There is certainly not the abundance of ferry and hydrofoil lines weaving through the group that the Aegean is blessed with, but most of the islands are connected to their nearest neighbour or two at some point. The only really broken link in the chain, with the exception of a very infrequent service between Corfu and Kefallonia, is that the northern duo, Corfu and Paxi, have no direct boats to the southern quartet, forcing you to travel via the mainland, though that in itself can be a pleasurable experience and allows you to glimpse a different side of Greece. Full details of all the possible inter-island connections are given throughout the Guide. For those with less time to play, Corfu and Zakynthos are the easiest of the islands to visit: both have busy international airports, and a developed structure of package and independent tourism. Over the years, however, they have acquired a not entirely undeserved reputation as sleazepits, the blame for which can be laid at the door of unscrupulous Greek and British tourism operators. The tackier resorts on Corfu tend to be on its east coast ? Ipsos and Kavos are given over to booze, bonking and bungee-jumping, although an earlier slump in tourism has had the effect of once-notorious Benitses reinventing itself as more of a family venue. On Zakynthos, Laganas is set on one of the island?s finest beaches, but has reached levels of excess to rival anything on Corfu. However, such large-scale tourist developments take up only a small proportion of either island, and most locals and visitors remain quite undisturbed by such overblown commerce and razzmatazz. Kefallonia?s relatively new airport has yet to attract the volume of traffic of either Corfu or Zakynthos, but the island boasts some of the best unspoilt beaches and wildest mountainscapes in the Ionian. It remains a reasonably well-kept secret: chic resorts like Fiskardho are very busy throughout the season, but others, such as Ayia Efimia, never seem to fill. Its northerly neighbour Lefkadha has two notable pockets of development ? Nydhri and the windsurfers? paradise, Vassiliki ? but the rest of the heavily indented coastline and the handsome, mountainous interior are largely untouched by tourism. It goes without saying that the further you travel from an airport, or an island with an airport, the more you?ll distance yourself from the crowds. Many landing at Corfu head at great speed for Paxi, those at Kefallonia for Ithaki. The former, barely 12km long and covered in olive trees, supports just three busy fishing village resorts, two of them tiny; small and mountainous, the latter is the most unspoilt of the core islands.Read More