220 km, 10 days. Kavos to Agios Spiridon, Corfu

The Corfu Trail is a 220 km long trail connecting the southernmost and northernmost tips of the island. The trail is the creation of Hilary Whitton Paipeti, and indeed, chances are you will meet her somewhere on her trail.

Corfu is a green island, its hills covered in dense olive woods. Tourism has brought good facilities, but has also wasted most of its coastline and traditional life. Still, there is much left to enjoy. The trail offers a unique opportunity, one that is rare in Greece as a whole, to get to know the most beautiful villages, mountain views, coastline scenery and the thriving nature.

Summer is (too) hot, and should be avoided. Spring is ideal, if only for the abundance of flowers, but then you may not find regular flights to the island and 90% of the hotels will be closed. The season starts the end of April and lasts till October. If you are camping, you will be fine. If you stay in hotels, you can make use of the excellent coach network to hop off and on the trail. Spring can bring cold and rain. Second best is late September and October: hotels are still open, most tourists are gone, temperatures have dropped to tolerable levels.

The walk is easy. Patches of dense undergrowth may cover the trail, so long trousers and long-sleeved shirts will come in handy. The trail is marked, but the yellow blazes and signs are often difficult to spot. Order the "Companian Guide" (pdf) from Hilary, with a detailed description of the trail; it costs 10 Euro. Alternatively, you could buy the German guide from the "Outdoor" series. Thirdly, get yourself a GPS receiver and download the track from OpenStreetMap or find a track elsewhere on the Internet: this will save you hours of searching and detours.

Lastly, you should know that the people of Corfu are a bunch of extremely friendly, patient and helpful people.