Scattered off the west coast of Greece, the Ionian Islands are the most verdant in the region and therefore promise the most spectacular landscapes.
From the busy tavernas lining the fishing harbors of Corfu and Zakinthos to the tranquil fishing villages of Ithaca and Lefkas, each island has its idiosyncrasies of culture and cuisine and as such, the island chain provides endless compelling charter possibilities.
Corfu (Kerkyra) is the most important and most northerly of the Ionian Islands and is situated only 1 nm off the coast of Albania and the Greek region of Epirus. It offers gentle green uplands in the south and rugged limestone hills in the north, rising to 906 m in the double peak of Pantokrator. Visit Sidari at the North of Corfu to swim in the Canal d’Armour; lovers swimming in the canal, it is said, will stay together for life.
An attractive excursion from Corfu town is to the villa of Akhillion, 16 km south. This villa in Italian Renaissance style, situated at an altitude of 145 m, has magnificent gardens and panoramic views.
Three kilometers further south is the charming fishing village of Benitses and its remains of a Roman villa.
Palaiokastritsa – on the East side of Corfu Island – is a lively and attractive tourist resort dominated by the Monastery of Panayia Theotokos on a high cliff. Near the village, there are sea caves. From here it is a 1.5 hours climb (with a guide; stout footwear required) to the ruined Angelokastro Castle (13th century) which has gorgeous panoramic views.
Gouvia is located 5 nm north of Corfu town and features a Venetian arsenal (1716). One can climb to the summit of Mount Pantokrator for a beautiful view of the surroundings and an abandoned monastery (1347). The village of Kondokali – adjacent to Gouvia – is nowadays more German or English than Greek.
Lefkas (ancient Leukas; Italian Santa Maura) is a hilly island, lying off the Playa Peninsula in Acarnania, from which it is separated by a shallow lagoon varying in width between 600 m and 5 km. It is now linked with the mainland by a causeway and a ferry.
Most of the island is occupied by a range of hills rising to a height of 1158 m in Mount Stavrotas and running southwest to end at Cape Dhoukatou. It was from this Leucadian Rock of gleaming white limestone that Sappho was supposed to have thrown herself for the love of the handsome Phaon.
Lefkas never had any permanent natural connection with the mainland. The shingle spit at the northern tip was pierced in ancient times by the Corinthians to provide a channel for shipping, much like the spit to the south of Lefkas town, which came into being in the Middle Ages as a result of the establishment of salt-pans.
Off the southeast coast of Lefkas is the beautiful unspoiled island of Meganisi, with sandy beaches and famous sea caves and therefore an exquisite sailing and yacht charter area.
The earliest evidence of human settlement on the island dates from the Neolithic period. In the 7th century BC the town of Leukas was founded by settlers from Corinth, who closed off the south end of the lagoon, opposite St George Fort, by a 600 m long mole, remains of which are still visible under water (the sunken breakwater). They also cut a channel through the spit of shingle at the north end of the lagoon, opposite the Santa Maura Fort.
In the Middle Ages, the island belonged to the barons of Kefallinia and Zakynthos. In 1479 it was taken by the Turks – the only Ionian Island to fall into their hands – but was recovered for Venice in 1684.
As a result of its history and of a series of earthquakes (the most recent in 1953), Lefkas has preserved very few old buildings.
In Lefkas Town, the houses have an unusual structures. The supporting timber posts and beams and lightly build upper stories are designed to withstand earthquakes. The high town of Spartakhori on the island of Meganisi can easily be seen from the north and west. Enjoy the beautiful winding road to reach it – it is enchanting and definitely worth the climb.
The port of Vassiliki is located in the southeast of Lefkas deep in the large bay of Vassiliki. A natural spring favors this part of the island and runs through a washing house at the south of Vassiliki.
The villa on Modra Island belongs to the family of Christ Valaoritis (1824-79), Greece’s national poet. The Skorpios Island is also private (owned by the Onassis family.
Zakynthos is the third largest island of the Ionian sea. It is a touristic destination with an international airport served by charter flights from northern Europe. The island's nickname is "the Flower of the Levant", bestowed upon it by the Venetians who were in possession of Zakynthos from 1484 to 1797.
The ancient Greek poet Homer mentioned Zakynthos in the Iliad and the Odyssey, stating that its first inhabitants were the son of King Dardanos of Arcadia, called Zakynthos, and his men. Before being renamed Zakynthos, the island was said to have been called Hyrie.
Zakynthos was captured by the Ottoman Empire in 1478, but conquered by the Republic of Venice in 1482. It remained in Venetian hands, as part of the Venetian Ionian Islands, until the Fall of the Republic of Venice in 1797, and then passed successively under French rule, became part of the autonomous Septinsular Republic in 1800, before returning to the French in 1807. Seized by the British in 1809, it formed part of the United States of the Ionian Islands until the Union of the Ionian Islands with Greece in 1864.
Famous landmarks include the Navagio beach, a cove on the northwest shore isolated by high cliffs and accessible only by boat. Numerous natural "blue caves" are cut into cliffs around Cape Skinari, and accessible only by small boats.
Since Zakynthos was under the rule of the Venetian Republic, it had closer contact with Western literary trends than other areas inhabited by Greek people. That is why poetry was developed. This influence also contributed to the development of modern Greek theatre. An important poet of this school was Zakynthian Dionysios Solomos.
Ithaca is a Greek island located in the Ionian Sea, off the northeast coast of Kefalonia and to the west of continental Greece. The capital is Vathy.
Modern Ithaca is generally identified with Homer's Ithaca, the home of Odysseus, whose delayed return to the island is the plot of the classic poem the Odyssey.
The island has been inhabited since the 2nd millennium BC. It may have been the capital of Cephalonia during the Mycenaean period and the capital-state of the small kingdom ruled by Odysseus. The Romans occupied the island in the 2nd century BC, and later it became part of the Byzantine Empire. The Normans ruled Ithaca in the 13th century, and after a short Turkish rule, it fell into Venetian hands (the Ionian Islands under Venetian rule).
Cefalonia is the largest of the Ionian Islands in western Greece and the 6th largest island in Greece.
Kefalonia has also been suggested as the Homeric Ithaca, the home of Odysseus, rather than the smaller island bearing this name today. Robert Bittlestone, in his book Odysseus Unbound, has suggested that Paliki, now a peninsula of Cephalonia, was a separate island during the late Bronze Age, and it may be this which Homer was referring to when he described Ithaca. A project which started in the summer of 2007 and lasted three years has examined this possibility.
Kefalonia is also referenced in relation to the goddess Britomartis, as the location where she is said to have 'received divine honors from the inhabitants under the name of Laphria.
In 1864, Cephalonia, together with all the other Ionian Islands, became a full member of the Greek state
