EXPLORE / CORFU
CORFU’S HIDDEN NATURAL TREASURES
Part of Corfu’s charm lies in its capacity to treat you to the unexpected: A turn in the road can open up vistas of rolling hills, vertiginous villages and the bluest waters you’ve ever seen.
THERE’S SO MUCH MORE TO CORFU than meets the eye; dig a little deeper and you will uncover one of Greece’s most lush and verdant islands that was almost made for hiking enthusiasts (there are marked trails everywhere you look). Discover strikingly sculpted cliffs that plunge down towards the sea, some bare and others covered in greenery, hilltop monasteries and castles offering eye-wateringly beautiful sea views, mountains, paradise-like beaches and coves, and ancient olive groves. Incredibly green, Corfu owes its sensational natural beauty to the winter rains, the relatively temperate summer temperatures and its fertile soil. Out of season (April, May and June), Corfu offers superb walking opportunities when the island is literally covered in a blanket of impossibly pretty wildflowers. Various international treaties that have conferred a special preservation status on parts of the island mean that much of it is safeguarded from any development taking place. For instance, such areas include Lake Korission with its immaculately preserved cedar for-
146
Verdant hills tower over magnificent beaches with crystal-clear blue waters at Cape Drastis, on Corfu's northern coastline. Right page, Nymfes waterfall near Klimatia.
