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INTRODUCTION
Tracing a ragged line down the west coast of Greece, the Ionian islands are no more than 30km from the mainland, yet this has been far enough to exclude them 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 influences can still be found in the islands, and the Italians and British remain the region’s main summer visitors.

The Ionian islands comprise a core group of six – Corfu (Kérkyra), Paxí (Paxos), Lefkádha (Lefkas), Itháki (Ithaca), Kefalloniá (Cephallonia) and Zákynthos (Zante). Kathira, isolated at the foot of the Peloponnese, along with its satellite Andikathira, is officially part of the Ionian group, but we haven’t covered them in this Guide, as they bear few similarities to the core group of islands and share no transport connections with them.

As the big narrative happened elsewhere, the Ionian has no major
archeological sites – though Olympia, just two hours’ drive from Pátra 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. Itháki is still the favourite for the disputed site of Odysseus’s 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 climate: 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 Paxí 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 Kefalloniá, southern Zákynthos and pockets of western Lefkádha, most beaches are pebbly, usually shelving into sand.

Island-hopping through the Ionian is not as tricky as you might imagine and, with a month on your hands, you could easily get a taster of all six major islands, though you would be unable to see them all 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 have at least one connection with their nearest neighbour. The chain breaks down, though, between the northern duo, Corfu and Paxí, and the southern quartet: apart from a sporadic summer service between Corfu and Kefalloniá, there are no direct boats between the two groups, 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.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #123360 in Books
• Published on: 2003-07-08
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

Synopsis
This guide to the Ionian Islands opens with a 16 page full-colour introduction, which highlights "20 things not to miss" from windsurfing in Vassaliki to hiking the Corfu Trail. There is coverage of dozens of towns and resorts and practical guidance on getting off the beaten track, from the mountains of Cephalonia to remote Corfu beaches. The guide also provides details of the network of ferry and bus services and gives tips on how to plan your trip.

Excerpted from The Ionian Islands: the Rough Guide by John Gill. Copyright © 2000. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved
When to go

If you can, it's best to avoid the islands in late July and most of August, when holidaying Greeks and Italians descend en masse, accommodation is scarce, and temperatures and prices soar. June and early September are just as good for those concerned about fine weather (in fact, the 1990s have seen a number of fairly unstable high summers, with rainy Augusts followed by stunning Septembers and Octobers). In June, the sea is usually warm enough for swimming; in September it can be as warm as a bath.

May, September and October are the times for bargain flights and packages, and, though you may risk short spells of inclement weather, are probably the best times to visit. In May many spring flowers are still in bloom, and villages and villagers are fresh from the winter. In late September and early October you can be blessed with fine weather, warm seas and almost no other visitors. However, bargain package deals in these low-season periods should be carefully scrutinized: some remote resorts (noted in the Guide) close early, often stranding those without the wherewithal to hire transport.

Early May and late October mark the beginning and end of charter flights to the islands, although there's a mini winter season around Christmas and New Year. Outside these times you have to fly via Athens, but, with the exception of Pax', every island capital has hotels open year-round, and most local accommodation companies can rustle up some suitable accommodation. When the rafts of knick-knacks are packed away until next season, even the most developed resorts resume their prelapsarian charm, and major towns - in particular, Corfu Town - are to be seen at their best. The only bars or tavernas will be those the Greeks themselves use, which is usually the best recommendation at any time of the year. The winter months, November especially, see spectacular storms in the Ionian, yet it is possible to get sunburnt on Christmas Day. Off-season travel is also the only way to catch the two biggest festivals of the year: pre-Lenten carnival, a Venetian tradition maintained with parades, parties and mischief; and Orthodox Easter, which is celebrated for a full week and can be an extremely moving experience.

Prevailing northwesterly winds affect all the Ionian islands, commonly rising in the afternoon, occasionally developing into the mastro - the Ionian equivalent of the Aegean meltmi - which can blow for three days or more. These winds make the Ionians ideal for yachting holidays and watersports, but can make beaches at exposed resorts hellish. The climate figures given below are averages for Corfu - if any generalizations about Ionian weather can be made in advance, they can be made only about the region as a whole. The archipelago has any number of micro-climates: Lefkdha's valleys are like little lost Shangri-Las of meteorology, and Pax' gets only a fraction of the storms that gang up on nearby Corfu's Mount Pandokrtor.

//Transliteration Because there's no standard system of transliterating Greek script into Roman, you're sure to find that the Greek words and proper names in this book do not always match the versions written elsewhere. Place names are the biggest source of confusion, varying from map to map, and often sign to sign. The word for "saint", for instance, one of the commonest prefixes, can be rendered Ayios, Agios, or Aghios. To make matters worse, there are often two forms of a name in Greek - the modern, popularly used dhimotik' and the older, elitist katharvoussa. Thus, for example, you will come across the older Paxo' and the newer Pax', as well as Anglicized Paxos. Throw in inherited Italian and English names, a boggling array of island dialects with their own variants on pronunciation, and haphazard spelling, and you have a real mare's nest.

In this book, we've used a modern, largely phonetic system in the spelling of modern Greek place names. We have, however, retained the accepted "English" spelling for familiar places like Corfu and Athens. We have also accented (with an acute) the stressed letter of each word; getting this right in pronunciation is vital in order to be understood.//

Customer Reviews

A perfect counterpart to Lawrence Durrell's Prospero's Cell
John Gill is no Lawrence Durrell, and this is not necessarily bad. While it is highly unlikely that anybody will show any interest in this guide 60 years after its publication, I have to admit that it is quite useful now. Having returned from a two-week holiday spent with friends on Corfu and Paxos in August, I can confirm that we put the guide to good use. It contains the usual blend of the descriptions of attractions, historical information, an occasional topical articles (like The Ionian School of Painting), and of course practical information.

As for practical information: the author himself admits that the situation with ferries changes from one year to another, so you have to check it yourself. Most ferry companies have their own Web sites nowadays, and you can also make reservations there. The yearly inflation rate in Greece is about 5%, which you have to take into account when comparing prices in the guide with the actual ones. As for kafenios and tavernas - use your own sense. Recommending or - rarely - advising against some taverna can be useful sometimes, but sticking strictly to your guidebook without looking around, you are no different than the rest of the tourist crowd, are you?...The attitude of "travellers" towards "tourists" is snobbish in its own way, and if you are put off by it, you probably won't like this guide. If you do consider yourself a traveller rather than a tourist, though, then the Ionian islands might be a good destination for you. I don't remember seeing any McDonald's joint there, so the charming idyllic picture might not be completely lost yet. And, speaking of idyllic pictures, Durrell's autobiographic Prospero's Cell, describing his years on Corfu before WWII, might be a perfect counterpart to this guide.