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Few Greek islands carry quite the same layered identity as Corfu. Positioned at the northern end of the Ionian Sea, closer to Albania and the Italian heel than to Athens, the island absorbed centuries of Venetian rule before passing briefly through French and then British hands, leaving behind an architectural character unlike anywhere else in Greece. The old town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is a place of narrow flagstone lanes called kantounia, ochre and terracotta facades, and the long arcaded promenade of the Liston, which the French modelled on the Rue de Rivoli. Two Venetian fortresses bookend the old town on its eastern shore, and the ensemble as a whole rewards slow, unhurried exploration on foot.

The island's geography does much to explain its appeal. The north is mountainous and green, with the peak of Pantokrator rising above forested slopes that descend to coves and fishing villages. The northeast coast around Kassiopi and Kalami has a quieter, more literary association, having attracted writers including Lawrence Durrell, whose family lived here in the late 1930s. The west coast is more exposed, with long sandy beaches at Glyfada and Agios Gordios that catch the afternoon light. Corfu Town itself sits on the eastern side, sheltered and compact, and most visitors find themselves returning to it repeatedly even when staying elsewhere on the island.