Sunflower Books: Landscapes of CORFU: WALKS AND CAR TOURS

Corfu, 4th edition, 2005, updated 02/11/08

(To visit the web page for this book on our main site, click here )

Updates for walks and car tours (drives) on Corfu given below supplement those provided in the guidebook. It is vital that this Update is read in conjunction with the text of the book, but note that the Update applies only to the edition stated and not to any earlier editions. (If you have an older edition of this book and want to "upgrade" to the latest edition at half price, click here.)

Information has been forwarded to us by users of the book, and Sunflower Books offers the data in good faith but cannot be held responsible for any misleading or inaccurate content in the Update. Unless indicated otherwise, what appears here has not been verified by the author or publisher, so please allow due caution when new or amended routes are suggested. Each piece of information is dated; bear in mind that some of the older observations may have since been overtaken by events or further changes. If, during your holiday, you are using the current edition of the guide and are able to provide any additional updating to add to this page, we will be pleased to hear from you. Please send information, preferably in hard copy, by post, to Sunflower Books, PO Box 115, Exeter EX2 6YU (or if you prefer, by e-mail, to mail@sunflowerbooks.co.uk).

Maps: Maps: Stanfords tell me that Roads Editions no 301 is currently out of print and there is no knowing when the new version will be available. However, I obtained an alternative, the German-produced Reise Know-How 1:65,000 map of the island, which shows many (but certainly not all) paths and tracks as well as contours. It is also printed on waterproof and tear-proof paper. (User, 9/08)

Car tour 2: Slip of the computer? The title of this tour should be 'Quiet Corners of the Northwest'! (Sunflower)

Car tour 3: Mirtiotissa Beach very crowded despite rest of island being almost deserted. It was more secluded at Glyfada Beach! No longer worth visiting unless doing Walk 15. (User, dated June 2006, sent to us April 2007)

Walk 1: The path to the old monastery was impassible. (User, dated June 2006, sent to us April 2007)

Walk 2: There is such a ferocious dog at Kato Bodholakos that I would recommend you do NOT use this route for the descent unless you have a Dog Dazer with you. I was bitten despite not provoking the dog. (User, 6/06) + My wife and I have done this walk and can recommend it for its many superb views and beautiful countryside. We can report that the dogs are now (September 2007) tethered but their violent attempts to break free means that they should not be approached. These attempts are so violent that one day they will break free and we believe that they could be very dangerious to anyone in the vicinity. The walk description we found to be incorrect at this stage which unfortunately allows walkers to pass close by these dogs on an incorrect path. At the farm the there is another track off to the left passing in front of the farm house and you pass it with the farm being on the right (book says on the left). This is the route to be taken but the obvious way looks to be straight on down the hill passing with the farm on the left which fits with the book description. By going stright on like this takes you directly past the dogs and is in fact eventually a cul-de-sac... (User, 9/07, who then wrote the following the next day: Since emailing you yesterday I have discovered that my wife's recollection is that the track at the second Farmhouse turned to the left after the house and not before it. That is not my recollection but there is a chance of error here. [Sunflower is confused by all this, but DO BEWARE of these dogs.] + At Kato Bodholakos just past the farm do not take the descending track straight on. THis does not lead anywhere. However take the track that turns to the left (just after the farm). Unfortunatey the ferocious dog was still there (although tied by a chain which seemed to break at any moment) (User, 11/08)

Walk 3. "The walk begins opposite the gateway to the Magic Life der Club Corfu." This is now called the Sunshine Vacation Clubs Corfu. The path is also opposite the small Rent a Car business called Tolis Motors. .. Leaving Porta (1hr 50 mins) there is only one bus shelter. (User, 5/08) + The first thing to say to walkers is that Rou (after the 1h15min-point( is totally changed from the sleepy old village that it once was - happy days! Upon entering the village we do no longer live in the first habitable property. Just keep on walking into the village until you come to a house which is currently painted terracotta - we live there. If walkers are really determined to walk the footpath to Porta - and I trust that many will - they should continue straight ahead from the Bakers' house (NOT down the track), and they will pass all the restored properties on their right until, at the very end, they should descend some steps. Continue down these steps until they veer off to the right. The footpath goes to the left towards the satellite dish. After this they can pick up the notes in the book again. (David Baker, who lives in Rou, 5/08)

Walks 3 and 5: The village of Rou is in the process of being transformed into an Olde Worlde Greek village (see rouestate.co.uk). The reason that I am writing is because I understand that, at your last revision, you now send walkers away from the village along the track to Porta. I think that we should continue to keep the footpath open through the village and along the footpath to Porta. The developer has promised to put up signs showing the footpath through the village. (David Baker, who lives in Rou, 1/07) + See further note for Walk 3 above (about Rou).

Walks 6, 7: There is an easy short walk from Ano Perithia to Pantokrator now that a route has been waymarked with yellow arrows and dots up to the track, that leads to the Pantokrator road. We also forged a route down the ravine that emerges onto the Lafki track at the bottom of the U-bend just SW of Ano Perithia. We were rewarded by sightings of 2 snakes : Saitas and Tiflitas (I believe). The bottom of the ravine is sometimes choked with prickly vegetation, but it's easy enough to push up a metre or two up the side. (User, 10/05)

Walk 8: Our hire car was vandalised in Nimfes. It was sensibly parked alongside the gardens where the way splits. (User, 10/05)

Walk 9: Unfortunately the track between Troupeta and Sokraki has been completely asphalted - a big disappointment. (User, 12.07)

Walk 10: This was a big disappointment. The track down to Cape Drastis has been mad motorable, and around every bend there is a sign saying "drive down to the beach" or some such. They're renting umbrellas & chairs, selling drinks, etc. the traffic was heavy, making the walk a nightmare. (e-mail, 8/05) + The reason for this motorable track is the pathetic little man at the bottom selling "cold" drinks and renting out loungers. His business when we visited in September amounted to 2 loungers and we were passed by 1 scooter and 2 cars during our visit. (User, 10/05) [Editor's note: it's likely that in high summer, when the user of 8.05 visited, there were more lounge-sellers on the beach and far more traffic. It looks like selling sun-beds has ruined this and Mirtiotissa, too - see Walk 15 - at least during the summer. Hopefully in spring and autumn the walks will still be enjoyable.] + Cove fairly secluded, only occasional car on track. Walkers and drivers in
approx equal nos. Never more than 8 people during our lunch there. Still worth the walk. May be busier in high season. (User, dated June 2006, sent to us April 2007)

Walk 11: It's fun to continue on from Port Timone to the beach visible to the west and then make your way up to the top of the headland for further spectacular views; the route is fairly obvious, but there's one place where an easy scramble is required. (User, 10/05) + The TAVERNA CALM is closed and signs removed. Take the first turn left, just beyond another parking area and signed "Supermarket Jimmy's". (e-mail, 7/07) + The polythene greenhouse (c. 50min) is now just a rusting steel frame, and the smallholding appears to be abandoned. The path across is not easy to find. A better instruction now might be "leave the main path left and after 20m/yds double back left". (User, 10/07) + The walk begins opposite the Supermarket Kathy - no longer the Taverna Calm. (User, 5/08) + I followed this walk from Paleokastritsa to Ag. Georgios then climbed the track up to Prinilas and then took the road to Vistonas before returning to Paleo along part of Walk 12. Previous updates are correct in that Taverna Calm is no more and Supermarket Kathy now marks the start of the walk. The most prominent signs now are for Villa Rena and Ipsia Apartments, but the road is obvious. The paths in the Lakones area are becoming very well signposted. However all those at the top merely indicate Paleokastritsa without giving any idea of the route they take. The problems in the greenhouse area (c. 50 min) nearly put me off trying the path from Lakones to the Vistonas road. Fortunately, I persisted because the solution is quite simple. The first part of the path is quite narrow and bordered by some of the pricklier specimens of Corfu plant life. As I approached the remains of the greenhouse there appeared to be no clear way down into the shallow valley and past the greenhouse. I therefore continued along the path, which broadens at this point into an apparently little-used track. After about 100m the track curves to the left round the head of the valley and shortly afterwards comes to a T-junction. Take the track on the right which leads down to the Vistonas road. The wine sellers at the Makrades road junction (1hr25min) have clearly been reading Landscapes of Corfu for they will now be waiting for you well before you have to turn off. Beware, these little old ladies think nothing of jumping out in front of moving cars, so mere walkers are easy targets for them! Finding the right turning in Makrades defeated me at first, so greatly has the scene changed. I ended up at the tourist shops around the Krini road junction but on retracing my steps the correct way was obvious. "The concrete soon turns to gravel." Not now it doesn't. The track is now concreted all the way to the junction with the track to Krini which, as others have observed, is also now a broad concrete track. The mule path down to Ag Georgios remains unimproved, thankfully. (User, 9/08)


Walk 12: Angelokastro is currently closed for extensive rebuilding work. It's still worth walking up the steps as far as possible. In Makrades there is no longer a concrete lane cutting across in front of you : it is only concrete to the right and tarmac to the left. There are now several properties where there used to be a field on the far side of the lane. The Sunset Taverna sign is now situated at the start of the wide gravel track, which is further down from path with tired stone walls in the direction of the fabulous cliff-hanging donkey track. (User, 10/05) + The 'path' to Krini from the Sunset Taverna sign junction (c. 2h15min) is a wide concrete track. There is no entry now to Angelokastro - there is a barrier at the café car park. (User, 10/07)

Walk 13: On page 96, para 2, sentence 5, it states 'join a track on a bend and follow it to the right...'. I should point out that this track is well before the bend (I didn't assess the distance), so the instruction is misleading. (User, 12/05) [Editor's note: This instruction has been in the book for several years, without anyone commenting before, and Mike Longridge, who revised every route for the 4th edition, obviously had not problem with the instruction. However, be warned - and perhaps let us know if you discover how many meters before the bend you join the track.] + Alternative walk 2: Instructions need improvement, however as we ended up in Kanakades, I don't know how. Nonetheless still a pleasant circular walk returning via lower road in Liapades. (User, dated June 2006, sent to us April 2007) + At the Elli Beach Hotel (20min), pass to the left of the pool and hotel to reach the road directly (no need to descend to the beach), then up the road and shortly left up steps and through the Fisherman's Tavern (Corfu Trail signposting). Villa Birlis no longer has a name, but it is about 150m further on after rejoining the road... At Liapades Square, a better instruction might be 'leave the square along the alley uphill ahead...' (the sign here means no through road, not 'no entry'. (User, 10/07) + I followed Alternative 2. Contrary to the earlier update, Villa Birlis certainly has a name now and the path you need runs immediately alongside its boundary. I suggest that you follow the original route across the beach and you won't go wrong. Once I had branched off onto Alternative 2, I stayed on the main track until I came to a point where I was immediately below a couple of prominent mobile phone masts. Becoming concerned that such an obvious feature was mentioned in neither the original description nor any of the updates, I decided that I must have gone too far south. Eventually I found my self at a junction which I recognised from the map, but I had approached it from the north, not the south. Having recovered the situation I was fine as far as the unfinished concrete block building. After this, though, priorities seem to have changed at "the track cutting across in front of you". The track you are on now curves round to the right at this junction - the track to Liapades is now a minor track branching hard left off it. I only realised I had gone wrong when, on continuing along the main track, I found I was heading east. (User, 9/08)

Walk 14: We failed to find the path from the back of Villa Camomilia... The gates to Ag. Noufures were padlocked. At Doukades, the local people don't seem to like tourists using the path up to the chapel. Despite a 'Zur Kapelle' sign at the point 'Cross a road and continue up the path', we were vigorously directed to go right, up the road, and then turn left instead - which we did, fruitlessly. The first path right across the galvanised water pipe is not well maintained, and at the first corner was obstructed and hidden by brushwood, so looked like a dead end. We almost gave up before finding a good old stone-made track beyond it. (User, 10/07)

Walk 15: Here's a suggestion for a short-cut, for those who don't want to go up to Agios Georgios in full sun and then down the other side to Mirtiotissa. It can also be used as a circuit Vatos - Agios Giorgios - Mirtiotissa - Vatos (or in the other direction). Start the walk at the 2h20min point in Vatos. After the decribed 3 minutes, don't turn right uphill on asphalt past the school (where there are Corfu trail waymarks), but carry on along the village road for about another 250m, where you will come to a fork, with a memorial and church on the left and a bus stop with letter box on the right. Take the right fork here (asphalt road) and walk about 5 minutes through the second part of Vatos village (refreshments available in a side alley at Taverna Spyros). At the end of the village there is a church with white-walled cemetery on the left. On the right, opposite the cemetery there's a small patch of greenery, at the end of which a narrow but clear path leads into some shady olive groves. Follow this path gently up and down for about 15min, until you come to the access road to Mirtiotissa Beach. Turn right on the road, up past the curve, and come to the parking place for the beach. Now follow the road 15min downhill. From there carry on as for the rest of the walk. If you do this as a circuit in reverse, coming from the beach carry on past the parking place through the curve to the right and in the next, left-hand bend, turn left on the narrow path into the olive groves and up to the cemetery, etc. As an aside, here's a sad correction to the photo on page 106-7: unfortunately the storms of spring 2005 have left the beach only 1/3 as wide as in the picture - the rest has simply disappeared. The rocks in the middle of your photo are now submerged. (User, 10/05) + The beach at Mirtiotissa has been effectively ruined by a lounger & sunshade concession. When we visited there was very little actual sand visible from above. There were over a hundred people crammed onto the beach. The track has presumably been upgraded. We noticed public nudity at just about every beach we visited, so perhaps the sad sacks who congregate at Mirtiotissa will diminish in future. The monastery is now surrounded by a high wire fence and the chapel may have been rebuilt as it didn't appear to be very small. (User, 10/05) + Mirtiotissa Beach very crowded despite rest of island being almost deserted. It was more secluded at Glyfada Beach! No longer worth visiting
unless doing the walk. (User, dated June 2006, sent to us April 2007) + Your map is wrong: there is no road on the south side of Glyfada. (User, 6/07) + Moni Mirtiotissa was closed in Sept/Oct. Taverna Mirtiotissa no longer exists as a taverna, and there is no sign. The descent to the beach is not as steep and slippery as described, not difficult at all. (The descent to Elli Beach Hotel in Walk 13 is much worse.) (User, 10/07)

Walk 16: The road from Moni Ag. Dega to Makrata ends in Makrata opposite the road to Loukata, Dafnata and Komianata. There is a sign 'Monastery' at the junction. The walking map is missing a road to Gastouri; it branches off a road between Ag. Deka and Benitses about halfway along and IS shown on the touring map. (User, 6/07)

Walk 18, Alternative: Very pleaseant, generally easy to follow, but do it soon as Petreti to Bonkari road is being improved to a wide asphalt road bit by bit. After leaving Hlomes (top of p119), after 8 mins going downhill, just after a shed on the right there is a split in the track. This is not the first fork mentioned. Keep left on main track following blue and red dots. At the right fork after a further 2 mins the side path has become overgrown initially but soon clears. It is easy to miss, there are two red and a blue dot on the main path at this point. By a dilapidated shed after a further minute the path splits again. The left fork is very overgrown, the right fork is clear, both end up at the same place.The correct path is easily seen to your left if you follow the clear path... At the intersection in Kouspades the route is not straight on it is right, then left after 50metres. (User, dated June 2006, sent to us April 2007)

Walk 19: -The walk starts as described by the house with the Seven Dwarfs in the garden BUT it is no longer a bakery - however the path is clearly signposted. I have doubts about the times given from the start of the walk to the monastery - two of us in our mid fifties, unfit, in the midday heat of August - with copious stops for rests and water did it in one hour - not one hour twenty five minutes as given in the book. Also note: the track is driveable. (User, 9/06)

Walk 20: A "new" bridge at the fish farm is nearer the sea than in the photograph.
The track swings back from the lagoon (1hr 50mins) just before a line of 8 poles in the lagoon. The path runs through scrub after this for about 10 minutes. This provides just about the only respite from the sun on this walk. There are a couple of shady clearings suitable for picnics if you are doing the walk, but not worth a detour. Drivers wanting a circular walk can park in the olive groves about 1 km after the castle, joining the walk at the 20 min-point. Follow walk to 2h20 min-view point. After crossing back over the bridge at the fish farm the return leg can be walked along the beach, stopping for refreshment at one of the cantinas. (User, dated June 2006, sent to us April 2007)

Walk 21: There is now no view to be had by following the hunters' path from the monastery ruins. The beach at Akroudillas was deserted when we arrived at 10:30, but filling up by the time we left at 12:00. (User, 10/05) + Short walk: I don't agree with previous user's comments, there is still a good view if you can manage to find the correct route. After about 20 to 25 meters from leaving the main walk, take the right fork, then follow the well worn track. The left fork has no view. The path to right at the T-junction was so overgrown that we could not be sure we had found the T-junction. (User, dated June 2006, sent to us April 2007)