Corfu, the largest
The largest, most populated and most touristic of the Ionian islands is Corfu: 641 km2, 64 km long and 100 000 inhabitants. Its capital, the charming town of Corfu (40,000 inhabitants), has an airport and boat connections with Igoumenitsa (1h30 crossing), but also with several Italian ports as well as with the Albanian seaside resort of Saranda. Dominated by Mount Pantokrator (906 m), the island benefits from a generous nature: wooded areas, fertile central plain, wetlands attracting migratory birds. In the north, the island is only 3.6 km from Albania. It is bordered by the Adriatic Sea and by two islets which constitute the northern part of the archipelago: Othni (11 km2, 400 inhabitants) and Erikoussa (4 km2, 500 inhabitants).
Paxos, the smallest
About 15 km south of Corfu, in front of the seaside resort of Parga (Epirus), are the gleaming Paxos and its little sister Antipaxos (5 km2, 20 inhabitants). Facing Italy, this comma apostrophizes the traveler. It is a small paradise: with its 25 km2 and its 2,500 inhabitants, Paxos is the smallest of the seven large islands of the Ionian Sea. Punctuated by pine trees, olive trees and vineyards, nature is of a rare beauty: jagged beaches, steep and rocky coasts, secret caves also make up the landscape. This little paradise with its gentle relief (highest point: 217 m) offers the possibility of idyllic walks or bicycle rides.
Lefkada, a bridge to the mainland
The archipelago continues 50 km further south with Lefkada (335 km², 23 000 inhabitants), connected to the mainland by a road bridge near the Ambracian Gulf and the airport of Preveza (Epirus). Its name comes from lefko which means "white", the color of its cliffs. It is a mountainous island with exceptional sandy beaches: the west coast is famous for its white beaches and cliffs, while to the east emerge a dozen islands and islets like Meganisi (22 km2, 1,000 inhabitants) and Skorpios (83 ha), former property of the shipowner Aristotle Onassis passed under the control of the family of the Russian oligarch Dimitri Rybolovlev in 2013. Further south, opposite the port of Astakos (western Greece), the sea is occupied by the archipelago of Echinades, where the naval battle of Lepanto took place in 1571. The twenty small islands that compose it are officially uninhabited. But six of them were sold in 2013 by the Greek state to the Emir of Qatar Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani. Here, the sea has a transparency and a turquoise color that makes one think of much more exotic places.
Ithaca, the homeland of Ulysses
Ten kilometers south of Lefkada stands Ithaca (118 km2, 3,200 inhabitants), which was, according to Homer, the homeland of Odysseus. Widely wooded and culminating at 784 m of altitude, it is composed of two parts connected by a strip of land. Ithaca is mainly accessible from the ports of Patras, in the Peloponnese, or from Cephalonia. Don't expect to find a grandiose site: Ithaca is of a poignant simplicity, as Homer described it. Formed by two mountainous massifs, one of the smallest of the Ionian islands shelters a picturesque port in the shape of a hoof surrounded by trees, a few preserved villages, and is haloed by its legendary past. A thirty-minute climb will lead you to the cave of the Nymphs where Ulysses is said to have hidden the treasure of the Phaeacians.
Kefalonia, the most mountainous
Just opposite, 2 km to the west, begins the large island of Kefalonia (786 km², 35 000 inhabitants). This island is mainly accessible from the ports of Patras, in the Peloponnese, Kilini and Astakos. With beautiful beaches and large wooded areas, it is the most mountainous of the archipelago, reaching an altitude of 1,628 m at Mount Ainos. It is located above a powerful seismic fault, comparable to the San Andreas fault (California), which caused the destruction of the island in 1953. Several earthquakes have destroyed almost all the villages, so do not expect to find the medieval atmosphere of Corfu. But if the reconstruction was not successful in the capital Argostoli, in the countryside you will see beautiful small villages with beautiful gardens. Fiskardo, which miraculously survived the earthquake, has preserved its beautiful old houses around the small fishing port. More and more travelers are also beginning to appreciate its contrasting nature and beautiful sandy beaches. The spectacular beach of Myrto, in particular, is one of the longest sandy beaches of the Ionian Islands.
Zakynthos and its mythical bay
Zakynthos (405 km2, 41,000 inhabitants) is located 15 km further south, opposite the western tip of the Peloponnese. It is easy to reach from the Peloponnese and the port of Killini. The second most touristic island of the archipelago, Zakynthos has an airport and the most famous beaches of Greece with the unavoidable Bay of the Shipwreck with its wreck stranded at the foot of high white cliffs and the beach of Laganas, classified as a national marine park, which shelters a nesting area of the loggerhead turtles, the famous Caretta caretta. The two mountain ranges that surround a fertile valley create beautiful green landscapes, and the steep cliffs contrast with long sandy beaches. In Zakynthos a national marine park was also created in 1999 to protect the endangered turtle species.Kythera, in the Aegean Sea
Finally, completely isolated from the rest of the archipelago, Kythera (278 km2, 4 000 inhabitants) is located in the Aegean Sea, 14 km south of the peninsula of Epidaurus (Peloponnese). Situated below the Peloponnese and isolated from the other archipelagos, Kythera has nothing in common with the other Ionian islands. The trees are rare, the landscapes austere. It is included among the Ionian islands only by convention and depends administratively on Attica. It differs by its rocky and semi-desert soils. It is connected to Neapolis (Peloponnese) and Piraeus by boat and has a small airport. It also forms its own mini-archipelago with two other islands: Elafonisos (19 km2, 700 inhabitants), close to the Peloponnese, and Anticytère (20 km2, 70 inhabitants), halfway to Crete.
