In 2025 it welcomed 4 million tourists, a record figure considering that Corfu is an island of around 100,000 inhabitants. While the territory grapples with success, crowded beaches and infrastructures under pressure have inevitably pushed to find a way to protect it. The good news? There is a different way to discover the island: to walk the Corfu Trail, a path of about 180 kilometers that crosses the island.
In 2026 this trail turns 25 years old, and it is certainly the best occasion to explore it: away from the most beaten beaches, it offers a chance to discover authentic realities, traditional tavernas where you can taste local specialties and, above all, to savor again the pleasure of taking things slowly.
Corfu Trail, the path to discover
There is a trail that traverses Corfu from south to north. It is called the Corfu Trail; this year it celebrates its 25th anniversary, and it stretches for about 180 kilometers: from Kavos to Agios Spyridon. It isn’t the most postcard-perfect image of the island, with no crowded seafronts and busy beach establishments, but a rougher route that slices along the western coast, climbs inland hills, passes through the Ropa valley, and reaches the northern mountains.
There are those who complete it in a little over a week, grinding through 8 to 20 kilometers per day. Others take a more relaxed approach, spreading the journey over multiple stages. And because today you don’t have to be a hardcore hiker: several operators organize luggage transport. You walk light, sleep in family-run guesthouses, rooms above tavernas, small sea-facing hotels. In short, beyond Corfu’s beaches there is much more to discover on this island.
The stages of the Corfu Trail
Which stages should you not miss along the Corfu Trail? It starts from Lefkimmi, in the south. More of a town than a village, little tourist buzz, a pace more suited to a working place.
Further ahead, near the Prasoudi beach, there is Mitéra: an olive tree said to be about 1,500 years old. In Sinarades one almost stumbles into a small folkloric museum: a nineteenth‑century house, three euros to enter, nobody around. Inside, the rural life of a bygone era, with tools, clothing, and everyday objects.
Heading north, you pass through Sokraki, where ginger beer is still handmade: water, lemon, sugar, ginger. In Old Perithia, a fourteenth‑century village abandoned in the 1960s and then slowly revived, you eat in the shade, among ruins and simple tables.
In the background, the Pantokrator. In the kitchen, simple dishes: tsigareli, sautéed wild herbs, and homemade pies.
Along the western coast, the unmissable Mirtiotissa. According to myth, Odysseus is said to have stranded here… in high season the number of visitors rises, but a stop here is non-negotiable.
Then you reach the island’s northeast, arriving at Erimitis. A peninsula that has remained beyond the transformations for decades, shielded by a military presence: a naval base, with Albania less than four kilometers away. The result is one of the island’s last pristine stretches. Even if changes are underway: since 2012 a part has passed into foreign investors’ hands. And the future here is no longer as guaranteed.
