Ionian Islands (Greece)

Corfu is the northern anchor and the easiest starting point: a UNESCO-listed Venetian old town of arcades and fortresses, plus beach resorts for every taste up and down the coast. Paxos, a short boat ride south, is the boutique choice: tiny, olive-covered, with crystalline coves and no airport to spoil it.

Kefalonia is the most dramatic of the group: the underground lake of Melissani, the village of Fiskardo (which survived the 1953 earthquake intact), and Myrtos Beach, the white-pebble curve under cliffs that you've seen on every Greek travel poster. Zakynthos (Zante) has Navagio, the famous Shipwreck Beach, and the loggerhead turtles of Laganas Bay; the north is quiet and rugged while the south has the nightlife.

Lefkada is connected to the mainland by a causeway, so it's the only one you can drive to, and its west-coast beaches (Porto Katsiki, Egremni) rival any in Greece. Tiny Ithaca and Meganisi are for those who want near-total quiet.

Ionian water is a different colour from the Aegean: deeper, calmer, and that milky turquoise where white cliffs leach into the sea. The finest stretches, Myrtos, Navagio, Porto Katsiki, the Blue Caves of Zakynthos, are best reached or at least best seen by boat. Renting a small motorboat for a day (no licence needed for the smaller engines) is the single best-value splurge on any of these islands, letting you anchor in coves that cars can't reach.

Sea taxis and excursion boats run from every harbour in season. On Paxos, the boat trip around Antipaxos, whose beaches look imported from the Caribbean, is the island's essential half-day.

The Ionians were ruled by Venice for 400 years, not the Ottomans, and it shows: pastel Italianate facades, bell towers, and dishes you won't find elsewhere in Greece. Try Corfu's sofrito (veal in white wine and garlic) and pastitsada (spiced pasta with rooster or beef), kumquat liqueur, and Kefalonia's meat pie, kreatopita.

Evenings are taverna-paced rather than club-paced outside Zakynthos' Laganas strip. The best nights are simple: a harbourside table in Fiskardo, Gaios on Paxos or Corfu's Liston arcade, grilled fish, local Robola or Theotoki wine, and the kind of dusk that makes you cancel tomorrow's plans.

Rent a car per island; buses exist but run on a skeleton schedule off the main resort routes. Scooters are popular but the roads are winding and steep, so only if you're genuinely confident. Ferries link the islands, but less frequently than in the Cyclades: check schedules early, and note that Corfu connects southward to Paxos and onward, while the Kefalonia-Zakynthos and Kefalonia-Lefkada hops are short and easy. A one-way route, flying into Corfu and out of Zakynthos (or vice versa), makes a superb two-week trip.

Fly direct into Corfu (CFU), Kefalonia (EFL) or Zakynthos (ZTH) in season; out of season you'll usually connect via Athens. The islands are greener because they're wetter in winter, and many resorts close entirely from November to April.

Late May, June and September are the sweet spot: warm sea, open businesses, bearable crowds and lower prices. July and August are hot, busy and expensive, especially on Corfu and Zakynthos, though the islands absorb crowds better than Santorini or Mykonos. The sea is warmest in September, making it arguably the best single month.

The shoulder months of April and October suit walkers and sightseers more than beach-goers: wildflowers and empty ruins in spring, golden light and sleepy harbours in autumn. The interior mountains of Corfu and Kefalonia, including the deserted old village of Old Perithia and Mount Ainos' fir forest, are at their best outside high summer.