We arrive on the island and begin our adventure travelling independently to our accommodation at Casa Lucia, our base for the week. Here we'll meet our guide and the rest of the group for a welcome briefing outlining our plan for the adventures that lie ahead. Settle down in one of the many cottages that make up this beautiful independent property, surrounded by patchwork gardens filled with butterfly kissed flowers and the evening hum of grasshoppers. This evening you are free make your own arrangements for dinner. You might like to venture by taxi to the nearest town, Gouvia, or perhaps take a short stroll around the corner to Casa Lucia's sister restaurant, Lucciola, a beautiful homely nonna's kitchen with an incredible menu of freshly prepared Greek delicacies mixed with plenty of western favourites.

This morning we will prepare our own breakfast, basic supplies will be found in the kitchen areas of each property. After breakfast, we'll meet our transfer and head out on our first adventure. A meandering coastal journey lies in store for our first leg of this epic odyssey. We'll walk first along the sweeping bay of Avlaki and then into the cool of the trees emerging at the next beach a few hundred metres later. We'll then delve further into the woods creeping silently along the track listening out for bird and reptile life in the nationally important Eremitis Nature Reserve. There are many small bays along this stretch of coastline with beautifully calm and bright blue waters with metronome waves lapping the shore. We will have time to stop and jump in at many points along this walk, particularly as the mercury climbs. You'll be awestruck by the incredible views here, across the Ionian Sea to the sub alpine ranges of Albania and far northern Greece. But don't be drawn in by the siren like charms of these jaw dropping views, we've a port to storm, our lunch stop in the beautiful bay of Agios Stefanos. There are a few bars and restaurants here, or you can rent a sun lounger for a few euros and make camp here. This afternoon we'll continue on around the coast, initially on a short stretch of quiet road and then back to coastal footpaths to reach our final destination at Chouchoulio. One mission complete, now back to Casa Lucia with some time in their lovely pool and gardens before making plans for dinner. This evening we can again eat as we wish, perhaps take a taxi into the local village of Gouvia to dine at one of their many great restaurants.

Today we meet a pair of demi-gods of the Corfiot climbing scene, Pavlos and his wife Athina. They will lead us through olive groves and along a quiet singletrack path to a glade among the trees with an incredible slab of limestone protruding between us and the view. Here they will show us their craft, instructing us on various grades of climb on this, the first and one of the only bolted climbing rocks on Corfu. Their experienced hands will show us the ropes, and we will all have an opportunity to join in one or two climbs whilst we're here. Whilst not climbing there is plenty of space to relax away from the rock faces, and cheer on your fellow adventurers in the dappled shade of the glade. Pavlos and Athina are fully qualified climbing guides who will belay each climber in turn, offering calming and steady words of encouragement as we climb. From the gentler graded scrambles around the side of the slab, there are incredible views down to the coast we'll be walking into this afternoon. We'll finish with a picnic here, before leaving our climbing guides and descending down into the olive groves and the beautiful view beyond. Benitses is our final destination for the day, an hour or so further down the trail, emerging through the backstreets to a laid back courtyard set-back from the main street, with plenty of coffee shops and shopping opportunities, and the beach and marina beyond. We'll have some time to relax here, or maybe a dip in the sea before our return transfer to the cottages. This evening we have dinner included at Lucciola, a short walk around the corner from the Casa Lucia cottages.

We'll make a later start today, so if parents, you're desperate for a lie in and a lazy breakfast, today's the day for that. Later in the morning we'll set off bound for the principal town of the island, Kerkyra, for a treasure trail with a difference. Borne out of our guide's love for their home town, this will be a voyage of discovery through the eyes of the children. We'll imagine ourselves as Ottoman pirates racing through the labrynthine streets of the old town, or perhaps as Venetian nobility, establishing our presence by constructing grand buildings and marble floored squares. We'll spend the majority of the afternoon piecing together this complicated but fascinating historical puzzle and learn about the various empires that have had an interest in this strategic stronghold and the marks they've left on the architecture, culture and food of the island. Being a coastal stronghold there is also access to the water, so we may have chance to cool off in the sea between knowledge raids, particularly in the height of summer. This evening we'll be taken to one of our guide's favourite restaurants in Corfu Town to sample some local delicacies and unwind after a busy day exploring, before a later than normal return to the accommodation.

After learning about the history of the town and therefore the island on yesterday's discovery trail, today we'll have a more low-key morning with a Greek dancing lesson. This will be another discovery tour of the important influences on Corfu and wider Greece through history, via movement and tradition. Our engaging tutor Fenia will envelop us in her passion for Greek dance and how it has evolved over the centuries, inviting us to take part and form our own routine. A relaxed morning at Casa Lucia either in the studio space or perhaps among the gardens. This afternoon we have at leisure. You may choose to stay at Casa Lucia and join in with the owner Zoe's body movement yoga class (book on at the start of the week), or perhaps catch a taxi down to the local shoreline at Gouvia for an afternoon relaxing or playing in the sea. This evening is free to enjoy the local restaurants either in Gouvia, or perhaps at Lucciola adjacent to the accommodation.

An early start this morning, perhaps with a packed up breakfast for the bus, sees us heading south for the small coastal resort of Chalikounas to meet our wildlife specialist Giannis and the start of today's explorations. The neighbouring Korission lagoon is a hotspot for birdlife. Depending on the season, and how stealthy we can be, we might be able to see flamingos taking a morning dip or egrets gliding across the surface of this vast freshwater lake. We'll progress along the coast and into the juniper trees, dotted amongst the dunes here creating a rare and important ecosystem. The trees here act as shelter in this desert-like dunescape, providing shade for reptiles to cool their blood and hide from predators. Giannis will be on hand to help us to identify these creatures by tracking the marks left in the sand, including lizards, snakes, foxes and birds. Look out particularly for the mark of an elusive non-poisonous snake, the javelin boa, aptly named by the ancient Greek sailors who collected them to throw onto the decks of enemy ships causing havoc and confusion in the depths of a skirmish, often to great effect! We should finish the walk before the heat of the day, important particularly in the height of summer, allowing some beach time at Issos before our return transfer. Tonight we have dinner included again at Lucciola around the corner from our accommodation.

Our day starts on a windy bus transfer to an outpost of the Byzantine Empire. Perched on the top of a remote monolith overlooking the bay of Paleokastritsa, is a heavily fortified 5th Century castle used as a watch point over the Ionian Sea beyond. Today we'll take the castle by force, climbing its many steps to reach the heavily gated entrance and explore inside. At the highest point is a church and surrounding, several eerie graves hewn out of the solid rock. Creepy. Leaving our newly conquered castle behind we descend through pencil thin cypress trees into the bay of Agios Giorgios, a popular tourist resort, with a large stretch of part sandy part shingly beach. We'll have some time here to swim before boarding our own chartered boat for a trip across the bay and around the headland in search of our next adventure, the impossibly picturesque and tiny back-to-back coves at Porto Timoni. Here we'll have some more time to swim or perhaps take a short walk over the headland to discover a tiny church within a cave devoted to the patron saint of children, a mysterious place within a beautiful landscape. The final part of today's adventure involves a hill climb up to the perched village of Afionas. We'll take a rocky and precipitous path up to the village through cypress bushes and wildflowers, making sure to look back into the increasingly impressive view as we climb. Without doubt a one of the highlights of the whole trip, this day will stay long in the memory. Drink in the panoramic views with a nice cold drink to round off an awesome adventure around this fabulous stretch of coastline. Return tonight to Casa Lucia and a final night celebration meal at Lucciola.

After breakfast we will depart Casa Lucia bidding a fond farewell to our wonderful hosts Zoe and Val, and make our own way to the airport for our onward journeys.