Paxos

Paxos, sometimes written Paxi, is the smallest of the seven principal Ionian islands, a sliver of land barely ten kilometres long lying about fifteen nautical miles south of Corfu. It has no airport and no big resorts, and that is precisely the point. Ferries and hydrofoils cross from Corfu Town to the little capital of Gaios in anything from around an hour on the fast boats to roughly an hour and three-quarters on the conventional car ferry, and there are also seasonal links from Igoumenitsa and Parga on the mainland.

The island's defining feature is its olive groves, hundreds of thousands of ancient trees planted under Venetian rule, their gnarled and hollowed trunks giving the interior a silvery, almost sculptural quality. Between the groves run drystone walls, old olive presses and quiet lanes ideal for walking. The east coast holds the three harbour villages that give Paxos its character: Gaios, sheltered behind the islet of Agios Nikolaos; the horseshoe bay of Loggos; and pastel-fronted Lakka in the north, a favourite anchorage for yachts.

The west coast is entirely different, a wall of white limestone cliffs plunging into deep blue water and pierced by sea caves such as Ipapanti and the great arch at Tripitos. Boats explore them from the harbours, and swimming here is a matter of ladders into clear water from rocky ledges rather than broad beaches. For sand and shallows, most visitors take a short boat trip to neighbouring Antipaxos.

Paxos suits travellers after a slow, sophisticated kind of island life: long lunches at the water's edge, evenings watching the fishing boats come in, and days spent pottering between coves by small hired boat. It is a place with more tavernas and yacht moorings than nightclubs, popular with sailors, walkers and returning regulars. Come between late spring and early autumn, allow at least three or four days to settle into its rhythm, and let the island's smallness become its greatest luxury.