Mount Pantokrator (906m Summit) and the 14th-Century Ghost Village of Old Perithia

Rising directly behind the north-eastern coast to 906 metres above sea level, Mount Pantokrator is the highest peak on Corfu. Combining a drive up to its cloud-top summit monastery with a long lunch in the hidden 14th-century Venetian stone village of Old Perithia (Palaia Peritheia) tucked into a bowl on its northern flank makes the best inland half-day route on the island.

1. Old Perithia (Palaia Peritheia, Corfu's Oldest Village, 14th Century)

Turn inland off the northern coastal road at Acharavi or Kassiopi and wind up for 15 minutes into a secret, green mountain hollow at 450 metres elevation on the northern slope of Mount Pantokrator. Completely invisible from the sea, Old Perithia was founded in the 14th century by coastal residents fleeing both pirate raids and the malaria-carrying mosquitoes of the coastal marshes:

• 130 Venetian Stone Houses & 8 Churches: at its 17th-century peak, 1,200 wealthy sheep-herders, oak-timber merchants and winemakers lived here in 130 two-storey stone-built Venetian houses encircled like a protective halo by eight Byzantine and Venetian churches (led by the 14th-century red bell tower of Agios Iakovos o Persis at the village entrance).
• Why You Should Come for Lunch: after villagers gradually moved down to the coast in the 1960s, Old Perithia was declared a protected historical heritage site. Today, four or five family-run tavernas (such as Ognistra, Foros and The Old Perithia Tavern) operate inside restored 400-year-old stone courtyards, serving slow-roasted mountain rooster, wild greens pie (tsigaridia), rabbit stifado and homemade walnut cake with local mountain honey.

2. Driving (or Hiking) to the 906-Metre Summit of Mount Pantokrator

From Strinilas village (famous for sweet local Moschato wine under a giant elm tree) on the southern flank, or on foot up the marked 1.5-hour mountain trail from Old Perithia, you can drive all the way to the 906-metre summit of Mount Pantokrator. Step inside the small courtyard of the 1347 / 1689 Monastery of the Transfiguration of Christ (Pantokrator) at the top of the mountain: on a clear morning or sunset, you can see the entire 64-kilometre sickle shape of Corfu from tip to tip, the islands of Paxos, Antipaxos and Erikoussa, the mountains of Albania two miles away, and on crisp days even the coast of Puglia in southern Italy 130 km across the Strait of Otranto.