Filming locations in Corfu

Corfu is a green Ionian island of Venetian forts, olive groves and turquoise coves, and for set-jetters it is the sun-soaked idyll of The Durrells. The much-loved series follows an eccentric English family who decamp here in the 1930s and fall slowly under the island's spell, and it basks in two faces of Corfu, the handsome old town and the clear bays of the north-east coast.

Start in Corfu Old Town, a UNESCO-listed tangle of Venetian fortresses, shuttered lanes and arcaded streets that recurs throughout the family's island life. It is free to wander on foot and compact enough to read in a morning, with two old forts you can climb for a small fee. Settle under the Liston arcade for a frappe, the way the island has done for generations.

Then make for Kalami Bay on the calmer north-east coast, the show's quintessential seaside. This is the clear, sheltered bay overlooked by the White House that the real Durrell family knew, with tavernas and easy swimming off the rocks. You can hire a boat here to nose into the neighbouring coves, with the mountains of Albania looming just across the strait.

The two sides knit together easily, though the coast road out to Kalami is winding, so leave time. Base yourself in or near the old town for its dinners and atmosphere, and treat the north-east bays as a relaxed day trip by car or boat. The island is reached by a short ferry or flight from the mainland, which makes the whole thing painless to arrange.