The Official Guide to the Corfu Trail
The Official Guide to the Corfu Trail is now available as an app. It has been researched and written by the Trail’s Creator and Developer, Corfu resident and walking guru Hilary Whitton Paipeti. It offers:
The app is downloadable from the Android and iOS platforms. Using the latest technology, it is a hybrid app, which supplies an ongoing map, with audio and written directions at strategic locations as the walker moves along the Trail. Essentially, it is an electronic guide to the Trail, with all the necessary information for your way forward, all on your hand-held device. Once loaded, and with the map opened, the app operates offline on GPS, rather than on an Internet connection, so there is no danger of losing a signal while walking through the island’s numerous phone blackspots.
The new Official Guide contains all the latest updates on the Trail, revisions made personally on the ground by the Trail’s Creator and Developer. Revisions may have been prompted by changes to the route underfoot (footpaths that have been bulldozed, tracks asphalted), or by redirection due to the discovery of an improved way. The route as represented in the app is the official one. It will be updated regularly as future changes occur.
Since publication in 2002 of the original Companion Guide to the Corfu Trail (later a PDF document download), also authored by Hilary Whitton Paipeti, a number of books and electronic guides have appeared, authored by non-official sources and promoters. Because these sources do not have access to the revisions made by the Trail Creator and Developer, nor in most cases to the geographical terrain of the Trail, they are incorrect and invalid. These promoters are now marketing an erroneous route which no longer follows the course of the Official Trail, and often deviates wildly from it, to the detriment of hikers’ experience.
The app is available for free download on Android and iOS platforms. Use the links provided or search for Corfu Narratour. After downloading, you will find multiple maps available. Look for "The Corfu Trail” waymark sign and tap on it. This will take you to the next screen, where you will see a yellow button labeled "Open Map”. Click on this button to make a payment of €20 using your credit card. Once the payment is complete, you will automatically be directed to the Trail and have unlimited access to it at any time from anywhere in the world.
The Official Guide to the Corfu Trail has been produced by the Trail’s Creator and Developer, Hilary Whitton Paipeti, who remains dedicated to the maintenance and improvement of the Trail, in collaboration with Corfu Narratour.
The updated Official Guide to the Corfu Trail is also available as a pdf copy, useful for walkers without an app-enabled device, and for those who prefer to use a print copy. Like the app, the pdf copy is based on the Corfu Trail creator’s ‘Companion Guide to the Corfu Trail’, first published in 2002. Both the updated guides feature changes to the original route, which may be due to alterations in ground conditions, or to the existence of more suitable paths. These changes have been made by the Trail’s creator. The pdf comprises 25 pages in an easy-to-read format. As yet, it does not contain route maps. It can be purchased and downloaded here. There is an option when buying the PDF to purchase the digital map at a reduced price.
Famous ‘Durrell Footsteps’ ebook now available!
Featured on original publication in 1998 as ‘Travel Book of the Week’ in the Sunday Times, Hilary’s book In the Footsteps of Lawrence Durrell and Gerald Durrell in Corfu has now been released as a much expanded pdf ebook. The new updated version includes many anecdotes and additional information, Durrell-related walks and recipes, and a collection of articles appealing to Durrell enthusiasts, some published here for the first time. Please visit the dedicated page on this site.
The Corfu Trail is open and safe to hike in 2026
Our attention has been drawn to an announcement on the Corfu Tourist Facebook page, and on the Corfu Trail Experience website: “Due to the poor weather conditions the island suffered this winter, it has made it impossible for us to check the entire route and ensure the safety of any participants. The 2026 Corfu Trail Experience will now only be held with a select group … We thank everyone for their understanding.”
This statement is completely false and misleading. While the weather last winter was particularly wet and stormy, the maintenance team at Anna Aperghi Travel, which handles ground arrangements for the majority of pre-booked hikers, has fixed the usual problems of fallen trees and rocks, and has cleared a landslide before Agios Georgios North West, where the ground is notoriously unstable and prone to regular erosion.
A section of the Trail on Cape Asprokavos near the start of the Trail has been re-routed along a parallel way due to the irreparable collapse of the beach exit road. Free apps and out-of-date guides not approved by the Trail organisers do not contain this information, and hikers using these resources should be warned that they may put themselves in danger as a consequence.
Please enjoy your tour along the Trail in the full knowledge that it is clear, exercising the normal care you would take when hiking over unfamiliar ground.
It is a pity if anyone has been deterred from walking the Trail this year because of an irresponsible and uninformed statement.
