Corfu.

Corfu is the northern gateway to the Ionian, and its calmer water is the defining feature. The Meltemi that shapes the Cyclades does not reach this far west, so the sea here is gentler and the daily cruising more relaxed. Gouvia Marina, ten minutes from Corfu town, is the principal charter base; the Venetian old town, with its two fortresses and arcaded streets, sits at the working heart of the island and anchors the first and last nights of most weeks.

South of Corfu, Paxos and Antipaxos hold the water the island is cruised for: the sea caves and pale coves of the smaller islands, Gaios and Lakka as harbour stops, and short, forgiving passages between them. It is a routing that suits a first charter as readily as a seasoned one. A yacht charter week in Corfu asks little in the way of open-water crossings, and the anchorages are close enough together that a day can be as full or as slow as the brief wants.

For a longer week the Ionian chain opens south. Lefkada, Ithaca and Kefalonia extend the routing beyond Paxos, with Zakynthos at the far end, and the same settled conditions hold the length of the chain. Cross-border extensions toward the Albanian coast or the Italian Adriatic are workable on two-week briefs, with documentation arranged in advance.