The appeal of the recent television series The Durrells was immense, resulting in the production of four series between 2016 and 2019 of the addictive drama on the life of the Durrell family on pre-WW2 Corfu. The series won a number of BAFTA and other awards.
The story of this young English family, the three children led by their mother Louisa, making a home on the Island of Corfu following the death of their father and husband, the comic tensions between the family and their interaction with the various Corfiot characters that they befriend, make the series very engaging viewing. Most importantly the series is filmed on Corfu and provides a beautiful window into the natural environment of the Island, its villages and towns, the people and their customs in vivid colour.

And we all love the many local identities they encounter, ranging over local villagers, various love interests and friends but especially Theodore Stephanides the doctor and zoologist who befriends and introduces the young Gerald to the wonders of nature on Corfu and of course the ever-helpful taxi driver Spiros “Amerikanos” Chalikiopoulos. They may be characters embellished with an outsider’s vision, fictionalised versions of the real people, but they are warmly and finely drawn. Who would not want to sit down and share an ouzo with these two characters by the clear Ionian Sea?

The series of course is based on the trilogy of books written by Gerald Durrell, the youngest of the family and the future zoologist, comprising My Family and Other Animals (1956), Birds Beasts and other Relatives (1969), and The Garden of the Gods (1978), together forming The Corfu Trilogy. Together these fictionalized biographies cover the 5 years Gerald’s family spent on Corfu between 1935 and the outbreak of WW2. These are not only classic tales of childhood and growing up but stories evoking a beautiful image of Corfu and Greece, of an island paradise. The stories range across personal dramas as well as comic, light-hearted scenes.
Apart from spurring on reprints of Gerald’s original books, the series has stimulated the publication of various other books exploring aspects of the real life of the Durrells and their friends on Corfu – such as Michael Haag’s The Durrells of Corfu and David Shimwell’s Dining with the Durrells. Where the former brings to life many of the real people on which Gerald drew his characters and those who didn’t make it into his fictionalised accounts, in the latter readers will learn some of Louisa’s original recipes, all brought to life by the associated family stories and photographs. Lovers of the series or Gerald’s Corfu books will enjoy these.

The life and story of the Durrells on Corfu as well as the resulting promotion of the Island and Greece is obviously a cause for celebration, comparable to the artists who came to Hydra after the war. This year brings a special anniversary – the centenary of Gerald Durrell’s birth on 25 January 2025. News has arrived that Corfu is planning to host a series of events to celebrate his birth and the whole Durrell experience on Corfu. What could be better!
Recently the Corfu Tourist organisation released the following information on these planned events for the Island’s celebration. They range over the literary, the musical and the culinary:
- Philharmonica Performance: Saturday 24 May, Church of St George: A performance by the Corfu Philharmonica Palaea (President Mr Spiros Padovas) of this beautiful music written by Jersey resident Derek Lawrence for the 50th anniversary of the founding of Jersey Zoo, which was performed by The Royal Philharmonic in Jersey in 2009. This event is organised by Dr Lee Durrell and Dr Spiros Giourgas.
- Corfu Butterfly Conservation – Sunday 25 May – Saturday 7 June: The Festival is organised by Corfu Butterfly Conservation (CBC) (Dr Dan Danahar and Dr Anne Sordinas).
- Gerald Durrell’s Corfu– The Play Friday 12 – Saturday 13 September: The reprise of the first stage play of Gerald Durrell’s famous book about Corfu.
- The Corfu Literary Festival – Monday 9– Sunday 14 September: This will feature several talks and workshops themed on the writings of Gerald Durrell.
- The Corfu Food & Wine Festival – Date to be confirmed: It is planned for at least one event to recognise the culinary skills of Louisa Durrell, Gerald’s mother, based on the book by David Shimwell, Dining With the Durrells.

The CorfuTourist organisation also offer via their website four self-guide tours, with maps, that can be accessed by your downloading the relevant Corfu Narratour app (for either Andriod or IOS Apple to device and then following the links to Discovering The Durrells tour guide where you can make your payment and access the selected tour.
The four tours tale the visitor on a tour of 50 locations, including all those seen in the The Durrell’s TV series. You will see the Durrell family house at Kontokali, where they went to school, The Strawberry Pink Villa, The Ricci Mansion, Bosketto Durrell Garden, The White House at Kalami – Larry and Nancy’s House and Danilia Village. Each tour takes approximately 1.5 to 3 hours.

The four tours are listed as follows:
- The Durrells on the East Coast: Displays just the East Coast route and location points for that area, including getting to the parking area in Corfu Old Port to take part in the walk around Corfu Town with the Durrells. There is an additional route in pink to get you to Kanoni.
- The Durrell’s first house and favourite places: This concentrates on the areas of Kanoni, Perama, and their first house in Corfu. The route continues all the way up the West side of the island and ends in Paleokastricta, taking in areas they loved and that played an important part in their lives and books.
- Walk around Corfu Town written by Hilary Paipeti: This walk takes you on an exploration of Corfu Town’s Historic Centre, as seen through the eyes of the Durrell’s. Discover where they stayed, visit places where they hung out, and find the locations they wrote about. This leisurely walking tour will also guide you through some of the town’s lesser-known neighbourhoods.
- Combined Tour: This shows all the information and routes for the above three tours on one map.

So if you are planning your trip to Greece for this year, why not take the opportunity to visit beautiful Corfu and connect with the fascinating story of the Durrell’s.
For more information on the events being planned for Corfu’s Durrell celebration and to access the CorfuTourist tour guide apps go to.
Other tourist websites with information on the Durrells on Corfu as that by the Corfu Tourist Services company and the Thinking Traveller blog.
*Jim Claven OAM is a trained historian, writer and published author who has been researching the Hellenic link to Australia’s Anzac story amongst other Hellenic-themed historical and tourism articles for many years. He can contacted via email – jimclaven@yahoo.com.au