Corfu Tour with Achillion Palace and Paleokastritsa

a visit to the old town of Corfu, the Paleokastritsa region and the Sisi Palis during our stay on the island of Corfu. Three sites to see absolutely. The old town of Corfu with its shops, bars and restaurants. To do at night is even more beautiful. Sisi's palace cannot be seen from the inside because there are works, but the gardens and the view are beautiful Paleokastritsa is a small town in the northwest of the island. You can discover a sublime panorama. take a short boat ride, the view from the sea is splendid.

Eleni, Eleni, Eleni. Our tour guide Eleni made this full day tour seamless, spectacular and worth every penny. Her knowledge, devotion to her country, language and culture made this day beyond we could imagine.

We booked this tour as part of the TUI collection. First the positives : the tenacity of the bus drivers and their skills at manoeuvring the sketchiest of roads is unparalleled. Secondly our tour guide was extremely knowledgeable and seemed to know something about everything. Next the negatives: 1. Spent an hour on the bus to be driven to the end of the airport runway. Stopped for a toilet break that you had to pay for. 2. Then another 30 minutes on the bus to go to the CLOSED achillion palace. A palace which has been closed for renovations for 2 years… therefore you can only visit the gardens. (NB Should you wish to visit privately, the gardens entrance fee is €5) A lot of the gardens are restricted with red and white tape. The view from the garden is lovely. We spent 20 minutes having a guided tour and then 20 minutes of our own time here. 3. Another hour on the bus to the kumquat “distillery”. It’s a stretch to call this a distillery… they play you a 5 minute “how it’s made” video, you get a free taster and then are sent to the shop for another 15 minutes. You do not see any of the distillery process in person. It’s essentially a kumquat supermarket. 4. The busses air conditioning broke during our one hour drive to the “distillery” so we were then put onto a different bus. 5. Another 30 minutes on the bus to Paleokastritsa. At which point we were given 50 minutes “free time” to find a restaurant and have food. (NB I would advise taking snacks as the lunch time is late - we didn’t eat lunch until 2:40pm.) We were then given two options - meet back at drop off at 3:30pm to get a boat that would cost an additional €12 each for 40 minutes or alternatively meet at drop off point at 4:25 and spend time in the “aquarium”. 6. We left Paleokastritsa and spent another 35 minutes on the bus, going to the top of the mountain to take a picture of Paleokastritsa from above. 7. Another five minutes on the bus to then have a 15 minute tour of a church. 8. Back on the bus for 20 minutes to go to another shop, pay for toilets and take some Panoramic pictures of north corfu for 10 minutes. 9. We then spent 10 minutes on the bus driving down the mountain… to change buses again (this is the third time for anyone counting). 10. Finally spent another 50 minutes on the bus driving back to the hotel. We left the hotel at 10am, we arrived back at the hotel at 7pm. This is longer than the 4-8 hours advertised. Overall I am very disappointed, this tour is mis-sold! It is essentially a bus tour of Corfu with a few stops. It is not a tour of Achillion palace and a tour of Paleokastritsa. Generally I feel like we have been ripped off considering we paid over £100 for two people to attend this trip. I will be requesting a refund from TUI. If you want to spend 5+ hours on a bus driving around corfu, potentially with or without air-con then this is the trip for you.

The tour was really well organised. We were picked up on a feeder bus and taken to the tour bus. Panos and Nikos were fabulous throughout the day. Panos’s driving skills on the narrow streets were outstanding. I would have struggled with a car 😂 Nikos gave so much information throughout the day. He was an excellent tour guide. We had lunch at the TUI recommended restaurant and the views were spectacular. We then did the boat trip around the caves. It was a wet and wild experience and made the day. Highly recommend this trip