achilleion palace

We had a wonderful visit to the Achilleion Palace it is so well looked after the hand set guide was an absolutely brilliant idea and easy to use. The statues are amazing and the views from the gardens were wonderful. We will definitely return for another visit. In comparison to other places we have visited this is very good value. The staff could not be more helpful. We recommend a visit if you have time.

A beautiful building with pretty gardens & so much to see of great interest. Have been 4 times & will go again.

The owners of this building clearly had an obsession with statues. Wherever you look, either in the grounds , inside the palace, or on the outside of the palace, there are countless, wonderful, statues. They range from Achilles, complete with arrow in his heal, although most of the arrow is missing, to Lord Byron, sitting pensively in the undergrowth. The palace is in a wonderful state of repair and is well worth a visit. No trip to Corfu would be complete without a visit to the palace. there are plenty of tourists/visitors, but the palace and its grounds are so large that the numbers are not a problem. Lovely views from the terrace.

It was one of my niece’s dreams to visit the Achilleion, the palace Sissi built in Corfu between 1889 and 1991, just after the suicide of her son, and which she visited until her assassination in 1898 – but when she toured it late September 2014 it turned out to be a big disappointment while it’s supposed to be one of Corfu’s main attractions. It’s sad because it could be a very impressive place if well kept/furnished and better organized. To start with, parking is a nightmare - even off season . Only tours and taxis were allowed to reach the palace’s entry, cars had to park far below and haphazardly as the road is very narrow with kamikaze buses. Then it’s a rip-off - EUR 7 entry fee + EUR 3 for the necessary audio guide as the information labels are hardly informative nor legible (and an additional EUR 3 if you want to purchase the picture they take automatically of you at the entry door - and why not near Sissi’s statue?) . With the crowds and tours going daily through the Achilleion, one would think that it would at least pay for a minimum of paintwork and repairs. Unfortunately there are traces of neglect everywhere - such as big chunks of plaster missing in the walls, flaky paint and denuded wiring. Only ground floor is accessible and the rooms dedicated to Sissi’s are sparsely and poorly furnished with copies - and sad paste copies of her jewelry and not even a proper print of her most famous portraits (e.g. the Winterhalter one). As for the gardens, they are by now mostly overgrown and unkempt, though the views to the sea are stunning et the two statues of Achilles – dying and victorious – impressive. (though they could do with some cleaning).

This is a must place to visit when in Corfu. I have been visiting Corfu for the past 5 years and I only went to the achillion palace this August. And I regret that I haven't visited it before.The palace is absolutely beautiful. Princess Sissy of Austria used to live here and you can see the history of her life.

Even if you are on a tight schedule this is worth the short ride from town. Three floors of pure opulence. This is not really a site for kids since they will become bored in a very short time and they cant exactly run around the place. Still, the gardens the murals and the sculptures made it a worthwhile visit.

We truly enjoyed our tour of the Achillion, built by Sissy, Empress of Austria as a spring and summer retreat. The rooms are beautifully decorated. There is furniture in a bedroom with a very simple bed but the other furniture is quite large and inlaid with a Greek key design. The paintings are very lovely and the view from the terrace of the sea is incredible. Beautiful villa and grounds (they filmed part of "For Your Eyes Only" at this site.). A must see if one is in Corfu!

we took the local bus out to the palace the entrance fee was 7 euros it was a lovely preserved building, the views overlooking corfu were great there were some Achilles statues which make you feel your truly in greece

Great to visit lot's of Interesting Artefacts. Lot's of PEOPLE!!! DOH!! Go Mid-Week and Out of Season!

Lovely palace and gardens - try to get with a group for tour/explanations.Particularly the statues of Achilles in the garden

Beautiful palace with amazing paintings and sculptures. Well kept gardens with breathtaking views. It is not a huge place so you will complete the tour in a relatively short time but it's enjoyable and you learn some interesting facts about the Empress.

The palace is kept very nicely and has very good information in the recorded guide.It gives the impression and the atmosphere of the life there and the story of the Empress.

We visited here a part of a Discover Corfu day trip. The palace was beautiful, a lovely building, tons of history and some amazing views of the island from the gardens. The guide was excellent. The itinery was good and action packed but would have been difficult for people with mobility problems

Typical Corfiot mountain road to get here. Very limited parking and we were here at the very end of the season. What gardens there may be were roped off and appeared to be down near vertical steps. Palace ok but not much in it apart from some admittedly gorgeous paintings. Nice sculptures on one of the terraces that did have small, descriptive plaques. My biggest gripe was the lack of description signs. You are forced to rent one of those appalling audio description machines (one each,i suppose) which I hate so we were round and out in not much more than an hour.

I read 2 guide book reviews of the Achilelion Palace before my visit, they were by Lawrence Durrell who described the building as a "monstrous building" and by the American Henry Miller as "the worst piece of gimmickry he had ever laid eyes on" but we went any way as a party of 4, we all disagreed 100% with their views and found it to well worth the time spent visiting this local attraction, it is the most visited tourist attraction in Corfu, it was easy to see why, if you go to Corfu visit if you can it is well worth it.