Submit a photo
Submit a photo
Ninety seconds on Achilleion
Yes, the gardens and outdoor areas open every day. From April to October the hours are 8am to 8pm, and from November to March 8am to 4pm. Hours can shift on public holidays, so check the official site on the day.
Take a blue city bus from San Rocco square to Gastouri. The ride takes 20 to 25 minutes, and the gate is a 5 to 10 minute walk uphill from the stop. Check the line for Gastouri on the board at San Rocco.
Yes, for the statuary and the gardens built around the myth of Achilles, even with the palace rooms closed. The outdoor areas have reopened with their marble statues restored, and the terraces look out over the Ionian.
No, a tour is optional. Independent visitors walk the grounds on their own, and visitors report audio guides on site that cover the art and the history.
In the hill village of Gastouri, you walk the gardens of the palace Empress Elisabeth of Austria built as a retreat and dedicated to the Greek hero Achilles, with his statues on every level.
The name means the place of Achilles, and the hero is the subject of almost everything here. Marble figures drawn from Greek myth stand across the gardens. The best known is the Dying Achilles, by the sculptor Herter.
Empress Elisabeth of Austria, known as Sisi, built the neoclassical palace in 1890 as a retreat. Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany later bought it and used it as his summer residence.
The grounds are what you see today, laid out in terraces with views over the Ionian. Bougainvillea paths lead between the statues to the peristyle terrace, with the white facades of the palace behind. Lookout points face back toward Corfu Town and the coast.
The palace rooms are closed for restoration, and the visit covers the outdoor areas and the Imperial Gardens, with their restored marble statues. Reduced-price tickets are sold only at the ticket offices on site.
From Corfu Town the drive takes about twenty minutes. Blue city buses from San Rocco square stop in Gastouri, a short uphill walk below the gate.
Past the gate, the first statues stand in the outer grounds, ahead of the palace. Allow 60 to 90 minutes for the gardens.
No boat runs to the palace. Land in Corfu Town and carry on by bus or taxi.
Driving out of Corfu Town, take the national road toward Achilleion as far as Ponti, then turn left. From there the road climbs through olive groves to Gastouri.
In summer the midday sun glares off the white marble. The upper garden paths have cypress trees for shade.
Explore the rest of Corfu
Venetian forts, a British palace and French arcades share one walkable old town, listed by UNESCO for its fortifications. As a base it puts…
The ruins of a Byzantine castle on a sheer crag above the northwest coast, near Paleokastritsa. A path climbs from the road below through…
A small islet off the tip of the Kanoni peninsula, crowded with cypress trees around a Byzantine chapel. Small boats run out to it in…
The Venetian fortress caps the rocky headland between the harbour and Valtos bay, reached on a steep cobbled lane from the town. Inside the…
Pastel houses climb a hillside below a Venetian castle, facing a bay with a chapel on its islet. On the Epirus mainland coast, the town…
A limestone gorge cut by the Voidomatis river, up to 1,350 metres deep, which Guinness lists as the deepest in the world for its width. The…
Two stone villages sit under the grey cliffs of the Astraka towers at the northern mouth of the Vikos Gorge, linked by a short road and a…
Last updated