Overview

Achilleion is a palace built for the Empress Elisabeth of Austria, often known as Sisi. The palace is more large villa and the rooms are rather modestly furnished inside. The house is step free. However I didn't get a chance to explore the gardens as they are on a hillside with steps. Therefore this review will focus on the building rather than its gardens. It featured in James Bond's For Your Eyes Only.

Transport & Parking

I visited as part of a private taxi tour so I was dropped off at the entrance gates and collected from their too. I don't know about public transport but I think there is a hop on hop off sightseeing busy that stops here.

Access

The Palace is built on top of a hill. From the entrance gate there is a gentle slope up to the front of the house. There are a couple of steps to the front door but there is a ramp, see photo. Once inside there is step free access to the house. There is the ground floor, then the choice of lift or staircase to the upper floors. There are 2 lifts one is for staff and the other for visitors, I used both, and they were identical, being one of the poshest lifts I've been in with seating and mirror, see photo. The lifts are not very well signposted. There are more rooms to visit on the first floor and on the second floor there is also ramp access to a garden terrace with a number of statues and a small refreshment bar with some seating. From here there were 2 separate flight of stairs down into the gardens. I didn't explore these, see photo.

Toilets

I didn't use the accessible toilet while I was there, as it is mentioned on their website plus someone did a TA review in July 2017 confirming this.

Staff

When we arrived my taxi driver was unsure if I would be able to manage visiting the house and he asked the person at the entrance if I could just go inside and take some outside photos of the house. I was allowed in and I felt I could manage the house so I came back out and bought my ticket from the ticket office. The staff at the entrance to the house told me when the lift was. The staff were very helpful.

Anything else you wish to tell us?

Achilleion is very beautiful and I think it is well worth visiting, even if the gardens aren't fully accessible. My taxi driver guide was very thoughtful about the timing of my visit. He explained in the mornings, especially when there are cruise ships in, the palace is very popular and very busy with groups tourists and school parties. He waited until mid afternoon for us to visit, and it wasn't very busy. This thoughtfulness added greatly to my enjoyment of the palace. I've done a separate taxi tour review and highly recommend it and the palace. Achilleion is something you don't expect to find on a Greek island and was actually part of the reason I chose to visit Corfu in the first place. Highly recommend both for the venues architecture, history and accessibility.

Photos