Local Art Corfu Tour

Departing from the port with our coaches, following a scenic drive through the wonderful Corfiot countryside, full of olive groves, pine, cypress, lemon and orange trees, we reach Gastouri Village in the northeast of Corfu Town. The village of Gastouri is set amid beautiful scenery on a green hillside. Dominating the hilltop is the Achilleion Palace, built for the Empress Elizabeth of Austria, the renowned Sissy, in 1890-91 by the Italian architect Kapita. Near Achilleion Palace is situated a local Ceramics workshop Tsami Ceramics, where they create handmade ceramics continuing the tradition of 7000 years of pottery in Corfu. We visit the workshop and showroom and watch the process of creating a ceramic gift from an expert artist.

Nearby the ceramic shop, we visit a traditional olive wood manufacturer that has been growing on the island of Corfu for ages. We visit the showroom in which we admire the beautiful produce and we make a tour in their manufacturing facilities of the wood carving.

Leaving Gastouri Village, your coach takes you to Corfu Old Town and drop you off in front of the Old Venetian Fortress (14th Century – UNESCO World Heritage), opposite the central “Esplanade Square”. Whilst your coach awaits at this point for your return, your guide takes you on a beautiful walking tour of the historic center of the Old Town. Walking around in the maze of winding narrow cobbled streets known as “kandounia”, you visit some of the most elegant quarters of this Venetian-built town, which competes with Napoli, Florence and Venice in terms of beauty, style, character and charm. Walking along the old cricket grounds – a tradition left over by the British – you see the Royal Palace of St. George & St. Michael, an imposing building built entirely of yellow Maltese stone by the first British Commissioner of the island, the spectacular arcades of the Liston Piazza, a down-sized replica of the Rue de Rivoli of Paris, built by the French in the 19th century – before heading into the heart of the old town. You visit the 300-year old Church of Saint Spiridon with its priceless collection of icons and gifts offered to the Patron Saint of the Island.

Following your tour in the town, it is time to board your coach for your return transfer back to your ship.

 

Duration: 4 hours