Alykes Tourist Train

Im back to Alykanas on the 20th May this year and i hope to be going on the 'trainaki' trip once again. I have been on it twice now and its brilliant. Last time i took my mother she fell off the train must of been all the free wine she had, so be warned!!

Just read Big Ds comment about the tourist train.  Strangely enough its the most popular trip in and around Alykes and Alykanas.  Wheres the Virago Bar?

did not get to ride the train but i know they are brill becaues my stepmum was the guide and she is brill  

I will edit my comment here as I will not OBJECT to anyones post.

Sorry this so sad  Its typical brits abroad territory

Lets go to Zante and go on the blackpool express

Excellent trip.  We booked this whilst staying in Alikanas 2 weeks ago.  It was a scorching hot day.  The museum was fantastic as was the church with its healing water - stinks but we tried it for sunburn.  Further on we stopped at taverna and met Spiros a lovely, lovely man.  Free wine started to flow and heads started getting fuzzy!!  Once back on train small bottles of wine passed to the ladies however, my sister-in-law is not a wine drinker so she passed to her other half who necked it on the way back to the hotel.  Once back at the hotel and 5 mins by the pool he was snoring. On waking he could'nt praise this trip enough.  Thanks to Brenda for all the info.  We sat at the back of the train with Brenda and as like Brenda we are all from Leicester we had a great time with her.  Unfortunately for Brenda, she sat with my brother-in-law who found it difficult to talk as he constantly had the bottle of wine in his mouth.  Definitely a trip not to be missed and great value for money.  We were going to book the night visit as well but unfortunately as it was end of season, this had been finished.  A must for next year!

This was a fantastic trip and our friends as usuall Avril, Brenda and Dave at the taverna made it extra special!!

Thankyou for a fantastic time yet again and see you in May don't forget to keep our train seats for the Greek Night!!!

This is absolutely great value for money.  Last time we visited we took the train during the day but this time we did the night time trip.  It was really good because you go up in day light but come back when it is getting dark.  We were plied with village wine and all the ladies were given a bottle to take away.  It was absolutely brilliant fun and everyone was singing and enjoying the themselves on the way back to the resort.

 What a great trip this was!The museum put together by Spiros is fascinating to say the least and i thought we going to go back legless when we got to his taverna we were given so much local village wine!!They even brought out grapes and raisins and chips for the kids.We went back to the greek night on the saturday which was excellent value for money.Was it just us or does anyone else think that Spiros has a look of  Sid James from the carry on films!!! Great night out

If you don't book any other trip whilst in Alykanas or Alykes, make sure you book to go on the tourist train! It is well worth the 10 euro. You don't have to book it at Alykes, you can book it in Alykanas at the Jam in Music Bar. You get to see lots of things, and taste the wine  thats the best bit! hehe

This was a great trip. If you are going to do this trip, make sure you book for the saturday night greek night it is fantastic and worth the money. we did not drink 7 carafes of wine ( honest)

We saved the train trip for our last night in Alykes, and deffo saved the best for last. This was the highlight of our holiday. The little museum was fab, the church wonderful. and Spiros and the taverna was outstanding. Suplied with almost endless supply of wine, Spiros was a very proud and welcoming host. This trip was fab, and only 10 euros each, even at double the price it was value for money. An absolute must for any visiter to Alykes!    

This little train trip is well worth 10 euros.  We were waving like made on the way to Spiros' museum.  The stinky water in the church was good for mozzy bites and we brought a bottle to last us the week back to our apartments.  We expected just a couple of free glasses of the village wine but we were plied with so much wine we were sozzled and then we were all given a little bottle each to take back.  We also went on the little train Greek night which was excellent value.

 loved the tour! been to alykes 5 times now but never been on the train, would defo go again.

 This was our third holiday in Alykes but the first time we went on the tourist train.  We thought it would be just round alykes and alykanas but it's not - it's brilliant and great value for money.  Takes you out of the resort to a wonderful museum that Spiros has worked really hard on, a beautiful little church with healing water and across the road to a taverna where you can try Spiros' wine (which goes down really well!).  Dee is very informative and we can't believe we have never been on this before.  We'll be back in September 2007 and will certainly go again.

hya laura, when you arrive in alykanas find the jam-in bar and book the train there with spiros. it runs the tour twice a day and whilst on the tour you will be told about the greek night and able to book it. its on a saturday so go on the train early in your hol as it gets booked up very quickly. the best greek night on the island. enjoy!

if you visit alykes or alykanas make sure you get the best value for money trip on the island.  go on the little train. our guide was called averil and she was fantastic, really made it all come alove for us, and good fun too. the hospitality at spiros taverna was un-believable. came home rat a**ed. (oooops)  the  zakynthian evening on a saturday is the most traditional and authentic we have ever been to, and a gift at twenty euros..  do them both, the best trips on zante. love angela and david.

Won a quiz at hotel and got a free trip for me and my girlfriend on the train, to visit Spiros and his many achievements (I think he's the Don Corleone of Zante). We were a bit worried about what it would be like and if our attention span would last ,but were extremely surprised! The ride was fun and we were forced by the tour guide (forget her name - Northern lass recently married) to wave at everyone on route thus earning us more free wine when we reached the taverna!! We visited a Museum that was suprisingly very interesting (all exhibits collected by Spiros over 500years, so he's old aswell ) and slapped the "Healing water" from the church at St Panteleimona all over the bits on our body that are dodgy -Too personal to elaborate further!!!!  Finished of with loads of wine at Spiros's taverna and was completely wrecked by the time we got back to Alikanas - trip date 23rd May 2006 - Big hello to the two Irish women we got drunk with. - Julian and Beverley xxx

We went on this trip Sept 05. Worth every penny,the 4 of us went on the evening ride,which was ideal as we missed the heat of the day.Its a realy nice trip to Spiros taverna,on the way we were well informed by Dee,she explained all about the Alykes area,also when we arrived at the museum how Spiros had spent a lot of time collecting all the items inside.The food was tasty the wine even tastier.You must book the Greek night with Dee,she realy looks after you makes sure your wine jugs are not empty for to long,excellent night out,not one complaint all night give a go.  .

The train trip was one of the best €10 I spent on hols last year.  It was really interesting and the rep really got everyone gripped.

It's one of the must dos when you go to Alykanas!

went on train a week ago and it was fab,would highly recommend it to anyone.was only 10 euros each.avril the tour guide made it all very interesting from start to finish.enjoyed the meal at the restaurant in pigadaki,and a free bottle of local wine thrown in.museum and church tour were excellent.

Surprisingly, this was actually a good evening out, and the kids (including a 14 year old MTV fan) were just as surprised. The rep (can't remember her name) makes what appears to be a bland museum quite interesting and everyone loved cheering and waving at every restaurant we passed.

We loved this . some lovely views as you make your way to museum and church. Tried holy water on mosquito bites, didnt work!

Also the Trainaki Greek night was brill, very authentic with all the family dancing and singing. Food great again. Wish I could have done this trip again

Excellent more than just a kiddies ride.

Photos of the tourist train

hi  aviril not to sure if you read this ,if you do will be over in september.

great great great. the best greek night we have ever been on. the plates smashed all night 

  Went on the Train on 25th May & thoroughly enjoyed the experience.  We also did the Greek Night on 28th, which was WELL worth the E20 each we paid.  Going home was a riot as most of us were rather merry, as we went passed the Bars & Restaurants the people must have thought we were crazy.  Thanks to Dee & Avril, would love to repeat the experience at a future date.

  Can anyone tell me what time the train runs at and how long it takes . We are back in Tsilivi next week for our 3rd visit and we would like to go on the train

We really enjoyed the train journey when we went on it last May. It was better than we thought it would be. Our son who was 3 at the time thought it was great and says he wants to go on it again this year. It was nice to get out into the Greek country side to see the Greek way of  life and to sample some of the free wine at Spiros` taverna in Pigadakia.

My name is Jane and I worked with Dee on the train the year before last. I am in contact with Dee - if you leave your details I will pass them on to her

it was good we loved greek night as well,sorted for dee will be back in october

anyone know how to get in touch with dee?

Highlight of our stay in Alykes! We thought we were going on a little train trip around the town but turned out to be a lot more! An absolute must for anyone staying nearby!

I can strongly recommend the blessed water in the church on this trip. After 2 1/2 years of trying everything possible to cure my daughters warts on her hands, after one dab of this unhygenic liquid, they disappeared almost over night.
The rest of the trip was fine although our children did find the guides talk in the museum boring, but we just walked out to look around and sit under the tree house. The swarm of wasps at the entrance of the museum nearly had me straight back on the train though. By the way, its not a real train but a road train (my son likes real trains).

We went on the train ride last june [2003] and I was just browsing to see if it is still running because we all ages from 9-69 enjoyed it so much that we want to book for next year when we return to Alykes.I was shoked to read the comments by Daryl and let people know that I think he must of been having a very bad day, because the scenery was lovely and the folk museum looked like a folk museum was supposed to look . We just hope that we can book the evening up at the taverna next time because it was fully booked last time

the train ride was great. we all got invited to a greek night at the taverna and i was talking to Dee about getting married there. Unfortunately I lost the card she gave me.....does anyone know how to contact her?

Daryl - from your comments scattered around this site you seem to have a problem. You are rude and angry about everything on the comments I have seen, what a pity, as you seem to have had such a poor holiday. Could I recommend that you visit your doctor and discuss some treatment for depression / anger, really Zakynthos wasn't that bad, and this must be one of the best local history museums anywhere in the world. What a pity for your anger and boredom to spoil such a peaceful holiday.

this trip has little or nothing to recommend about it. the museum is small and nothing of any particular interest is housed there. we were given some free wine at the taverna opposite. i've never tasted rat's p**s but would guess it was not too dissimilar from the vile concoction that violated my taste buds. this trip is thoroughly unsuitable for children since it induces nothing more than monotonous boredom. if you want to take a closer look at the island's scenery i suggest you take a window seat on the coach transfer from the airport and save yourself the unnecessary time and expence that this tedious rubbish inflicts upon you.

I quite liked this trip although one of the passangers fell seriously ill and had to be taken to hospital which meant we didn't get the full tour guide through the museum which houses farm instruments etc from the past and shows you how the Greeks used to live. The guide on the 'train' gave quite a bit of interesting info as we drove along.It cost us 10 euros.

hi me and my family - hubby, daughters, 6 & 4 , and son 18 months are staying in tsilivi for 2 weeks from 13 june 04- can anyone suggest some good trips suitable for us and how to book etc

How could I get to this from Laganas?

Great journey, wonderful scenery, excellent tour guide, lovely taverna at end of journey, we can't come back in 2004, but we have booked for 2005 so that we can make it for the train journey in the evening so we can experience the night at the taverna

We went on the Trainaki on the evening visit (it left Alykanas at 5pm) expecting to be gone around 2.5 hours. How wrong we were. Everybody was having such a good time at "Kakia Rahi" Taverna drinking wine and eating raisins that we didn't return until 8.45pm.
But what a brilliant time we had. The train ride through the countryside villages was lovely and the museum fascinating. Spiros has collected all the memorabilia from around the island and thank goodness he has as it is so lovely to see how Zakynthians used to live and work. Spiros is a very happy chappy and very passionate about his Museum and Taverna. The trip was made even better by our guide called "Dee". She has a great personality and we thoroughly enjoyed her company. One of the most original excursions we have ever been on and one we would recommend to all ages.

Definately worth going on. The scenary is lovely and Spirios is very sweet, as are the raisens you get to try at his taverna! PLenty of his wine to try as well. We also saw the 108 year old lady, with remarkably dark hair for a lady her age!

Great little outing with the Trainaki ! Spiros is a happy man , always smiling , Dee works hard and deserves a payrise mate!
Don't forget to wave to Dee's better half .

You must go on this trip - well worth the money - and Dee is a lovely lady, spiros has wine to die for and we actually saw the 108 year old lady!

we went on train at the end of june 2003 and for 10 euros each well worth while. a very nice tour of alykes, museum,church,and plenty of free wine with spiros.you pass a house where a 108 year old lady lives and still works.its good that olive oil!

We went on this trip in may 2003. it was 10euros and lasted 2 hours. You visit a museum and a church that has built rebuilt after the 1953 earthquake. Next stop is a taverna where you will get a free glass of wine(or 2). You will learn a bit about local life and have the opportunity to buy some of that gorgeous wine.

I went on the train last year.I think it was about 7 euro's and it lasted 2 hours.There are two trips a day, one at 11.00 and one at 18.00.Well worth the trip.Enjoy your hols....Alan

we are going to alykanas this august.we too would like to know how much it costs,and how long the trip is. thank you very much,gill,mark

My family and I are holidaying in Laganas this May and I was hoping that someone could tell us how much does it cost for the train tour and if possile can anyone give me information on the best excursions and how much they cost. Thanks.

One of the most enjoyable outings of the holiday.

The train takes visitors inland on a round trip to Katastari and Pigadakia and back to Alykanas/Alykes. A visit to a local museum and Taverna were included in the price with a full English commentary (thankyou Dee) on the way there and back about the island,it's history and it's customs. The museum was really interesting due to Dee's knowledge of the people of Zante and the Taverna owner( Spiros ) was very friendly...you can buy homemade wine(try it first excellent!), olive oil etc.We would highly recommend this trip for adults and children away from it all in the hills.