Hi gaznviv
It depends on whether the bus is dropping people off at the plastic complexes just NE of Corfu Town. Why they do this I really can't see, because those people could be there in ten minutes by taxi.
Think 1.5 hours. Probably will be less. Could be more. I don't care. Get into Greek time. The taxi fare to get there scarily fast equates to about 24 bottles of Mythos. I just sit back and look at the pretty mountains, the occasional glimpse of blue sea, the olive and cyprus trees. The other people in the bus are pale and nervous. If I get bored I mentally cast them as extras in "Shaun Of The Undead."
Many of the Undead get off at Sidari. I love passing through Sidari. It reminds me of my childhood. It's like Margate in a microwave. Then the bus turns up into the hills and you get a great feeling of coming home. Navigating Avliotes is wonderful. A village where two donkeys would have trouble passing on the main street has to contend with stonking great buses, Delta ice cream vans, quad bikes piloted by strangely pink people, and rubbish trucks which stop for nobody.
Then the coach passes the brow of the hill and turns down. You can see the sweep of the beach. As you pass Romanza on your right the scent of toast and Kumquat Marmalade wafts through the air-conditioning. Further down it's all elegant cocktails outside Bar38 - short dresses and gorgeous legs (and that's just the blokes). You pass the Athens bar, and mad Spiros shouts "I move table outside for you! Anywhere you want!" Yeasty smells tickle your taste buds as you pass the bakery.
The bus comes to a halt outside Barras. You pull your wheelie bags up to the Little Prince. You get an enormous hug from Dimitris, Mixalis and Pippina.
You are now 24 bottles of Mythos ahead of the game. Time to get started!
Travel is like sex. Fast is good if you're in a hurry - but a slightly slower approach can build anticipation. I think Thomson's have got the transfer absolutely right. It teases with possibility - it makes unexpected adventures to new places - it slows to a halt when you are getting excited. It reveals and then hides. It's sheer air-conditioned foreplay, and I wouldn't swap if for a quick one in a taxi unless I'd got the kind of bladder problem 24 bottles of Mythos can induce!