Zakynthos – balancing Turtles and Tourists
The Greek Ionian Island of Zakynthos Resorts and Beaches Guide
Oct 7, 2009
The bustling Ionian island of Zakynthos (which is also known as Zante) is a pocket-sized destination that punches above its weight when it comes to summer visitors. It is certainly no stranger to sunseekers who jet in from the UK – over 300,000 Brits visit Zakynthos annually, making it the third most-visited Greek island after the major players Crete and Corfu.
With visitor stats like that, those in search of a quiet time or the notion of ‘real’ Greece are better off looking elsewhere among the hundreds of Greek islands. But that's not to say it's all bad news: top-notch beaches on the Vassilikos peninsula and inspirational scenery along the west coast make Zakynthos an island that is still well worth visiting .
The Greek Ionian Island of Zakynthos Best Bases and Beaches
The Vassilikos peninsula tops the bill for finding a tranquil bolthole to soothe away those pent-up weeks of workaday tension. Accommodation options for couples and families are a classier act than anywhere else on the island and the beaches are places to dream about long after the hols are over. There’s not a lot going on in the evening – but what's wrong with dining on local fish, drinking ouzo and falling asleep?
Gerakas beach, a jaw-dropping crescent of golden sand bracketed by strangely-sculpted peaches and cream cliffs, sits at the tip. Greedy developers pigeonholed the island’s best beach as the ideal spot to build their tacky hotels and bars for the tourists. The fact that it is one of the Mediterranean's most important nesting sites for endangered loggerhead turtles was brushed aside callously.
After years of bitter fighting between environmentalists and local businesses that would still be happy to cash in on unfettered tourism, it is now protected and volunteers patrol to make sure nests are not disturbed. Call at the Earth, Sea and Sky visitor centre to learn more about the turtles and conservation efforts.
The resorts of Tsilivi, Alikanas and Alikes to the north of Zakynthos Town are aimed squarely at the UK package market. Families are well catered-for with watersports and sunloungers on gently-shelving beaches of fine sand and stone; for the homesick Brit there’s the comfort of pubs, egg and chips and familiar newspapers.
The one place to steer well clear of is the lager and kebab frenzy of Laganas. Banging neon-lit theme pubs thronged with mad-for-it yoof slurping up happy hour booze and all-day English breakfasts are all very well for their target market, but hey, who needs to come to Greece to find this stuff?
The neighbouring resort of Kalamaki is less mental, and families could have a pleasant enough time as long as they don’t mind the tacky strip of shopping malls, curry houses and junk food joints. Oh yes, that and the ear-splitting din when planes skim overhead to land at the nearby airport.
Best Sights around the Greek Ionian Island of Zakynthos
ZakynthosTownis the island's 'big city' with its trendy cafes, bars and tavernas around Agios Markou (St Mark’s) square, the hub of local life. Culture hounds should head for the adjoining square Platia Solomou for the 16th-century stone Sailors Church, painstakingly rebuilt like a giant Lego puzzle after the quake, and the Byzantine Museum housing treasures rescued from quake-ruined churches.
The arcade shopping area of Alexandrou Roma meanders along to the Basilica of St Dionysos, the island’s patron saint whose relics in an ornate silver casket are whispered to by a constant stream of worshippers.
Zakynthos' scenic banquet lies along the rollercoaster west coast road. Kicking off in the south, Keri is a postcard-pretty village of steep cobbled alleys, but the real drama lies out on the coast near the lighthouse where wild limestone cliffs and sea stacks rise from an azure sea.
Further north is Kiliomenos, a hill village where pre-earthquake buildings still survive. Its shops sell a mouth-watering bounty of local organic olive oil, honey and fresh oregano. A head-spinning pit stop awaits at Kambi, where tavernas perched on the cliff's edge guarantee a memorable lunch venue as long as the dizzy plunge below doesn't cut the appetite.
Finally, the island's most dramatic sight awaits in Shipwreck Bay, where those immune to vertigo can teeter on an iron viewing platform cantilevered above the void. Why? A nail-biting few steps to its end reveal a photogenic shipwreck sunk into the honey-hued sands of a hidden turquoise cove.
Getting to Zakynthos from the UK
All the major UK charter airlines fly direct into Zakynthos daily from April to October.
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