Located on the western coast of Greece, opposite Italy and under Albania, is the Ionian sea. Because of its distance from Athens, and the convenience of ferry hopping from the capital’s main ports, this side of Greece tends to be less touristic – but incredibly beautiful. Unlike the dry cycladic gems, the west coast is lush – green forests hanging from white cliffs over bright blue waters. Amongst the most popular is Zakythos – an island known for its turtle beaches, and shipwreck bay. While it is considered quite touristic, the below experiences are based on a visit in July 2021 – a quieter and unusual time to visit, but an honest reflection of what the island has to offer:
LOGISTICS
GETTING THERE:
While Zakynthos does have an airport, we roadtripped from Athens to Kyllini and took a ferry (with the car) across to Zante. Admittedly, you can stop along the drive and explore the mainland bays and villages, but the Ionian islands are incredible and worth all the time they can get.
GETTING AROUND:
If it works with your budget, I would highly recommend renting a car. Unlike the cycladic islands that can be done on foot / with a quad bike, Zakythos is a large island and, with the flexibility and freedom of a car, has lots to explore between the main sites.
ACCOMMODATION:
We stayed in an Airbnb in Zante – not one that was particularly ‘wow’ but the location was central and a great base for exploring the island.
EXPLORING THE SURROUNDS:
The Ionian islands are, in my opinion, the most beautiful. If you would like to ferry hop, like we did, inquire about direct routes between the islands at the ferry ticket office. The online platforms kept on promoting routes that required a trip back to the mainland port, instead of island-to-island. With that in mind, be sure to check which port you are leaving from as there is one in the north and south of the island – and quite a few bays are named after the island’s patron saint ‘Agios Nicholas’ – I’m sure you can understand why this is important to distinguish…
EXPLORE
Xigia, sulphur beach
Amongst the many beautiful beaches and caves, Zakynthos also has natural sulphur springs, and is considered to be a natural healing spot for skin and muscle ailments. Xigia is a beautiful bay wedged between cliffs (there is a bit of a walk down to the beach). To make life easier, the cafeteria on top of the hill made a pulley system, so that visitors can order and have snacks delivered down to the beach in the basket (like a mini cable-car), quite cute! At the cafe itself, there’s also a veranda overlooking the neighbouring bay, and is a lovely place to cool off with a frappé.
note: sulphur does have a bold scent, so if you don’t like the smell of eggs, maybe keep your swim short.
Navagio, shipwreck beach
from above:
I didn’t know about Navagio shipwreck, to be honest. I thought we were going on a walk to a ‘normal’ look-out point, and then I saw the shipwreck and bright blue waters. It’s incredibly beautiful to see and the path (a bit slippery, so be careful) just boasts amazing views. As touristy as I imagine it to be now, I think it’s worth it.
from below:
We got given a card to some glass bottom boat that would take us to the shipwreck beach and caves – the guy suggested the morning trip because it would be “quieter”. As incredible as it is to see, the water was freezing and the beach was packed! I’d suggest taking a slightly later boat out, enjoying the view in full sunshine and swimming in warmer waters. We then got to visit the sulphur caves and swim in those turquoise waters – a really incredible experience and so lovely to see.
Overall: VERY cool (remember to bring snacks)!
Blue caves
This was mentioned above; I’d recommend taking a half-day boat and seeing the caves and shipwreck together. Both are incredible, and is a more cost and time effective option to consider.
Swim with turtles
I’ll be honest, we planned our Greece trip specifically to swim with turtles, and Zakynthos was apparently the place to be. After visiting the various ‘nesting’ beaches, and swimming in all depths of waters, we still hadn’t seen a turtle. By our final day, we asked one of the locals where he suggested we go. ‘Conveniently’, he had a boat and suggested we join his tour to:
* Keri Caves,
* Marathonisi Caves, and
* Turtle Island.
After a lot of back-and-forth, we agreed to join him. I guess it helped that we were the only ones on the tour that could speak Greek so he seemed to take a liking to us. This meant that after seeing the beautiful caves, the beach with the long white scarfs, and enjoying a coffee from an ‘ice cream boat’, we started to head back and came across a turtle!! Our guide told us he’d look the other way so we could jump in and swim with the turtle for 2 min – I think he needed a different license to permit his clients to swim, but we were 10m from the shore and could have come across the turtle ourselves.
Makris Gaios, beach
Favourite beach! Doesn’t seem photogenic but it’s a beautiful pebble bay with crystal clear water – we came back a few times. There is a cafe across the road, and ample street parking.
Greek flag, sunset spot
If you’ve travelled through Greece, you’re bound to come across a few patriotic flags here and there. Unbeknownst to us, Zante has the world’s largest flag and it flies high above one of the most recommended sunset spots on the island. While there is a cafe on the site, we brought some watermelon and snacks to enjoy with the view – quite cool way to end the day.
EAT
Dominicale Resto, seafood restaurant
BEST place for a celebratory dinner or occasion – partly because of the setting: you’re on the water’s edge and in the most exquisite restaurant. But also because of the food – we got to choose the fish (like it’s *fresh*) and it’s prepared for you. We also had the best service – it could be because we visited during covid and things were quieter, but the people were so friendly and helpful (and gave us plenty ‘on the house’ treats). All aside: highly recommend this spot. (There is also a small church on the site and very special to see)
Diachroniko, taverna
Located in Skoulikado in Alykes is this beautiful taverna overlooking farm fields. We ordered greek salad, chips, tzatziki, dakos and gemista – I still think about this tzatziki and remains the best I’ve ever had. It’s not a very ‘wow’ venue and we stumbled on it en route back from Navagio, but the food was amazing.
Pieros, gelato
This was the best gelato we could find on the island, and where I requested we go on my birthday back in 2021.
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