PLACES TO VISIT

As well as all the resorts with their beautiful sandy beaches Zakynthos is famous for its Loggerhead Turtles and Navagio more commonly known as The Shipwreck the picture of this breath taking cove is featured in nearly every holiday brochure about Greece so much so that I have seen it featured when the island itself is not even mentioned. 

The island is much more than the highly profiled Lagana and the people who come here year after year will know that the media stories are a very minute  part of even the resort of Lagana, so ignore the sensational seeking tabloids and come and see the much bigger and more beautiful side to Zakynthos.

In the next few pages we have highlighted some of the places in Zante that are either hidden away, hard to get to without a car, or the more popular places that you can go via the many excursions both on land and sea. 

Most of the holiday companies will have excursions certainly to Shipwreck, The Blue Caves and around the island tours.  However do make sure that the excursion you go on is the one you want, I have taken people to shipwreck when they wanted 'a swim off a small boat' trip and also had the opposite happen as well.  There are also many companies doing these excursions as you will see around the resorts there are excursion shops in the resorts and your rep. will also sell trips.  Although the price may be cheaper at the shops sometimes the ship and service won't be as good.  So some simple rules, ask around find someone who has already experienced that trip,  make sure the itinerary is the one you want, if you are booking with your rep. ask if they have been on the trip.  If it is high season please note that the boats get very busy and will be crowded especially going to Shipwreck and sometimes of course the weather may make things difficult and of course you can still have an unforeseen problem, generally if you book with your holiday company things such as refunds for excursions not going, will be honoured.

Below is a general list of excursions however the many holiday companies will have there own ones as well.

BOAT TRIPS - There are two main ones.  North Island this takes in Shipwreck and Blue Caves (note, these are usually the larger ships and they cannot go inside the caves).  The South Island  takes in Lagana Bay this is Turtle territory, however, depending on the time of year you may or may not see Turtles.

OTHER BOAT TRIPS - These are numerous and they go from all over the island there are Turtle spotting trips from Lagana Bay, Agios Sositis and Keri.  For the Blue Caves the nearest place is Ag. Nicholas in the north, they also go around to Shipwreck.  For the shortest sea journey to Shipwreck the small boats from Porto Vromi are good.  However a word of warning with all these boat trips the weather can be entirely different on the East coast to the West coast so even with the big boats you may not be able to dock at Shipwreck.  The wind can make it impossible for large and small boats alike, the coast guard will not let boats out if the swell is too high and the captains of the large boats will not dock if they think it is dangerous.

SAFARI TRIPS - These are trips in jeeps. The different companies have different itineraries, these will go places that the coaches don't and can be good fun as well.

ROUND THE ISLAND - A coach trip around the island to the most popular places will usually include a stop to buy souvenirs in Volimes and a look at Shipwreck from the 'gang plank' over looking the cove.

WATER PARK  -  There is usually a day trip to the water park by coach, however if you are staying in Kalamaki or Lagana the local bus goes to the water park and it may be worth checking out the times and prices of this first.

SHOPPING TRIP - This may take in not only shopping in Zante Town but also a trip to Bohali and perhaps the winery. The main shops are on Alexandrou Roma.

There are many more trips including Kefalonia, Olympia and Athens.  Lots of Greek nights and fun nights out like School Dinners. 

Do be aware though that Lagana Strip after 10.00pm is not really for families