Let me introduce you to Zakynthos – in Greece

In a week’s time I’ll be off with the family to visit my sister who lives on the Greek Island of Zakynthos (also known as Zante). We normally manage to visit at least once a year, and because we’ve been there so often we’ve stopped doing all the touristy things and generally spend our time relaxing by the pool and catching up with the family news.

But this year will be the first time I’ve visited since I started blogging, so I’ll be making a bit more effort to seek out interesting things to share with you.

My sister was one of those girls who followed the sun and ended up as a travel rep on Zakynthos. There she met and fell in love with a tall, dark and handsome Greek lad called Denis, who owned some of the rooms her clients were staying in. As you can guess, she married him and twenty years, 3 children and 2 hotels later is a happily established on Zakynthos, still enjoying the sunshine.

Over the years Zakynthos has become more and more geared for tourism, particularly of the package holiday kind and caters mainly for English, Dutch and German holiday makers, boosted by the Greeks and Italians who come over by ferry in high season. This is one of the larger Greek islands and tourism has now taken over as the main money earner, although the traditional occupations are farming of olives and grapes for wine. Many of the resorts are now geared more to the English package tour customer with the ubiquitous Red Lion pub and tacky souvenir shops, but it’s a large island and it’s easy enough with a hire car to get away from these spots and find a more genuine Greek experience.

The main Zante town is a bustling place, with many shops, restaurants and cafes and a harbour where you can see the fishing boats moored and watch the yachts and ferries come and go. There are plenty of lovely unspoiled beaches some of which can be reached by bus and others where you need a hire car. The one at Gerakas is protected from development as it is a nesting site for the Caretta Caretta turtle and there is a sanctuary and information centre there. You can also take boat trips round the cliffs to the sea caves where you can swim and dive or view the turtles.

It’s probably not the place to go for a culture fix, although you can check out some churches, monasteries and small museums – this is mainly an island for beaches, watersports and relaxation.

The best time to visit anywhere in Greece is May/June or September/October as you can enjoy the warmth of the climate without being scorched by the intense summer heat or fighting for a sunbed. My favourite time is late May, as the land still has a freshness, you get the benefit of beautiful wildflowers and the locals are very happy to see you and earn some money out of you. At the end of the season everyone is exhausted, they’ve made their money for the season and just want to close their businesses and relax.

Now we’re well into autumn here in Bristol with a chill in the air, I’m looking forward to topping up on some sunshine to keep me going through the dreary, dull days and drizzle that characterise the English winter. I’ll see you soon with some sunshine from Zakynthos.

Thanks to Skinnyde,Johnthurm, frostedpeppercorn, Rob W for their photos on Flickr.

Related Posts
My top three beaches on Zakynthos
A tour of Romas Mansion in Zante town
How to find a real Greek Taverna on Zakynthos
Turtles and Plastic bags on Zakynthos

See my photos of Zakynthos on Flickr

www.flickr.com heatheronhertravels’ Zakynthos – around the island photoset

For more information on Zakynthos visit the Zanteweb website.

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