Ionian Odyssey 4 - The Incredible Island of Zakynthos
- nadezhda3010
- Feb 26
- 13 min read
I'll start the story with this photo. For me, it is the epitome of summer and what we all wait a whole year to feel! A few days ago I came across a photo like this, but with sun loungers and a beach covered in snow, and that's why I thought of it!
Again in early October we chose another Ionian island for our vacation. This time it was Zakynthos.
Zakynthos Island is the third largest island in the Ionian Islands in Greece, the beloved southern neighbor of many Bulgarians. A curious fact about the island is that it has an impressive coastline of over 120km.
The main town of Zakynthos bears the name of the island, but many call it Zante, and important landmarks include St. Mark's Square with the Catholic cathedral of the same name, the statue and temple of St. Dionysius, who patronizes the island of Zakynthos. There are also museums - the museum of the Greek poets Solomos and Kalvos, as well as the Byzantine Museum.
The distance from Sofia to Zakynthos Island is 870 km and according to Google it takes about 10 hours and 30 minutes without any problems, including about 90 minutes on the ferry. As far as I know, there are no direct flights from Sofia to Zakynthos Island.
During one of our short stops to fill the car with its fuel, and us with ours - water and sandwiches, we were "besieged" by a group of cute four-legged friends, which I couldn't help but show you. In Greece and Turkey, cats are held in high esteem and everyone takes extremely good care of them. There are no people there who will kick them or not feed them.
Before reaching our first destination on this trip, we had to cross the incredible Rio-Antirio Bridge, which I had read a lot about and was extremely excited that I would have the honor of seeing this huge engineering marvel in person and even driving across it!
In the next picture you will see the Rio Antirio Bridge, and then I will tell you what I know about the bridge, except that every year it becomes more and more expensive to cross it.
Unfortunately, I don't have a panoramic photo of the bridge itself, but you can see it on Google.
The Rio Antirio Bridge has long held the title of the largest bridge in the world, which is suspended on steel cables and has the most openings - as many as 3 openings located between 4 concrete supports. The bridge has a total length of 2252 meters, surpassing by 286 meters the famous Golden Gate in San Francisco, USA, which we have all heard of. What impresses me the most, reading about the bridge, is that it is designed to withstand earthquakes of over 7 on the Richter scale, as well as collisions of ships in the colossal facility. The Rio Antirio Bridge is designed to withstand an environment that combines many adverse conditions and taking into account that the depth of the sea in this place reaches 65 meters, which also implies the instability of the seabed. These incredible and I would say astonishing engineering decisions were made jointly by experts from French and Greek construction companies.
The Rio Antirio Bridge was conceived back in the time of the great Greek reformer Hirilaos Trikoupis; his vision and dream of connecting mainland Greece and the Peloponnese peninsula with a modern bridge was realized a full 100 years after he announced it.
The bridge shortens the travel time from the city of Rio to the city of Antirío, located on both sides of the tributary, from 45 minutes by ferry to just 4 minutes, which is what it takes to cross the entire highway on the bridge itself.
But let's get back to the trip to the island of Zakynthos. I may have rambled on with the story about this incredible bridge, but it was particularly impressive to me.
Since we chose a ferry to Zakynthos Island, which leaves early in the morning, we decided to spend 1 night in the city of Patras. The city is not far from the port of Kyllini, where the ferries depart, and it didn't serve us well to "split our ways", as they say, because we had already traveled 760km, but we wanted to explore the third largest Greek city.
The population of the city of Patras is over 160,000 people and it is also known as the "Western Gate". The city is famous for hosting the largest carnival in Greece, which lasts for 3 weeks before Easter. It has been organized since 1829. Visited and popular tourist attractions in the city of Patras are the church of Saint Andrew, the church of Pantokrator, the Byzantine church, the statue of Zeus is also interesting, as well as the Archaeological Museum.
The internet says that Patras has amazing neoclassical buildings and Byzantine monuments... Well, I didn't get to appreciate them. The city center literally smelled bad and was very dirty. Our hotel was near the sea right at the central bus station... it was terrible. We didn't sleep a wink all night because of the noise and the groups of drunk teenagers hanging out on the benches.
The only good thing for us in this city was this beautiful view from our hotel room. I didn't take any pictures of the train station because it didn't look good at all.
The next day of our next Greek adventure, exhausted and sleep deprived, we set off early in the morning to the coastal town of Kyllini, from where we had to board a ferry. The distance from Patras to Kyllini is 70km and it took us less than 90 minutes. The good thing was that we were driving along a coastal road, offering impressive views of the beautiful Ionian Sea. We could even see the fabulous island of Kefalonia, which I have been dreaming of visiting for a long time and I hope that this plan will come true soon.
We rode the ferry for about 1 hour and 20 minutes and after arriving on the island of Zakynthos, we immediately headed to our hotel. It was located in the town of Argassi, less than 5km from the ferry port in the main town of Zante.
I am attaching a link to the Iniohos Zante Hotel and Suites, which we were charmed by.
We made a reservation through Booking.com because I almost always trust this platform for accommodation during excursions, and that's why I'm attaching a link to it.
The hotel's current rating is 8.1. In October 2023, we paid 600 BGN for 5 nights in a double room with a sea view, breakfast and parking included. I didn't care what the prices were at the moment, but for us the price-quality ratio was outstanding. I was expecting a much "more ordinary" place for this money, and it turned out to be new, modern, beautiful and, above all, extremely well-maintained cleanliness, which is one of the most important things for me when it comes to accommodation.
The hotel building looks completely new and in a modern style.
There is also beautiful vegetation around. The magnificent zakums are one of my favorite plants in Greece and Turkey.
The pool was gorgeously lit and was a fabulous sight in the dark.
The photo below is part of our view from the terrace. In the other direction we could see hills with many modern houses and the swimming pool.
The Iniohos Zante Hotel and Suites is modern, has cozy rooms, a wonderful pool and is quiet, despite the fact that it is located on the main road that circles the island and is also the main street of the town of Argassi, where there are shops and restaurants. We were fascinated by the breakfast, where we could choose from a dozen options from the menu, it was not a buffet. The breakfast was of exceptional quality and incredibly tasty.
The town of Argassi is very pleasant and in a strategic place for walks around the island, but unfortunately it failed to attract me with a nice beach. Most coastal hotels and restaurants had placed their sun loungers and umbrellas on the green areas and their guests were "beaching" there. Something that we didn't particularly like. We wanted a nice sandy beach. Why have we been so far if we don't take care to find some wonderful beach that will fill our eyes with beauty?
In the next photo you can also see part of Argassi beach, which is really extremely disappointing.
Unfortunately, we had 4 full days on the island of Zakynthos, during which it was impossible to simultaneously rest and see all the recommended sights, as well as visit all the famous beaches, but we tried to see as much as possible during our stay on the island.
Wherever you look for information about the island of Zakynthos, you will find information about the large loggerhead turtles CARETA CARETA, which are an endangered species and can be found in extremely few places in the world. For the first time I saw such a giant turtle in the incredible bay of Dalyan in Turkey near the resort of Marmaris. Definitely a place that I highly recommend to anyone who loves beautiful views.
Laganas Beach
Laganas Beach is one of the most popular spots on Zakynthos, as it is here that you can see many of their nests, which are duly fenced off to protect them from human encroachment. The beach is also home to an information center dedicated to the Caretta Caretta sea turtles and their conservation in the region.
The beach is located in the southern part of the Vasilikos peninsula and in the incredible bay of Laganas. The beautiful beach is over 5km long, quite wide and with extremely clean and shallow water. At the farthest part of the beach, high white cliffs rise, which make the landscape fabulous. On the beach there are areas with paid umbrellas and sun loungers, but also a lot of free space for sunbathing. The nearest restaurants are located around the beach, but not on it, which is an inconvenience, but it is more reserved.
Laganas Beach is undoubtedly a suitable place for people who like to admire nature and be away from the dense forests. At Laganas Beach you can enjoy true tranquility and untouched and unspoiled beautiful nature.
The water on Laganas beach is transparent and extremely clean.
One of the things that impressed me the most on this fabulous beach were the planes flying extremely low, as the airport of Zakynthos Town is located in close proximity. The landscape became very attractive with the planes around.
We visited this amazing beach twice because we really liked the peace and quiet we felt there. I definitely recommend it for people looking for peace and quiet! Even in the peak season, I don't think it can get crowded and crazy.
Myzithres
Myzithres is one of the sights that impressed us from the information collected from the Internet and that is why we tried to visit it. Myzithres is located near the village of Keri and the famous caves of the same name. It consists of 2 beautiful white rocks that rise into the sea. The name "myzithres" comes from the Greek cheese mizitra, as the rocks in question resemble it in shape and color. At the foot of the rocks is the beach of the same name, which is narrow and covered with pebbles, but is accessible only by water.
We drove a short distance on a dirt road to get to the place in the above photo. I don't have much of a fear of heights, but looking down from those famous cliffs was quite scary for me and unfortunately I didn't get to enjoy this beautiful and breathtaking landscape. I managed to take the photo above by stretching my arm as far forward as possible and closing my eyes. Haha.. this is one of the scariest places I've ever been. We didn't stay there very long, it was even hard to turn the car around. Well, in three words: Fear, Fear and more Fear!
On top of the cliffs near the village of Keri at the end of the asphalt road, there is a cute cafe from which you can completely safely and without the risk of falling admire the view from the top photo, and in the bottom photo you can admire the beautiful landscape towards the cafe itself.
Beach Banana Baya
In the southern part of the island, just before the town of Vasiliki, is one of the most beautiful and attractive beaches of Zakynthos - Banana. Interestingly, the name of the beach comes from its interesting shape, namely a banana. Banana is a modern beach with all amenities, which makes it suitable for both families with children and young people who want loud music and a party on the beach.
Banana Beach is the largest beach on the island of Zakynthos. It is famous for its exotic waters that sparkle brightly under the hot summer sun. It has definitely become my favorite!
Banana Beach stands out with its rocky landscape and soft golden sand. The best thing is that access is extremely easy. The beach has many parking spaces, for which you do not have to pay, as is the case on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast.
We can't leave the story about Banana Beach without a picture of real bananas, which were placed near the parking lot. I hope I didn't confuse them with another plant! That's how far my knowledge as a beginner gardener extends. I've only been doing this for a year!
Navagio Beach
Undoubtedly the most famous place on the island of Zakynthos is the beach with the wrecked pirate ship, namely Navagio Beach or Navagio. Navagio Beach is in the top 5 of the most beautiful beaches in the world. The word "Navagio" in Greek means "shipwreck". The ship has been on the beach since 1983, but opinions about its landing there are very diverse and the truth has not yet become publicly known. The most widespread theory is that of a shipwreck while transporting smuggled goods, most likely cigarettes.
Navagio is not just a beach, it is the symbol of the island of Zakynthos and the reason why many foreigners visit this particular island!
Unfortunately, it has been closed to visitors for several years due to the danger of landslides and can be seen either from the sea or from the panoramic platform, which we went to. The place with the panoramic platform does not seem to have an exact name, or at least I did not find it. The road signs from the village of Volimes say "Navagio/Wreck". I warn you that the road to it is very extreme in places. And the people who took adequate selfies of themselves with the ship in the background did so at the risk of their lives. They walked along the edge of a steep ridge, for its deserted photo... Well, we decided not to do it to ourselves! From the panoramic platform itself, the beach with the ship is not visible well, we managed to shoot some nice shots with a drone.
Unfortunately, I was very badly impressed by a local professional photographer who was hired by 5-6 yellow-skinned tourists and kicked us out of the place we had chosen to launch our drone so he could photograph them with his. I understand that he made money from them and promised them the best shots, but he was extremely rude... anyway, because we didn't pay and have our own drone, we don't deserve to take good shots. Greek hospitality is probably a myth when it comes to money. I've seen enough of such rude people in the capital, Athens, and my opinion of them is not flattering.
One of the most impressive things about the beach is the fact that the seabed around the shore is strewn with small white pebbles. They are also the reason for the amazing color of the water, which is extremely transparent.
Unfortunately, I only have better footage on video. If you're interested, I'll show it to you on my Facebook page.
Speedboat excursions to nearby Navagio Beach are organized daily during the high season and depart from the port of Agios Nikolaos. As expected, they are very popular during the high season.
The other attractions on the island of Zakynthos that we had identified, but were unable to visit and have left for a next visit are:
Skinari Lighthouse
It was built in 1897 and is located on the northernmost point of the island of Zakynthos. Tourists visit it because it offers a breathtaking view of the vast expanse of the sea, which skillfully blends into the sky on the horizon. A truly romantic picture!
The Blue Caves
The Blue Caves are sea caves. They are located under the lighthouse at Cape Skinari and are accessible by water of course. You can take advantage of organized boat excursions to them.
The Bridge of Argassi
This is not a typical bridge that connects 2 shores, but rather a shore and again the sea. According to the stories of the locals, the bridge in Argassi preserves the tragic story of two lovers who died there. It is said that at sunset during a full moon, if we call out to the sea the name of our lost love, it will answer us. There is no guarantee of the veracity of this statement. We were not able to get there to confirm or deny this.
Alykes
There are salt mines in Alykes, which in the past were the main source of income for the local population and are interesting. The town boasts an extremely beautiful beach with incredible sand and crystal clear waters, but I have a feeling that almost every beach on the island of Zakynthos meets these "parameters". The village is crossed by the main road, where many restaurants, bars and shops are located.
Makris Gialos Beach
The Makris Gialos beach is covered with both sand and white pebbles. The crystal clear, turquoise waters attract divers during the warmer months.
Looking through the photos I took during this wonderful and memorable trip, I realized that at least 20% of the shots are of food, but I decided not to bother you with that side of our vacation this time. Once again, I will say that the food in Greece is great and not because it is very special and different from what we are used to, but because it is always extremely fresh and prepared with love!
Imperceptibly and quickly, the moment came to board the ferry again and head to gloomy Sofia.
In principle, I have no problem with long car trips and driving, but this time we left the hotel at 8 and returned to Sofia at 21:30. The trip seemed endless and very tiring to me. I recommend that if you choose Zakynthos, you travel with an overnight stay, since when you will reach the island depends not only on you, but also on the ferry schedules. During the period when we traveled, there were only 3 ferries per day, which significantly reduced our options for getting around. I think a suitable place to stay for the night is the area around Meteora, because it is more or less in the middle, and you can explore this incredible and I would say unreal corner. Meteora is about 30 minutes from the main highway, if you don't mind going that far, in the same area is the mountain resort of Metsovo, which resembles Shiroka Laka in appearance.
The only thing I want to say about the island of Zakynthos is that it is undoubtedly worth the long trip. The island of Zakynthos is a piece of paradise like the other Ionian islands. Each of them deserves the attention of travelers and those who like to vacation in Greece. Each island, as much as it resembles the other, is also different. For example, in terms of vegetation, I can in no way find similarities between Zakynthos and Corfu.
Of the large Ionian Islands, the only one unvisited on my list is Kefalonia... I hope to get to it very soon and finish the stories about this incredible part of our beloved Greece.
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