Zakynthos

The Greece that we really, really know

Zakynthos. This is where my Greek story began, thirty years ago.

In 1996, I started Karlitalia together with a friend, and we brought our very first guests to Zakynthos. I sometimes joke that back then, the island didn’t even have roundabouts, let alone traffic lights.

Thirty years later, I’m still coming back. And still very happily.

Have I seen Zakynthos change? Enormously.

Has everything changed for the better? No. Is Zakynthos a party island? Yes and no. Is it still authentic? Absolutely. But it has changed. It’s more international, more stylish and, in some places, decidedly trendy.

You can spend the afternoon at a beautiful beach club and that same evening sit down at a simple table in a village taverna. There are influencers taking photographs at fashionable restaurants, while a few kilometres away someone is harvesting his olives.

Zakynthos has both.

And after thirty years, we know very well where we’d send you – and sometimes, perhaps even more importantly, where we wouldn’t.

🧿 Laganas? I’d rather not.

Yes, Laganas is part of Zakynthos too.

Thirty years ago, it was already the place for young people and nightlife. And it still is. Personally, I can’t stand it. I’ve never liked it.

People often say Laganas is full of young British tourists. That’s not really true. In summer, young people come from the Netherlands, Italy, Poland, Britain and just about everywhere else in Europe.

But there’s one thing I’d really like to make clear:

Laganas is not Zakynthos.

Zakynthos is around 40 kilometres long and 17 kilometres wide. Laganas is only a very small part of the island.

Thankfully.

Because there is so much more.

🧿 Authentic. And a little bit hip.

That’s actually one of the things I like about Zakynthos today.

The little villages are still there. So are the old churches, the olive groves and the tavernas where the same family has been cooking for years. But alongside them, new restaurants, boutique hotels and beach clubs have appeared – some with a definite touch of Ibiza.

Beautiful sunbeds, good music, cocktails, design and restaurants that take their food seriously. There are plenty of influencers around, and yes, in some places seeing and being seen is part of it.

And why not?

The next evening, you might be sitting at a simple table in a village with a carafe of local wine and a plate of food that isn’t remotely hip.

And speaking of wine: truly great wine isn’t really what Zakynthos is known for. We might as well be honest about that too.

A Greek taverna one evening and a trendy restaurant the next. A little bay in the morning and a beach club in the afternoon. That’s Zakynthos today. And I like that combination.

🧿 That blue Ionian Sea

And then there’s the sea.

After thirty years, I still don’t have to think twice about this one. For me, nowhere is the sea quite as Greek-blue as it is around the Ionian Islands.

The Blue Caves, the wild western coastline, little beaches you discover from the water and, of course, the famous Navagio.

But take a small boat along the coast too. Find a bay. Go for a swim. Stay a little longer than you planned.

Every time I see that water again, I understand exactly why I’ve been coming back for thirty years.

🧿 When would I go to Zakynthos?

Ask me when I like Zakynthos best and I don’t have to think very long:

April – especially around Greek Easter – May, June, September and October.

In April, Zakynthos is green and something seems to be flowering everywhere. Around Greek Easter, you also see a completely different side of the island. The churches, the processions, families coming together, the food and the island’s own Ionian traditions.

The tourist season has barely begun and the island still belongs mainly to the Zakynthians themselves.

May and June are wonderful. The days get longer, the sea gets warmer and the island comes to life, but without the crowds of July and August.

September is another month I love. The sea is still warm, everything is still open and alive, but the biggest summer crowds are beginning to disappear.

🧿 And then there’s October…

I love October on Zakynthos.

Because then something happens that still makes me smile after all these years.

The owners of those trendy restaurants and beach clubs, the ones you saw walking around among their guests a few months earlier? Suddenly, they’re farmers again.

You see them on their little tractors among the olive trees, bringing in the Koroneiki olives. Families are back working on their land, the olive harvest begins and ordinary village life slowly takes over again from the tourist season.

The island becomes Greek again.

Not because it wasn’t Greek in August. But because in October, you suddenly see the life behind the summer season again.

And that is exactly why I love being on Zakynthos in October.

🧿 Fior di Levante – the Venetian Zakynthos

And then there’s one story I simply can’t leave out: the Venetians.

Zakynthos was under Venetian rule from the end of the fifteenth century until 1797 – for more than three centuries. That long period left its mark on the culture and identity of the island.

The Venetians called Zakynthos Fior di Levante – the Flower of the East.

Their influence wasn’t limited to architecture. You can still find it in the music, churches, traditions and food. The famous Zakynthian kantades, the island’s beautiful polyphonic serenades, also carry that Italian influence.

Much of old Zakynthos was lost in the devastating earthquake of 1953. But the history didn’t disappear with it. You can still find traces of it in Zakynthos Town, up above the town in Bochali and around the old Venetian castle.

And yes, after all my years in Italy and with my fascination for the Venetian traces in Greece, I probably find this even more interesting than most people do.

I can’t help it.

🧿 Without a rental car? Not with us.

Our holidays on Zakynthos always include a rental car.

Very simple: you need one.

Because the Zakynthos I love most is outside the well-known resorts.

Drive north and west. Stop in a mountain village. Have a coffee somewhere. Find a little bay. Visit an olive-oil producer. And if you pass a taverna and think, that looks like a good place for lunch?

Stop.

Of course, there are places you’ll probably want to see: the Blue Caves, Navagio from the viewpoint, Zakynthos Town and Bochali. And the Caretta caretta sea turtle is, of course, part of Zakynthos too.

But some of the best bits of Zakynthos are the ones you find along the way.

🧿 Our holidays on Zakynthos

We offer lovely, simple apartments as well as more stylish four-star hotels in and around Tsilivi, Tragaki and Amoudi – always including a rental car.

EXPLORE OUR HOLIDAYS ON ZAKYNTHOS

🧿 Combining Zakynthos?

Absolutely.

Zakynthos + Kefalonia + Ithaca

Three Ionian islands close to one another, yet each with a completely different character. A wonderful combination if you’d like to see more of the Ionian Islands.

Zakynthos + Methoni + Athens

From Zakynthos to Methoni in southern Messinia and then on to Athens. Island, Peloponnese and city in one journey.

EXPLORE OUR JOURNEYS

🧿 Thirty years later…

Thirty years after bringing my first guests here, I still love coming back to Zakynthos.

I’ve watched the island change. I’ve seen quiet places become busy, new hotels and restaurants appear and places hardly anyone talked about suddenly become fashionable.

Some changes I love.

Others, not so much.

But I still know where to find the Zakynthos I fell in love with thirty years ago.

Sometimes it’s down a little road in the north. Sometimes it’s a taverna I’ve known for years.

And sometimes it’s simply that sea.

That ridiculously blue Ionian sea that still gets me every time.

This is the Greece we really, really know.

And after thirty years, I still want to show it to you. 💙