Top Must-See Attractions in Zakynthos: A Complete Guide
I never imagined that I could visita a place like Zakynthos when I was planning an unexpected trip in September. This place is a true gem, a super recommended island with lots of things to offer and it’s not a well-known place (at least in Spain). That’s why I want to bring you a list of must-see attractions in Zakynthos to let you see through my eyes my incredible experience there and make you visit it one day.
Before starting, I would like to mention some important aspects. Zakynthos is an island located in the Jonic see. It is a super popular island among English, Italian and Dutch people. You can’t imagine this island to be the typical Greek island with blue and white constructions in their villages as it’s much more nature, vegetation and cliffs.
Another important topic is the mobility. We rented a car as we thought it is a must in this island to enjoy it at a 100%. It is an island of 40km long and 20km wide so you have 1 hour from one side to the other. Almost all the island have 1-way roads and a maximum velocity of 50km/h. We rented a car with the company Auto Traffic Car Rentals and the rating is very good, so we would recommend it.
We also want to mention the accommodation we chose. Our hotel was Ionian Aura, in Tsilivi. This village has a good atmosphere but is relax oriented and has everything you might need. The good thing about this hotel is that is a little bit away from the more crowded area, so it’s good to rest. If you are interested on it, click on our link of the Ionian Aura hotel (you help us if you book through it :)).
Last but not least, if you want to complement this information, we recommend you yo visit our Instagram stories where you can see all the places we mention below.
With that being said, let’s go with the must-see attractions in Zakynthos!
1. Xigia Beach
Xigia Beach is located in the northeast part of the island and one of the most famous beaches of the island. It is a place that you can just get with private transportation or with some excursion. It is a small beach but fully adapted to turistic visits.
You can think, why is this beach famous for? The reason is that it is considered a natural spa, given that the water is full of sulfur due to the sea caves around that impregnate all with this material. It is said that this water is a real skincare method, so you can now understand why they are visited. Once in the water, there are lots of caves to investigate swimming. You will see that the water is cloudy due to the sulfur, but you get used to it.
That’s why this place is a must-visit in Zakynthos that you have to visit but you have to bear in mind that it is a crowded place and it’s small, so you should go in the correct moment of the day (early in the morning) to get the most of the experience!
2. Makris Gialos Beach
The second place in this list of must-see attractions in Zakynthos is Makris Gialos Beach, one of the most beautiful of the island.
The greatest attractive of the beach is the incredible waters it has that will allow you to do a super nice snorkel and enjoy an incredible beach day!
It is surrounded of cliffs and lots of vegetation, so the views are stunning and totally recommended. It also has many funny beach bars where you can have a cool drink or even eat something.
3. Navagio Beach
This is one of the most famous places of the island and, obviously, one of the must-see attractions in Zakynthos. The history of this beach is that it became famous in 1980 after a ship accident in which the greek authorities chased the ship Panagiotis that was smuggling with alcohol and cigarettes to Zakynthos and it has an accident in this place. The same ship made the sand be accumulated around and created this beach.
We recommend to visit it in two ways. The first one is to go to the viewpoint above the cliff that give you an incredible view of the beach (see the main image of the post). The water, the height and the beached ship create an amazing stamp. The second way is to take a ship excursion to be able to access the beach and see it in situ. We wont forget the feeling in the beach, with the ship and surrounded by cliffs.
4. Blue Caves
Another of the must-see attractions in Zakyntos is part of the excursion that we took to go to Navagio Beach and they are the Blue Caves.
The Blue Caves are unique geological formations forming a series of caves in the northwestern part of the island. The name is given by the particular reflections that form in the turquoise waters. It’s amazing to sail through them and see their incredibly coloured waters and white walls.
They can only be visited by renting a boat or by going by car and leaving the transport between the villages of Agios Nikolaos and Skinari Cape and then walking for a while until you reach the edge of the sea. It is not a comfortable place to spend time, so we would opt for the first option (which we took in a package with the Navagio Beach).
5. Anafonitria monastery
The fifth point of the list is the Anafonitria monastery. It is a byzantine construction of the XIV century and it is a cult and pilgrimage place to the Virgin Mary and to the patron saint of the island, Saint Dionysios, that spend his last days in this place.
The monastery is composed by several buildings and a defensive tower that is currently acting as a bell tower. The main church is located in the middle of the complex and it is a 3 naves basilica. It is also interesting to see the frescoes, 5 centuries old.
We visited this place while moving between 2 places and we believe it is a really interesting place to visit and to have a relaxed walk and it contrast with the other must-see attractions of Zakynthos, more see oriented.
6. Porto Limnionas Beach
At this point, we reach what is called the Zakynthos fjords and the first must-see attraction in this place is the Porto Limnionas beach.
It is a “beach” hidden between the vegetation, factor that made it a super savage and curious place. This beach is the best if your intention is to swim, discover new caves and places in the cliffs or jump from the rocks to the sea. The area in the see foot is all rocks and cement platforms but in the top of the road that leads to the beach there is a place where you can enjoy some loungers below trees and a beach bar, so it’s also prepared for other purposes ;).
7. Porto Roxa Beach
This place, located 3km away from Porto Limnionas, it is located in a dream place to relax in the seashore, Porto Roxa. This location is very similar to Porto Limnionas as it’s a rock beach without sand and a great place to jump, dive and discover the caves in the cliffs.
What we did was to go in the afternoon, and it allowed us to see an incredible sunset, one of the best ones I can remember.
It has an amazing beach bar with Sun Beds, what allows you to stretch out with see views while you can see the sun falling, an incredible delight.
8. Marathonisi island and Keri Caves
This is one of the top excursions of the island and a must-see attraction in Zakynthos. It is an island with turtle shape located in the south area of the island that is just accesible through ship rental or booking a tour like this one of Get Your Guide.
It is a protected place and there is a beach adapted to stop and have a rest and even dive in the area. Anyway, it is not a place where you can spend a complete day.
The idea of the excursion is to spend the day in the ship, be able to visit the beach and, specially, see turtles! Yes, this place is full of Caretta Caretta turtle nests so you can see them for sure if you do snorkel.
Our hotel recommended us to hire a private ship with no driver by 120€/4h. We really enjoyed the experience of doing that alone and be able to access this cool place of the island. The only recommendation we would do is that you should ensure the see is calmed when taking a ship on your own (no problem if you have experience driving ships, but we hadn’t any!) as we suffered some movement and it was not a good moment.
9. Keri and the lighthouse
If you are visiting the Keri Caves area, we would recommend you to visit the cozy village of Keri. It is the typical quiet town of a greek island where you can relax, take some drinks and visit the lighthouse (Keri Lighthouse) to see an incredible sunset and relax in this amazing place in the island.
10. Cameo Island
Cameo Island is a key point of the island and one of our must-see attractions in Zakynthos. It is an island where the turtles go to feed. It is a key point to see turtles (always without intervening in their environment and without touching) doing snorkel. We managed to see turtles in their habitat and it’s a really nice experience if you like the see and the animal life.
A good way of visiting it is to book a kayak excursion in the afternoon. We did it with Go Sup Surf. A cool thing of this company is that the kayaks are transparent, so you can always see what is below you. Bear in mind that in high season the clients are not allowed to jump in the water to not disturb the animals. We were lucky as we went in September and we could jump and see the turtles from the water (always respecting the distance) :).
11. Kalamaki beach
Another of the must-see attractions in Zakynthos is the Kalamaki beach. It is one of the best beaches you can go in the island and it is the typical long beach with beach bars, nice to relax and spend a beach day. You can also enjoy the amazing crystal waters it has.
All depend on how you like to enjoy the beach, but we spent the whole morning relaxing, sunbathing and swimming in this great place (we are really beach lovers!).
12. Gerakas Beach
Another amazing beach. It is a beach surrounded by cliffs (typical thing of the island) with views to the Kefalonia island and the turtle island of Marathonisi. Our plan was to go after lunch, book a parasol and spend the whole afternoon with beers until the sunset time, where we moved to another place to see it.
13. BONUS: Where to eat
If you are like us, you really enjoy to eat and this is a key place in your trips, we are going to leave you here some top places in Zakythos:
1. Petrino Gastronomica / The Stonehouse: This restaurant is located in Makris Gialos. We could try some typical greek food like the tomato and feta salad, an incredible Musaka and a beef stew with potatoes. The price was 20 per person.
2. Bassia Greek Savours: In the Akrotiri area. We could also eat typical greek food lie the beef stew with honey, greek pasta with feta cheese and greek strudel. The price was 20-25 per person.
3. The Garden of Tastes: A perfect place to enjoy the famous greek gyros (a kebab in Greece). It is a place we found in the road and the owners are a nice family! Price: 10€
4. Olé Olé: The owner is half Spanish half Greek and we speaks a perfect Spanish. The place is amazing, a small jungle in the middle of the island. The food is typical Greek and the service was unbeatable. We ate Greek pizza, fried zucchini with Tzatziki sauce, fried feta cheese with honey and fresh lemonade. The price was 20€ per person.
Map
This is the map of the mentioned places to be able to help you in your trip organization.
Greece is one of our favorite countries as we are fans of the beach and gastronomy, sunsets and relaxed days in the Mediterranean sea. Zakynthos is all of that, so we encourage you to give it an opportunity and enjoy an amazing experience in the Greek sea.
If you have any question or doubt, contact us in our social media or through comments, we will be delighted to attend you!
