Zante (Greece)

...island on a clear day, Zante boasts a varied and interesting geography of sandy beaches and coves, shallow waters, stunning mountains, cliffs and caves, and an abundance of marine life including dolphins and its beloved Caretta-Caretta turtles. Despite the severe 1953 earthquake destroying homes and grander buildings alike and stripping the island of its history, there is still plenty to see and to experience on Zante to easily fill 2 weeks; however, ...
...for 2 weeks self-catering in Zante from the 18th July – 1st August, and for the same times and place, prices on the Internet seemed to be in the region of £400 and even more in some of the brochures. Being a teacher I have no choice but to go at the most expensive times of year, so getting a bargain is important! I would say the island, resort, flights and accommodation were well worth £300 although I wouldn’t choose to go with Olympic Holidays again, ... more

When we holidayed in Kos, in the Aegean Sea in Greece, a few years ago, we so fell in love with the scenery, charm and atmosphere of this unique country made up of many individual islands, there was no question that Greece would be where we would go this year. However, wanting it to be a different enough experience to keep us interested, we decided on Zante, otherwise known as Zakynthos, over at the other side of the mainland in the Ionian Sea. Quite a large island, so close to Kefalonia and the Greek mainland that both are visible from parts of the island on a clear day, Zante boasts a varied and interesting geography of sandy beaches and coves, shallow waters, stunning mountains, cliffs and caves, and an abundance of marine life including dolphins and its beloved Caretta-Caretta turtles. Despite the severe 1953 earthquake destroying homes and grander buildings alike and stripping the island of its history, there is still plenty to see and to experience on Zante to easily fill 2 weeks; however, we did return with mixed feelings about it on the whole…

~~~~~ DETAILS ~~~~~

We booked the holiday, as always, via one of the many phone-line travel agents which advertise on Teletext; I still maintain that this is the best way to get a bargain as we paid £300 each for 2 weeks self-catering in Zante from the 18th July – 1st August, and for the same times and place, prices on the Internet seemed to be in the region of £400 and even more in some of the brochures. Being a teacher I have no choice but to go at the most expensive times of year, so getting a bargain is important! I would say the island, resort, flights and accommodation were well worth £300 although I wouldn’t choose to go with Olympic Holidays again, mainly due to the fact that the reps seemed to lack organisation skills and even gave us information which proved to be incorrect about several of the trips they run! We stayed in a studio apartment at the Hotel Locanda in Argassi, which while ‘basic’ as expected when on holiday in Greece, was very clean, quite spacious and had a balcony with an amazing panoramic view across the bay to Zakynthos Town. Most of the apartments seemed to have a sea view of some description. Even if you go to Argassi and don’t stay there, I would recommend a visit to the small pool and its cheap snack bar, which serves excellent food, or to the Greek night which costs 15 Euros for a Greek meal, bottle of wine, and lively Greek music and dancing, very good value for money (we watched from our balcony, then wished we had gone). However, the main bar was more expensive with each round for 2 people costing 5-6 Euros.

~~~~~ STAYING IN ARGASSI ~~~~~

Perfect for couples young and old and for families with young children, Argassi is one of those resorts that has something for everyone. It’s well-placed, the closest resort to Zakynthos Town, the main port and shopping town, 5 minutes by taxi or, if you’re feeling energetic, you can walk it in about half an hour, which is pleasant enough in the morning with a good bottle of water to keep you going, but I wouldn’t recommend it in the afternoon heat! In the other direction, the region of Vassilikos is 10 minutes away by taxi or car, with an array of resplendent beaches and family-run tavernas oozing Greek charm.

Argassi lies on the ‘calm’ side of the island, where the sea is shallow far out into the bay and the waves calm enough for safe swimming for children and less confident swimmers near the beach, which was good news for me as I have a phobia of deep water. We spent plenty of time just sunbathing, snorkelling and swimming on the beach outside our hotel. The beaches at Argassi are very small but numerous, most spits of sand and shingle backing on to one of the hotels or snack bars. Some of the people we met seemed to prefer taking a taxi down to Vassilikos (about 10 minutes away) where there were larger, sandier and more obviously picturesque beaches, but for a bit of sunbathing and splashing we were quite happy with Argassi! Sun loungers on the beach cost around 6 Euros for a pair with a parasol for a day, which seemed more expensive than last time we went to Greece and could soon mount up; sometimes we just made do with our towels although we did get covered in sand! Some of the hotels have free ones around the pool area, which ours did but with very limited availability. Lilos, rubber rings and beach toys are widely available at very reasonable prices in the nearby shops.

We also found Argassi an excellent resort for beachcombing, as it is a mix of sand and shingle and rocky areas. We whiled away a good few hours examining pebbles, the odd pretty shell, crabs (which you have to be really looking for around the rocks, as they scuttle away to hide very nimbly) and tiny sand lizards, which were often to be seen darting across the hotel walls by the beach, and were fascinating to watch! Beware though, we were warned about jellyfish and Chris was a bit worried about the possibility of sharks due to there being turtles on the island, but we actually saw neither. I guess it was our kind of beach, perfect for romantic walks, for kids to explore and for a quiet read and sunbathe where it wasn’t too busy.

A middle-of-the-road type of resort, you are faced with an abundant choice of supermarkets, ‘tourist shops’, cafes, restaurants, tavernas and a few bars. It’s lively enough for me by day and night alike, and I’m the kind of person who likes the occasional big night out but more often than not would rather just spend an evening seeing a movie or a concert, or having a meal out. If you really like to party Argassi probably isn’t your place, not for 2 weeks at any rate, as your choice of bars and clubs would be limited. Unfortunately, and this is one of the things we quickly tired of and which irritated us immensely by week 2, the restaurant owners face so much competition they have taken to accosting people as they walk by in the street, insisting their food is the best in Argassi and trying to cajole you in. This can also work to your advantage, as some of them offer you cards with discounts for shops or free bottles of wine, but be discerning - just be firm but fair and go where you fancy, no-one will be offended! If you can, check the prices on the menus before you go in, because in most places meals are priced similarly to pub meals at home, which we found very disappointing and resulted in us having to budget the second week to get by which detracted a bit from our enjoyment. Drinks in particular are expensive at bars and restaurants alike, say 4 Euros for a vodka and orange that tastes watered down, 2-3 Euros for a beer, 3-6 Euros for a cocktail. We took to buying a bottle of wine with our meal and buying vodka from the supermarket to have a few drinks on the balcony instead of going to a bar after tea, which saved us an awful lot of money!

Obviously we visited many a taverna, café and bar, which were all very pleasant, but only the odd few tempted us to go back for a second visit or made me think ‘A-ha, I’ll recommend this place on Ciao!’ Zeus taverna is one of the few in Argassi that offers a genuine sea view on the back terrace, as well as superb hospitality and service, reasonable prices (maybe a little less than back home) and lovely food, especially the Greek dishes and seafood. (swordfish and lamb ‘Zeus’ recommended!) and always gave us a shot of sangria on the house at the end of the meal. Symposion taverna, a little way down the road past the Locanda Hotel, I recommend for the beautiful, sweeping sea view and the most magnificent Greek food I have tasted (lamb dishes in particular were superb); the whole restaurant is outdoors dotted with amazing pine trees above some of the tables, making it a really different eating experience, though more pricey and the service a little less friendly. There are several rooftop tavernas, mainly due to the coastline being monopolised by hotels in an effort to give customers a view other than the bustle of the main road, and one of the most pleasant is Afrodite, with very good value food and friendly service, which we imagined would be a great place for families with its slightly cheaper prices. We only found the Castello Snack Bar on the last day, which was a shame as it had a beautiful view of the watersports area of the beach and was spacious, reasonably cheap and did a nice jacket potato! One to avoid for us though, was Carissimo, where we were enticed in only to be greeted with poor service as we were basically ignored for half an hour with no sign of a waiter coming to take our order, and it wasn’t even busy; we ended up walking out.

I liked the way most of the restaurants and tavernas had added garden areas, fountains etc to make up for the lack of a view, and the varied menus were impressive; for the less adventurous there is plenty English food on most menus for good prices, from omelettes to burgers or steak and chips, while for the more experimental eater as I tend to be there are many lovely Greek dishes to try, not just mousaka, but lamb kleftiko (hot pot with a four-cheese topping), beef stifado (stew), stuffed tomatoes (and the tomatoes are something else), and souvlaki (pork or chicken kebab), for a start. Do ask the waiters what is in it first if you aren’t fond of strong cheese, as many Zakynthian dishes seem to involve at least one kind of cheese! Also highly recommended is the subtle but fruity home-grown Zakynthian wine, especially white or rose Alotino Callinico, which was nice enough that we brought a supply home. As the Ionian islands are close to Italy, you can also get very well done pizza and pasta dishes in most restaurants and tavernas; despite usually eating Greek food in Greece, Italian is one of my favourites and I succumbed a few times! In Argassi and Tsilivi there are even Chinese and Indian restaurants, and British-style pubs which sell good honest pub food and snacks. For this we particularly liked the Apollo bar, which was a little less tacky than its next-door neighbour the Red Lion, and also sold cocktails for the relatively cheap price of 3 Euros.

Other bars worth a visit are the friendly Tristianos (2 Euros 50 per cocktail), and the Factory Bar, which is very expensive (4 Euros for a drink and more for cocktails) but fun with great nostalgic 80s & 90s music and free shots of liqueurs like amaretto and curacao at intervals. I would recommend one or two nights out in bars, but for us they were too expensive to go every night. We were glad we had taken our CD player and had a good view from the balcony as the prices in Argassi were very disappointing and money dwindled too much, too soon; another couple we got talking to at the airport on departure said that the price of food and drink in Laganas had been a lot cheaper, but had been mainly an 18-30s resort which I don’t think we would have enjoyed.

While a good place to be at night and for a good chunk of the holiday pottering around on the beach, Argassi didn’t have much else to see or do apart from a few watersports (pedalo, ringos, a banana boat, water-skiing, or paragliding) which Chris looked at but said they were too expensive for very short amounts of time; something like 50 Euros, as an example, for 15 minutes paragliding. A once-in-a-lifetime experience maybe, but you could probably only afford to do one of them, once. So really, to fill 2 weeks with interesting experiences and get the real feel of the island, venturing out of the resort was pretty much a must for us…

~~~~~ OUT AND ABOUT IN ZANTE ~~~~~

The true beauty, magic and appeal of Zante (or Zakynthos, which the Greeks insist is its real name) lies in its dramatic, turbulent and varied geography. Originally a volcanic island with layered cliff faces falling away into the bluest of blue waters around the stunning coastline as a humbling testament to ancient geological activity, Zante boasts caves and coves, a whole spectrum of colours in the sea, mountains and pine forests, and is an animal and wildlife lover’s paradise, me included. To visit Zante and not see some of the breathtaking and unspoilt caves, or not investigate the wildlife and go turtle-spotting, or not get a little off the beaten track with a world of cliff-top views and countryside to discover, in my view you would have missed the real highlights of the island.

We can safely say that in our opinion, it’s better to steer clear of the organised trips, particularly those offered through the holiday company reps. For a start, their trips cost much more money than the local tour operators; a day boat trip to Kefalonia, for example, cost us 40 Euros with Olympic, where other tour operators around the island offered what was probably the same trip for 23 Euros. For another thing, nothing seems to be included any more! When we went on trips on our last two holidays in Kos and in Salou, Spain, dinner was included as was entry to most of the attractions visited. On our trip to Kefalonia, it cost a further 17 Euros for both of us to visit Drogarati Caves and Melissani Lake, and even more for our lunch. The guide seemed to be plugging at every stop for us to buy something else, for example we stopped for half an hour in Argostoli, the main town in Kefalonia, with the primary purpose of visiting an ice-cream parlour! Furthermore, we were invariably squeezed onto a coach with about forty other people (on the Kefalonia trip we were 2 seats short because they over-booked and kids had to sit on their parents’ knees – how unsafe?!) for whom we had to wait every time we got back on the coach; and onto a boat with about six coach-loads of people, no chance of speaking to the guide or the captain for extra information or anything. The local tour operators seemed to run similar excursions on huge boats, very impersonal and busy and crowded.

While on balance, we still found the Kefalonia trip worthwhile for a whistlestop tour of another island which wouldn’t otherwise be do-able (very similar to Zante really), the other trip we tried was even worse. It was the North Island Voyage, on which we were meant to stop at the shipwreck bay, one of the most famous sights on postcards of Zante, to swim and explore. As soon as we sailed around that end of the island, the sea was horrendously choppy, our boat lilting and rocking violently on the writhing water. It was raining and windy and pretty much half of the passengers were being sea sick, children screaming and me gripping the table and in tears, I was so scared! Even the guide was being sick! But still Fidelity Travel (the company Olympic booked their trips with) saw fit to plough ahead to Shipwreck Bay, even though the conditions were unsafe for swimming, just to give us a glimpse. I couldn’t enjoy the view of the shipwreck or even the back-drop of the white cliffs – or seeing a dolphin jumping out the water for the first time ever, something I have always wanted to see! To me, it basically smacked of not wanting to just turn back and refund our 23 Euros, and I thought that was pretty disgusting; there were lots of unsatisfied, grumbling people stepping off the boat at the end of the day. It was a total waste of a day and coloured my mood about the holiday from there on in really.

Our happiest days were spent hiring a car and exploring ourselves, and this is without a doubt, to me, the best way to see everything Zante has to offer. Car hire was very good value at Ionian car hire in Argassi, with full insurance and the man there even recommended to us a route that would take us around some of the prettiest and most unspoilt parts of the island. You could keep the car overnight and return it the next morning and he had a variety of Suzukis from the smallest (which we had), to the Samurai jeeps (which on reflection, we wish we had taken due to the amount of dirt tracks leading to otherwise inaccessible coves and clifftops.) I must say however, Chris is a very confident driver and I am happy enough to put my life in his hands skirting round treacherous bends on unruly roads cut into the mountainside, mainly with little in the way of a crash barrier. Another point is, if you like to keep to a schedule and be at a certain place for a certain time, forget it. The maps are highly inaccurate; some roads don’t seem to exist or look completely different, and we spent a lot of time getting lost in little villages that all looked the same! Many signs (and signs on the whole are sadly lacking at junctions) also only have the placenames written in Greek characters, which can be tricky to read. Take some water with you and leave plenty of time, no matter where you’re going!

We drove down to Vassilikos, which is a picturesque ‘foot’ of the island. People we met assured us that its beaches were beautiful, but the few that we attempted to drive down to all belonged to hotels and had nowhere else to eat nearby. I guess we just weren’t that bothered since we were quite taken with our quiet beachcomber beach in Argassi. Vassilikos is a more unspoilt, traditional area dotted with family-run tavernas and cafes, however if you’re not fond of the ethnic cuisine eating out there might not be for you as the menus were more limited to Greek food here than anywhere. We were lucky enough, though, to happen upon a great little traditional café called Barba Nikolas, whose proprietor George was friendly and full of helpful advice about where to go and what to do to see the ‘real’ Zante.

From there we headed for Keri, which is in the south of the island and is one of the main places the turtles frequent, hence lots of boat trips going out from the tiny harbour ‘turtle-spotting.’ We had been looking forward to seeing some of Zante’s famous caves, so we opted for the Keri Caves boat trip, just on a small boat with about 10 other people, which cost just 10 Euros each and was the best trip we went on! The Greek captain had no qualms about motoring the boat right into several caves and through columns formed by rock, which was quite spectacular. He pointed out the way the blue of the sea changed colour from midnight to sky blue to the most unusual turquoise, and the varied rock formations around the cave. On our way over to Marathonisi Island, where we were to stop on the yellowest, quietest, most unspoilt little Greek beach I have ever seen to swim, we actually spotted a turtle, moving gracefully in the water and much, much larger than I imagined they would be. Because we were only a small party on a small boat, the captain stopped and we waited for the turtle to reappear, poking its head out as if peeping at us. And no waiting for ages at the end of the swimming stop!

We were also determined to see the Blue Caves in the north of the island properly, as we already knew that on the North Island Voyage on the large tourist boat all we would get would be a fleeting glimpse. George had recommended that we got there really early so that there would be less boats jostling for position in the caves, so we rolled up at Agios Nikolaos port at an ungodly hour and paid 8 Euros to be taken with about six others to the caves. The contrast between the whitest of cliffs and the crystal clear waters in so many colours of sparkling blue was even more stunning than at Keri. Again, we were able to get right inside some caves, where the water was even more beautiful in the half-light near gaps in the outer wall, lit up by the sunlight. This is a must-see when you go to Zante, as are the Keri caves.

Not far from the Blue Caves, and therefore a little easier to find, we had been given several flyers for Stone Park in a mountaintop place called Askos, which seemed from the leaflets to be a wildlife sanctuary. Both Chris and I being animal lovers and members of the RSPCA and RSPB at home, we didn’t need to be asked twice. It cost 7 Euros 50 to get in and this was well worth the money since the park took a good couple of hours to walk round, was filled with beautiful trees and plants and cliff-side views, with plenty of seated, shaded and picnic areas (we kicked ourselves since we hadn’t brought a picnic!), and free bottles of water obtained from the building by the entrance, which was a nice touch. I was so impressed with this place because a lot of thought had gone into the habitats and the Greek keepers obviously cared a lot for their animals, which included goats, pigs, sheep, cows, donkeys, a horse, chickens, many birds, raccoons, terrapins, tortoises and squirrels. We got the distinct impression that the entrance money mainly subsided the animals’ keep. This place touched me so much I am writing a review all its own about it, and highly recommend it to visitors!

We were recommended to visit the monastery at Anafonitra but despite our best efforts skirting round the area between Volimes and Anafonitra, we couldn’t find it; it was a hot day and we gave up I am afraid! We continued towards Kampi, which is recommended for its sunsets. There were some soul-stirring views and awesome pine trees, with little snack vans parked at intervals along the road for thirsty tourists, but no more so than in other tourist areas we drove around in the north and near Keri. We found it a little disappointing that, when we drove up to the Kampi cross, the only places to stop were tavernas, obviously cashing in on the ‘sunset’ theme; it was spoilt for us then, again by the commercialism of it all, and we continued on. Not far from Kampi there is a road which leads to a dirt track up to an old Venetian watchtower, placed by Roman armies during their occupation of the Ionian islands. There is so little history left on Zante due to the earthquake, and Chris and I are both history people, so this was a cracking little discovery and made us wish we had hired a jeep, which might have helped us find more intriguing ruins off the beaten track! Although it had been heavily graffitied, which I noticed in various places around Zante and which was a huge shame. Purely by mistake we also ended up driving down what looked like a very main road to the tiny port of Porto Vromi, a picturesque cove with a small amount of boats ready to whisk you off on trips. This is worth a look and maybe even taking a boat trip to the shipwreck from, very unspoilt with just a few tourists buzzing around, seeming excited by their surprise discovery!

We visited some of the other resorts around the island, which confirmed to us that Argassi had been the right choice with its balance of being just lively enough and with a beach that suited us just fine. Kalamaki, one of the places where turtles are sometimes seen, had the most amazing long beach between two cliffs on which we enjoyed a lovely romantic sunset walk; lots of sun loungers there and very soft pale sand. However, it probably would have been too quiet for us for 2 weeks with a modest choice of restaurants, and it’s also right beneath the flight path of incoming planes! Tsilivi and Laganas were very busy resorts, bursting with shops and bars and restaurants and people! The beaches were idyllic and I could see how people might prefer these sweeping bays to Argassi, but they were also crowded with wall-to-wall sun loungers and way too full and noisy for me.

Finally, we come to Zakynthos Town. If you stay in Argassi, there’s no need to even hire a car to get to Zakynthos, and in fact we got a taxi for 6 Euros and even walked once – there is allegedly a bus, but it never appears at anywhere remotely near the time the timetables claim it should. The castle is merely a ruin on the mountainside and there isn’t really a beach, but the port is a different kind of a view with so many different types of boats bobbing around and shops and restaurants abound. The whole town shuts down around 2pm for siesta, which didn’t happen over on Kos so we made this mistake the first time we went, but there is a little history and culture which is worth a look. There are a few small museums housing various artefacts, and we chose to visit the Byzantine Museum of Art which seemed the grandest and the largest; for 3 Euros apiece we viewed screens and statues, paintings and models, intricate silver chalices and incense vessels, collected from many of the monasteries and churches which were desecrated in the 1953 earthquake. It was quite sad to see the before and after photographs displayed around the museum of many buildings which fell foul to the tragedy; spiritual life in Zante, as we found in Kos, is rich and important, many residents of the island being members of the Greek Orthodox church. We spent awhile staring at an impressive scale model of Zakynthos Town as it had been before the earthquake, evidently made with care and an eye for detail, just as many of the pieces and murals had been lovingly restored.

There is also a sturdy little church across the main square where the Byzantine Museum is situated, which resiliently survived the earthquake and is open to visitors, although we found the most interesting part was the bell-tower at the rear of the building. The square houses several statues of Ancient Greek deities and famous people and is a pretty place in itself. Finally, the last place we visited on the last morning of our holiday, was the cathedral of St ‘Dennis’, the patron saint of Zakynthos, (it’s apparently not spelt that way, but that’s how it sounds) which was filled with the most joyful sound of the choir singing first thing that Sunday morning. The interior is testament to the grandeur and beauty we had guessed from the museum Greek religious buildings must have. The rood screen is intricately carved and painted gold; and paintings of saints, angels and Biblical scenes adorn every wall, and every domed bit of ceiling, making us wonder at how it was done. The whole thing is lit up by tasteful chandeliers and by the candles worshippers and tourists alike may buy for a small donation, say a prayer and leave in a stand. There is a shrine to St ‘Dennis’ bearing his coffin and a statue and a tiny shop with beautiful but expensive fine art and artefacts. Well worth a look for the sense of calm awe and reverence we felt. Just bear in mind to cover up your chest, shoulders, belly and legs when visiting as a mark of respect, or a rather disapproving man will accost you with a cloak to wear which happened to a few people while we were walking around trying to take it all in!

~~~~~ FOREWARNED IS FOREARMED ~~~~~

First off, let’s just mention the weather. Not that we are the kind of people who just come to get a tan as you can see, but we do our bit of sunbathing and trying to get a healthy glow. The first week was glorious but very ‘close’ and humid, the very extreme of hot weather getting up to the thirties with no breeze. Now it was, indeed, equally hot when we went to Kos but it was a crisper, fresher kind of hot – the weather here, while scorching, was a heavy and breathless kind of hot, with even the Greeks panting and flopping down in the shade. Beware being out in this heat for too long, especially by the sea with the breeze deceiving you into thinking you’re cooler – Chris burned badly on the first full day we were there, and he doesn’t burn easily. The second week there were stormy clouds and a strong wind most of the time, making the sea too choppy for swimming as the waves were high and frequent and knocked you down even just wading out. Even though it didn’t actually rain, this put a damper on swimming and paddling in the sea, just when we were running out of money to do much else and planning on spending a few days on the beach. As changeable as the weather at home really, although take heart – even on cloudy days it’s still very hot, in fact the heat was made more pleasant by the (slightly too strong) wind really.

Two points about the journey to Zante, and the journey home. On the journey there, on the descent as you fly into Zante, the aeroplane skims one coastline before making a sharp turn and looking alarmingly as if it’s going to plunge into the sea. Try not to worry, in fact it doesn’t, but instead flies extremely low over Kalamaki and proceeds to brake like there’s no tomorrow on the tiniest runway I have ever seen to date. At least if you know, you’ll be prepared and hopefully less scared!

Also, while the airport has improved according to another couple we met who had been to Zante before, it is very, very small. So small in fact that it looked from the outside like a bit of a scruffy shack, although they have put canopies out at the front for when you’re inevitably queuing outside to check in for your return journey home. The departure lounge is the worst bit, with enough chairs to accommodate one or two flights’ worth of people; many people tried to claim places to sit on the floor around the edges, as we were lucky enough to do, and some people didn’t have room to sit at all. On departure, take some water and some snacks, because you won’t feel like fighting your way to the snack bar and the prices are extortionate anyway.

~~~~~ MY FINAL VERDICT ~~~~~

Zante is undoubtedly an island of stunning and magnificent natural beauty and well worth coming to once, just to see it and take in all the loveliness it has to offer, to see the turtles, maybe even a dolphin, and spot all the other abundant wildlife that graces its shores. The Greek islanders are very proud of their island and, if you really get talking to them, are very keen for you to see the unspoilt parts of Zante, the ‘real Greece’, and will be very helpful giving you advice, from sight-seeing, to what brands to buy in their shop, or where to get something they do not sell, even medical advice from the very competent and concerned pharmacist in Argassi when Chris got very sun-burned on the first day. They are friendly and polite apart from whilst driving, which seems to be the time for venting their frustrations on unsuspecting fellow drivers. I love the way they seem to make an effort to keep everything they build in keeping with the simple beauty of the island, with colourful painting and planting and tasteful decoration on the mainly small houses, hotels, churches and establishments.

However, either the Greek islands have gone very commercialised and more expensive with the advent of Euros, or this side of the Greek islands is more geared towards tourism. I hated being harassed and pressured to go into restaurant after restaurant and drink prices were expensive, food prices similar to home in most places. In fact the only thing which has remained cheaper is cigarettes, 2 Euros 70 for 20 Marlboro, and needless to say Chris, a smoker, brought some home. But the fact that we spent most of the second week trying to budget and work out how to make our money last (when we had taken a fair bit of spending money, mind), namely by drinking less in bars and more in the apartment, not eating out for lunch and completely giving up having cocktails, wasn’t exactly fun. It’s not just the money that seemed so commercial but the ‘pack em in and no refunds no matter what’ attitude on the organised trips, the beauty spots like Kampi cluttered with tavernas, and so on. It was also a shame that there wasn’t much history on the island, and what was there had often been vandalised, as I like my visits to castles and ancient sites.

I will be going back to Greece again, but back to the Aegean, in search of islands as yet relatively untouched by this feeling. But I would recommend a holiday in Zante to anyone who has not yet been.

What I take with me from Zante are pockets of special memories – of the relaxed, welcoming and genuinely interested people we met; of the amazing and majestic creatures we saw; of the breathtaking and unusual scenery around the coastline; of walks by the sea and lying in the sun with the sea breeze on my skin. The island of the turtles, dolphins, tiny lizards and crabs, olive groves, magnificent pine trees, spectacular caves and waters in every shade of blue imaginable will always have a place in my heart. Yet I wouldn’t choose to go again, because what there is to see I’ve seen, and I find it such a shame that so much of the holiday was spent thinking about money, and how such a beautiful thing has become a little tainted by greed and profit.

* Photography by Chris ~ Copyright 2004 *
 

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