Zakynthos

Zakynthos, Greece

Panoramic view of Zakynthos town and harbour from Bohali hill at sunrise, framed by old stone walls.

Zakynthos suits a beach holiday with real Greek village life, but go in May, June or September to avoid the August crowds.

The place

Zakynthos, also called Zante, is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea, lying off the western coast of the Peloponnese. Its nickname, Fiore di Levante or Flower of the East, came from the Venetians, who held the island for centuries, and their influence shows in its literature as much as in its towns. Today the island has about 41,000 people, most living in the main town or in villages spread across the middle and west.

The shape is easy to picture once you see a map: a narrow arrowhead pointing north-west. The western half is a mountainous plateau, and the south-west coast is lined with steep cliffs. The highest point, Vrachionas, rises to 758 m, so the interior feels very different from the beaches. Olive groves, vineyards and thyme-covered hillsides fill much of the land, and roadside stalls sell honey, olive oil and wine made nearby.

Most visitors arrive by air at the airport in the south, close to the resorts of Laganas and Kalamaki, and that end of the island is the busiest. The north and the quieter villages reward anyone willing to hire a car or take a bus. Ferries run from Zakynthos Town to Kyllini on the mainland, so the island slots easily into a wider Greek trip.

Expect hot summers, heavy company in August and a slower pace once the day-trip boats head back in the evening. Mornings are the best time for swimming and for walking the cliff roads before the heat builds.

Its story

Zakynthos appears early in Greek literature. Homer names it in the Iliad and the Odyssey, and in the Odyssey a group of its nobles are among the suitors crowding the household of Odysseus on Ithaca. In Homer's account the first settler was a son of King Dardanos of Arcadia, and the island took his name. Before that, it was known as Hyrie.

Legend passes the island from hand to hand. It is said to have been conquered by King Arkesios of Kefalonia and later by Odysseus himself. The island also appears in the Catalogue of Ships, the list of contingents that sailed to the Trojan War. Historians read that list as a rough picture of early Greek politics, though how accurate it is remains debated.

Later writers add detail. Pausanias says the acropolis was called Psophis after the man who founded the settlement, and Stephanus of Byzantium confirms that the colony took the founder's name.

In the fifth century BC the island mattered to the wider Greek wars. The Athenian commander Tolmides made an alliance with it during the First Peloponnesian War, and the Spartans later attacked it with a sizeable force of heavy infantry under their admiral Cnemus.

The Venetians ruled from 1484 until 1797, and that long period shaped the island's character. Its writers and painters came into closer contact with Western trends than those on many other Greek islands. The Heptanese School of literature grew out of this, producing lyrical and satirical poetry in the Romantic spirit of the time. Its most famous figure, Dionysios Solomos, wrote the words of the Greek national anthem, and his name still stands over the town.

What to see

Culture

Zakynthos spent centuries under the Venetian Republic, and that contact with Western art and ideas set it apart from many other Greek-speaking places. The island's early writing includes the Rimada, a verse romance about Alexander the Great that dates from the sixteenth century. Other writers of the period included a historical novelist, a humanist, a theologian and a satirist, all working in the shadow of Venetian rule.

In the late eighteenth century the Heptanese School flourished here, with poets writing lyrical and satirical verse in the Romantic style. The school also helped lay the groundwork for modern Greek theatre. Dionysios Solomos, its most celebrated name, is still remembered as the national poet, and his statue in the town is a quiet focus for visitors.

Local life is still rooted in the village, the family table and the church calendar. Religious festivals and name days bring people out in the evenings, and the island's hospitality is warm but not theatrical. Greek Orthodox churches and monasteries expect visitors to dress modestly, so cover your shoulders and knees and keep your voice low inside.

What to wear

Zakynthos shares the dress traditions of the wider Ionian islands. Festival costume, where it survives, is worn for feast days, weddings and folk dancing rather than for everyday life, and it usually uses cotton and wool woven in the home, with embroidered borders and dark, deep colours. Older women in the villages may still wear dark dresses and headscarves for church, though this is more common in the countryside than in the towns.

What people wear now is simple and practical. In summer you will see linen trousers, cotton dresses, sandals and sun hats in the towns, and swimwear on the beaches, though most people change before walking into the centre. Greeks tend to dress with a little more care than the summer resort crowd suggests, so a clean shirt for dinner feels right.

For a visit, dress for the heat and the terrain. Light cotton or linen, a hat and sunglasses are essential from late spring onwards. Wear closed shoes with good grip for the cliff paths and the rocky approaches to the coves, and bring a light layer for the evening breeze on the coast. For churches, monasteries and sites like the Mount Skopos ruins, cover shoulders and knees, and do not wear beachwear.

What to eat

Plan it

Best time. May, June and September to October, when the sea is warm and the island is busy but not packed. The charter season runs from May to October, so August is the peak and can be hot and crowded in the south.

How long. 3–4

Getting there. Zakynthos International Airport (ZTH) in the south, near Laganas and Kalamaki, with charter flights mainly from northern Europe in season and domestic flights to Athens. There is no public bus from the airport to town, so take a taxi. Ferries run from Zakynthos Town to Kyllini on the mainland.

Budget. mid

Tips

Etiquette

Nearby

Sources