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Quick guide:
1)Why Zakinthos?
2) Quickly about first and second day.
3) Top attractions and our opinions of them
4)Summary of the whole place
1)Why Zakinthos?
2) Quickly about first and second day.
3) Top attractions and our opinions of them
4)Summary of the whole place
We went to Zante (nickname for Zakyntos) back in May 2018, honestly it was the best time to be there at that time because it wasn't crowded at that time and everything was just starting to bloom, the flowers, the nature and everything in between, we were told. And that was true.π
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So where do I start.....
It felt amazing from the beginning to the ending it was my second time travelling in general and of course I can't promise you, that you will have the same experience as I did, because for me, like I just said it was my second time travelling and it just felt like i chose this special place for me where I will definitely be going back to already in summer 2019.
If you like travelling and can't start with fancy places like Maldives, Fiji island or Bora Bora then Zakynthos is kind of close to begin with. :) It's a small island fulfilled with many options of activities to do and places to see.
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| Porto Vromi Maries Bay(the way to shipwreck beach) |
First of all...how did we decide to go to Zakinthos? π
It's a funny story actually...we we're both working with my friend in that summer and we had just graduated from college and all of a sudden we we're thinking WHAT IF we went on a trip together before we actually have to start the "adult lifestyle"....so we started to browse different websites for the cheapest places to visit for a week!
We were in between Greece and Turkey. When we spotted the name Zakinthos out of blue it just sounded sooo freakin funny to us! We eventually started to call it Suck-My-Toss (translated to estonian that would be suck my shoes) so we picked that because we already had a great feeling about that place. :)
The flight to Zakynthos from Helsinki was about 4 hours. It was a straight flight with Finnair.
The trip all together cost us about 600€ per person it included flights and accommodation. The car we had rented and the extra activities cost some money too. But not that much so basically this was a budget kind of a trip as well! Anything is possible π
The first day:
When we landed, the weather wasn't that great it was super windy and a little rainy.
The hotel we were staying at was called The Crystal Beach hotel. It was located in the Kalamaki neighborhood which had everything close by and I mean literally close by not like on the other side of the road. We could sleep easily there weren't any clubs or bars on the other side of the road.
The hotel in general was great, the service and that stuff but.....about the breakfast....It was OK for my friend yeah because she can eat anything. But for me someone who has Celiac disease it was a little hard. All I basically could eat for a week was Greek salad and eggs! π And when I asked the staff for the first time if they had anything gluten free all I got for an answer was "Sorry, I am not a doctor" that was kind of disappointing.
Map of suck-my-toss!
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| Heres a map of Zante, Kalamaki is located just at the bottom of Zakynthos Town. (Its where our hotel was located just at the beach coastline) |
Day 2:
Since we had booked a car for the third day, on the 2nd day we were still hanging around our Kalamaki neighborhood and went a little further to the Laganas side and walked among the coastline for 2 hours just to get to the other side!
It was a long day full of adventures with good vibes and music. In the evening we found a great Shisha bar nearby (where we then...went to almost every night :) with good service and what a relaxational moment it was for us. To let go of all the stress we had! And such a fun staff, we were constantly trying new cocktails! π
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| The view from our hotel room. View to Laganas beach and turtle island.π’ππ’ |
On the third day we finally could go driving around the island. So we went for the top attractions that interested us the most.
Here are the top attractions of Zante! and our experiences shortly.
The navΓ‘gio beach aka the shipwreck beach (yes apparently they have many callings for different places)
The Smugglers Cove or Smugglers Bay, is a bay and beach on Zakynthos. It is located in the western part of the island (on the map if you look its located at the top of the left side)
Oh and a funny story between these lines....
My friend and I both had Sony phones and they were said to be "waterproof" but what we didn't realize was that ofc they weren't waterproof to salty water!
And you can see from the blueness of that water that it was indeed....super salty ππ
So summary of the story..my phone died on the same day later that day.....and my friends phone gave up on her the day after she tried to catch turtles on video. We were phoneless for 3 days.π© Before when Gerda's phone died she made me her "slave minion" as of she was giving me tasks to do, to use her phone..such a friendπ
Luckily we had the best receptionist at the hotel we were staying in and they were so kind and friendly to let us use the phone when we needed to.
So from there we called our families and close friends to let them know we won't have phones for another 3 days! yay!
This photo is taken by Chinese tourists who just wanted to take photos of us.π
Thank you other tourists for taking such a great photo.
The water on the shipwreck beach was chilly and as soon as you stepped in the water it felt like you fell down from a deep deep well...(if ur a tiny person) ππ
There was also a dog on the beach who was enjoying the sunny day.
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| To get these pictures you actually have to drive about 40 mins to get to the viewpoint! and that is from the Porto Vromi bay. For us it was a little hard to find the right place at the first time so we went back twice there. |
The Keri caves and loggerhead turtle watching (MarathonΓsi aka the turtle beach)
The trip there costs about 20 euros, we didn't buy it from the internet in advance we just went there and got it from there. That way it's the cheapest. The boat left from Laganas beach and the trip in total lasted for about 2,5 hours. The guides were amazing and we had many stops to take pictures and go for a swim in the ocean and the caves.
Yes! Zante is a place where you spot many many turtles even swimming underneath you!
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| The popular spot where people like to have weddings! The Cameo Island. The entry there cost about 5€. |
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| (Tutle beach to the left) |
From our experience, spending the day at the beach near our hotel......swimming and floating
for a second we didn't realize we wen't prettty far.....until a turtle beneath us gave us a sign.π
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| In these caves you could swim in a way that you come out from the other side, which was a really cool experience. |
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| Loggerhead turtleeeeπ’ |
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| This isn't my own photo, took it from google, because on that day I didn't have my phone anymore and I have no idea why I didn't use my camera, I guess we only had 30 minutes because we we're on that boat and they came back to get us after. But that's how the turtle beach looked like. |
The Porto Limnionas Beach
It was the perfect place to go for a swim and chill.
There were also locals there which means it wasn't crowded at all.
Before you get to the beach. You go through a restaurant and walk down stairs or the hardest way down....through rocks which we took... :D
Beautiful sights, but we were anxious to know what was inside the cave to my left!
So on our way we were.....π
The water is literally that blue and the bottom is clear!
oh snap!
Dafni Beach
A quiet beach where mostly locals go to, so again not that crowded! And so warm. I think it was the warmest where we had gone to yet. π
the humidity!
"yo wassup"
People are extremely friendly in Zante and it was really easy to make new friends :)
So the whole summary of Zakynthos! π
For us it was more of a beach holiday not the "party" have fun get drunk kind of a trip. I dont think it would of been that great if we had gotten wasted all the time then we couldn't of possibly seen the best places of Zakynthos.
And im talking about this because if you want to have a fun-get-drunk kind of a holiday to Zante then the place would be Laganas area! Yes...there were parties every night.
Other than that definitely worth travelling to. Great weather, amazing small island to travel literally you can travel the whole island. It's whole length all together is 40 km and width 20 km.
The food is great, fish is fresh, and dishes are smashing.
The best restaurant for me and my gluten intolerance was "Olive Tree Restaurant" located near our hotel in Kalamaki.
They had everything! From greek to Mexican food! and everything in between.
The best starter for me was garlic mushrooms, so delicioussss! π
http://www.olivetreerestaurant-zakynthos.com/
The best time to travel there would be in the early summer for an example May. Then it isn't extremely hot like it would be in August and you can actually enjoy your time without getting sunburnt and going sightseeing in peace.
Since we didn't see everything we had planned and had an incident with our phones, we decided to go back this summer. With full equipment.
They are selling the whole day trips everywhere all around the island as well as every other trip you would like to get.
On Kefalonia island locates the beautiful Melissani Lake Cave.
That was all for now!
Thanks for reading my first blog :) applause to you. π
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