A Week in Zakynthos - Is Zakynthos Good For Couples?

With my partner, we booked a stay in Zakynthos for a week in September after the kids went back to school. It felt like a long school holiday but the British summer had been good this year 22. Just a note on the booking- we made it independent with flights from Jet2 and a room here from booking.com. We didn't get the same value doing the whole package with Jet2.

We flew from Birmingham with a very early flight but that meant we arrived at just after mid-day roughly and could settle in. Yes, we were tired on arrival but that first day on holiday is intoxicating and you feel no fatigue just a joie de vivre. We booked parking that was impossible to find from written instructions. Google directions came to the rescue, I was pretty naff sorry darling. The staff were not helpful either. The parking was poor given the cost of around £100 but in the end, worked. We didn't surrender our keys. There were thankfully no problems due to the ridiculous staff issues as the airlines scaled down after c19. Jet2 had a good rating on delivering holidaymakers not so for Easyjet- we avoided them at all costs. I use Plusnet and you just have to activate a setting to enjoy your package at no roaming cost at all. This is a marvellous advancement in travel convenience across mobile providers. It's nice to be able to say something positive as the years go by. It's not all bad news.

Upon arrival at the airport, we collected our bags. I thought I should get some euros as whilst I had some from a previous trip I was going to need more. You never know how many ATMs are going to be around so I always get enough for a few days at the airport. It is a good tip that you never change euros or dollars back up if you have some left over. You will lose money that way. Euros and dollars will always be useful even travelling in many other countries.

The pound is weak but I was not prepared for how badly the airport ATM was going to treat me with fees. I decided to try an ATM in town instead.

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Money ATM Zante

Later in the week, I got this rate of exchange

## 102.50 EUR at 1.15117 rates costing me 89.04 then also a card fee of 2.66

I had booked a transfer in advance for 30 Euros each way and was pleasantly surprised to see my name after clearing customs and passport control. We got whisked to the Letsos Hotel (my Letsos Hotel Review) in Alykanas in reasonable comfort. The Letsos hotel has a lady at the desk who will organise this in advance for you. However the chat in the booking.com app is not the best way to communicate. You can find yourself a private taxi here in advance. Our ride was lovely reminding me of Greece from days gone by. Olive groves greeted us in smell and grace, offsetting the occasional rubbish tip and village. We were beset by something we would learn is popular on the island, Quad Bikes- Quads. The smart holidaymakers can be filtered out as they wear helmets. We elected for a car to transport us around for comfort and were tempted by a Quad. We might do this next time. We arrived in the beachside village/town of Alykanas.

We had booked a room in a block across the street and we had a pool that was for our use only but we could also use the main pool. The Letsos is a short 5-minute walk from Alykanas Beach. We had to cross a small road to get to the main resort/hotel. We had a balcony overlooking the road and I ended up loving spending time here; with a drink in the warmth of September people watching and thinking of the Beef Stifado or Gyros to come. Review of the Letsos hotel here.

Our room had an upstairs and downstairs with a pair of single beds on each and taking 4 people is set up for families. So during the school holidays, this resort might have felt different with a lot more kids in. There were kids staying in the resort during our week somehow but there weren't that many. I wondered how they did it as I will be taking my daughter next year with luck and want to avoid the school 'tax'. Even if the resort was full and both pools would then be quite busy the beach being 5 minutes is the place to spend more time. It was hard to choose where to go across the week. We wanted of course to enjoy the lovely pool and resort- and did that on occasion. Then we struck out for Zakynthos town, Banana Bay, the north, Keri, and Kalamaki. We could have seen more but it would have been more of the same with a different look and missed the resort entirely.

We enjoyed the main pool of the Letsos that afternoon- the water was lovely and fresh not warm not cold. The bar sadly has awful weak cocktails so stick to the beer or wine. The food is good, the food in Zakynthos is great everywhere. We went out for our first evening meal in one of the restaurants that we ambled upon and I was impressed all around. There was a lovely ambiance to go with the meal and we were outside. I never take that for granted.

If you are on a budget then do consider a place without a pool. There are so many beaches you could get away with it. And then Zante has this property thing where you have a restaurant bar and pool. Just go and enjoy. A way to save. You might get a great deal on flights and live quite cheaply as even the minimarkets don't rip you off.

 

First Full Day

We decided that we would try the local beach and pool for the first day. We did the usual thing of enquiring after a rental car but were undecided as of yet when to take it. Cars are not too expensive and the daily rate is around 50 euros per day for a small car with an odd ding. See my Zakynthos Car Rental Guide
As part of the deluxe block in Letsos, we had our own smaller pool which saw few guests in our time. It is a long pool too so you can if you are like me use this to do your swimming lengths. Though I feel it is longer than 25m just. There is no music here or service so you bring your own (service, not music please keep it to yourself via headphones) which is fine. Later in the week, we would bring pastries and coffee from the bakery just down the street. We enjoyed 'our' pool and often we were the only ones using it that week. Some 4 or so rooms' back doors open out to use the pool from the back of the room swim-up style. I am not sure if I want that and I really love my balcony and people watching.
The beach was our second stop and we also got some beachside exploration of Alykanas harbour and ate lunch there nearby. It was so nice to be in Greece again we were both warming to the island rapidly. The sand near our resort and for the length of the beach is fine enough not too powdery and no pebbles which I dislike and we did find on occasion this trip. The beach is very safe with a gentle slope that remains very shallow such a long way out. Great for kids- no current either. Further up the beach, you can find bars that hire out loungers and other places that do pedalos. We discovered our favourite spot to be outside of a resort called Alykanas Village, which Jet2 actually sells all-inclusive deals. We both prefer towels and getting full exposure to being crammed close to others on loungers, We have enough loungers by the pool. We also were to discover a small convenience store as part of the resort which is pretty handy, cool mythos not far. After lunch, we got some nice photos of the harbour here and the small fishing boats. There is a big Greek flag too! This is also close to Mill Bar where later in the week we would be recommended to go for our Greek Night. I had no idea what one of those was! We came back to the main pool for the remainder of the late afternoon sun. In the main pool, you get a vastly different vibe it is busy but at this time ok. Also, note that if you want to use the fancy loungers you will need to pay extra and quite a bit extra too. You don't need them the regular loungers are perfectly fine. They should concentrate on fixing better drinks in my book. That was our day done really and it was great the evening to come and a standard restaurant then drink in a bar for a couple then home to our balcony. We reasoned that we had a better atmosphere and could chill far easier in the comfort of our end room balcony. Lucky Luke clip-cloppingpast.

Day 4 Banana Baya Zante

The beach is one of the best in Zakynthos and you will not dislike it.

 

Olea All Suites - check on Booking.com

 

Kimiro Hotel Tsilivi - check on Booking.com

 

Lesante Blue - An Adults Only Resort - check on Booking.com now