Discover the Real Zakynthos

Why Zakynthos?

Zakynthos is a Greek island of sharp contrasts — dramatic limestone cliffs plunging into impossible turquoise water on the west coast, long stretches of calm sandy beach on the south, and a hilly interior of olive groves and hilltop villages that mass tourism has barely touched.

It's one of the last places in Europe where wild loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) nest on unprotected beaches. The local food — lamb stifado, fresh calamari, barrel retsina — is genuinely good once you leave the tourist strip.

This guide exists to get you deeper: past the package-tour beaches, into the real tavernas, and up into the mountain villages most visitors never find.