10 Top Things to Do in Zakynthos, Greece

At the northernmost tip of the island, the Blue Caves are a string of natural sea grottos hollowed out of the limestone cliffs around Cape Skinari. The water inside glows an electric blue when sunlight refracts through the entrances, and the caves are one of the signature stops on every northern boat tour. The most photographed grotto, the Kianoun Cave, has a low arched entrance that small boats can pass directly under.

Larger excursion boats from Zakynthos Town anchor outside while passengers swim in via swim-stops; smaller speedboats out of Agios Nikolaos port (the small harbour at the north tip, not Zakynthos Town) actually enter the caves. Most operators combine the Blue Caves with Navagio Beach in a half-day loop. The caves photograph best at mid-morning when the sun angle drives the brightest blue glow - tours leaving around 10:30 hit them just right.

Marathonisi - shaped like a turtle when seen from above and locally called Turtle Island - is a small uninhabited islet off the south coast in Laganas Bay. It sits inside the Zakynthos National Marine Park and is one of the most important loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta) nesting beaches in the Mediterranean. Tropical-feeling vegetation, turquoise shallows, and small sea caves on the western flank make it the most rewarding short-boat trip on the island.

Boat tours leave Limni Keriou and Keri port (15-25 minutes each way) and Laganas (longer, around 30-45 minutes). Most tours give you 60-90 minutes ashore. The protected eastern cove allows daytime swimming but is closed at night to nesting females from May to October. Glass-bottom boats out of Laganas often spot turtles in the bay on the way over - sightings are most reliable in June and July.

At the southwestern corner of the island, the Keri Caves are a series of dramatic sea-eroded arches and grottos carved into white cliffs below the village of Keri. The same cliffs sit beside Lake Keri, the historic natural pitch lake that supplied tar to the Athenian navy in the 5th century BC. That geology produced the wide rock arches you motor through today on the boat tours.

Small boats from Limni Keriou and Keri port reach the caves in about 20 minutes; tours typically include swim stops in turquoise coves between the arches and views of the Mizithres rock pillars further north. Above the caves, the Keri Lighthouse offers one of the best sunset spots on the island - a tarmac road climbs from Keri village to the cliff edge, where a small taverna serves drinks at the viewpoint.

Porto Limnionas is a narrow rocky inlet on the wild western coast - the closest thing Zakynthos has to a Norwegian fjord. Sheer limestone walls drop straight into clear, deep, turquoise water, with no sand and no shallows; you swim by jumping or descending one of the cut-stone ladders along the cliffs. A small family-run taverna at the head of the cove serves traditional Zakynthian dishes and rents sun loungers on the rock terrace.

Access is by car only via a narrow winding road from Agios Leon - allow 35 minutes from Zakynthos Town. The cliffs offer some shade in the morning but bake in the afternoon. The water depth and the absence of a beach mean Porto Limnionas suits confident swimmers; this is not the easiest spot for very small children, though older kids who can jump from rocks love it.

Laganas Bay stretches 9 km along the south coast and is the heart of the Zakynthos National Marine Park - the first marine national park in Greece, established in 1999 specifically to protect the largest loggerhead sea turtle nesting population in the Mediterranean. From May to October, around 1,300 turtles come ashore here to lay eggs on the bay's sandy beaches.

The town of Laganas itself is the loud, young-tourist-orientated heart of Zakynthos nightlife, but the bay's western beaches (Kalamaki, Sekania, Daphne, Gerakas) are quieter and more important ecologically. Boat tours from Laganas port take you out to spot turtles in the bay, with sightings most reliable June to August, often combined with a stop at Marathonisi Island. Admission to the marine park itself is free for swimmers.

The capital of the island, locally called Chora, was levelled by the 1953 Ionian earthquake and rebuilt in the same Venetian-influenced style. The result is an attractive harbour town with arcaded streets, the marble-paved Plateia Solomou (the main square, named after the national poet Dionysios Solomos who was born here), and the rebuilt Church of Saint Dionysios with its prominent 19th-century campanile.

The Museum of Solomos and Eminent Zakynthians on St Mark's Square holds local 18th and 19th-century art and the tomb of the poet himself. Above the town, a 15-minute drive (or a 45-minute uphill walk) leads to Bochali Hill, where the walled remains of the Venetian Castle of Zakynthos sit among pine trees with sweeping views back over the harbour. Castle entrance costs 4 EUR.

Gerakas, on the southern tip of the Vasilikos Peninsula, is one of the most beautiful beaches on Zakynthos and one of the most strictly protected. A long crescent of fine cream-coloured sand backs onto pale ochre clay cliffs, sitting inside the Zakynthos National Marine Park as a designated loggerhead nesting beach. As a result, sun loungers are restricted to the front third of the beach, the back is roped off, and the entire beach is closed to visitors from sunset to sunrise (May to October) to protect nesting turtles.

A small visitor centre at the entrance run by ARCHELON (the Sea Turtle Protection Society of Greece) is worth 10 minutes for the educational displays and to learn how to spot a nest. The beach itself is reached by a sloped sand path from the parking area; one taverna sits at the entrance. Water entry is shallow and gradual, making Gerakas a strong family pick when you respect the rules.

Above the village of Kampi on the western edge of the island, a panoramic cliff terrace looks out at the Mizithres - two distinctive cone-shaped rock pillars rising from the sea below the cliffs - and across the Ionian to the silhouette of Kefalonia on a clear evening. A large stone cross, built by villagers in memory of locals who lost their lives during the Greek Civil War, marks the highest point on the terrace and gives the spot its other name, the Kampi Cross.

A handful of cliff-edge tavernas serve traditional Zakynthian food (rabbit stifado, fresh sardines, local wine) with the same view, and the road climbs gently from Maries village - allow 35 minutes by car from Zakynthos Town. The terrace is unfenced in places, so keep children close to the inland side. Sunset turns the cliffs gold, and on a clear night the lights of Kefalonia twinkle to the north.

Inland from the Navagio viewpoint, the small village of Anafonitria is built around a 15th-century monastery that holds a special place in Zakynthian Orthodox life: this is where Saint Dionysios, patron saint of the island, lived as a monk in the 17th century. The fortified compound retains its medieval defensive tower and a small chapel decorated with post-Byzantine frescoes; the saint's old cell is preserved as a tiny museum behind the main church.

A few kilometres further north, Volimes is famous for handmade textiles - rugs, embroidered tablecloths, local kefalotyri cheese, and thyme honey from the surrounding hills. The drive itself is part of the pleasure: olive groves, dry-stone walls, and views over the western escarpment. Combine both stops with the Navagio viewpoint and the Mizithres terrace at Kampi for a complete west-coast day.