Zakynthos, or Zante, is one of the most beautiful of the Greek Islands. There’s so much to see and enjoy on this island, with beautiful beaches and views. Here’s your ultimate itinerary for visiting Zakynthos in one week.
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Zakynthos (Zante) is an amazing island off the coast of Greece. If you’re looking for an idyllic Greek island holiday, then Zante has something for everyone. My itinerary for visiting Zakynthos in one week will show you how to make the most of your time on this amazing island. There are lots of beautiful beaches, amazing views, caves, turtles, delicious Greek food, and more. And with one week in Zakynthos, you’ll also have time to relax on the beach or at the hotel pool. Visiting Zakynthos in one week gives you enough time to have a great balance between exploring the island and relaxing.
Zakynthos, or Zante, does have a bit of a ‘party destination’ reputation. The small town on Laganas on the island is known to be one of the best nightlife destinations in Greece. But if nightlife isn’t your thing, don’t let this put you off. There’s so much to Zante beyond the nightlife. And it’s so easy to avoid the main nightlife area if you want. Instead, you can enjoy delicious food at authentic Greek restaurants, or relax in a chilled cocktail bar for the evening. My itinerary for Zakynthos in one week is definitely not focussed on the nightlife – so rest assured that you can enjoy Zante without the nightlife.
Is Zakynthos worth visiting for one week?
Even though Zakynthos is a fairly small island, there’s still quite a lot to see and do. So you can easily spend a whole week in Zakynthos and have plenty of things to do.
My itinerary for spending on week in Zakynthos will show you how you can easily fill a full week on the island. There are so many day trips around the island you can do. And the amazing weather in Zante means you can also enjoy some time relaxing in the sun at the beach and the pool.
What is the best time of year to spend one week in Zakynthos?
I recommend visiting Zakynthos in the spring. May and June are my favourite times to visit Zakynthos. In May and June, the weather should be sunny most days, but not too hot. The island is at its most lush and green in the spring, with flowers around as well.
If you want to escape the crowds and visit Zakynthos when there are fewer tourists, consider visiting the island in early May. In early May, the island is just opening up to tourism. So most things are open, but it’s not too busy. You’ll easy be able to get a good spot by the hotel pool, and get a good table in any restaurant in the evening. Later in May, and into June, the island gets a lot busier with tourists.
The party season in Laganas in Zakynthos starts in June. So if you visit in May, you won’t really come across much of the party/nightlife scene.
I recommend avoiding visiting Zakynthos in July and August. These months are the hottest. The temperature can easily get over 40 degrees Celsius. So it’s too hot to do much apart from lay on the beach or by the pool. If you want to explore the island, the weather is often too hot in July and August to be able to enjoy going around the island. Plus, this is the busiest time on Zante, with lots of crowds.
September and October can also be nice times to visit Zakynthos. Like the springtime, you can get pleasant temperatures and fewer crowds in the autumn.
Zakynthos without a car
To explore Zakynthos in one week, you don’t need to hire a car. I didn’t hire a car, and I felt like I saw all of the island. To get around, I used a combination of day tours on a minibus, and also taxis.
I don’t think I’d enjoy driving in Zakynthos. The roads of often narrow and winding, with a lot of hills and hairpin bends. The roads can be busy in the summer, and parking at the top beauty spots can be very challenging. So I wouldn’t recommend hiring a car, as it would be stressful.
The island is fairly small, so you can easily go around the whole island on a day tour or with a taxi. I found this a lot more relaxing than trying to drive. Plus, the tours know all of the best places, which you’d often miss if you tried to drive there yourself.
I searched for day tours on the websites Get Your Guide and Viator. I’ll go into more detail about the tours I did below. But if you want to start browsing some of the tours yourself, check out the best Zante tours on Get Your Guide (affiliate), or the best Zante tours on Viator (affiliate).
Where should I stay for one week in Zaknythos?
I think the best place to stay in Zante is in Kalamaki. This is definitely my favourite place on the island, and a great place to base yourself for a week in Zakynthos.
I stayed at the Marelen Hotel and I loved it. I definitely recommend this hotel. Check out the Marelen Hotel in Kalamaki here (affiliate).
Kalamaki is right next to the beautiful beach on Laganas Bay. There are lots of beautiful hotels in Kalamaki with great pools. And these hotels are walking distance to the lovely beach. So on your more relaxed days, you can choose to spend the day at the pool or at the beach. Kalamaki also has a great high street, with a great selection of restaurants. I’ve been to a lot of the restaurants along the Kalamaki main street and I’ve been impressed with all of them. There’s so many serving traditional Greek food. There are also lots of supermarkets and tourist shops along this street. And Kalamaki is also well connected to the rest of the island for your day tours, and super close to the airport.
If you’d prefer to stay somewhere a bit more lively, then you could stay in Zakynthos main town. This is the biggest town on the island. There’s a lovely waterfront, and also a huge selection of shops and restaurants in the town. However, Zakynthos town isn’t close to a beach. And the hotels here tend to be smaller, town-style hotels, without the large pools.
If you want to enjoy the famous Zakynthos nightlife, then I recommend staying in Laganas. This is the nightlife capital of Zakynthos. However, if nightlife isn’t your thing, then I recommend avoiding Laganas and instead choosing nearby Kalamaki.
One week in Zakynthos: Your Ultimate Itinerary
Here’s your day by day itinerary for visiting Zakynthos in one week. In my one week itinerary for Zakynthos (Zante), I’ll show you how to visit the top sights on the island without a car, eat the best Greek food, and enjoy the most amazing, unforgettable experiences.
Day 1: Tour the island to visit Shipwreck Beach and the Blue Caves
On my first day in Zakynthos, I did a full day tour of the island. One of the top things I wanted to see in Zakynthos was the famous Shipwreck Beach (Nagavio Beach). So I decided to do this on my first day in Zakynthos.
I did a tour of the island, which I booked through Get Your Guide. You can see the tour of Zakynthos to Shipwreck Beach here (affiliate). It’s a long day trip, but definitely worth it. It was one of my favourite days in Zakynthos. I recommend booking the semi-private tour – it’s a small group, on a comfortable air conditioned minibus. And the tour includes drone footage and a polaroid photo of Shipwreck bay – which were both amazing.
The first viewpoint stops
The first stop on this day tour of Zakynthos was a viewpoint over the Zakynthos main town. It’s a point called the panoramic view of Bohali. The view here is amazing. And there’s a cafe here as well if you need a quick drink. On this tour, the stop at this viewpoint was fairly brief. But it was still plenty of time to enjoy the view and take some photos.
The next stop was also another fairly quick viewpoint/cafe stop. This was a viewpoint over Laperda Beach, with a small cafe called Mr Rock cafe. I really liked this viewpoint.
You could really appreciate how green Zakynthos is in the springtime, with some colourful flowers as well. I just loved the colours here, from the lush greenery to the yellow flowers, the white rocks, and the stunning blue sea.
We stopped here for about 15 minutes. So there was plenty of time to take photos of the view, and also get a coffee or go to the toilets in the cafe.
Xigia Sulphur Beach
The next stop on tour, after a short drive, was the Xigia Sulphur Beach. It’s a small, beautiful beach on the East coast of Zakynthos. And it’s famous as a natural Sulphur spring. You can smell the sulphur slightly on the beach, and you can also swim in the sea here. The sulphur water is meant to be really good for your skin.
The tour stopped here for about 40 minutes. So we had plenty of time to enjoy the beach. There’s a lovely cafe at the top, where you can enjoy the lovely views down to the beach.
It only takes a few minutes to walk down to the beach. The beach is lovely. Some people decided to swim at the beach, and others decided to just paddle in the water instead and then relax on the beach in the sun. It’s a really beautiful place. The white sand makes the sea such a gorgeous light blue colour.
Boat trip to Shipwreck Beach and the Blue Caves
The next stop, after another short drive, was one of my highlights of my entire time in Zakynthos. It was the boat trip to see Shipwreck Beach and the Blue Caves.
We got on the boat at Agios Nikolaos, a small village with a small harbour. It was really pretty with the boats in the water. The boat we were on was fairly small. Because we’d paid for the ‘semi-private’ tour, the boat included just the nine people from the tour group. It was really nice – we all had plenty of space on the boat, and it was nice not having to wait for any other people to join.
The boat was a speedboat, and as soon as we left the harbour the boat driver soon went to full speed. It was really fun as we were bouncing over the waves. It was slightly more bouncy than I was expecting – the sea looked quite flat, but the boat was still bouncing over the waves. But it was good fun. And the views from the boat were just constantly stunning. We sped past the Blue Caves, as we’d be visiting them more slowly on the way back.
The speedboat took about 30 minutes at full speed to get to Shipwreck Beach. It was longer than I was expecting. There were a lot of moments when I was sure that the Shipwreck Beach must be around the next corner, or around the next cliff. But it wasn’t, and we kept speeding along. But eventually, we got to Shipwreck Beach. And it was just beautiful.
Shipwreck Beach from the water
It’s not possible to go onto the beach at Shipwreck Beach (Navagio Beach). But I liked that – it meant that the beach was completely empty, so it looked even better in the photos. When we first arrived there were a few other boats in the bay. But they soon left, so we had the whole place to ourselves.
I loved the views here. I took so many photos. The guide gave us plenty of time to take photos from all angles. And the guide also took photos of each person/couple sat on the front of the boat with the beach in the background.
The cliffs and the sea all around Shipwreck Beach were just stunning. I just couldn’t get enough of the shade of blue of the sea.
It was just such a perfect colour – definitely my favourite blue. With the white cliffs next to the light blue sea, it was just stunning.
After spending a while at the Shipwreck Beach, we turned back on the boat. This time, we went a bit more slowly so we could see the caves more clearly.
The Blue Caves in Zakynthos
Again, the blue water next to the white cliffs was just stunning. We went really close to the cliffs in the boat, and also went inside some of the caves.
There were some caves that were particularly impressive inside, with the sunlight filtering through and creating amazing bright blue patterns in the water. The Blue Caves in Zakynthos were really lovely.
The boat trip included two swimming stops, where you could jump off the boat into the water to swim. Some people on our boat trip chose not to swim so they stayed to relax on the boat. But I went swimming, and really enjoyed it.
The guide told us where to swim both times to discover hidden, secret caves. Both times, there was a small opening in the rock that led to a cave inside. You had to swim carefully and duck your head to get under the rock at the narrow openings to the cave. But once inside, it was a huge space. In one of the caves, the water was shallow and it was like there was a secret beach inside the caves. And it was such a big space that you could stand up inside. And the colour of the water inside the caves was just so blue.
The entire boat trip took about 3 hours. It was a longer boat trip than I was expecting, but it was amazing. The boat trip to Shipwreck Beach and the Blue Caves was definitely one of my top highlights from the whole holiday.
Lunch stop for fresh seafood
Next stop on the tour, just a few minutes’ drive from the harbour, was the lunch stop. We stopped at a restaurant called Orizontes restaurant. It was a late lunch stop – it was about 2.30/3pm by the time we got there. But I think it worked well to do the boat trip and swimming before lunch, so I was happy with the later lunch stop.
Orizontes Restaurant is a really nice restaurant with amazing sea views. The views from the restaurant are lovely. And the food is great as well. For a starter, I had fresh pita bread with hummus and tzatziki. It was amazing. And then for the main course, I had sea bass fillets. The food was great – it was one of the nicest meals in Zante. The view and the amazing food were great.
View of Shipwreck Beach – Navagio Beach viewpoint
Next stop on the tour after lunch was the other stop I was most looking forward to on the trip. We drove a short distance to the famous view of Shipwreck Beach – the Navagio Beach Viewpoint. And the view was amazing. It was yet another highlight of the whole trip.
To get to the best viewpoint, you needed to walk about 5 minutes from the car park. But it was an easy, well marked path. Towards the end of the path, you had to climb up the rocks to get the best view. It was a tiny bit scary climbing up the rocks, but totally worth it. And it was completely safe as long as you were a bit careful.
We had plenty of time here to take photos and enjoy the view. The tour I chose also included a polaroid photo and drone footage here which was great. The guide chose the spot for each person to sit individually for their polaroid photo. And again, the guide directed everyone for the best place to stand for their individual drone footage. The drone footage was amazing – from the drone you could even see another hidden beach far below.
I loved this viewpoint. It was so nice to have plenty of time to take photos and enjoy the view.
Final stop: Oldest Olive Tree and trying local produce
The final stop on the tour was a brief stop near the centre of Zakynthos, on the way back down to Kalamaki. We stopped at the oldest olive tree on the island. It’s in a small village, and is a nice place for a couple of photos of the huge tree.
There are also some stalls around the area where you could try local products, including local wine and local olive oil. It wasn’t an organised wine/olive oil tasting, but the owners of the staffs were super friendly and keen for tourists to come over and try their products. They were very generous giving you samples to try. I really enjoyed the fig liquer – it was surprisingly good. And there were cute cats around the village as well.
Then we all got back on the minibus, and got dropped off back at our hotels. I got back to Kalamaki at about 7pm. So it was a long day. But after the late lunch, I was happy to just relax and not do much for dinner in the evening. The day had been amazing, and was definitely one of the best days of the trip.
If you want to book this tour for your stay in Zakynthos, you can find the tour to Shipwreck Bay here (affiliate). Remember to choose the semi-private tour with drone footage for the best experience.
Keep reading for day 2 onwards of your ultimate itinerary for exploring Zakynthos in one week, with more activities like horse riding and turtle-spotting.
Day 2: Laganas Horse Riding – including swimming with horses
My second day in Zakynthos was also amazing. It was another of my favourite days of the trip. I did a 3 hour horse riding experience, which included swimming with the horses. I did this trip through Laganas Horse Riding. It was an amazing company that I would definitely recommend.
I had emailed to book the horse riding experience in advance, and the owner Maura was great at answering all my questions about what to bring and what to expect. I’ve been horse riding a few times before, but I am most definitely not experienced. Maura was really reassuring that this horse riding experience was suitable for beginners. She also kindly picked me up from the hotel in Kalamaki, as it was only a 5 minute drive from the Laganas Horse Riding stables.
When we all arrived, we all got helmets and then the experienced staff selected horses for each person based on their riding experience and ability. I was given a beautiful mare called Constantina. She was incredibly calm and gentle, which was perfect for my experience level. I could instantly tell that the staff loved their horses.
Riding down to the beach
There were seven people in total in my group, plus two instructors who rode with us. We started off riding along the roads and paths behind the beach. Laganas Beach is protected in a lot of areas because of nesting turtles. So we had to ride to get to the part of the beach where the horses are allowed.
The horses all followed the leader, and the whole group walked the route behind the beach. There were some areas where we walked next to the road, but the horses seemed completely calm walking next to the traffic. In other areas, we walked on some paths with lovely views.
There were a few hills, and some uneven ground, but in general the horse riding was manageable and very enjoyable.
At the beach with the horses
After about an hour of horse riding, we got to the beach. We all dismounted, with help from the instructors when needed. The instructors then took the saddles off the horses, and we could get changed – most people chose to wear shorts into the water that could get wet.
The instructors then helped us get back on the horses, without saddles. This was definitely challenging – I’d never ridden a horse without a saddle. So it was challenging to get back up, and also find a way to balance without a saddle! But I just about managed. Although, I have to admit, I did constantly find it a slight challenge to balance!
We then walked our horses through the water. It was amazing, to be walking through the sea while riding without a saddle. And the views were amazing. It was such an incredible experience.
Some instructors were riding in the water with us, and others took everyone’s phones so they could take photos of everyone in the water. It was really nice to have photos of this amazing experience.
The experience got even better when we started actually swimming with the horses. The instructor took people individually or in pairs into deeper water. Once the horse started swimming, you dismounted the horse and held it as you swam alongside. It was amazing to be literally swimming with horses. And then, once the horse started to walk again, you had to quickly get yourself back on the horse. Again, that part was a bit challenging and amusing, but fun as well.
After a bit more riding the horses in the water, we went back to the beach and dismounted. The instructors put the saddles back on the horses. And then we got back on the horses to ride back.
The ride back
Riding back definitely felt slightly easier. After spending about half an hour riding the horse without a saddle, it felt a lot easier to be back in the saddle! I really enjoyed the ride back.
We took a different route back. We walked through the sand dunes behind the beach.
It was amazing, riding the horse through the sand dunes. I felt more confident taking photos from the horse, and I really enjoyed the views around.
It was just an incredible experience. And the staff at Laganas Horse Riding were amazing. They were so kind and supportive, and really gave me reassurance and confidence. There were experienced riders in the group who also completely loved the experience. I would definitely recommend the 3 hour riding experience with swimming when you’re in Zakynthos. It’s such a unique and memorable experience.
Afternoon at the hotel pool with a cocktail
After 3 hours of horse riding, I was definitely feeling a little bit sore! It had been about 5 years since I’d been horse riding, so I definitely wasn’t used to using a lot of muscles. And 3 hours of horse riding in one go is a lot for anyone! It was an incredible experience, but definitely quite tiring. So I decided to enjoy a chilled afternoon at the hotel pool.
One of the great things about a holiday in Zakynthos is that the weather is so often beautiful and sunny, so you can relax in the sun on your holiday. With one week in Zakynthos, you can have some relaxing time in your week. I really enjoyed relaxing at the hotel pool in the afternoon.
And the pool bar was also a welcome addition to the afternoon. Drinking a chilled mojito while relaxing in the sun, and swimming in the pool, was just bliss.
If you like the look of this hotel pool, it’s the Marelen Hotel in Kalamaki – check out the Marelen Hotel here (affiliate).
Dinner in Kalamaki
In the evening, I recommend going for dinner in Kalamaki. There are lots of great restaurants along the main high street in Kalamaki, serving traditional Greek food.
I recommend the restuarant called Artigiano. It was my favourite restaurant in Kalamaki. And the water was so friendly as well – I ended up talking to him for ages. The food was amazing. For starter, I had feta cheese wrapped in filo pastry with honey. It was amazing, and quickly became my favourite food in Greece.
For my main course, I had the traditional Greek dish called Melitzanes Papoutsakia. It’s aubergines, filled with meat and cheese sauce. And it’s served with chips, fresh pita bread, and tzatziki. The food was amazing – definitely well deserved after the day of horse riding! And for desert, I had Greek yoghurt with fresh, local honey. It was so much better than the yoghurt you get in the supermarkets in the UK – it was so thick and creamy and fresh. The restaurant Artigiano was great, and a great ending to my second day in Zakynthos.
Keep reading on the next page for Day 3 and beyond.