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As you probably know by now, I had an AMAZING trip to Greece last fall! I spent a glorious week in Santorini, a fun couple of days in Athens and now we are driving mainland Greece working our way slowly up to Thessaloniki.After driving from Athens to Olympia, we took a break and hopped on a ferry to Zakynthos. It is off the beaten path, but this is why you MUST visit Zakynthos, Greece!
Arriving
We took a ferry from the mainland port of Kyllini to Zante, the main port for the Greek Ionian island of Zakynthos.
Taking roughly an hour, the ferry ride is comfortable with indoor seating, restrooms and a snack bar.
Arriving into Zante, we were met with breathtakingly beautiful scenery…
Look at those colorful buildings!
On The Island
Navagio Beach
Once we got onto the island, we headed straight to Navagio Beach.
Also known as Shipwreck Beach, Navagio Beach is an exposed cove that is sometimes called “Smugglers Cove“.
It has been called the most beautiful beach in Greece. I’m sure you can see why!
After walking out along the top of the cliff and looking over the edge, this is what we found! A second “hidden” beach with white sand! This place was truly like being in a dream. You mean these kinds of places DO exist?? 🙂
From a different angle, the water looks like it has a shark in it! See it? 😉
This is where I got brave, but I really wanted this photo!
Disclaimer: Again, I am not recommending getting this close to the edge!
Driving Discoveries
Once we left Navagio Beach, Alex, our driver from Hellenic Private Tours took us to some of his favorite places on the island. One of these included a gazebo with this little overlook to the left of it. I loved the colors of the water against the rock formation. It almost has a textured look to it!
At our next stop, we saw goats. Because I love wildlife, I had to get a view of them closer up without the fence in the way! One of them seemed unfazed, but this one was giving me a look as if to say “Trying to eat here…do you like to be stared at while you eat?” 🙂
Afterwards, Alex showed us the Cliffs of Keri in Keri Village.
It also has some amazing views and is a great place to watch the sun set!
Returning to the Mainland
The next day, we headed back to port.
There, we ate our favorite, souvlaki!
After lunch, we took the ferry back to the mainland. I knew I was going to miss these views and I was right!
PIN IT!
Now, do you see why you MUST go to Zakynthos??
Thank you to Amanda for taking these photos of me.
While I admit it might not be the easiest place to get to, it is most definitely worth it to spend the time getting there. These are once-in-a-lifetime views!!
I would love to hear your thoughts on Zakynthos if you have been or even if you haven’t! I hope these photos inspire you to go! As always, I’d love to hear from you!
‘Til next time…
Trimm Travels,
What a beautiful blog! These pictures are amazing! I can’t believe you ran into goats, how funny!
How did you get around on the island? Would you recommend, like others do, to rent a car to get around more easily – or is public transport okay?
Kim
Hi Kim-Thank you so much, I am so happy you like it!!! Yep, goats, so funny! We got around with a private driver that I would highly recommend. He went above and beyond as a driver, tour guide, protector, etc. Even climbed rocks to help me climb up when my ankle was bothering me. 2 years later, I call him a friend! You are welcome to email me for more information. I’m not positive on public transportation on the island to be honest. I would look into it! Renting a car is doable although when we were there, there were some routes that were closed and Alex (our driver) had to figure out how to get around that. I will look at that article and let you know. Thanks for reading! 🙂
Hi Kim, I read that article you sent and they do recommend renting a car. I think it’s totally doable from what I saw, I just can’t really comment on the experience since we didn’t personally do it. As for public transportation, I didn’t see much of that either which is why it didn’t jog my memory so it makes sense where they said there didn’t seem to be any. I hope that helps? 🙂