Advantages: Sparkling sea and quiet
Disadvantages: None

...I first went to the Island of Zakynthos aka Zante in the year of 1998. I cannot recall much of this holiday as i was quite young when i went for the first time. The last time i visited the glorious island of Zakynthos was last October. With its glorious and sparkling sea Zante sets your pulse rate soaring. Zante is a Greek Island part of a group of islands named the Ionian Islands which are situated West of mainland Greece in the Aegean sea. ♥ Flight and more details ♥ Flights to Zante depart from all around the UK using all different airlines. The best i have been on is Thomas Cook. All of the airlines have inflight entertainment of music radio and a film also maybe some short cartoons/sitcoms afterwards, each operator also provides an onboard bar and an onboard snack bar to keep the hunger bug hiding away. If you... Read review

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Advantages: Only 3 and a half hours from Gatwick, Friendly locals, views you must see before you die
Disadvantages: Airport is not the best

...First of all let me explain the airport. Zante airport is notorious for being a nightmare, up until summer 2005 it was a very small terminal with one conveyor belt for 3 incoming flights worth of luggage in one go, and a departure lounge (if you can call it that) with no seats and a small kiosk that sells food and drink. In the summer of 2005 a new arrivals terminal was built. It has 3 conveyor belts now and the space around them is far larger. The luggage still takes quite a while to get off of the plane and onto the conveyor but you have space to walk around and go to the toilet. Up until September 2006 departures has not changed at all, it looks like it will happen, but knowing what the Greeks are like it will take some time! Don't let it put you off as the island is well worth seeing, when you are on your way home make sure you take... Read review

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Advantages: Very cheap; friendly people
Disadvantages: Cloudy weather in September

...On 7th September, my boyfriend and I set off on the long and tiresome journey to Zante, Greece. After having sat in the car for two hours on the way to Gatwick, we were not so pleasantly surprised to find that we were in the wrong Terminal. Oops! So off we trekked to the North Terminal where our holiday began. The flight was about three hours, during which time you get to munch on some lovely airplane food and purchase duty free items. We went with Astreaus who were very accomodating. After arriving in Zante five hours after we had left Gatwick (they're two hours ahead), we dragged our luggage to the coach. The transfer time to Laganas and the hotel was only 20 minutes, which was good because I was quite tired by this point! As soon as we got there the sun disappeared and the rain started to pour. Although it was still over... Read review

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Advantages: Food, kids club, family orientated, quiet resort, beach.
Disadvantages: Off the beaten track, nothing else around

...We stayed at the Louis Palazzo di zante for 2 weeks in August 2007 as a family of 4. It is in the resort of Vasilikos in south eastern zante and is situated together with its 2 sister hotels the Imperial and Royal overlooking the local beach with a lift from the Imperial down to the beach which is a godsend for those with kids. The Louis Palazzo di zante is a family orientated hotel with a venetian style canal within the complex with all the rroms overlooking it. We thought you could swim in it as others did we spoke to. When we got there we found it was a design ornamental feature only about 9 inches deep but very attractive. The room we stayed in was a family room consisting of 2 bedrooms and a bathroom and balcony. The bathroom is clean with toilet shower over the bath and basin. The 2 bedrooms have twin beds in each and the main... Read review

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Advantages: Fantastic Holiday Resort
Disadvantages: Very dodgy roads!!!!

...ZANTE This is a review of the lovely island of Zakynthos (or Zante as it is more commonly known). I stayed in a resort called Vasilikos, which is in the south-east corner of the island. If you are coming down the east side of the island you will come thro Tsilivi, Zante Town, Argassi and then you will come to Vasilikos. Vasilikos is a very quiet area; there are only a few restaurants and a couple of shops. But it has a few lovely beaches and you can get a boat trip to shipwreck at smugglers cove (which is the picture you always see of Zante, a beach surrounded by high cliffs, looks impossible to get to). 30 Second tour of the resorts I visited whilst in Zante. Argassi A 10 Minute drive from Vasilikos, Argassi is just perfect if you want a bit of life of an evening, especially after a few quiet days in Vasilikos... Read review

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Advantages: lots of wildlife, beautiful scenery, friendly locals and very hot
Disadvantages: commercialised, can be expensive to eat & drink, changeable weather

...When we holidayed in Kos, in the Aegean Sea in Greece, a few years ago, we so fell in love with the scenery, charm and atmosphere of this unique country made up of many individual islands, there was no question that Greece would be where we would go this year. However, wanting it to be a different enough experience to keep us interested, we decided on Zante, otherwise known as Zakynthos, over at the other side of the mainland in the Ionian Sea. Quite a large island, so close to Kefalonia and the Greek mainland that both are visible from parts of the island on a clear day, Zante boasts a varied and interesting geography of sandy beaches and coves, shallow waters, stunning mountains, cliffs and caves, and an abundance of marine life including dolphins and its beloved Caretta-Caretta turtles. Despite the severe 1953 earthquake destroying... Read review

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Advantages: cheap drinks, good cheap food, great scenery, hot sunny days
Disadvantages: greek drivers, airport

...Last year, I holiday-ed to Zante in June with 4 other female friends. We stayed in the Dennis II apartments in Kalamaki ~4km from Laganas. The transfer from the airport is great, ~15mins, but you soon discover why. From my apartment I could see the airport and had aeroplanes flying past the apartment all the time (although thankfully not noticeable at night!). We arrived at night and were dropped off at the end of a slightly secluded dirt track, which although was good as we were away from the noise of the main strip but still within close vicinity supermarkets, bars and restaurants, was a little scary for 5 young ladies. When we arrived at the apartments however we were pleasantly surprised by how clean and spacious they were. The kitchen/sitting room contained a dining table, sofa, fridge-freezer, sink, cupboards, kettle etc... Read review

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Advantages: Weather, people, food, trips
Disadvantages: Big bugs!

...My family, two adults and two children (5 and 7) went to Zante, booking with First Choice, in September 2003. I'll try to cover as much as I can remember starting with the flight. We flew with Air 2000 from Gatwick. We had no delays and were lucky to take off on time and be seated together. Now if you're a confident flier that's great - however if like my daughter you are terrified then Air 2000 left a lot to be desired. In their brochure it says to tell the flight attendants about nervous fliers, which we did. We then did not see her for the entire flight! She scurried past us as fast as she could (not easy on their 'compact' planes) and never once asked in my girl was ok. Luckily she had calmed down once in the air and thought it was 'cool'. Zante Airport I have read no-end of nightmare stories about this airport and I... Read review

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Advantages: Much greener than greek islands in the east,some traditionally greek,not bad prices
Disadvantages: Can be rainy,some resorts overdeveloped

...especially as it was our first Greek island and it gave us a taste for more. If you like a mixture of the real Greece, with good scenery and bathing thrown in, unless it has changed drastically, you should thoroughly enjoy. ZANTE / ZAKYNTHOS *********************** We travelled to a few more Greek islands, having loved the above holiday, namely Cyprus, Rhodes, Crete and Thassos. We finally returned to the Ionian Islands in 2001 when we visited Zante. Laganas Bay which was our resort was over developed and very commercialised. Despite this I have very fond memories of Zante, as the island itself had some strong attractions and our accommodation, as a base, was fine. We flew again from Manchester with roughly the same flying time. The journey from the airport was relatively short and fairly flat all the way. This island also has... Read review

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Advantages: Hot weather and Great Food, Tsilivi has everything needed
Disadvantages: Not as we remembered it!!!

...a lot busier and there seemed to be an awful lot of "boy racers" taking over the road. The 300 euros we had been charged had really disheartend us and so we had to spend more time than we would usually in the resort. We also noticed a heck of a lot more police, I don't think we ever saw one flashing blue light the first time we went...and the icing on the cake was a football match were Greece lost and decided to set fire to a large strip of the main road. The music was a lot louder and went on a lot longer and the amount of bars had doubled - although this is not a bad thing for some we wanted a quite holiday. In conclusion... I would recommend Zante for the heat, beach and bars, nightlife IF that is what you are looking for.....If like us you were after a quite relaxing couples holiday or have a young family I would not recommend... Read review

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