Family Fun in Zante

I booked this trip as a last minute quick getaway in the school holidays along with another family. Zante is in the Ionian Islands of Greece and we chose the resort of Tsilivi on the East coast just 25 minutes from the airport.

We stayed at the Alamis Apartments in Tsilvi for a week. The apartments are family run and have one good size swimming pool, a bar and pool table, nothing fancy but clean and comfortable for a cheap week away. The location was excellent. There is a mini mart next door selling everything you could want and the main strip with all the shops and restaurants was just a 3 minute walk away. The beach was just 100 metres walk away in the other direction.

Tsilvi has a great choice of restaurants, all offering generous menu choices and lovely Greek and international food. We ate out each evening and never had a bad meal! There are lots of shops selling souvenirs to browse in too and a few bars but nothing seemed too rowdy here so ideal for families.

The beach at Tsilivi is one of the most famous on the island. It’s a vast sandy bay with a Blue Flag status that gently shelves into the sea so great for young children to paddle. There are sunbeds for hire and pedaloes and it's easy to grab lunch overlooking the beach at one of the hotels.

We spent a day at Zante Water Village, just a short taxi ride from Tsilvi. The whole park was very impressive and the kids had a great time on the huge array of slides and rides. There is a restaurant and shop and a toddler area offering more gentle water features. Would highly recommend a visit here.

If there’s one place you can’t miss in Zante, it's Smugglers Cove. We went on a Pirate Ship day trip which was great fun and a nice way to see the coastline and caves along the North West part of the island. The cove, originally known as Navagio Beach, is famous for a shipwreck from a ship which ran aground in 1982 and is washed up on the beach. The cove is only accessible by boat and the blue water is overlooked by high white cliffs giving the sea a milky blue hue, a really striking colour!

If you’re lucky you may spot turtles around Zante’s coast line too. The island is one of the most important breeding grounds for the Loggerhead turtle and some of the islands beaches including the Bay of Laganas are protected areas.

I loved Zante and would definitely like to return and explore even more of the island.