Discovering Zakynthos, Greece

When you think of Greece, I bet you think of places like Santorini, Mykonos, or Crete. I bet you think of the beautiful white and blue houses built into the mountains. I don’t blame you because that was the vision I have also had my entire life; until I traveled to a less popular greek isle, Zakynthos.

Studying abroad in Italy this past month has been a great opportunity for me to go travel to countries that have been on my bucket list for years. Greece has always been in my top five places I wanted to travel to so I made it a priority to make it over there. The first flight I searched was to Santorini (basic I know). I then started doing some research about summers in Santorini. I saw videos upon videos of people shoulder to shoulder in the streets. That was not the kind of environment I was looking for this trip. I started doing some more research about greek isles that were good for young travelers with beautiful beaches. Zakynthos immediately popped up with the picture from the famous lookout point over Navagio beach (aka Shipwreck beach). I automatically fell in love.

This tiny island was exactly what I was looking for. I wanted to go somewhere remote. Somewhere not everyone has seen hundreds of pictures from. I was so happy I chose this island. I will be honest, it doesn’t have the typical greek vibe but that’s not what I was looking for. I was looking for quiet island that I could go to a beautiful beach with vibrant blue water and not have to squeeze my towel in between two couples on the sand.

This island is definitely one that gets scrolled over because everyone wants to have the greek feel with the white and blue houses and don’t realize they are missing out on other amazing islands that aren’t as touristy. If you ever plan of trip to Greece I highly recommend looking into the less touristy islands like Zakynthos.