It was finally happening. After three years of Covid and two summers in the Netherlands, we finally went to Zakynthos together. It was actually supposed to be our honeymoon, but we just went ahead with it without the wedding too. At first we were going to Tsivili, but after some more research we'd changed the trip to Agios Sostis, to Laganas. Why? The hotel was almost the same price, but it was all inclusive. We went to Castelli Hotel and booked a room with a private pool, the Swim up Superior Double room.

Pre-holiday excitement?

For anyone who hasn't been living under a rock, it was well known that it was chaos at Schiphol. Same story for our flight. A few weeks before departure, we got an email saying we had to fly out via Liège (Belgium), but back via Schiphol after all. We'd get a compensation of 75 euros per person, and we were told we could use that to pay for the transport. Well people, you don't want to know what we had to pay for a train journey. Going by car obviously wasn't an option, since we were coming back via Schiphol. So, calling Tui. After a lot of waiting and a lot of calls with Tui, we landed on a different option. We had to pay way, way too much extra to leave one day earlier, so we could fly out of Schiphol. Don't ask me why, but at Tui they can only change your booking by redoing your entire booking from scratch, which means you lose any discounts you had and they charge the new prices. Anyway, everything was arranged, at least we could go.

Castelli Hotel, Agios Sostis, Zakynthos

People, what a huge recommendation this is! The hotel is genuinely fantastic, at least for what we wanted. It's a small-scale, renovated and fairly luxurious hotel. Service and quality are top priorities there. The moment we walked in we immediately felt, we're on holiday. Without us even asking, they'd already arranged for us to get into our room earlier, and before we'd even sat down, we'd already been given juice. After that we got a thorough explanation of our room. Where we could find everything and how everything worked. Our room was fantastic, spacious, luxurious, well maintained, clean, and they came to clean twice a day. The bed was comfortable and the pillows were perfect for me. Except at night the hallway was genuinely really noisy, and we often got woken up by people talking. The quality of the food was high. The buffet wasn't extensive, so it really needed to be to your taste. The staff were incredibly friendly and always ready to help you. We genuinely had a really lovely stay, but in the end we mostly slept with earplugs in against the noise.

Exploring Zakynthos

Because of the prices for a rental car, we decided to go for organised tours instead. We did four of them, and there were some hits among them, but also outings we could have skipped. Zakynthos isn't a big island, in about 40 minutes you can already drive to the other side of the island. First we did a Sunset cruise, around the turtle island. It was genuinely a perfect holiday starter. Beautiful views and a nice temperature. Unfortunately I did turn green from the high waves though. We were gone for almost the whole evening! We also got back in the dark, which was really nice.

After that we went out with a big Tui double-decker bus. This one really wasn't for us. We'd get dropped off at these tiny, unremarkable stops and walk around there with a group of 50 tourists. In the end we concluded that, in our opinion, the island isn't really suited for a tour with a huge bus. We also didn't find the stops all that, uh, exciting. At most spots you were done eating again within 10 minutes. The lunch spot was genuinely great though. The final stretch along the blue caves by boat was also genuinely great. I even got to take the wheel, and we swam in the blue caves!

The 'jeep safari' across Zakynthos

That one was genuinely great. This was offered to us as compensation for the whole flight situation and having to pay extra. We were picked up by our own jeep with a driver. At the first stop, a gorgeous beach, we had to wait for the second jeep. Except that took a bit longer, since the driver had to turn back around because of a guest who'd gotten carsick.

After that we, along with six other people, were put into a different jeep, and went around the island with the most fantastic driver. We saw quite a lot of spots, and he got there by driving inland, places you could only reach with a 4x4! We also went to the highest point, from where we could see almost the entire island, we went to the viewpoint above the famous Shipwreck, drove past a monastery with an old relic of a saint, and while we were driving around, he told us all kinds of things about the island. We genuinely had a really lovely day!

Olympia

This was the highlight of the holiday for me. On the recommendation of friends, we went on a day trip to Olympia. We were picked up on Zakynthos by bus, and then took a huge ferry to the mainland, to Port Kilini. From there we went by bus to Olympia. It was quite an undertaking to get there, but definitely worth it. The difference between Zakynthos and the mainland was already really interesting to see. At Olympia we first got an iPad and an earpiece to listen to the local guide, in English. First we got a tour through the museum, and an explanation of the most important pieces. Through the guide we got a really clear picture of Olympia. (In short, Olympia is where the first Olympic Games were held). We learned how people lived there, how it was built, why which buildings stood where, and what stood there before the ruins.

Honestly, I had expected more complete buildings. Except apparently it was buried under a layer of earth for a whole period of time, they excavated it, and after that there was also a really severe earthquake that destroyed a lot more columns too. Want to know more? Time to google it. Are you going to Zakynthos? This trip really takes a whole day, but it's genuinely worth it.

In summary

It was a holiday I needed, really badly needed. The comfort of having our own pool and almost a full day of sun was fantastic. Not having to worry about your own food and drink was also fantastic. The variety with the trips was really nice, and there were some genuinely great trips among them. Still, I'd go for a rental car next time. Since everything is easy to drive to, it's genuinely worth it. Are you genuinely looking for Greek antiquity? Then Zakynthos isn't the right spot, but it definitely is if you're looking for a nice atmosphere, sun and beach.