Where to stay in Zakynthos, resort by resort
Eight bases on Zante, how loud each one is at night, how far it is from the Shipwreck, and the hotels in every one.
Zakynthos, which most British tour operators still sell as Zante, splits in two. The south and east are flat, built up and full of hotels; the west and north are cliffs, mountain villages and almost no beds at all. Where you stay in Zakynthos decides one thing above all: whether you sleep above a bar or above a turtle beach.
The short answer
- Couples who want quiet
- Vasilikos
- You give up: Independence. Without a car you will not leave the peninsula.
- A first visit, sensibly
- Kalamaki or Tsilivi
- You give up: Kalamaki has the planes by day, Tsilivi a longer transfer.
- The Shipwreck and the north
- Alykes
- You give up: Thirty five minutes from the airport, and early nights.
The resorts, and the hotels in each
Every resort below has hotels, food and a beach you can walk to, apart from the town. What separates them is the noise after dark and how much of the island each one puts within an easy drive. You can see where each one sits on our map of Zakynthos, and how to get to it from the runway on the Zante airport page.
For nightlife, and only if you want it
Laganas
Loud until dawn in summer · 1 h 15 to Navagio
Laganas is two places laid on top of each other. By day it is a long, shallow sand beach inside the National Marine Park, where loggerhead turtles nest and the sand closes at dusk. By night it is the Strip: about a kilometre of bars, clubs and fast food running inland from the beach, playing music until four or five in the morning from late June to the end of August, to a crowd that is mostly British and mostly between eighteen and thirty. Pub crawls, buckets, quad bikes, the lot. If that is your holiday, nowhere else on the island comes close, and the airport is ten minutes away. If it is not, the noise carries further than the hotel descriptions admit, so book at either end of the bay rather than off the Strip, or book somewhere else.
Mid-rangeMediterranean Beach Resort
On the beach, east endA large resort directly on the sand, far enough along the bay towards Kalamaki that the Strip is a walk rather than a neighbour. The sensible way to have Laganas beach without Laganas nights.
- On the beach
- Pool
- Away from the Strip
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Mid-rangeHotel Astir Palace
Laganas BayThree minutes on foot from the beach and close enough to the centre to walk home from the bars. Choose it if you want to be in Laganas properly, not next to it.
- Near the beach
- Pool
- Walk to the Strip
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ValueZante Plaza Hotel - All Inclusive
Laganas, near the beachThe all-inclusive answer for a group that plans to spend its money after dark. Simple rooms, a pool, and the beach a few steps away.
- All inclusive
- Pool
- Near the beach
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Mid-rangeWhite Olive Premium Cameo
Agios Sostis, west endOut at Agios Sostis, where the bay ends at the footbridge to Cameo island. Quieter nights, a pool, and a short taxi into Laganas when you want it.
- Quiet end of the bay
- Pool
- Near Cameo island
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Mid-rangeZante Sun Resort
Agios SostisA resort hotel on the edge of the marine park, eight minutes on foot from Agios Sostis beach. Laganas without the soundtrack.
- Pool
- Marine park edge
- Quiet end of the bay
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For the same bay, much quieter
Kalamaki
Quiet at night, aircraft by day · 1 h 15 to Navagio
Kalamaki shares Laganas Bay and almost none of its nights. The beach is fine, soft sand that shelves gently, it is a protected nesting beach with fewer sunbeds, and the village behind it is a road of tavernas, small bars and supermarkets that goes quiet at a reasonable hour. The one thing nobody mentions is the runway: Kalamaki sits right at the end of it, so in the daytime the charter jets come low over the beach. The airport shuts at night for the turtles, so it is the afternoons you notice, not your sleep. Laganas is a ten minute walk or a short taxi when you do want it.
LuxuryMeandros Boutique & Spa Hotel - Adults Only
Kalamaki, adults onlyThe five star of the south coast, adults only, a minute from the edge of the marine park and nine minutes on foot to Kalamaki beach. The couples' hotel of this bay.
- Adults only
- Five star
- Spa
- Pool
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LuxuryGolden Sun Resort & Spa - Adults Only
Kalamaki beachAdults only and a few steps from the sand, with the spa the name promises. Costs more than most of Kalamaki, and you are paying for the position.
- Adults only
- Steps from the beach
- Spa
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Mid-rangeCaretta Beach Resort & Waterpark
KalamakiThe family pick here: slides and pools on site, so the children have somewhere to be when the beach closes or the wind gets up.
- Waterpark
- Families
- Pool
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ValueCrystal Beach Hotel
Kalamaki beachRight on the beach and priced like the apartments behind it. Plain rooms, a pool, and the sea at the bottom of the garden.
- On the beach
- Pool
- Good value
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Mid-rangeMarelen Hotel
KalamakiThree minutes on foot to the sand and four by car to Laganas. A calm, modern base between the two.
- 3 min walk to the beach
- Pool
- Between Kalamaki and Laganas
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For families, and a first visit
Tsilivi and Planos
Lively until midnight, then quiet · 55 min to Navagio
Tsilivi is the resort most British families end up in, and for good reason. The beach is long, flat and shallow, there is a waterpark behind the village, and the main road carries enough bars, restaurants and mini markets to keep a fortnight going. It is lively rather than rowdy: family bars, quiz nights and live football, not clubs. Planos is the same bay's other half and blends into it. Zakynthos Town is ten minutes away for dinner, and the drive to the north of the island starts here rather than from the far south.
LuxuryLesante Classic - Preferred Hotels & Resorts
TsiliviFive stars a minute's drive from Tsilivi beach, with gardens and a big pool. The upmarket family choice on the east coast.
- Five star
- Pool
- 1 min drive to the beach
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LuxuryZante Maris Suites - Adults Only
Planos, adults onlyAdults-only suites a few steps from the sand. For couples who want Tsilivi's convenience and none of its children.
- Adults only
- Steps from the beach
- Suites
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Mid-rangePhoenix Beach Hotel
Tsilivi beachOn the beach itself, with breakfast included and the resort's bars a short stroll away. The straightforward Tsilivi hotel.
- On the beach
- Pool
- Breakfast included
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ValuePorto Planos Beach Hotel
PlanosThe value pick of the bay, on the sand at Planos, with a pool for the days the sea is lively.
- On the beach
- Pool
- Good value
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LuxuryLesante Blu - Adults Only
Tragaki, 4 min northA Leading Hotels of the World property on the coast just north of Tsilivi, adults only and by the sea. Service and prices to match the membership.
- Adults only
- Five star
- By the sea
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LuxuryPorto Zante Villas And Spa
TragakiPrivate villas with their own pools on a small bay north of Tsilivi, and the most expensive stay on this list. Airport transfers are included.
- Private pool villas
- Spa
- Free airport shuttle
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For bars without the Laganas scale
Argassi
Busy bars until late · 1 h 05 to Navagio
Argassi is a resort strung along the main road south of the town, with Mount Skopos behind it and the remains of a Venetian stone bridge standing in the sea. It has a real bar scene, karaoke, cocktails and a couple of late places, without the numbers or the edge of Laganas. The beach is its weak point: narrow, partly man-made and busy. What it has instead is position. The town is a ten minute taxi, and the Vasilikos beaches start just past the end of the road, so Argassi suits couples and groups who want an evening out and will go elsewhere to swim.
Mid-rangeDiana Palace Hotel
ArgassiFive minutes' walk from the beach and in the middle of the resort, with a pool and breakfast included.
- 5 min walk to the beach
- Pool
- Breakfast included
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Mid-rangeSerenity Boutique Hotel - Adults Only
Kotsoneika, above ArgassiSmall, adults only and up the slope from the main road, which is exactly why it is quiet. You will want a car or a taxi for the evenings.
- Adults only
- Pool
- Hillside
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Mid-rangeCaptains Hotel
ArgassiA mid-sized resort hotel with a pool, a short drive from Argassi beach. Easy for a first week on the island.
- Pool
- Breakfast included
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ValueAlas Hotel
ArgassiSimple rooms and a pool at a price that leaves money for the bars. The budget base for a group.
- Pool
- Budget
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For no car, and proper restaurants
Zakynthos Town
Town noise, not club noise · 1 h to Navagio
Most visitors pass through the capital on the way from the ferry and never stay, which is a mistake if you have no car. The 1953 earthquake destroyed the old town and it was rebuilt with arcaded streets around Solomos Square and a long harbour front, with the bell tower of Agios Dionysios at the far end and the Venetian castle on Bochali hill above. Every bus on the island starts here, the tavernas are the ones islanders eat in, and it stays open when the resorts close in October. There is no beach worth the name, so plan on the bus or a taxi to Tsilivi, ten minutes away.
Mid-rangeHotel Strada Marina
On the harbour frontThe hotel on the waterfront, five minutes on foot from Solomos Square, with a pool on the roof. The obvious choice in town.
- Harbour front
- Rooftop pool
- Walk to everything
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Mid-rangePalatino Hotel
Town centreA few streets back from the water and close to the Solomos Museum. Quieter than the front and just as walkable.
- Central
- Quiet street
- Free parking
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ValuePhoenix Hotel
Solomos SquareOn the main square itself, with breakfast included. No pool and no view, just the town outside the door.
- On Solomos Square
- Breakfast included
- No pool
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ValueBitzaro Hotel
Town centreA plain, central hotel with free parking, handy if you arrive by ferry late or leave on an early one.
- Central
- Free parking
- Breakfast included
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For quiet, beaches and turtles
Vasilikos
Silent at night · 1 h 25 to Navagio
Vasilikos is the peninsula south-east of Argassi, and the answer for anyone asking where the non-party side of Zante is. One road runs down it through olive groves, past a string of the island's best beaches: Banana, long and organised, Porto Roma, a tiny fishing cove, Agios Nikolaos with its water sports, and Gerakas at the tip, a protected turtle beach with no buildings on it at all. Hotels are small or spread out in gardens, and nights are dark and quiet. The price of that is transport: without a car you are stuck, since the buses give up in mid-afternoon and a taxi to the Laganas or Argassi bars costs around €30 each way.
LuxuryThe Bay Hotel & Suites
Vasilikos, Plaka beachFive stars a few steps from Plaka and Punta Basta beaches, with sea views across to the Peloponnese. The most comfortable way to do this corner of the island.
- Five star
- Steps from the beach
- Pool
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LuxuryZante Royal Resort
Vasilikos, by the marine parkA resort on the shore at the edge of the marine park, fifteen minutes' walk from Porto Roma. Built for doing very little for a week.
- On the beach
- Pool
- Walk to Porto Roma
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Mid-rangeMatilda Hotel
Vasilikos, near Banana beachBreakfast included, a pool, and Banana beach two minutes away by car. The mid-range pick on the peninsula.
- Pool
- Near Banana beach
- Breakfast included
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Mid-rangeIonian Hill Hotel
Xirokastello, on the Vasilikos roadAt the start of the peninsula, five minutes from Argassi, so you can have the quiet and still reach the bars when you want.
- Pool
- Between Argassi and Vasilikos
- Breakfast included
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LuxuryTambouros Boutique Villas
Agios Nikolaos beachVillas with kitchens and a pool steps from Agios Nikolaos and Plaka beaches. For a family or two couples who want space.
- Villas
- Kitchens
- Pool
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For a quieter family week, and the north
Alykes and Alykanas
Quiet by eleven · 35 min to Navagio
Alykes takes its name from the salt pans behind the village, and its beach is the longest stretch of shallow sand on the north-east coast, running on into Alykanas next door. It is Tsilivi's calmer, cheaper cousin: tavernas, a few bars, a small harbour, and early nights. It is also the best placed of the resorts for the north: the Shipwreck viewpoint is about half an hour away, boats to Navagio and the Blue Caves leave from the harbour in summer, and the ferry to Kefalonia from Agios Nikolaos is a short drive. The trade is distance from the airport and town, thirty five minutes and twenty five respectively.
Mid-rangeKoukounaria Hotel & Suites
AlykesA pool, suites for families and the beach a short drive away. The most complete hotel in Alykes.
- Pool
- Suites
- Breakfast included
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Mid-rangeAlykanas Village Hotel
Alykanas beachRight on Alykanas beach, a couple of minutes from Alykes by car. The quiet end of an already quiet bay.
- On the beach
- Pool
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ValueLa Caretta
AlykanasSmall, with a pool, five minutes by car from both beaches. Good value, and a car is useful.
- Pool
- Good value
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ValueAlykes Park Bungalows & Apt
AlykesBungalows and apartments with kitchens, for a family that wants to self-cater. The cheapest good option in the cheapest resort.
- Kitchens
- Bungalows
- Budget
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For sunsets, cliffs and a car
Keri and Limni Keri
Silent at night · about 1 h to Navagio
Limni Keri is a small harbour at the western end of Laganas Bay, where the development stops and the cliffs begin. The boats to the Keri caves and to Marathonisi, the turtle-shaped islet with its own nesting beach, leave from the quay, and the road climbs from the village to Keri and the lighthouse, where half the island drives for sunset. Hotels are few and the villas above Marathias outnumber them. Nights are quiet, the tavernas are family-run, and the bus is no use, so this is a base for people who hired a car and want to see the coast rather than stay on one beach.
Mid-rangeKeri Village & Spa by Zante Plaza - Adults Only
Limni Keri, adults onlyAdults only on the slope above the harbour, with a spa and views over the bay to Marathonisi. The quiet couples' choice of the south.
- Adults only
- Spa
- Bay views
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Mid-rangeHarmony Hotel
Limni KeriSix minutes on foot from Keri beach and a minute from the marine park. Simple, calm and close to the boats.
- Walk to the harbour
- Pool
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LuxuryExensian Villas & Suites
MarathiasVillas and suites on the Marathias coast facing Marathonisi, with kitchens and a pool. Space and sunsets, with the car for everything else.
- Villas
- Kitchens
- Sea views
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ValuePorto Koukla Beach Hotel
Porto Koukla, LithakiaOn the small beach at Porto Koukla, between Agios Sostis and Keri. Cheaper than anything in the villas above and fifteen minutes from Laganas.
- On the beach
- Pool
- Good value
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Photos and star ratings come from the Hotels.com catalogue, checked in September 2026, and the buttons open the property there. Rates move with the dates, so check them on the hotel page.
Laganas, Tsilivi, Kalamaki or Argassi: how they compare
These four take most of the package holidays to the island, and they get confused with each other all the time. Pick one and see what the nights sound like, how long the drive to the Shipwreck is, and whether you can manage without hiring a car.
Pick the resort you are looking at
Where you would sleep
The only real nightlife on the island, ten minutes from the runway, and the furthest resort from the Shipwreck.
Noise at night
Clubs until four or five in the morning, late June to August
- Zante airport
- 10 min
- 8 km, under the approach path
- The nearest sand
- on foot
- Laganas beach, closed at night in nesting season
- Zakynthos Town
- 15 min
- Regular buses in summer
- Navagio viewpoint
- 1 h 15
- Both ends of the island in one drive
- Without a car
- Works
- Everything you came for is on the Strip
Driving times are for a car outside July and August and match the ones on our map of the island. The noise scale is for high season: in May, June and late September even Laganas winds down well before two.
Where not to stay in Zakynthos
Nowhere on the island is a bad place in itself. Several places are a bad place for the holiday people book them for, and that is the mistake that ruins a week.
Laganas, if you want to sleep
Between late June and the end of August, the Strip plays until four or five in the morning, and the noise carries well beyond the street. Booking central Laganas for the beach and the short transfer, as a family or a couple, is the classic mistake on this island. If you want the bay, stay at Kalamaki or Agios Sostis instead.
Vasilikos or Keri, without a car
The quietest bases are quiet because nothing reaches them. The Vasilikos bus gives up in mid-afternoon and Keri has nothing useful, so every dinner out is a taxi at around €30 each way.
Zakynthos Town, if this is a beach holiday
The capital has the restaurants, the buses and the ferry, and no beach worth the name. Tsilivi is ten minutes away, which is either nothing or a daily chore, depending on how you like to spend your mornings.
Argassi, if you picked it for the beach
The beach is a narrow strip beside the main road, partly man-made, and busy. Argassi works for its evenings and its position, not for a sunbed.
Anywhere cheap near the airport, in July
Kalamaki and the inland edge of Laganas are the closest resorts to the runway, and in peak season the charters land and take off all day. At night the airport is closed, so it is the afternoons at the pool you should think about.
The turtles, and what they mean for your hotel
Laganas Bay is the National Marine Park of Zakynthos and one of the main nesting grounds of the loggerhead turtle in the Mediterranean. That has two practical consequences for where you sleep. First, the nesting beaches, including Laganas, Kalamaki, Gerakas, Dafni and Marathonisi, close to people from dusk until dawn through the nesting season, roughly June to October, and sunbeds and parasols are only allowed in marked zones. A hotel on the beach inside the park is on a beach you cannot use at night. Second, the airport shuts overnight so that the lights and noise do not disturb the hatchlings, which is why charter times on this island can look odd.
Gerakas, at the tip of the Vasilikos peninsula, is the strictest of them: no buildings on the beach, parasols only in the marked rows, and wooden cages over the nests. It is also one of the most beautiful beaches on the island, which is the best argument for staying at the quiet end of Zante.
Can you manage without a car
In the main resorts, yes. The green KTEL buses run from the town bus station out to Laganas, Kalamaki, Argassi, Tsilivi and Alykes through the summer day, and the town is walkable. The single airport bus only goes to that bus station, though, so from the runway to any resort it is two buses or a taxi. And the reasons most people come to Zakynthos, Navagio, the Blue Caves and the west coast, are not reachable by bus in any useful way. Without a car, those are a boat trip or a coach excursion.
The easy compromise is to hire a car for two or three days of the week rather than all of it. Pick it up at the airport if you are staying in Vasilikos or Keri, where you will need it from the first evening. Everywhere else, a desk in the resort will do for the days you need it.
All-inclusive, adults only, and what a room costs
Zakynthos is one of the cheapest Greek islands to sleep on, because most of its beds were built for the package market. Taking the starting rates in the Hotels.com catalogue for each resort, a room in Laganas, Kalamaki or Argassi typically starts at around €45 (about £40) a night, Tsilivi at around €55 (£45 to £50), and Vasilikos, Keri and Tragaki at €60 to €65 (about £55). Alykes is the cheapest resort on the island, often under €35 (£30). Those are the bottom of the range and the off-peak end of it: August can double them, and the five star hotels of Tragaki and Vasilikos cost what they would anywhere in Greece.
All-inclusive hotels are concentrated in Laganas, Kalamaki and Tsilivi, which is where the package holidays go. Adults-only hotels have spread fast and now exist in every resort: Meandros and Golden Sun in Kalamaki, Zante Maris Suites in Planos, Lesante Blu at Tragaki and Keri Village above Limni Keri, all in the lists above. If you are still choosing between islands, our guide to the Ionian islands sets Zakynthos against Corfu, Kefalonia and Lefkada, the map of the Ionian shows how they fit together, and the same guide for Kefalonia covers the island across the channel.
Questions people ask about staying on Zakynthos
Which part of Zante is best to stay in?
It depends on what you want from the nights. Laganas if the holiday is the nightlife. Tsilivi for families and for a first visit, with flat sand, a waterpark and the town ten minutes away. Vasilikos for quiet and the best beaches, as long as you hire a car. Zakynthos Town if you will not drive at all. Alykes if the Shipwreck and the north are the reason you came. Pick by the nights you want, not by the photos.
Which part of Zante is not party?
Almost all of it. The party is concentrated on one street, the Strip in Laganas, with a smaller bar scene in Argassi. Vasilikos, Keri, Alykes and the villages of the west are quiet at night, and Kalamaki and Tsilivi are lively in the evening but have no clubs. If you want to be sure, stay on the Vasilikos peninsula or at Limni Keri, where the loudest thing after midnight is the cicadas.
Is Tsilivi a party town?
No. Tsilivi has plenty of bars, with live football, quiz nights and cocktails, and it stays busy until midnight or so in July and August. It has no club scene, and the crowd is mostly families and couples. If you want the kind of night that ends at five in the morning, that is Laganas, a twenty minute taxi away.
Which is better, Argassi or Tsilivi?
Tsilivi for the beach and for children: the sand is long, flat and shallow, and there is a waterpark. Argassi for the evenings: more bars and a livelier main road, the town ten minutes away for dinner, and the Vasilikos beaches a short drive south. Argassi's own beach is narrow and partly man-made, which is its weak point. Families usually prefer Tsilivi, couples and groups who will drive to the beach often prefer Argassi.
Which is better, Kalamaki or Tsilivi?
Kalamaki if you want a small, quiet resort on soft sand with Laganas close enough to walk to. Its catch is that it sits at the end of the runway, so the planes are loud over the beach in the daytime, although the airport shuts at night. Tsilivi if you want more choice of restaurants and bars, a waterpark and a shorter trip to the town and the north. Both work without a car.
Which resort in Zante is best for older couples?
Vasilikos, if you are happy to drive: small hotels in olive groves, the best beaches on the island and silent nights. Limni Keri for sunsets and boat trips from the harbour. If you would rather not drive, Kalamaki or the Planos end of Tsilivi, where the evenings are relaxed and the buses to town run through the day. Keep away from the Laganas Strip and from the stretch of main road in Argassi between the bars.
What is the prettiest part of Zakynthos?
The west and the north, which is exactly where there are hardly any hotels. The west coast is an unbroken line of limestone cliffs above deep blue water, with mountain villages like Kampi, Agios Leon and Anafonitria behind it, and the north has Navagio and the Blue Caves. The south-east is flatter and built up. Most people stay on the east or south coast and drive west for the scenery, which on an island this size is an hour at most.
Is it easy to get around Zakynthos without a car?
Between the town and the main resorts, yes. The KTEL buses run from the town bus station to Laganas, Kalamaki, Argassi, Tsilivi and Alykes through the day in summer. The trouble is everything else: Vasilikos has nothing after mid-afternoon, the west coast has almost nothing, and the Shipwreck viewpoint and the Blue Caves are not realistic by bus. Most people without a car book a boat trip or a coach tour for those, or hire a car for two days.
How many days in Zakynthos is enough?
Five to seven. Three days covers the essentials, a boat to Navagio and the Blue Caves, a morning on the turtle beaches of the south and an afternoon in the town, but leaves no time on a sunbed. A week is what most package holidays sell and it suits the island well. More than ten days and you will have seen it all twice, unless you add a day trip on the ferry to Kefalonia.
Why is Zakynthos so cheap?
Because it is built for charter flights and package holidays. The south and east coasts are lined with family-run apartments and three star hotels from the 1980s and 1990s, all competing for the same British and European package market, and that keeps room prices low. Food and drink in the resorts are priced for the same crowd. The luxury end, around Tragaki and Vasilikos, costs as much as anywhere else in Greece.
Is Corfu or Zakynthos better?
Corfu has more to it: a UNESCO-listed Venetian old town, a year-round population, a genuinely quiet north-east coast and better buses. Zakynthos is smaller and more concentrated, with a big resort strip in the south and the spectacular coast in the far north and west, mostly seen from a boat. Corfu for an old town and variety, Zakynthos for a beach week with Navagio and the turtles.
Which is nicer, Kefalonia or Zakynthos?
They are neighbours and they are not alike. Zakynthos is smaller, cheaper and busier, with Laganas as its party resort and the Shipwreck as its one unmissable sight. Kefalonia is nearly twice the size, mountainous and quieter, and better for a road trip. For a short transfer and a resort, Zakynthos. To drive somewhere different every day, Kefalonia. A summer ferry links the two, from Agios Nikolaos in the north of Zakynthos to Pesada.
