Hi timbo,
Have a look at Grapevines Apartments, Alykanas through Sunstart(subsidiary of First Choice). There is a Hotel Review on it. I will also pm you another website you can go on for more info.

Les

Hi There,
Its only my opinion but, i have been to Nissi bay and Protaras 8 times, and also to Tsilivi in zante which i hated, the beach is rubbish. If you have been to Nissi Bay then Zante will seem like skegness in comparison, there are much nicer greek islands for a special occasion. Kafelonia is beautiful, much nicer than Zante.

Not sure how much of party animals you are... but I went to Laganas twice last year. Admittedly I went the first and last weeks of the season... but absolutely loved it! We stayed in Laganas... which is just far enough out of the resort to be quiet... yet still staggering distance home after a great night. Head to the Must bar for great service, and to the Athena(?) for a great boogie.
If you do go to the Laganas... then give both AJ and Dena a great big squeeze from me! AJ used to call me Mum lol.
The beach is fantastic. We walked it every day... and also hired a boat to go to Turtle Island.
Highly recommend the Totem Bar on the beachfront. Do try their "Totem Salad", it's excellent!
Have a fantastic time! I did! I took my best mate there as her B'Day prezzie for her birthday... and then I took her little sister, and my little sister (ok, neither of them are so little lol) in October.

I have to agree with iallen, we went to Alykanas 5 years ago and thought it was the most "Ungreek area " we have ever been to. Karaoke bars and Sky football dominate the main strip.
If you want amore romantic backdrop, why not try Parga/Stoupa on the mainland, or Molyvos on Lesbos. There are also some nice areas on Kefalonia.

Hi Rhombus. We have booked for Alykanas this year (we usually go to Parga but thought we would have a change). Someone reassure me Alykanas is not that bad Gx
PS: Been to Stoupa, Lesvos, Poros, Spetse, Kefalonia and loads of other islands - hope we haven't made a big mistake

Dear Pargaluvva,

We have been to Scala (kefalonia), Skiathos (Aghia Pareskevi and Koukounaries), Lesbos (Molyvos), Samos (Kokkari) and Parga (mainland).
Alykanas was not what we were expecting at all. The beach was disappointing as we had been to Skiathos and Kefalonia on previous holidays. The traditional quiet taverna's and beauty again were not there either. Unless you hire a car getting round the Island is difficult i.e. the bus service was at that time non-existant.
The apartments were the worse we have ever had, and to top it all the AIRPORT was a dreadful experience... a new terminal I think has opened or is opening that may make things better. The whole place is dominated by Brits. I can only imagine that people who visit Ayia Napa and Faliraki would find alykanas quiet and typically greek.
All in all it is the only place I have visited in Greece that I would not recommend.... but as it say's in the title "it's only mine and my family's opinion.

Click Here for a list of reviews for some of the accommodation on Zante.

Hi,

We've visited lots of the Greek Islands and really enjoyed our 2 weeks last July at the Golden Sun Hotel in Kalamaki, Zante. )on B&B basis) This hotel is a couple of minutes walk from the beach, and 10 minutes from the main restaurants/bars. You can easily walk/cab it into Laganas if you choose, though we didn't apart from to visit the dive centre. The jeep safari is great also. We've also visited Kefalonia, Skiathos, Santorini, Corfu, and this year booked for Parga for our honeymoon. My boyfirend proposed near the beach one evening! (you can't get on the beach at night due to the turtles nesting). Cejay

Hi pargaluvva,
We had a fortnight in Alykanas and thoroughly enjoyed it. To get out and about we used Travel Agent Dionisos/Tez, with these we went to Athens, Olympia and Kefalonia.

Restaurants to be recommended are Alkyonis Tavern, Apollo, Cosy Corner, Dionysos, Kostas, Romanza, Greedy Greek, La Caretta, Mantelena, Medusa, Poseidon and Paradosaiko(just over river bridge on road to Alykes).

There is a Wally Trolley(Train) goes out to a village daily. On a Saturday Night there is a Greek Night held in this village and the train makes two trips each way. To go on this you need to Book Up early in the week. Hope you enjoy your holiday.

Les

Thanks guys for everything and all the advice i will look into everything and all suggestions. Much appreciated

I went to Tsilivi last Summer and loved the place. Nice place, very friendly people, enough bars and restaurants but not over the top. I popped the question on the beach there and it was all very romantic.

I'd never been there before, but can't wait to go back next year!

We went to Tsilivi 2 years ago and are going back again this year we really loved it there

Hi all. Thanks for your comments. We will go to Zante and make the best of it. It is an island I have always wanted to visit. I love Kefalonia and I am hopeful that some of the scenery will be as spectacular.
Gx

I love Zante and think it is the most beautiful Greek Island. I also loved the beach and smugglers cove! However I have always wanted to go to Sami in Kefalonia...

I've been to Sami in Kefalonia and its not as nice as you think its going to be, I was very disappointed. Infact I wasn't overly fussed on Kefalonia. Zante is fab, we just keep going back.

Sarah

hi

We went to Alkynes in May 2006 and loved it.

I found out a lot of information from the Zante chat room just type in this and you will find it.

Have a great time.

Kefalonia was one of my favourite Greek islands, until we went to Skala last year. We thought it was very 'British'. If anyone visits Kefalonia, hire a car. It is one of the most stunningly, beautful islands you will visit. I really hope it doesn't get too commercialised. Gx

Have also been to The Golden Sun in Kalamaki and it is a great hotel in a great location for peace and quiet with the night life just up the road. You can go on the beach at night depending on the time of the year that you go.
Zante is lovely but prefered Kefalos in Kos.

Hopeing to visit Stalis in Crete soon any one recommend anywhere nice to stay there?

zakynthos as a whole is a great island, much maligned i think.

it is true that zante has suffered greatly from poor developent over the last 20 years and the big resorts on the island (Laganas, Alikes, Tsilivi, Kalamaki, Argassi) have suffered greatly from poor town planning and lack of imagination. they are jam packed with big, ugly concrete tourist blocks and full of tired old neon signs.

Building has completely stopped in the last couple of years because they simply cant fill the beds they have got. most of the specialist tour operators pulled out of the island five years ago or more.

the big resorts have a tired fell to them, often half empty and without the money coming in to really look after them. i really do feel sorry for the locals, their tourism is on such a decline. but they have simply made a mess of some of the most beautiful beaches in europe.

however, as i said, zakynthos zante is much maligned. i have been to many greek islands and zakynthos is one of the most friendly. it has many good restaurants and tavernas all at reasonable prices, and some really beautiful countryside. the island has a lot of water on it so is surprisingly green for a greek island, they are often big barren rocks.

so give zakynthos a go, if you do a bit of research first on where to stay and things to see around the island, you'll have a fantastic holiday at a reasonable price.

this website has lots of info on the island http://zakynthos.foi.org.uk