Zakynthos loop 20130815

Bike loop around Zakynthos island.
I have reached the island by ferry boat from Kyllini, taking the afternoon boat at 5pm, arriving in Zakynthos around 6:30pm.

DAY1:

0,0km at 0m - Starting from Zakynthos docks and going north to Alykes in search of camping for the first night. There are other camping available in Tsilivi and Psarou, but I wanted to cover as much distance as possible that day, to leave a bit less for day2, that seemed the most demanding. Therefore I decided to go until Alykes, knowing I can find a camping there. Most of the route goes with major road by the sea with great views to the beaches and Ionian sea. Pretty flat section without any difficult climbs

16,8km at 0m - Limanaki Psarou. Small detour from main road to reach nice port with lots of boats. Still flat and easy.

25,0km at 0m - Alykes. First really bigger tourist village with lots of restaurants, shops and hotels. Nice tiny river cutting through the center. I had to ask for the camping details here and I found it later without any problems.

26,5km at 0m - Camping Alykes. Just after passing small salt lakes on the left, I took right turn to local road leading to the camping (there is a small, not well visible sign). Camping was quite ok with warm water available and reasonable price (12E) Very good restaurant just next to it :-D


DAY2:

26,5km at 0m - start from camping early in the morning (7am). I decided to go to first village and eat my breakfast there. I didnt expect this to happen after 13km! So I ran out of energy a bit in the beginning of the day :-/ Anyway, I started with coming back to main road first and very soon after left it to the dirt road (28.7th km). Dirt road continued for another 2.5kms and some sections were a bit difficult, where surface was in bad condition and also some ascent was demanding. At that point I was happy to have rather 'trekking' tires than typical asphalt slicks!

35,0km at 15m - Mikro Nisi. Back to the main road and passed by nice small bay with boats and beach.

39,0km at 0m - Port of Ag Nikolaos. Finally stop for breakfast. Already 1h had passed and I was starving! The port is quite famous place to start boat cruise to Navagio beach with ship wreck. From here as steep climb started towards the windmill and lighthouse of Korithi.

43,5km at 50m - Windmill and lighthouse of Korithi. Very nice viewpoints to Kefalonia from here! After short stop for photos and refilling water supplies, I started the big climb to Elies and Volimes! All done by the main road.

49,5km at 350m - Elies. Quick stop in the shadow to catch some breath.

54,5km at 420m - Volimes. After reaching highest point of this section at 450m, a bit easier section down to Volimes. Quick pass through the village and I countinued to Navagio viewpoint, downhill to about 220m altitude - fun and fast.

59,0km at 225m - Navagio viewpoint. I "parked" the bike next to small kantine and walked a bit to the viewpoints. There are two of them, one a bit easier and obvious, just next to the kantine, and the other (from other side) with tricky hiking path, a bit distroyed and dangerous. But the views pay off! Great location and of course a "must be" in Zakynthos!
After many photos and a bit of hiking, I had to climb back the altitude to Anafonitria and Maries.

67,5km at 400m - end of climb just before Maires. Just after passing Exo Chora, I took a right turn towards Kampi with once more fast and fun downhill.

74,0km at 175m - Kampi, viewpoint next to taverna. Great views to rocky coast. The taverna advertises itself as the best place for Zakynthos sunset... I had to be satisfied with a regular day view :-P anyway, it was great :-D
I started from Kampi with a dirt road, but I didnt really know how bad it will get! So next 5km (from waypoint marking until 79.5th km) were really difficult. Road was collapsed in some sections and I had to drag the bike and constantly I was affraid for any breakdown (I still cannot believe I didnt have any). After reaching asphalt again I was delighted as never!

81,0km at 30m - Porto Limnionas. Tiny rocky beach with nice bar and some caves.

83,0km at 10m. Porto Roxa. Another place with water access and nice beach bars. End of downhill section for me, which meant lots of climbing later. I decided to take a longer rest and have some energy snacks before the climb.
Climb back to main road in Ag Leon was really demanding! And it's not the final altitude (about 350m) but the steepness and heat that made it exhausting! After reaching main road, the climb got milder and I reached Kiliomenos very soon after.

95,0km at 500m - Kiliomenos, the highest point of whole route. Very nice village with nice views. Quick stop for another snack as I ran out of sugar :-P
Very long and fast section with lots of downhills from here all the way to Aganas nad Keri villages. After passing Keri, a bit of climb to the lighthouse.

110,0km at 170m - Lighthouse of Keri. Another great viewpoint and another snack break. At the end of the day I was feeling weaker and weaker every minute and had to refill energy more often.
After lighthouse I took again the dirt road to get to Limni Keriou, so for next 7km I followed hiking route. The surface was better this time and I dont regret this choice (unliken the previous "dirt road fun ride" from Kampi). I reached Marathias and soon later the beach of Limni Keriou.

119,5km at 10m - Beach of Limni Keriou. I wanted to cut some distance going by the beach but ended up getting lost in some olive trees :-P Finally I found my way back to main road and continued to Ag Sostis and the camping.

127,5km at 20m - Camping in Ag Sostis. Also not bad camping with even better price (10E) but not really hot water :-/


DAY3:

127,5km at 20m - Start from camping around 7:30am. Quick pass by Ag Sostis tiny islnad with wooden bridge and I headed to Laganas center for some breakfast. Well, I was not expecting what I found there at 8am on saturday morning! I completely forgot the infamous Laganas party culture! So, I found myself riding between still drunk and almost unconscious tourists waiting for morning buses! Anyway, I found bekary, ate my portion of calories and continued east to Kalamaki and later north towards Zakynthos. This part completely flat with wide roads.

141,0km at 0m - just outside Zakynthos, I took right turn with main road towards Argasi and followed it until Ano Vasilikos and Ag Nikolaos beach. Section is fairly easy with just one medium climb to 100m but not very steep.

155,0km at 0m - Ag Nikolaos beach. Quick stop next to the church, some photos and I continued to Gerakas trying to stay as close to the sea as possible (sometimes hitting dead ends :-p).

162,0km at 0m - Gerakas. Famous 'turtles' beach. Great view!
From Gerakas I went back to Ano Vasilikos with main road and later took a left (at 167th km) towards Dafni beach. Very difficult and demanding climb to only 120m but with great slope and through dusty road!

170,0km at 0m - Dafni beach. Another beach famous for visiting turtles. Quick stop, snack and rest and I went back to Zakynthos through similar steep climb to about 130m - the other road was a bit better but still difficult. Back to main road at 174th km and following it all the way back to Zakynthos.

182,1km at 0m - Zakynthos. Ferry back to Kyllini.


Great trip with lots of amazing views and beaches. I mark it difficult for overall distance/time but also for dirt road sections and many many big slopes. I guess it would be better to avoid pretty much all the dirt road sections and by pass them by asphalt roads.