Zakynthos - The Pick of the Ionian Islands

There are over 2000 Greek islands in total that lie in the Ionian Sea on the west of the mainland, though the south past Crete and into the Aegean Sea to the east. Despite all these islands around a third of the country's population lies I the city of Athens and around 10 per cent live on the various islands.

Many of the islands are tiny and uninhabited but the larger ones like Corfu, Kefallonia, Crete, Rhodes and Evvoia are famous in their own right.

Crete is the largest and most southerly of the islands and benefits from a mixed terrain of sandy beaches and mountainous regions. It has a rich history following thousands of year's worth of invasions and occupations by various groups. Besides attracting holidaymakers with it bustling beach resorts, the island mountain ranges provide some wonderful routes for walkers.

The next largest island is the surprisingly little known Evvoia ( or Euboea) which lies in the northern reaches of the Aegean. This island has a population of only 220,000 people, about a third the population of Crete and has largely been untouched by tourism to date. The coastline of the island closely mirrors that of the mainland and it's obvious that the two were joined in the past. Volcanic activity separated the two, although the two short bridges in the capital Chalkida, one which has existed since 410 BC, join the island to the mainland.

For tourism the islands of Corfu, Kefallonia and Zante ( or Zakynthos) have much higher profiles. All three lie in the Ionian Sea with Kefallonia being the biggest, Corfu the most visited and Zante perhaps the most beautiful.

The main Zakythos Town was almost levelled by a series of 4 earthquakes in 1953. It has been reported that over 27,000 homes were destroyed on Zante and surrounding islands, and 455 people were killed. Of course earthquakes are not uncommon in this part of Europe. In 1908 an earthquake and subsequent maremoto or tsunami killed over 100,000 in southern Italy and Sicily. Even as recently as 2006 a sequence of moderate tremors started lasting for over a week. Citizens on the islands were obviously terrified and became more fearful as the tremors got stronger, however seismologists confidently predicted that the situation would not get worse and in fact no properties were badly damaged.

Following the 1953 disaster the town of Zakynthos has been completely rebuilt using traditional and sympathetic designs and the place now has a pleasing and elegant feel. The same cannot be said for every part of the island although authorities and preservation groups are working hard to avoid the worst aspects of mass tourism.

The area most affected by tourism is Laganas, a town on the eastern coast of the island that sits at the centre of a 9 mile stretch of sandy beach. The place attracts a younger set of visitors and the trinket shops, bars and nightclubs keep the place busy all day and most of the night.

However just 12 kilometers around the coast to the east and you could be in a different world. The beach at Gerakas has been voted as one of the best beaches in Europe and it remains strangely quiet except perhaps during the peak periods. It's almost as if the islanders of Zante want to keep this place a secret. Instead of development slowly making its mark here, all buildings and signs of development are gradually being removed. Beach traders no longer walk the shoreline and the beach bar has been taken down and rebuilt away from the beach front. Conservationists guard the beach and ensure that the nesting grounds of Loggerhead turtles are not affected by tourists. During the nesting periods a maximum stay of 3 hours is enforced on visitors and the beach is closed to everyone between the hours of dusk and dawn. It really is a remarkable place considering you can see the lights of Laganas across the bay.