What's on in Zakynthos (Zante), Greece through the year

Busy — Christmas holidays in Greece, school holidays in 7 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in January.

Still on: Out of season (1 Nov – 31 Mar)

Quiet — travelers describe it as quiet, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in February.

Still on: Out of season (1 Nov – 31 Mar)

Shoulder season — school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in March.

Still on: Out of season (1 Nov – 31 Mar)

Peak crowds — Orthodox Easter, Easter holidays (Orthodox) in Greece

• Holiday

  Orthodox Easter

  10–13 AprEaster & Holy WeekCrowded

  Zakynthos keeps a Venetian-influenced Easter with brass bands behind the epitaphios, and the island opens for the season the same week the charter flights restart. Source ↗

Shoulder season — school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

• Nature

  Loggerhead nesting in Laganas Bay

  1 May – 31 OctTurtle nesting

  The bay holds one of the Mediterranean's most important loggerhead rookeries. Females come ashore from late May, the first hatchlings dig out in late July and it runs to October.

• Rule

  Marine park beach rules

  1 May – 31 OctClosures

  Through the nesting season the park's beaches are closed from dusk to dawn, umbrellas and watersports are banned on the protected sands, and you keep to the wet strip near the water. Source ↗

Still on: Orthodox Easter (10–13 Apr)

Busy — Summer holidays in Greece, school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it

• Season

  Sea warm enough to swim

  1 Jun – 15 Oct · usually

  Ionian water is warmer and calmer than the Aegean and the meltemi barely reaches here, so the west-coast sea caves and the blue caves are swimmable from June to mid-October.

Still on: Loggerhead nesting in Laganas Bay (1 May – 31 Oct), Marine park beach rules (1 May – 31 Oct)

Busy — Summer holidays in Greece, school holidays in 7 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in July.

Still on: Loggerhead nesting in Laganas Bay (1 May – 31 Oct), Marine park beach rules (1 May – 31 Oct), Sea warm enough to swim (1 Jun – 15 Oct (usually))

Peak crowds — Greek August, Agios Dionysios

• Holiday

  Greek August

  1–25 AugSchool holidaysCrowdedBook early

  Domestic holidays and the 15 August feast on top of the charter season. Laganas and the boat trips to the shipwreck viewpoint are at their fullest, and the island's roads are narrow. Source ↗

• Festival

  Agios Dionysios

  23–25 AugMajor festivalCrowded

  The island's patron is carried through Zakynthos town on 24 August with a fireworks finale over the harbour, repeated in a quieter form on 17 December. Source ↗

Still on: Loggerhead nesting in Laganas Bay (1 May – 31 Oct), Marine park beach rules (1 May – 31 Oct), Sea warm enough to swim (1 Jun – 15 Oct (usually))

Busy — Summer holidays in Greece, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in September.

Still on: Loggerhead nesting in Laganas Bay (1 May – 31 Oct), Marine park beach rules (1 May – 31 Oct), Sea warm enough to swim (1 Jun – 15 Oct (usually))

Shoulder season — school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in October.

Still on: Loggerhead nesting in Laganas Bay (1 May – 31 Oct), Marine park beach rules (1 May – 31 Oct), Sea warm enough to swim (1 Jun – 15 Oct (usually))

Quiet — school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it, one of its worst months for weather

• Closure

  Out of season

  1 Nov – 31 Mar

  The charter flights and the resort strips stop entirely from November and this becomes a green, wet, farming island. Zakynthos town and the Kyllini ferry keep going all winter. Source ↗

Busy — Christmas holidays in Greece, school holidays in 7 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in December.

Still on: Out of season (1 Nov – 31 Mar)