ZANTE, as the Italians call it, or ZAKYNTHOS, its Greek name, is the most southerly of the Ionian chain of holiday islands that follow the coastline of western Greece. One of the more popular islands for a Greek holiday, Zante features heavily in holiday travel brochures every year and is a firm favourite for cheap holidays in Zante.
Zante island has great holiday beaches, fertile plains, rough hills, wild cliffs and sweeping sands in roughly equal proportions. Resorts vary from the idyllic fishing village to the neon-lit nightmare beach resorts like Laganas - likened to a set from the science fiction film Blade Runner.
Two major events shaped modern-day Zante. One is the catastrophic earthquake of 1953 which destroyed most of the island's elegant Venetian buildings and many of its inhabitants. The other is the construction of the airport which brought Zante beach holiday tourists in droves, many now taking advantage of cheap flights to Zante.
The major Zante package tour areas are along the coastal strip north-west of Zakynthos Town and the huge bay of Laganas to the south. Elsewhere expect pretty villages, quiet beach coves and some breathtaking scenery if you choose cheap holidays to Zante.
Zante is renowned for its magnificent mountainous backdrops, stunning sandy beaches and crystal clear waters. Holidays to the Greek Islands are often most cherished for this combination of sunshine, warm waters and beaches set against truly wonderful scenery.
The north, with its poor roads and inhospitable mountains, and the central plain, full of gentle green rolling hills, has avoided tourist development but access is not as easy as the rest of Zante.
At long last concessions have been made to help save the loggerhead turtles that nest each year on the beach at Laganas. Nowhere in Greece is the evidence more stark of the Greek willingness to bulldoze nature just to make a fast buck.
An earthquake in 1953 destroyed much of Zante's Venetian heritage but, unlike neighbouring Kefalonia, buildings have been replaced by agreeable, if uninspiring, homes.
Those who want to avoid the beach disco bars and karaoke clubs should head north and west, or visit in the spring and autumn - especially spring when Zante shows why it has earned the title 'Blossom of the East'.
Zante has its own international airport located 6km south of Zakynthos town. Olympic Airways also flies daily to Athens and also has flights to Kefalonia.
There are daily ferries from Italy. There are regular daily ferries to the Greece mainland at Killini and also a ferry to Kefalonia.
Zante island buses are cheap and efficient with regular daily services from Zante Town to the main resorts. There are taxi ranks in all the main holiday spots .
Zante has no shortage of beaches. Laganas Bay is the most commercialised and north-east beaches are also popular. Quieter sands are found on the Vassilikos peninsula to the south-east
Zante's west coast has sheer white cliffs and boat trips into the dramatic coastal caves are very popular.
Laganas beach, once a breeding ground for Loggerhead turtles, is now a neon-lit nightmare of bars and discos.
Zante is southernmost island in the Ionian chain off Greece's west coast. It is about 40km long and 19km wide and lies about 12km off the Peloponnese coast.
Heavy winter rains help make Zante one of the Greenest Greek islands and the hills are covered in forest.
Roads on Zante are generally good, especially in the east, bus services are cheap and efficient and there are taxi ranks in all the main resorts.
