Last updated: August 2026
A week for two in a Laganas apartment came to £213 on Expedia. The same week in Tsilivi’s newest adults-only resort came to £4,334. Zante doesn’t have one price, it has a strip and a hillside, and this guide prices both.
Zante at a glance
- Flight timeAround 3.5 to 4 hours from the UK
- AirportOne: Zakynthos International, Dionysios Solomos (ZTH)
- CurrencyEuro, Greece is in the eurozone
- VisaVisa-free 90 days in any 180, and the days do count as Schengen days
- Tourist tax€2 to €15 a room, per night, by hotel category
- Watch forHigh wildfire risk April to October, per GOV.UK
Zante is the southernmost of the Ionian islands and the one most UK package operators still call by its Venetian name. Zakynthos is the same island, the name on your boarding pass, and the name this guide uses once the introductions are over.
Every figure below is a live price, a government rate, or an operator’s own published fare, checked on 23 August 2026. Where nobody publishes a number, this guide says so rather than inventing one.
How to keep Zante costs down
None of this needs a special deal. It needs picking the right town, the right season, and the right boat.
| Do this | Why it works |
|---|---|
| Fly outside July and August | British Airways’ own fares fall from £152 in August to £131 in October for the same route, and the whole island is quieter once the school-holiday crowds leave. |
| Sleep in Laganas or Argassi, not a five-star resort strip | The spread between this guide’s budget and top-tier hotel is more than twenty to one for the same week, same island. |
| Share the turtle-watching boat instead of chartering one | A shared taxi-boat runs roughly €12 to €15 a head; a private charter starts nearer €200 for the boat alone. |
| Check your hotel’s star rating before you book | Greece’s climate resilience fee runs from €2 a room in a 1 or 2-star hotel to €15 in a 5-star, every night, in high season. |
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"The climate resilience fee catches people out because it never shows up in the headline room rate on a search site. Book a five-star hotel in high season and you’re paying an extra fifteen euros a night before you’ve ordered a coffee. Check what star rating you’re actually booking, not just what the photos promise, and you’ll know the real bill before you land."
Kate Acaster, Chief Editor, Flight Tribe
Getting to Zante from the UK
Five airlines fly direct from the UK to Zakynthos. Jet2 runs the widest network by some distance; Ryanair runs the narrowest.
| Airline | UK departures |
|---|---|
| easyJet | Bristol, London Gatwick, London Luton and Manchester. |
| Jet2 | Fourteen airports: Belfast International, Birmingham, Bournemouth, Bristol, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Glasgow International, Leeds Bradford, Liverpool, London Gatwick, London Luton, London Stansted, Manchester and Newcastle. |
| TUI | Says only “including London Gatwick and Manchester” on its own Zante page; TUI does not publish the full departure list for this specific route. |
| Ryanair | One route only: London Stansted, from £29.99 one-way on Ryanair’s own fare table. |
| British Airways | Heathrow only, and seasonally: BA’s own booking page shows fares for August to October 2026 and none for November 2026 to January 2027. |
Jet2’s own destination page also publishes two everyday prices worth knowing before you land: a local beer at £3 and a three-course meal for two at £42.70. Neither is a menu, but both are a useful anchor for the food section further down.
Zakynthos Town is the working capital, not a resort. It rebuilt almost entirely after a 1953 earthquake, which is why the arcaded streets look Venetian but the stone is modern.
Most visitors pass through it once, for a museum or a ferry, and base themselves on the coast instead.
Visa and entry rules for UK travellers
Greece is a full Schengen member. Days here count against your 90-day allowance, and the currency is the same euro used everywhere else in the zone.
| Requirement | What it means |
|---|---|
| Visa | Visa-free for up to 90 days in any 180-day period, for tourism, visiting family, or business meetings. |
| Schengen days | Every day in Greece counts toward your 90, and so does every day already spent elsewhere in Schengen this year. |
| Passport age | Issued less than 10 years before the day you arrive. |
| Passport validity | At least 3 months left on the day you leave the Schengen area. |
| EES biometric check | Live since 12 October 2025 across Schengen, free, no action needed beforehand, but GOV.UK says Greek authorities have indicated they will not collect UK travellers’ fingerprints or photos under it. |
What that Greek EES exemption means in practice
Most Schengen countries are fingerprinting and photographing UK arrivals under EES; GOV.UK’s own page says Greek authorities have indicated they won’t, for now. That’s a stated position, not a guarantee for your specific flight, so follow whatever the border staff at Zakynthos actually ask you to do rather than assuming either way.
Getting from the airport to your resort
Zakynthos has one airport, six kilometres from Zakynthos Town, and every resort strip sits within about 30 minutes of it.
| From ZTH airport to | Distance | Published fare |
|---|---|---|
| Zakynthos Town | 6km, about a 10-minute drive | TUI’s own airport page names a taxi as the only public option; no fixed fare is published |
| Laganas | Around 6km | No fixed airport fare published; the town bus (below) runs from Zakynthos Town, not the airport |
| Tsilivi | Around 9.5km | No fixed airport fare published |
| Argassi | Around 8km | No fixed airport fare published |
Getting around Zante
The island’s bus company publishes real fares for its main resort routes, all from Zakynthos Town, not the airport.
| Route | Cost | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Zakynthos Town to Laganas | €2.20 one-way | Up to 13 buses a day Monday to Saturday, four on Sundays |
| Zakynthos Town to Tsilivi | €2.20 one-way | Runs from both the main terminal and Solomos Square |
| Zakynthos Town to Argassi | €2.20 one-way | Seven buses a day Monday to Saturday, two on Sundays |
| Boat trips (Navagio, Blue Caves, turtles) | No fixed published price | Run by private operators from several harbours; shared trips are commonly quoted around €25 to €35 per person |
Beyond the bus, most visitors hire a car or a quad for the week. Neither Zakynthos International Airport nor the local council publishes a benchmark hire rate, so this guide doesn’t print one either.
Small boats can nose right into the caves themselves; larger tour boats hold back and let you swim in from the entrance.
The colour is genuinely a trick of the light on white limestone under shallow water, not an edited photo.
Where to base yourself in Zante
Four bases cover almost every UK visitor to Zante, and they suit different holidays rather than different budgets.
| Base | Suits | The trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| Laganas | Nightlife, budget stays, families who want everything on foot | The busiest, loudest strip on the island in July and August; also the cheapest hotel beds this guide found. |
| Tsilivi | Families and couples who want beaches and a big resort hotel | Further from the airport than Laganas, and home to this guide’s most expensive hotel by a wide margin. |
| Argassi | A quieter base within walking distance of Zakynthos Town | Smaller beach than Laganas or Tsilivi, and fewer big-name package hotels. |
| Zakynthos Town | Ferry connections, museums, and a genuine working town rather than a resort | No real beach in the town itself; you bus or drive out for one. |
What Zante’s main attractions cost
Two sights on this island have a government-set ticket price. Everything else, the beach, the caves, the turtles, is free to see and priced only by the boat that gets you there.
| Attraction | Adult | What you need to know |
|---|---|---|
| Bochali Venetian Castle | €5 | €2.50 reduced. Open Wednesday to Monday, 8:30 to 15:30 in summer; closed Tuesdays. |
| Museum of Zakynthos | €10 | €5 reduced, free on six set dates a year including 18 May. Same hours as the castle. |
| National Marine Park, Laganas Bay | Free | No entry ticket for the beaches or protected waters; personal umbrellas are banned on turtle-nesting sand. |
| Navagio (Shipwreck) Beach boat trip | No fixed price | Boat only, no road access; shared group boats are commonly quoted from around €25 per person. |
| Blue Caves boat trip | No fixed price | Often combined with Navagio on the same trip; ask before booking whether both stops are included. |
| Turtle-watching boat, Laganas Bay | No fixed price | Shared taxi-boats to Marathonisi (Turtle Island) commonly run €12 to €15 per person; private charters start nearer €200 for the boat. |
Bochali sits above the town rather than in it, a short taxi or a stiff uphill walk from Solomos Square.
Come for sunset and you get the castle and the town lighting up below for the price of one ticket.
Where to stay in Zante
All three were priced on 23 August 2026, for the same two people on the same September dates. The gap between the cheapest and the most expensive is more than twenty to one.
| Tier | Property | 7 nights | Why it is on this list |
|---|---|---|---|
| Budget | Maui Hotel Laganas, Laganas | £213, or £30 a night | The cheapest available room on this island for the dates checked, with a pool, on the doorstep of the strip. |
| Mid | Villa Miranda, Limni Keri | £309, or £44 a night | 9.8 out of 10 across 18 reviews, self-catering studios near Keri Caves, run as a family business. |
| Worth the spend | King Jason Zante, Tsilivi | £4,334, or £619 a night | 9.6 out of 10 across 14 reviews, an adults-only lifestyle all-inclusive with three pools and three restaurants. |
The twenty-to-one gap isn’t a pricing error. Maui is a simple two-star with a pool; King Jason is a purpose-built adults-only resort with its own hydrotherapy pool and three separate restaurants. Zante genuinely runs both, on the same island, the same week.
Where to eat and drink in Zante
No taverna, council or tourist board publishes a fixed menu price for Zante. Every figure below is this guide’s own estimate, anchored where possible to Jet2’s own published benchmark.
| Tier | What it is | Assumed spend | Published or assumed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Budget | Dionysos Taverna, Argassi | €25 to €30 for two | Assumed, based on reviewer-reported prices for a family taverna |
| Mid | Votsalo Taverna, Laganas | €42.70, Jet2’s own published three-course figure for two | The £42.70 anchor is published by Jet2; the venue and dish choice are this guide’s own |
| Worth the spend | Sugo Taverna, Zakynthos Town | €60 to €80 for two | Assumed, based on reviewer-reported prices for a modern Greek restaurant in the capital |
Laganas or Tsilivi
These are the island’s two biggest resort strips and the ones most UK operators sell hardest, so they’re worth putting side by side.
Laganas is younger, louder and cheaper. It runs along one long beach road packed with bars, and it’s the base for the National Marine Park’s turtle-watching boats since Laganas Bay is the park itself.
Tsilivi is quieter and more spread out, with a longer sandy beach and the island’s biggest concentration of resort hotels, including this guide’s most expensive pick. It sits further from the airport, closer to the north-coast boat trips.
Neither is objectively cheaper as a destination; what changes the bill is which hotel tier you book once you’ve picked one.
Boats from Laganas, Zakynthos Town and Porto Vromi all run to Navagio; Porto Vromi is the shortest crossing.
The famous clifftop viewpoint above the beach is a separate stop, reached by road, not by boat.
What a week in Zante costs
Adding up only what a room, a government ticket, a bus fare and a boat trip actually cost, before food, gives a real floor for a week for two.
| Line | Week, two adults | Published or assumed |
|---|---|---|
| Room, Maui Hotel Laganas | £213 | Published, Expedia, 23 Aug 2026 |
| Climate resilience fee, 2-star, 7 nights | €14 | Published, Law 5162/2024 |
| Bochali Castle, two adults | €10 | Published, Ministry of Culture |
| Museum of Zakynthos, two adults | €20 | Published, Ministry of Culture |
| Bus travel, four single trips into town | €8.80 | Published, KTEL Zakynthos |
| Turtle-watching taxi-boat, two adults | around €27 | Assumed, no fixed operator tariff |
| Eating, seven days for two | around €440 | Assumed, anchored to Jet2’s £42.70 published figure plus a cheap lunch daily |
| Airport transfers and local travel | Excluded | No operator or authority publishes a fixed fare |
Best time to visit Zante
Jet2’s own weather page for Zante shows the shoulder months running noticeably cooler than the July and August peak, without giving up much beach weather at all.
| Month | Average daily high | What that means for a trip |
|---|---|---|
| May | 23°C | Warm enough to swim, well ahead of peak crowds and peak hotel rates. |
| July | 31°C | Peak heat, peak wildfire risk per GOV.UK, and every hotel on this page at its most expensive. |
| September | 28°C | Still genuinely hot, with British Airways and Jet2 fares already easing off their August peak. |
Nesting beaches enforce sunrise-to-sunset access and ban personal umbrellas, which can crush unmarked nests.
You’re more likely to see a turtle from a boat in the bay than on the sand itself.
So, is Zante expensive?
Not if you pick Laganas and a two-star room: £213 for the week, plus a manageable €52.80 in government fees and tickets. It gets genuinely expensive fast if you pick Tsilivi’s newest adults-only resort instead, at £4,334 for the identical seven nights.
The island itself isn’t the variable. The two published sights, Bochali Castle and the Museum of Zakynthos, cost €5 and €10 respectively, cheap by Mediterranean standards, and the marine park that draws most visitors here charges nothing at all to see. What changes the bill is entirely the hotel and, to a smaller degree, how many private boat trips you book instead of shared ones.
Fly outside July and August. Sleep in Laganas or Argassi rather than a resort strip. Share the boat to the turtles rather than chartering one, and Zante sits closer to its £213 floor than its £4,334 ceiling.
Beyond flying, a car ferry from Kyllini on the Peloponnese mainland is the only other way onto the island.
Most UK visitors never need it; it matters mainly for islanders and anyone island-hopping onward.
Frequently asked questions
Is Zante expensive?
Only at the top end. A budget hotel week for two in Laganas came to £213 on Expedia; the island’s newest adults-only resort in Tsilivi came to £4,334 for the same dates. Government-set attraction tickets are cheap: €5 for Bochali Castle, €10 for the Museum of Zakynthos, and free for the National Marine Park’s beaches and waters.
Is Zante in the EU and the Schengen area?
Yes. Greece is a full EU and Schengen member, uses the euro as its everyday currency, and every day you spend on Zante counts against your 90-day Schengen allowance for the year. That’s a genuine difference from non-Schengen Mediterranean destinations, where the days don’t count.
Do UK travellers need a visa for Zante?
No, not for a stay of up to 90 days in any 180-day period, for tourism, family visits or business meetings, per GOV.UK’s Greece entry requirements page. Your passport needs to have been issued within the last 10 years and have at least 3 months left on the day you leave the Schengen area.
Which UK airports fly to Zante?
Jet2 flies from fourteen UK airports, easyJet from four, Ryanair only from London Stansted, and British Airways only from Heathrow, seasonally. TUI flies from at least Gatwick and Manchester but doesn’t publish its full route list for this destination.
Will I have to give fingerprints at the Zante border under EES?
Possibly not. The EU’s Entry/Exit System has been live across Schengen since 12 October 2025 and normally records UK travellers’ fingerprints and a photo on first entry. GOV.UK’s own page on Greece’s entry requirements says Greek authorities have indicated they will not collect this biometric data from UK travellers under EES, but that’s a stated position, not a promise for every flight, so follow whatever border staff actually ask on the day.
Argassi and Zakynthos Town both still run small fishing fleets alongside the tourist boats.
What is Greece’s climate resilience fee and do I have to pay it?
Yes, everyone staying in paid accommodation does. It’s a per-room, per-night charge set by Greek law, running from €2 a night in a 1 or 2-star hotel up to €15 in a 5-star during the April-to-October high season, and roughly a quarter of those rates the rest of the year. It replaced the old hotel tax in 2024 and is collected by the property, not charged separately at the airport or border.
Is the National Marine Park free to visit?
The park itself is free, with no entry ticket for its beaches or protected waters in Laganas Bay. Getting out to see the turtles costs extra: shared taxi-boats run roughly €12 to €15 a person, and no operator publishes one fixed tariff.
Laganas or Tsilivi, which is better for a family?
Depends what the family wants to do all week. Laganas is compact, walkable, and the base for the turtle-watching boats, but its beach road is also the island’s loudest nightlife strip. Tsilivi has a longer, quieter beach and the bigger family and adults-only resort hotels, including this guide’s most expensive pick, but it sits further from the airport and from Zakynthos Town.
Umbrella and lounger rows like this sit outside the park’s nesting zones, where the same set-up is banned.
Ask at your hotel which beach you’re actually on before you assume the rules are the same everywhere.
How do I get from Zakynthos airport to my hotel?
By taxi or, if your operator arranges one, a transfer coach. Zakynthos Town is 6 kilometres away, about a 10-minute drive; Laganas, Tsilivi and Argassi are all within roughly 6 to 10 kilometres. Neither the airport nor any taxi association publishes a fixed fare for any of these routes, so agree a price before you get in or pre-book through your holiday operator.
When is the cheapest good time to visit Zante?
September. Jet2’s own published figures put the average daily high at 28°C that month against 31°C in July, so it’s still genuinely hot, while British Airways’ own fares are already falling from their August peak of £152 toward £131 in October. It also sits outside the sharpest of GOV.UK’s April-to-October wildfire risk window, though the risk doesn’t disappear entirely until later in autumn.
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Kate Acaster is Chief Editor at Flight Tribe. She writes about practical travel planning, budget airlines, baggage rules, city breaks, beach holidays and good hotels that do not cost daft money.
Kate has travelled through Europe, South America and beyond, usually with a notebook, a half-formed plan and a strong opinion on airport snacks. At Flight Tribe, her work focuses on helping UK travellers understand what is included, what costs extra, and whether a trip is worth booking at the price shown.
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