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Gordon Hammond |
| Gender: | Male | | Lives in: | United Kingdom | | Registered: | 18 February 2002 | | Last visit: | 19 February 2008 |
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| Tsilivi Travel Guide: Something for everyone
| | Written by Gordon Hammond on 05 Oct 2007 about a trip in Sep 2007.
Trip was for a couple on holiday. Gordon Hammond would definitely visit again.
| Tsilivi shopping |   6.0 | | A wide variety of shops can be found along the 2-3km stretch of main road that runs East-West through the resort,from upmarket jewellers to the usual souvineer "tat".There are also some specialist local craft workshop outlets,just off the main route,were you can watch stuff being made & work out for yourself how much it's worth (I learnt to barter down,not up !!). For those on self catering there's a decent sized supermarket (the DIA% chain,like our Kwiksave) towrds the eastern end (where English produce is available but at a price) in addition to the little "corner shop" places. Opposite this supermarket,& next door to McDonalds,ironically there's a butchers shop will make your meat order fresh for you (sometimes cheaper than the supermarket),with none of the UK addatives or preservative crap.There's also some cracking bakery/pattisserie's with cakes & savouries to die for,at various places along the route. |
Tsilivi nightlife | 5.0 | | Bars to suit all tastes,from Brit bars through themed & sports bars,to traditional Greek tavernas.There are a couple of Clubs towards the busier (western) end that are open 'till about 6am,then you can nip down the road for breakfast ! We stayed at the eastern end of the resort (next to McDonalds !) were a couple of places were open 'till the early hours of the morning,but mainly behind closed doors to keep the noise in. In the eastern section,theres "Bowl'm Over" which is a newish bowling ally, with pool tables,bar,& internet cafe all under one roof,& a decent mini golf course outside (crazy golf to you & I).Mainly seen as a youth club hangout,it's still possible to enjoy a quiet drink relaxing on one of the comfy suites in the landscaped garden area. |
Tsilivi restaurants | 7.0 | | We stayed in the eastern end of the resort, ate at a different place every night, & never had a bad meal all week. The best ones we found were Benikos,Athena,& Passage to Asia.We did the traditional Greek night at Koukos,but found the portion control to be a bit mean.Don't expect rapid service for your food,as the Greeks seem to take ages preparing anything (or it could be a ploy to get you to drink more while you wait). If you want fast food, there's a small McDonalds outlet at the eastern end,and a chip shop towards the western end. There are also a few places doing take away kebabs (Gyros),but mostly it's a sit down to eat resort.Prices are around 3 euro for starters,6-15 euro for main course,& 3-6 euro for desserts.Draught beer is around 2-3 euro a pint,imported/bottled stuff about 3-5 euro. If you want a bottle of wine expect to pay around 10 euro, or you can risk the house wine (red or white,no choice of dry or sweet,& served in caraffes or metal jugs) for about half the price. Beware, a lot of the house wines are produced locally - some cases in the back yard - so quality will vary,and so will strength !! |
Tsilivi attractions | 4.0 | | There only real "attraction" in Tsilivi is the newish Bowling alley - "Bowl'm Over" - which is a small 10 pin bowling alley,with pool hall & internet cafe all under one roof, and a decent crazy golf course outside. The beach itself is quite narrow, but clean & fairly long, stretching from the hotel on the headland in the east to the small fishing boat harbour in the west. There are the usual water sports activities for hire along the beach,from pedalo's to parasailing,with prices clearly displayed on the boards. Prices for sunbeds range from 6-9 euro a day for 2 beds & parasol,& most are located in front of beachfront snack bars or hotels. The usual call of "melon,fruit salad,coca-cola" can be heard from the beach sellers walking up & down throughout the day,& there's the obligatory African beach hawker flogging dodgy dvd's/cd's/watches/etc. The little harbour's home to some small local fishing boats,and while I was sat on the rocks looking out to sea I was joined by a Kingfisher less than 10 feet away for around 20 minutes (& I didn't have a camera with me,damn it!) |
Tsilivi day trips | | | We took the Jeep Safari trip around the Island,which included a 40 min boat trip to the Blue Caves.Thoroughly recommended,as they take you off the beaten track where coach trips can't go. Our driver/guide (Alan) was really informative & knowlegeable of the Island, it's history & culture. Don't do the trip on a hangover though, you'll be sorry, as they DO go off-road and fast ! In addition to your camera don't forget to take some water,although they do stop off for refreshments at various points along the way. These trips, and many others are often cheaper to book at the outlets in the resort, rather than through the reps or tour operators. We've heard the island tour boat trip is another good one,so we'll try that next year (yes, we liked it so much we're going back).If you fancy yourself as a budding John Wayne,then check out the riding school in Tsilivi (or others nearby). |
Tsilivi History and Culture | | | If I'd taped our jeep safri drivers commentary I could have put it all down here,and you'd know all there was to know. But my memory's not what it used to be,so take the tour for yourself and listen in. |
Getting to Tsilivi | 7.0 | | Zakinthos is easy enough to get to,with flights from several UK airports on different days,& at different times,& then it's about 20 minute transfer from airport to Tsilivi. There is a bus service,but they run on the standard GMT (Greek-Maybe-Time) so don't plan anything based on their timetables. Taxi's are plentiful & fairly cheap - around 20 euro for airport run - but agree price with driver before you get in,& if you're a nervous passenger/traveller don't open your eyes for the journey (ha ha !). BEWARE - Zante airport is still relatively small for the volume of tourist traffic using it, so expect delays & queues. They are expanding & refurbishing it,but that's not going to happen overnight. The departure terminal is so small, they only allow about a dozen people in at a time for check-in,& there's normally around 4 flights checking in at the same time. So expect to be waiting outside for up to an hour,& although they have put some canopy's up I don't think they're big enough to shade three or four flight loads of passengers and their luggage. |
Getting around Tsilivi | Buses work on GMT (Greek-Maybe-Time), & can get very crowded,so either use taxi's or hire soem wheels yourself. If you do hire your own transport,then a decent road map is essential as the tourist maps are soemtimes worse than useless. A good map cost's round 5-7 euro, and may have lots of "hidden" tracks & beaches marked to explore awy from the tourist herdes.
Zante town itself is still very traditional,& as such most of it closes after lunchtime for the afternoon sleep before re-opening around tea-time until well into the night. |
When to visit Tsilivi | | We went in September,and had really good weather all week,although some nights were a bit chillier towards the end of our stay (or maybe we just got used to the hot days). |
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