{"id":19986,"date":"2017-11-29T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-11-29T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wearetravelgirls.com\/?p=19986"},"modified":"2025-08-26T17:04:22","modified_gmt":"2025-08-27T00:04:22","slug":"navagio-beach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wearetravelgirls.com\/navagio-beach\/","title":{"rendered":"THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO NAVAGIO BEACH, GREECE"},"content":{"rendered":"

Navagio Beach is one of the most famous and beautiful beaches in Greece. Images of Navagio Beach are regularly used in brochures, by travel agents, computer screensavers and stock images.<\/p>\n

Photos of this place are widely used to inspire and entice people into taking the tropical holiday escape of their dreams.<\/p>\n

In fact, Busabout used a picture of Navagio Beach on the front cover of their brochure and on the side of their tour buses, despite the fact the tour company doesn\u2019t actually go there! It\u2019s that enticing.<\/p>\n

\"THE<\/p>\n

NAVAGIO BEACH OVERVIEW<\/h2>\n

Located in the Ionian Sea, on the Italian side of Greece, Navagio Beach can be found on the North-West<\/a> coast of the island of Zakynthos.<\/p>\n

Both Zakynthos Island and Navagio Beach are known by other names \u2013 Zante and Shipwreck Beach respectively and these names are used interchangeably by companies, in day-to-day conversation and online.<\/p>\n

Despite Navagio Beach\u2019s intense popularity all around the world, getting to this beach can actually be difficult, time-consuming, expensive and take a lot of research.<\/p>\n

Navagio Beach and Zante aren\u2019t common spots on regular tours across Europe, but despite this, I was determined to visit this year come hell or high water. In order to do so, I spent a lot of time working out the most efficient, cost-effective way, but to save you the hassle of going through everything I went through (including, but not limited to using Google Maps to check the terrain of the island to see if bicycle hire could be used as possible transport to the beach, it can\u2019t.)<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve written a guide to Navagio Beach here to get you scaling the ultimate cliff face.<\/p>\n

\"THE<\/p>\n

HOW NAVAGIO BEACH GOT ITS NAME<\/h2>\n

Navagio Beach is instantly recognizable (in addition to its pristine cliff face and blue water) by the shipwreck lying perfectly down the middle of the beach.<\/p>\n

This ship is called Panagiotis and legend has it was a smugglers ship working on behalf of the Italian Mafia.<\/p>\n

The ship was smuggling cigarettes from Turkey when it was spotted and subsequently chased by the Greek Navy off the shores of Zakynthos.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately for the ship, during the pursuit of Panagiotis ran shallow ground, the sailors were forced to abandon her and she naturally ended up in the center of Navagio.<\/p>\n

\"THE<\/p>\n

While this story does add excitement to the location, any skeptic would be quick to point out how perfectly the ship fits into the beach and now it\u2019s a common belief that the shipwreck was planted there instead to promote tourism.<\/p>\n

Either way, it certainly doesn\u2019t detract from the area.<\/p>\n

\"Walking<\/p>\n

GETTING TO ZAKYNTHOS – BY AIR OR BY SEA<\/h2>\n

There are two main ways to get to Zakynthos, either by air or by ferry (which often is by bus then ferry).<\/p>\n

BY AIR<\/h3>\n

Zakynthos is a popular tourist island for the Brits and as such there are quite a few direct flights into Zakynthos Airport from other countries in Europe and this would be the most straightforward way to get to the island.<\/p>\n

British Airways<\/a>, Ryan Air<\/a>, and Thomson Airways<\/a> all offer cheap fares to Zakynthos. If you are already in Greece you can book a direct flight from Athens via Aegean Air<\/a> or other Greek Airlines. <\/p>\n

Like I said earlier, Zakynthos is located on the Italy side of Greece, alongside other islands like Kefalonia and Corfu. However, the popular islands such as Santorini and Mykonos are located on the other side of the Greek mainland (the Turkey side of Greece).<\/p>\n

Currently, there are no direct flights from these islands to Zakynthos, meaning if air travel is your preferred method of transport and you plan on visiting these other islands you will need to be making a transfer in Athens before continuing on.<\/p>\n

I would strongly recommend checking Airline Ratings<\/a> before booking any flight, especially in smaller planes as quite often a cheap fare can make people overlook safety.<\/p>\n

BY SEA<\/h3>\n

I traveled to Zakynthos from Athens and the process was quite straightforward, albeit a fairly long day of travel.<\/p>\n

While Athens is a direct port for the other popular Greek islands like Santorini, to get to Zakynthos you must leave from Kyllini Port which is nowhere near Athens.<\/p>\n

However, don\u2019t worry, the Greek ferry transport is honestly the most efficient transport system I have seen (it puts Australia and UK transport systems to shame) and your journey will run smoothly.<\/p>\n

For this journey, you need to book a bus ticket AND a ferry ticket (despite the actual ferry journey being inside the time frame of the bus journey).<\/p>\n

This is super simple by booking through the KTEL Bus Company website<\/a>. Here you can find the schedule, prices and direct booking.<\/p>\n

When I went in the high season in August 2017 the buses were just under 30 Euro each way and the ferry was just under 10 Euro each way. Prices are subject to fluctuate with the season and popularity.<\/p>\n

Pay Less, Travel More eBook<\/h2>

Subscribe to get our FREE eBook with tips on saving money when you travel!<\/p>\n\t\t\t

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\"THE<\/p>\n

RECOMMENDED TIPS FOR NAVAGIO BEACH GREECE<\/h2>\n

I booked ahead, however, when I got to the bus station and the ferry port, people were booking as they got there. I wouldn\u2019t necessarily rely on this though as our bus was full.<\/p>\n

The KTEL bus station is also located on the outskirts of the center, meaning it is unlikely to be in walking distance from your accommodation and the public transport is quite difficult to connect to the bus station despite it being a very busy hub!<\/p>\n

A taxi to the station from Monastiraki (the center of Athens where most hostels and hotels are located) to the bus station costs around 5 Euros, but expect to be stung with 10 Euros for the identical journey on return as taxis have set prices from the bus station.<\/p>\n

The bus journey was about 4.5 hours and the ferry journey is a quick hour trip where you are able to walk around the deck, relax and buy refreshments and food, as you have to disembark the bus while transferring by ferry.<\/p>\n

When you dock in Zante you hop back on the bus and the bus drops you in Zakynthos Town about 5 minutes away from the harbor.<\/p>\n

\"THE<\/p>\n

ACCOMMODATION IN ZAKYNTHOS<\/h2>\n

First things first: Zakynthos is not designed for budget travelers, backpackers or Round-The-Worlders. There are no hostels on the island (the first person to open up one would make a lot of money just saying\u2026), only hotels and unfortunately, especially during summer, they are at hotel prices.<\/p>\n

If you are going solo this may be a pain in your wallet but had I had one or two friends with me when I went it would have worked out the equivalent of a typical hostel dorm bed in Greece each.<\/p>\n

It is one of the downsides of solo traveling when the area isn\u2019t set up for solo travelers.<\/p>\n

I stayed in Zakynthos Town<\/a>, right at the port where the boat comes in. I did this mostly for the convenience of getting on and off the ferry and because a lot of boat tours (see below about getting to Navagio Beach) leave from this area but I\u2019m not necessarily sure I would recommend it.<\/p>\n

Laganas Beach<\/a> on the South East of the Island is where almost everyone stays and I think I would have enjoyed my time in Zakynthos, outside of visiting Navagio Beach, a lot more had I stayed there.<\/p>\n

If you are going to Zakynthos in the high season (July and August) I would strongly recommend booking accommodation earlier rather than later as things will sell out.<\/p>\n

LUXURY ACCOMMODATION<\/h3>\n

Some well-reviewed luxury accommodation options near Zakynthos include:<\/p>\n