Kefalonia or Zakynthos (Zante)? How to choose the right island

Kefalonia or Zakynthos: the short answer

The two islands sit next to each other in the southern Ionian Sea, close enough to see one from the other on a clear day, and they share the same climate: hot, almost rainless summers with highs around 30 °C in July and August, and a sea that reaches 26–27 °C in August and September. What separates them is scale and mood. Zakynthos, also known as Zante, is compact and busy, with a few large resorts and one of the most photographed beaches in Greece. Kefalonia is about twice the size, more mountainous and more spread out, with smaller villages and longer drives between the sights.

In a sentence: choose Zakynthos for an easy, lively beach holiday with short transfers, plenty of flights and nightlife on tap; choose Kefalonia for scenery, walking, quieter evenings and touring by car. Is Kefalonia worth visiting if Zakynthos is easier to reach? For couples, families with a car and anyone who likes landscapes, yes, provided you accept that seeing it properly means time on winding roads.

Size, landscape and drive times

Kefalonia covers about 773 km², the largest of the Ionian Islands, against about 406 km² for Zakynthos. Its backbone is Mount Ainos, 1,628 m high and a national park since 1962, covered in forests of Greek fir (Abies cephalonica, named after the island). Zakynthos is far lower: its highest point, Vrachionas, reaches 758 m. Its west is a high limestone plateau that ends in sheer cliffs, while the east and south are flatter, with the plain around Zakynthos Town and most of the resorts.

Distances shape the holiday. On Kefalonia, Argostoli to Fiskardo is about 50 km and takes an hour to an hour and a quarter, and the airport to Fiskardo takes 1 h 15 to 1 h 30. Zakynthos airport is about 4 km from Zakynthos Town and right next to the southern resorts of Laganas and Kalamaki, so transfers are short. On Kefalonia, a hire car is close to essential if you want to see Myrtos, Melissani Cave, Assos and Fiskardo in one week; see car hire in Kefalonia for licences and mountain roads. On Zakynthos, it is easier to stay in one resort and see the rest of the island on organised boat and coach tours.

Beaches: Myrtos against Navagio

Zakynthos's poster image is Navagio, or Shipwreck Beach: a cove of white pebbles below cliffs about 200 m high on the north-west coast, with the rusting hull of a ship that ran aground in 1980. Do not plan a holiday around landing on it. The beach was closed after a cliff collapse injured seven people in 2018 and again after an earthquake in 2022, and a joint ministerial decision reported in June 2026 banned all access to the beach until 31 October 2026, banned swimming in the cove and kept boats at least 50 m from the shore, after the state's earthquake protection agency (OASP) found a high risk of landslides. You can still look down on it from the cliff-top viewing platform. In July 2026 the authorities announced plans to extend the beach by about 30 m with gravel to protect the wreck; nothing has been announced yet about access in 2027.

Away from Navagio, Zakynthos has long sandy beaches in the south, such as Gerakas, Banana Beach on the Vasilikos peninsula and the bay of Laganas, several of them turtle nesting beaches with restricted hours. In the north, the Blue Caves at Cape Skinari are usually visited by small boat.

Kefalonia's equivalent of Navagio, Myrtos, is a long curve of white pebbles below cliffs on the north-west coast, and you can drive down to it and swim, although its cliffs are prone to rockfalls too. Add Antisamos near Sami, Petani on the Paliki peninsula and the coves around Fiskardo, mostly pebbles with deep, clear water. For sand and shallow water, Kefalonia has Skala, Lassi, Mounda and the red sand of Xi. Our guide to Kefalonia beaches sorts them by area and type.

Nightlife and atmosphere: Laganas or harbour tavernas

Laganas, on the south coast of Zakynthos, is the closest either island has to a party resort: a long strip of bars and clubs that has drawn young holidaymakers, many of them British, since the 1980s and stays loud until the early hours in July and August. It is only a small part of the island, and Vasilikos, Keri, the north and Zakynthos Town feel very different, but it shapes many people's image of Zante. If a nightlife strip is what you want, Kefalonia has nothing comparable.

Kefalonia's evenings are quieter: dinner by the harbour in Fiskardo, Assos or Agia Efimia, a handful of bars in Argostoli, Lassi and Skala, and village festivals (panigyria) in summer. The resorts are small and far apart, and long stretches of coast between them are empty. To see how the villages compare, read Kefalonia villages and towns and where to stay in Kefalonia.

Turtles on both islands

Both islands have loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta), but Zakynthos is by far the more important nesting site. Laganas Bay is protected by the National Marine Park of Zakynthos, founded in 1999, and the conservation group ARCHELON counts about 1,200 nests a year on its six nesting beaches: Marathonisi, East Laganas, Kalamaki, Sekania, Dafni and Gerakas. The rules are strict. The nesting beaches are open from 7:00 until sunset and closed at night, beach activity must stay within about 5 m of the water's edge, Sekania is closed to the public, and boats in the bay must keep to 6 knots and respect no-go zones in summer.

On Kefalonia, turtles feed in Argostoli harbour, where they often surface near the fishing boats, and nest on southern beaches, Mounda above all, monitored by the conservation group Wildlife Sense. There is no marine park, so more depends on visitors: do not feed or touch the turtles, keep your distance in the water, avoid boat trips that lure them with food and stay off the nesting beaches at night.

Flights, crowds and prices

Zakynthos is much busier. According to Fraport Greece, which runs both airports, Zakynthos (ZTH) handled 2,282,774 passengers in 2025 and Kefalonia (EFL) 893,697: about two and a half times as many on an island half the size, or nearly five times as many arrivals per square kilometre. For you that means more routes, more departure airports and more package holidays to Zakynthos, but also fuller resorts, beaches and boat trips. Both are essentially summer airports, with few international flights in winter.

August is busy on both islands. The peak falls around 15 August, when the Greek holiday of the Dormition of the Virgin coincides with Italy's Ferragosto, so book accommodation and cars early and visit the famous beaches and viewpoints first thing in the morning. June and September offer a warm sea with fewer people on either island; see the best time to visit Kefalonia.

On cost, neither island is cheap in high season, and there is no reliable data showing that one is consistently cheaper. The larger flight and package programme to Zakynthos can make deals easier to find, while Kefalonia's distances add a hire car and fuel to most budgets. Our guide to what a holiday in Kefalonia costs breaks down the numbers.

Who each island suits

Zakynthos suits first-timers who want short transfers and plenty of flights, groups of friends looking for nightlife in Laganas, families who want shallow sandy beaches and a resort where everything is within walking distance, such as Tsilivi or Kalamaki, and travellers without a car who are happy to see the island on tours.

Kefalonia suits couples and walkers who want scenery and quiet evenings, families with a car who like a mix of sand and pebble beaches with short sightseeing outings to Melissani and Drogarati caves, food and wine lovers, and anyone who wants to hop across to Ithaca or Lefkada. Without a car, base yourself in Argostoli, Lassi or Skala. If you are weighing up other Ionian islands too, read Kefalonia, Corfu or Lefkada.

Doing both: the summer ferry

You do not have to choose. In summer, Ionian Sea Ferries links Pessada, south of Argostoli, with Agios Nikolaos in the north of Zakynthos. In 2026 it sailed twice a day in each direction from 15 May to 13 September and on five days a week until 30 September, with fares of €13 per passenger and €40 for a car, and the crossing takes under two hours. The 2027 timetable has not been announced yet.

A day trip is possible but long, as Agios Nikolaos is at the opposite end of Zakynthos from the southern beaches. For a two-week holiday, a better plan is to fly into one island, spend a week there, take the ferry and fly home from the other, booking one-way flights. Our Kefalonia to Zakynthos ferry guide covers the crossing in detail, and the Kefalonia ferry guide lists every other route.