Quad Bike Hire on Zakynthos

There are several places where you can rent a quad bike in Alykes. We'd passed them often enough to get us thinking about actually renting one, although I'd never been on one and had not yet driven abroad, so I was in two minds about it. Then I realized I hadn't brought my driving license with me anyway, so maybe the whole idea was a non starter. The Thomas Cook rep had also put a bit of a downer on it, saying you didn't know with some of these firms whether you were actually insured or not. Oh yes, and they were dangerous weren't they, these quads? Hmmh...



About a week into our holiday (this was in October, 2011) we happened to be walking in Alykanas and dropped in at the local rental place there which was run by an Australian man. We got talking about insurance, driver's license, the local police, and the different types of quad bike you could hire in general. A mine of information! Here's what we picked up. All I had to do regarding my driving license was to phone the DVLA and ask them for my license code (and later, back at the hotel, a couple of minutes online was enough to find the phone number, 0300 790 6801, and the call was made). We also got a lesson in torque. If you want to go inland, which we did, you need a quad that will get you up some very steep hills, rather than one which is designed for running around on the flat. It's all about torque, apparently. We were also reassured about insurance and given a form to read and sign the next day when we came back to pick up our quad. We thought we'd try it for a day and see how we got on.



We rented it for four days in the end. It was so much fun, and great to visit proper Greek villages inland, not to mention some great beaches and cliffs that we'd never have seen without a vehicle. At first I found it weird to be overtaken on the left; this quad bike wasn't built for speed and we were overtaken often enough to soon get used to it. And it got us up the hills with cameras, picnics, spare clothes and towels, reading material, maps – you name it, it all fitted into the built-in back pannier, which was also handy for shopping.
I mentioned the local police. There's no crime to speak of here but the police will fine tourists (€300, I heard) for not wearing crash helmets. Most locals never wear them and seem to go unpunished, but hey, I'd never get on any kind of motorbike without a helmet, and neither would my wife, so that wasn't a problem for us.



We would definitely do this again. There's nothing quite like wearing shorts and a tee-shirt, sitting on a comfy seat and letting the quad take the strain while you do your best to get lost. Wonderful. One day Genie shot this footage from the back seat of the quad and I've edited it into a form that I think gives an idea of the Quad Experience on Zakynthos. Enjoy!

Hotel Koukounaria, Alykes, Zakynthos

In September 2011 we booked a last-minute trip to Zakynthos (or Zante if you prefer) through Thomas Cook for 2 weeks in October (self-catering). This was our first ever package deal and we didn't know what to expect, although we did take the time before booking to use Google Maps to check the location of the hotel in Alykes, the Koukounaria. From the satellite view we could see that the hotel was surrounded by greenery and just a short walk away from the centre of Alykes and the beach, so we went ahead and booked. It was so cheap that it still seemed too good to be true even for off-season.


View Hotel Koukounaria in a larger map

We were impressed by this hotel. The staff were friendly and helpful. Our room was spacious and clean, with great cooking facilities and a private balcony which overlooked the swimming pools and offered great views of the surrounding countryside. In fact Hotel Koukounaria is currently ranked number 1 out of the 16 hotels in Alykes reviewed on TripAdvisor, which comes as no surprise to me.

There's a supermarket just around the corner which is handy when you're self-catering. The local produce is excellent and far cheaper than in the UK. As we enjoy walking we often walked up to Katastari to shop there.

Here's a short film I made at the hotel, mostly from our balcony, so you can also enjoy the views.