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.

Glasgow to Rhodes

Booking

Genie and I booked our trip to Rhodes online. We'd been to Greece only once before – to Alykes on the island of Zakynthos (Zante) in October 2010, which we'd booked through Thomas Cook. That had been our first ever "package holiday" and was a great success, so we took the same route again and looked at last-minute deals on the Thomas Cook website.

After researching Rhodes online I reckoned we ought to be looking at accommodation about half-way down the east coast: Lindos or Pefkos. The whole of the east coast of Rhodes island is sandy beach broken up occasionally by rocks. My wife and I are in our 50s and the peace and quiet afforded by these more "out of the way" places appealed enormously. We booked for Pefkos, staying at Stella Hotel (self-catering). A good deal, as it turned out.

The Flight

Our flight was from Glasgow International airport on 6th June at 6.45 am. As we live in Dunkeld, Perthshire, we decided to travel by train to Glasgow the evening before and to stay at the Holiday Inn Express, which was inexpensive, comfortable and remarkably quiet – really handy for catching our flight the next morning. It's only a two-minute walk to the "check-in". Supper was bought at the airport's Tesco and eaten in our room watching rubbish TV, which reminded us why we chose to get rid of our telly 20 years ago.

Rhodes

Landed at Rhodes airport mid-afternoon and two hours ahead of UK time. Within 20 minutes we were on an air-conditioned coach to Pefkos, and an hour later, settling in to our apartment at the Stella Hotel.

Stretched our legs and checked out some of the local beaches and restaurants. The sunset was stunning from the beach.