Buggy Friendly Summer Walks in Zakynthos

Looking back to our holiday in June 2016, here are two buggy friendly summer walks in Zakynthos. A substantial sun shade for your buggy is essential; we were using the Mountain Buggy one. We weren’t using our Mountain Buggy Terrain though. On our summer travels we took a much less bulky Mothercare Nanu model. Which had the advantage of laying completely flat for nap times when out and about.

Walk One

This is an out and back route from Alykanas to Pigadakia. It is about 7.75km along quiet roads, except for one main road crossing. I say roads, but they are more like dirt tracks with very little traffic. We didn’t have any trouble with a regular buggy on the tracks. We saw very little traffic and just scooted over to the side as and when there was any. You pass through the local countryside and farmland. Not the most stunning scenery but made a change from the coast. At Pigadakia there is a small museum; to be frank, it looks like a collection of stuff from someone’s house. So not worth a special visit. There is also a taverna where you can stop off for a cold drink. It is possible to get a tourist ‘train’ from Alykanas up to Pigadakia but we decided we wanted some exercise.

Route Map for Walk One

Walk Two

This is an 11km circular route from Alykanas to Ano Gerakari (St Nicolas) Church. The first half is on tracks through the olive groves and up the hill to the church. I would note that the track up to the church is steep and rough in places; it tested our regular buggy to its limit. There is a taverna at the top behind the church where you can have a welcome rest and take in the views.

We returned down the hill by road and then followed the coast road. And got caught in a torrential downpour, accompanied by lightning. Although these are paved roads with no pavement, they were pretty quiet, so felt safe enough with the buggy. We stopped off at Ammoudi on the way back. It has no beach though, just swimming access from steps, so no good as a baby location. However, there was a very popular taverna, full at lunchtime, that we earmarked for a future visit. We continued back to one of our favourite cheap lunch stops at Alykanas beach, the pool bar at Agia Kiriaki beach bungalows. And failed to dry off as the rain had started pouring again. At least it was warm…

 

 

Route Map for Walk Two