How to Survive Zante as a Vegan!

Hello to anyone that reads this! My name is Catrina, which you can probably tell from my blog title, and I am an 18 year old vegan who currently lives in Brighton, England. This is my first blog post about my recent trip to Zante and will be updating once a week with posts about, food, fashion and anything that takes my fancy to share.  Hope you enjoy! :)

So here it is, how to survive Zante as a vegan! We stayed in the lovely Laganas, (pronounced without the "s"!) which is known as the party part of the Island, it was definitely something! We stayed in Hotel Pallas which was located a 10 min walk away from the main strip which meant we were never disturbed by noise and it had a very peaceful chilled atmosphere. It was perfect for us as we are not crazy party goers! If you want to read my friend Beth’s blog about how to survive Zante when you’re not a party animal click here!

Luckily I was all inclusive so I had a regular supply of fried mushrooms and tomato at breakfast, salad for lunch and spaghetti and chips in the evening. However some nights it was just chips for me as they slathered their cooked vegetables with butter, sad times. Unfortunately it was a bit samey with an overload of carbs so even though I had paid for all inclusive, I had to find other ways to get a bit more into my diet. Plus my friends and I went on a few excursions so we I had to pack a lunch too. Hopefully if anyone is planning to go to Zante this will help you!

Tip 1: Take a few of your own snacks!

This doesn’t have to be very expensive or take up a lot of your luggage space. I would recommend it just in case you need a healthy pickup to get you through to dinner especially if you have had an energetic day. I took 6 Nakd bars, one for each day and it really helped to be able to pack that if I needed a lunch out or for a quick pick me up filled with goodness. I would recommend the rhubarb and custard flavour and the cherry bake-well ones too, very good indeed all my non-vegan friends love them too!

Tip 2: Pick up snacks and water in the local shops!

Especially for lunches out, for example on the Turtle Island Cruise, I wanted something that would keep me satisfied and was on the better side for me. I picked up a couple of packets of nuts for days out. Be sure to look around though as some shops charge ridiculous prices while others a more reasonable but in terms of food and the currency difference nuts were one of the pricier things to eat! Now for water I would recommend looking around different shops as well. While it is at a reasonable price in most shops some were offering 1 litre bottles of water for 80 cents! My friends and I would buy 2 each and carry them home to keep chilled in our fridges. Definitely worth the 20 minute trek home carrying them!

Tip 3: Buy fruit from the grocers on the strip! (And get awesome smoothies)

Some newsagents offered chilled slices of watermelon and other fruits but you can also get bananas and such from several fruit shops on the strip. The closest to my hotel being at the beginning of the strip (before all the bars for pre-drinks) was very reasonably priced with a serve yourself attitude. On the second day I brought a bunch of bananas and a big bunch of grapes for about 3 euros which I was very happy to pay!

From Vlog Day 8!

About ¾’s of the way down the strip past BJ’s (just a bar and restaurant, get your mind out of the gutter!) and closer to the proper clubs, there was a frozen yoghurt and ice-cream shop called Icecube. Now while that’s all good and well for the non-vegans to enjoy, they also offered 4 flavours of sorbet that they would happily mix with the fresh fruit toppings to blend you a yummy smoothie! They were very refreshing and let me put in 3 different types of fruit- pineapple, strawberries and mango- as well as raspberry sorbet for only 4 euro 50. Very reasonable indeed and so refreshing in the 35 degree heat.

Tip 4: Get cheeseless pizza from Munchies!

This fast food place called Munchies was right at the beginning of the strip, past all of the bars for pre-drinks. It always looked very clean and had an array of options for food to suit everyone. Most places would not offer to cook me a fresh cheeseless pizza but Munchies were more than accommodating. Two nights out of my stay (well one trip was at 5 o’clock in the morning haha) I came here and stuffed my face with good pizza packed with veggies. It did taste really good and for only 7 euros I was seriously impressed, definitely a must go for Vegans!

Tip 5:  Just ask for without meat or cheese!

I know this seems simple and some places will not accommodate but many will and there is even a vegetarian restaurant about halfway down the strip which I’m sure would prepare food without the cheese. My vegetarian friend ate their while I was back at the hotel and said the food was very good.

While I didn’t have this option, another vegan I met out there ordered several Greek salads just without the feta. Her name is Dillon and she’s lovely and I couldn’t believe how much we had in common. If you’d like to visit her YouTube channel which features vlogs of her travel and what I eat in a day’s click here! I wished before I went I had learnt to say “no cheese please” or “could I have it without cheese” so I would definitely recommend trying to learn a few phrases like that before you go. Oh hindsight!

From Vlog Day 8!

Also there is something very popular in Greece called a gyros which is basically a pitta stuffed with meat, chips, tzatziki and salad. However there is one place in particular that my meat eater friend deemed the best for a gyros. Just like munchies it is right at the beginning of the strip and it will only cost you 1 euro 50. Now I wish I had thought of this while I was out there but when I was home my mum suggested having a gyros without the meat or tzatziki so basically just a warm pitta with chips and vegetables, yum!

So there you have it. My tips on how to survive Zante as a vegan! It may not be the healthiest trip away but your body will definitely appreciate all the carbs, especially if you’re hungover haha. If you’d like to see what I go up to on holiday you can watch my vlogs here:

Day 1 + 2 (travel to zante, first night out and beach day)
Day 3 (Turtle Island)
Day 4 (Smugglers Cove)
Day 5 (shopping on the strip and Greek dancing)
Day 6 (water park and night out)
Day 7 (Boat Party)
Day 8 (last day and going home)

See you next week

Catrina x

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