Zinc metatitanate (ZnTiO3), zinc orthotitanate (Zn2TiO4) and a metastable zinc titanate (Zn2Ti3O8) were synthesized by a simple solid state reaction. Powder XRD, FT-IR, Raman, diffused reflectance and photoluminescence spectroscopy were used to study the phase evolution, crystalline structure and optical properties of samples calcined at different temperatures. Crystalline structure of the titanium dioxide along with calcination temperature influenced the zinc titanate phase formation. A decrease in optical band gap was observed with increase in calcination temperature of the zinc titanates. Zinc orthotitanate showed photolumine scence (PL) properties.