Greece Trip on Short Notice with 3 Kids

June 29, 2017 9:56 AM

Due to lots of family visiting in the past couple of months, I haven't had time to plan our Greece trip this summer. Now I am in panic mode. We fly to Athens on July 17th for three weeks with 3 kids in tow, 11, 9 and 6 yrs old.

Our plan is to visit three(?) island before heading up north. Time wise, our itinerary is very open. We would like to avoid overly crowded places if possible but I know is this basically impossible with the holiday season in full force.

My kids are fairly normal, easy going bunch. We visited Italy in 2015 and they liked the Leaning Tower of Pisa but had little interest in all the Domo's and Michelangelo's David was boring according to them. Things we like are beautiful beaches and exploring/hiking, basically places where they can run around.

What island do you suggest and why? How many days should we spend in Athens? If you have any suggestions on kayaking or biking on the islands, that would be great.

posted by drug_dealer73 to Travel & Transportation around Greece (3 answers total)

Delphi was one of my favorite places in Greece and although it has a first-class museum, if your kids aren't into that there's plenty of fresh air and exercise to be had roaming among the ruins in a beautiful mountain-side setting. Although I don't know about heat -- it was lovely in October but might be rather different in July.
posted by Nerd of the North at 10:20 AM on June 29, 2017

Hi! I have married into a big Greek family and have done quite a few islands over the past few years. While island-ing, I tend to enjoy natural beauty, beaches and great local food over museums and ruins (although those are nice in their place). Some thoughts:

Consider whether you want to stick to closer islands and travel by big ferry, or whether you are willing to fly a bit.

I wholeheartedly endorse Folegandros, especially if you can stay at the Blue Sands Hotel. Lots of nice little beaches, interesting hiking, great local restaurants, pretty main town (usually referred to as the 'chora' on an island, with a breathy ch like challah).

We also liked Sifnos (gorgeous main chora, lovely sandy beaches, breathtaking views), and Hydra (close to Athens, car-free, but beaches more stoney and kind of a yacht-y vibe). I adore tiny Koufonisia next to Naxos but it might be too small for you?

I found Kos too geared to British tourists and hated the expense and falseness of Santorini. It felt like Greek Disney rather than Greece. Milos was similarly uninspiring; the dramatic white stone beaches look great in pictures but are not actually fun.

Finally, you might like to hop a plane to Chania in Crete and stay in a rental apartment near Marathi Beach. Absolutely gorgeous, kayaking, plenty to do, and loads of other beautiful beaches to day trip to.

Enjoy and καλό ταξίδι!
posted by Concordia at 1:40 PM on June 29, 2017

I spent an amazing week on antipaxos once. There is no one there and it's lovely but tiny. If your kids are normal kids they might quite like a place that has other kids to play with. I would head for the Cyclades. Naxos is the most popular and has amazing beaches and sailing and riding schools and activities without being totally commercial. Paros or Amorgos are smaller and more off the beaten path (a bit) but they have some pretty reasonable prices, small resorts and hotels without being obnoxious and great big sandy kid friendly beaches. You can camp on the beach on Amorgos, or could 7 years ago. There were a lot of Greek people vacationing on both of those when I went. Kids were free roaming all over the island at both spots and having fun.
posted by fshgrl at 9:31 PM on June 29, 2017