Have you been to a Greek island?

[badger2005]

Hoping for help from wonderful mumsnetters to plan a holiday for next year - long dreamt of doing this so want to make the right choices!

Me, dh, ds(16), dd(14). Ds loves ancient stuff, so we want to be near Athens/spend some time there/do some cultural stuff. But we have never been to a 'resort' - with pool etc, and want to try it - at least me, dd and ds and me do! I think it would be amazing for ds and dd to be able to e.g. try some watersports etc.

I looked at Irides Aegina as a place to stay, maybe then hiring a car and doing a day trip to Athens and all the other wonderful stuff. But now I am wondering whether this will really meet ds and dd idea of a 'resort'? An alternative is to spend a couple of nights in Athens, and then go to a resort on an island maybe?

Any advice would be very much appreciated!

@strangerontheinternet Went to Agistri many many years ago when it was a weekend place for Athenians, the ferry disgorged them late on .Friday afternoon and sucked them all back up on Sunday . The rest of the week it was us and a few other tourists. Lots of people used to have a table outside their door and visitors were invited to eat there, ( obviously paying for the meal) eating whatever the family were having, maybe octopus they had caught from the beach with a sort of trident, delicious. There were flocks of goats on the hills and at sunset the shepherd would bring them down and they all went trotting along to their own homes. The guy who rented us a room used to run an ad hoc bbq/ baby kid roast once a week onSaturday night. Also delicious. It was idyllic, very My Family and other Animals!

I looked at pictures of it recently and it has changed hugely, can’t blame people for improving their financial lives, but I am pleased I saw it when I did.

We went to Santorini this Easter just gone. The weather was lovely but Easter was very late, early April. It’s worth noting that Greek Orthodox Easter is at a different date to Anglican Easter.

Naxos has lots of ruins - you will need a car. It can be windy but it’s beautiful. There are statues, a gate at the Harbour and also a Greek village.
Santorini has an amazing ruin - like Pompey. It’s called odysseus.culture.gr/h/3/eh351.jsp?obj_id=2410 Akrotiri. We had an amazing tour with a very knowledgeable lady. It’s an old Minoan settlement. Amazingly well preserved - like walking back in time.
it’s easy to Island hop from Naxos to Santorini. Both are totally manageable with cars.

Honestly, if I were you, I’d buy an old fashioned paper copy of Lonely Planet Greece and read up about the various islands to see what you’d enjoy and how they can be combined with Athens. It’s fun sticking a finger on the map, reading the synopsis and seeing if you’d like it. Ditto the various places on the Peloponnese.

I’d probably steer clear of the very popular islands like Mikonos and Santorini. Gorgeous, I grant you, but there are other, less honey pot islands that have everything you’d like and will be cheaper but no less exciting.

Oh and you can generally pop in and out of Greek Orthodox churches very easily and they are generally welcoming.

I may be bias having half my family come from Aegina and living there myself on and off since birth, but if you like the sound of it from what @strangerontheinternet has described then I would definitely recommend staying in Agia Marina since that's where the main beach is. You can easily get to the temple of Aphaia from there.

Only a few of the hotels have pools so it's not really a 'resort' place just basic rooms, some serving breakfast. There is a lovely pool/bar called Crystal on the edge of the town. To really get a feel of a Greek island I think not staying in a resort is a better option personally. There are so many nice seafront restaurants and tavernas and bars and little shops to wonder around!

We'll be there in 2 weeks and I cannot wait! Although it's going to be quite a different experience with a toddler in tow 😅

Thank you all so much!! I'm sorry I have been working etc and won't be able to reply individually till the weekend, but I will be following up all the suggestions. So amazing how helpful mumsnetters are!

I think that place looks sooooo wonderful.go there 🙏 someone needs to experience all that beauty!
and it’s does look like more you from what you’ve said.not quite out with the sheep but not overwhelmed so you can’t move or breathe.
after going into the packed tourist bits I think you’ll be so thankful you have somewhere more like this to come back to.

@badger2005
please avoid Aegina it’s grotty and I had the worst greek holiday ever there, (seconded by Lesvos) I don’t want you wasting your money !
the water was full of rubbish and what passed for beaches were littered with rubbish it was utterly awful I hated it (and we got left behind on a boat trip stop but that was our fault )

@TwoMonthsOff

Ooh yes, posivitely filthy!

We've just got back from Karpathos which was honestly incredible. I'm not sure about ruins etc but Olympos is an incredible place full of history.

It's a quiet island. Beautiful beaches, clear waters and surfing and windsurfing are popular sports here as it's a very windy place (took the edge off the heat).

It's not as touristy as the others so not many big hotels but we got a beautiful villa on air BnB for a great price.

Also to add you need a car there. Twisty mountain roads and barely any public transport.

@newmum0604
It was along time ago late 80’s. I know they do massive beach cleans now prior to season. it just wasn’t for me, beach at town sand was grey the whole place felt dirty and grubby and the accommodation was shocking flies all over the breakfast buffet and I cut my hand open badly on the wall of the hotel room !
i love Greece have been to Greek islands and mainland over 40 times, it just put me off maybe it has improved but I’d never go back there it just was totally lacking in the magic feeling that I had expected from Greece
your photos look nice so looks like it has improved
It one of those disastrous holidays that happen now and then