Package Greek islands Easter holidays

[Eolian]

Never done all inclusive before, don't even do package holidays or resorts normally and would love to take the dc to Greece in the Easter holidays but don't have lots of money to spend. I've seen deals for as little as £250 per person but wondering if they'd be grim! Is doing AI much cheaper?

Has anyone got any recommendations for particular islands or companies/websites (or advice on where and what to avoid)? We are happy with clean but basic accommodation but would really want somewhere fairly quiet and low-key - beaches and countryside rather than entertainment or night life.

Thanks.

Before you book anything I would look at airbnb for accommodation and something like momondo website for flights to see what the prices come out at if you pull together your own itinerary. my own experience of AI is that its great if its top end because then you get a good choice of good food. if its bottom end its risky and you could end up with not much choice and pretty grim food that you know you have paid for.

Good thinking - thanks! I've just looked briefly at airbnb and it looks like there are some fantastic deals. Now to look at flights...

We went to Kos town a few years ago for Easter and it was fab!! Flew Easyjet and booked a hotel through booking.com.
Worth checking skyscanner to see where you can go from your local airport. Main towns are probably best st that time of year!! Rhodes town is beautiful, as is Corfu town but for Crete I'd avoid Heraklion and maybe look st Chanie ir Rethymnon.

I would have thought that in Greece, going self catering or B&B would be cheaper than AI and a much nicer experience, unless you go 5 star.

We generally go B&B and have a good breakfast and pay for one full meal out each day (or self cater and cook our own breakfast and maybe have a couple of breakfasts/brunches in cafes).

For the other meal we will have bread/cheese/ham/olives/crisps etc from the supermarket, or chips, pizza slice or ice cream out. Stock up on drinks from the supermarket too.

Other advantage if you don't go AI is that you don't have to worry about whether you will like the hotel food. Once you've paid for it, you're kind of stuck with it, unless you want to pay more on top for more food elsewhere.

For Greece I would look at Olympic Holidays or Sunvil and don't discount package holidays. A package is just a way of booking a flight, transfer and hotel in one go instead of separately and can be exactly the same accomodation, so not necessarily all inclusive or a large busy place and is often the cheapest way to do it.

We are also not into all inclusive packages but due to this horrible winter and a few stresses we've had as a family we decided to go for it and book a last minute(ish) all inc. package to Cyprus. It has cost just under 3k for the four of us for a week.

I had also previously booked a week in Corfu for May half term. That came to £2800 for the week by booking a villa with private pool through booking.com , car hire and easyJet flights.

We will get much nicer and bigger accommodation in Corfu but we will have to pay for our meals and self catering breakfasts etc on top. So it will end up costing quite a bit more than the package holiday to Cyprus.

isn't Easter very early April this year? Daytime should be nice but take warm clothes for evening, go south and the sea will be bracing.

still strong sun though so slap up.

At that time of year Crete is the obvious choice as it will be warmer than anywhere else.

For a package, look at Sunvil. They are expensive but do brilliant offers if you can wait until last minute and they are very high quality.

And I'd definitely say SC in Greece.

Ooh - my thread revived! Thanks for the hints everyone. We've decided not to go at Easter but are thinking we might manage October half term instead. We aren't really sun-seekers, so don't mind if it's not very warm. Will bear all your comments in mind and almost certainly avoid ai.

Do bear in mind that end of October will limit your choices, as some small resorts pretty much close down then for winter, especially on islands, as often the staff are seasonal workers and go back to the mainland for Winter. Going to larger islands like Crete or Cyprus, where there are larger towns and hotels that function year round, you can look for taverna specials for dinner in the evening, and s/c breakfast and lunch. Or go B and B and snack for lunch, taverna dinner.

I think we might well do Airbnb as suggested upthread. Good point about places not being geared up for tourists. Hopefully flights etc might be cheaper though!