Which Greek island is best for young children?

[KitKat1985]

Looking for next summer. Greece seems to be consistently cheaper than Algarve / Spain. We will have two DDs with us who will be 5 and 3. Looking for somewhere with nice beaches, family friendly restaurants, and some family-suitable attractions to visit. There's so many Greek islands I don't know which one would have the most to do for young children. Any ideas?

I would recommend Crete. Many of the islands really aren’t suitable such as Santorini etc. Crete is the largest and has lots of family friendly resorts and beaches.

Great thank you - will have a look at Crete. :)

Crete is awfully hot though. Corfu for instance is also very family friendly but not quite so boiling!

Have you looked at Halkidiki?

We flew into Thessaloniki last September and DH and I were about the only people on the plane not bringing kids that age with us.

Lovely beaches, lots to do, we were amazed how cheap everything was. And it is true that Greeks really are welcoming.

We went to Marmari in Kos last year and was fab. DD was 6. We hired a car for 2 days for about £50 with car seats etc and the island is really easy to get around. We explored loads. Other beaches. Kos town. Went into the hills/villages for food then nice beach/pool at our hotel to chill out on.

There's some great suggestions here thanks. Will have a look at them all. We'll probably hire a 2-bed apartment somewhere and go self-catering (no intention of cooking, just want to eat at all the lovely tavernas rather than a hotel)!

We travel to Kos every year ( last 13 years or so !!!!) for one of our Holidays, we stay in Kefalos. You really need to hire a car to get about and we have seen everywhere on the island . But this is likely to be the last year as we will be looking for more stimulating places for our son. The Greeks are just amazing with children, they just simply love them, we are now friends with everyone over in the resort, so that will be a shame but we are going to be looking for a new island.

I'm watching for some ideas, so I'm sorry I have no suggestions but I am curiously watching.

With Kos you are also closer to turkey really, so it is a bit further to fly.

When mine were that age we had a lovely holiday in Kalamaki on Zakynthos. It's not quite so long a flight as it is to Crete /Kos.
I seem to recall we had a 2 bed apartment on a complex with a pool.

Greek islands don't typically have "attractions". You may have a splash park nearby but other than that it's generally ruins/small museums. The resorts are all based around the beach.
Having said all that I would say Corfu is probably your best bet.