Greek island hopping: Seeking history on family friendly islands

[TheBirdintheCave]

My little family (myself, husband and two year old) have just come back from a lovely week in Granada but I am a travel addict so naturally I have already started planning our next adventure!

We’ve decided we’d like to spend ten days in the Greek islands starting in Crete and ending up in Athens visiting maybe two other islands in between.

Could anyone who has previously toured the islands throw some suggestions at me that are:

Historically interesting: We’re big history buffs and love exploring ancient sites and museums so any islands that have some good sites would be great.

Not too commercialised: We spent a night in Nerja to visit the beach on our Granada holiday but found the town to be so commercialised (and weirdly British?) that we ended up mostly staying at the pool in the hotel. We enjoy experiencing the local culture when we go abroad so somewhere not so touristy would be good.

Vaguely linear: On a route between between Crete and Athens.

Not too mountainous: I’ve been to Santorini and nearly had a panic attack when the mini bus was taking us up the cliffside. Never again 😂

On the quieter side: No party islands please!

I’m looking forward to researching your suggestions! :D

From Crete you could ferry up to the island of Kythira (known as the birthplace of Aphrodite) between Crete and the Peloponnese. Not an island, but the Peloponnese is crammed with archaeology including the theatre at Epidaurus, Mycenae, the original site of the Olympics at Olympia, Corinth. It's a big place though, so you'd need to work out where to stay, what to see.

To clarify, after Kythera, go to the Peloponnese.

I’d go from Crete to Santorini (Akrotiri, Ancient Thera and some good museums in Fira) to Naxos (Temple of Apollo and Ancient Temple of Dionysus at Irma). Both Santorini and Naxos are touristy but it is possible to get away from it. In Santorini, the only places really crowded are the cliff top paths in central Fira town, between the big church/Atlantis hotel and the cable car station, and central Oia.
There are a lot of steep hillsides and cliffs in Santorini, so if that’s something that worries you, you could stay on Ios instead and do a day trip or two to Santorini for the history. However, Kamari is where we like to stay and it isn’t too steep. I’d recommend Tamarix del Mar Suites and Hotel Aegean Plaza for a toddler).
While staying in Athens, you could do a day trip to Aegina (Temple of Aphaea)

I’d go to Naxos, which although it has a touristy bit just south of the main town, it’s quite a big island with lots to see. Then I’d go to Syros which is a lovely smaller island, much less visited but absolutely lovely. Both are easy to get to by ferry.

Thanks guys :) I'll Google Syros, Kythira and Naxos.

I'm 100% not going back to Santorini after last time 😂 Akrotiri was amazing though :)