Greece in July - guidance needed

[sevilla99]

My 18-year-old DD is desperate to go to Greece this summer. The earliest date we can manage is around 16th/17th July, so just before the main school holidays, but not as early as I wanted to beat the crowds. The last time I went to Greece was about 30 years ago, so I need guidance from experts, please!

1. will it be overwhelmingly hot at that time?
2. we are not looking for party islands, or wall-to-wall sunbeds and umbrellas. We'd like relatively traditional, nice beach, bit of culture. We're looking for somewhere with a bit of life, but not OTT.
3. we are thinking self-catering or B&B, to give us a bit of independence. I will not be brave enough to hire a car, so we'll need things to do locally, or good local connections. Any recommendations?! Thanks.

Middle DS is there right now with some of his school friends.

They are on Paros in a cheap hotel and spending a few days on Athens at the end.

It was 30 yesterday but not oppressive because of the sea.

So far so good

It's the beginning of peak season so it's going to be busy on most islands that have direct flights and packages. Temperature wise it's likely to be hot hot hot in the Dodecanese- Rhodes, Kos. And in Crete. But the Ionians and northern Aegean are a little cooler and greener. But you'd be unlucky to get rain. The Cyclades - Mykonos, Santorini , Paros are stunning but they do get strong winds in the summer.

To be fair there's party resorts. Kavos, Malia, Laganas. But even the busy islands like Corfu or Zante have more traditional and family friendly resorts.

I think you'd find your kind of place in one of the more relaxed islands. See where has direct flights from your local airport and base it around that. Kefalonia is stunning and always ranks high in people fave island. Lots of flight choices and accommodation but without the mega all inclusives on other popular options. Naxos is a more off beat choice. Loads of history. Amazing and very quiet. It's an island that has mainly Greeks as there's no airport but it's an easy ferry hop. Lesbos is another chilled and low key although less flights. Or Lefkada which is surprisingly unknown with brits. You fly to the mainland and it's an easy transfer over a causeway. Very lush green island.

Good luck

Thassos is lovely and not especially well known. Gorgeous white beaches and beautiful countryside.

Kefalonia is beautiful and relaxing

We were in Crete last year at that tim, it was 28C every day (meanwhile it was 40+ in France). It was very windy though.

Skiathos, stay in Skiathos town. Not a party Island, very safe but enough going on to keep you entertained.

Excellent advice, everyone, thank you. I will base my searches around your recommendations.

Skiathos (recommended up thread) gets rammed in the summer, lots of partying. Alonnisos in the same island group, the Sporades, is genuinely quite quiet. But you fly to Skiathos and take a ferry. That probably why it’s relatively quiet. Unless you go to quite a far-flung island which is a bit hard to get to, eg Skyros or Kythira, July will be busy pretty much everywhere. And blooming hot.

We went to Kefalonia at exactly that time two years ago. It was wonderful. I wrote a blog post about our trip

affordacool.wordpress.com/2021/07/26/kefalonia/

@midsomermurderess thank you, that is good to know. Seriously regretting not heading off this week when we (sort of) had the chance of avoiding the crowds. Being reliant on transfers and public transport limits us a bit, but @LondonMummer you blog is wonderful and very tempting. I fear this might all remain a bit of a pipe dream, but I'll keep looking.

Kefalonia is beautiful, unspoilt, quiet and relaxing.

Parga, sivota, kalymnos

Kefalonia is getting the most votes so far! Interestingly, @Doggymummar , Parga was what started me on this search and I was all set on it, but then I read a review that it has gone the way of the other party places, which put me off. I'll give it another look.

The further south you go the hotter it will be so go north - Thasos, Lesbos, Samos. Skiathos is lovely but I wouldn't go near it between 1st July and mid September. Lefkada is super and not specially touristy.

On the mainland Sivota is lovely, Parga is gorgeous and quieter than Skiathos. Pelion is completely stunning and doesn't have many British tourists at all.

Pelion is lovely but the roads there can be hellish. I was there in 2020 and they were in a shocking state after very heavy winter rain. Lots of road works going on months later. You also have to pick which side of the peninsular to stay on; the east side, on the Aegean, the sea can be pretty rough, big waves, sometimes hard to get out of the water. And getting down to the stony beaches can be a rather challenging drive. The west side is on the sheltered Pagasetic gulf and is much calmer but the landscape is not as dramatic as the east side.

Family were there last week and it was just as peaceful as ever, would never go anywhere high season though so I don't know. There are no clubs or anything so it seems unlikely. Vassos beach or by the castle is lovely

Corfu is beautiful but it is hotter than hell

Thanks for all the input everyone. And good to hear that about Parga @Doggymummar . Would this count as one if the 'hotter than hell' locations mud June?

From what I’ve heard Parga is lively at night but not rowdy - there are a good number of bars that open late during the summer, but they’re fairly laid back, some music maybe but not all out clubs etc. Certainly nothing like the party resorts.

I think you’re likely to be looking at high 20s to low 30s in mid-July during the day.

Thanks @cherryassam , Parga may be back in the mix. Lively I can do, rowdy not so much!

I’d add to the Kefalonia recommendations too - Poros might be up your street, it’s more of a real working town than a resort. But it is beautiful, authentic and has better bus connections than many of the resort towns.

Some great value hotels/apart hotels too - hotel Rivieria, Kristi Hotel, Anemos Studios. Tavernas right on the beach.

I like the look of Poros!

F

Skiathos is my all time favourite island. Heading back there in September. But I wouldn't go high season. It's just too small to cope with the crowds.

Yep, I normally avoid high season, so I'll bank this idea for the future. Or convince my daughter to wait until September!