Is Zante for us?

[trrk]

We are looking for a fairly easy holiday next summer with a toddler who will be 2. Mainly looking for good beaches, maybe a pool for DD to splash around in, yummy food, and a bit of sightseeing (with hire car). We love Greece and usually prefer some of the smaller quieter islands without much mass tourism but thought we might explore the islands with direct flights while DD is small and we will bring her car seat which would be tricky to lug around on ferries.

Was considering Zante for next year after a mostly successful trip to Kefalonia this year. I know it has a bit of a party reputation in places but does it still have areas with a more traditional Greek feel which are also family friendly? I know it also suffered earthquake damage so there’s not much old stuff but does it have any pretty villages or harbour towns to stroll around? If you’ve been to Zante and other Greek islands how did it compare?

Try Parga, there are nice but of zantr but the party animals will still be on your flight.

It's okay, but not great for a toddler, despite it being an island, many coves are inaccessible unless you hire a boat, the island has a bloody great big mountain running through it, so you'd really need a car to get to the better beaches, (you need nerves of steal though driving in the mountains with the hairpin bends and narrow roads, oh yes and the locals overtaking on blind bends 😵. there is one really good 5* resort with a quiet beach, but it's ££££ to stay. Personally I wouldn't take young children to Zante, it's great for older children and if you like olive grove walks, mountains and getting off the beaten track....non of which I'd do with a toddler.
The 'party' area unfortunately has most of the better beaches, but it means these beaches are very busy and crowded. There are a couple of beaches which are meant to be tightly controlled to stop tourists disturbing the turtle population, but really the beaches should be off limits during the egg laying and hatching season. You can do 'turtle' sightseeing trips, but tourists are such twats they have no respect of the beautiful creatures, and stress them out. The local population try really hard to protect the turtles, but obviously they are trying to balance much needed tourism with keeping the turtles safe, again some tourists should just be banned....but that's where I'll get off my soap box!
Minorca was brilliant with young dc as was Kos, we stayed in quiet resorts, away from noisy late night revellers both Minorca and Kos had lovely easy to reach unspoilt coves/ beaches. Once we found quiet beaches we tended to head to the same one each morning, back to the hotel early afternoon for a nap, and then pool time!
But because you are not restricted to school holidays may, June and September are going to to be quieter and probably quite a bit nicer. End of September the sea will still be lovely and warmer, and less party season.

Thanks both for the responses! Not a ringing endorsement for Zante then. I'll also look at some other options* *including the ones suggested.

@garfieldeatscake Can you remember where you stayed on Kos and Menorca?

Would welcome any suggestions on toddler friendly places to stay that are not too commercial.

We had also looked at Menorca as an alternative to Greece, maybe staying somewhere like Cala Galdana but from what I've read it sounds like the food in the coastal resorts is fairly uninspiring which has put me off as food has always been a huge part of our holidays (of course enjoying a nice meal with a toddler might be tricky anyway). Would be happy to hear this is not the case though. From what I understand there is much better food in the main towns and other inland towns but we wouldn't want to drive in the evenings and Spanish eating times for more local restaurants might not work with a toddler anyway.

And just to add we do plan to go in either June or Sept - we are still debating which as we enjoyed the longer day light hours in June (no mozzies as we were back in the room with our baby before dusk) but Sept has warmer water. June has an additional advantage of cheaper flights as our toddler won't need her own seat yet. Are the party crowds around in Zante in June and Sept?

Have a look at Tigaki in Kos, lovely family friendly resort with a great beach.