Santorini with young kids activity suggestions!

[TheBirdintheCave]

Off to Santorini and Paros with a four year old and a 13 month old in June. For the Santorini portion we'll also have my brother, our SIL and our 23 month old nephew with us.

I've got the first day in Santorini mapped out with a visit to the ancient site of Akrotiri (the point of the visit) and exploring Fira but what do we do on day two?? We're staying in Fira with no car, happy to use the buses to get about. I've been to Santorini before but no one else in the party has.

I figured we could go swimming or visit Perissa beach in the afternoon so the children can play but wanted to do something else cultural in the morning.

I ruled out the Lost Atlantis 9D experience as it looks too scary for the kids 😅 Boat trips are also out due to brother's phobia. No one is fussed about going to Oia...

Any suggestions for things I've not considered?

I'm normally very good at this but I'm stumped this time 😂

Isn't Santorini where the ongoing earthquakes are?

I tbought people were being evacuated but maybe its calmed down now?

This BBC article is from February.

www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.com/news/articles/cjde94dnj08o.amp

Will you have a car in Paros? There are so many lovely villages to explore.

Yep I've been monitoring this since they started. Current reports are that the cluster is passing and people are returning to the island :) Holiday was booked last year and we have travel insurance so I'm not worried at the moment.

Nope! Public transport all the way. We don't ever bother renting cars when we go on holiday. My husband needs a break from driving as he commutes two hours daily :) I can't drive as I'm dyspraxic.

When you’re in Paros, take a boat ride over to Antiparos - it’s beautiful!

That's on the list! My four year old is into caves so we're going to visit the cave there then have lunch and maybe go to a beach there or visit Despotiko if there's time.

Any tips for Paros beaches? Ideally we'd like somewhere fairly wind sheltered, with sun beds and food options but no loud club music (we don't mind a bit of normal noise level background jazz etc) Something family oriented would be good and bonus points for a play park!

I would just head to Paros earlier tbh

Santorini is gorgeous but so busy and expensive, not very child friendly, once you’ve seen the views I’d move on to Paros

@minipie We can't leave early as everything's been booked for months including all transfers and ferries! 😅 We're only there for two full days anyway ☺️

Following as we are going soon although with older kids. I intend to book an early private tour to Oia and do a boat trip at sunset.

@JazzyBBBG I did the sunset boat trip last time :D It was really fun! I hope you enjoy it!

@TheBirdintheCave thank you - after I wrote that I realised you said you didn't want a boat trip! Also looked at the flying dresses photography!

@JazzyBBBG I'd love to do it again but my brother is just so afraid of being seasick that he won't step foot on a boat. It's such a shame as he's missed out on loads of fun stuff in the past because of it :(

The walk from Fira to Oia is stunning but maybe not what you want with babies. There's also the walk up to Ancient Thira from Kamari beach but again not a baby thing. You might be able to get a taxi to take you up to the entrance though I guess.

There's also the museums in Fira to check out, one is tiny and a bit rubbish if I remember correctly but the other is very cool and has some amazing mosaics downstairs. Definitely worth checking out if you're interested in old stuff.

https://www.greeka.com/cyclades/santorini/sightseeing/category-museums/

@Jade520 Thanks for the tip! Good to know which museums are worth it :)

@Jade520 how long is the Fira to oia walk pls?

We combined a morning in Akrotiri with an afternoon in Pyrgos, nice castle, hill top location, pretty streets. We didn't walk all the way from Oia to Fira, but did walk Imerovigli to Fira along the cliff top, it's so pretty, I never get bored of caldera views. There is Skaros rock in Imerovigli, with the church beyond it that you can walk out to, but we didn't brave the hike down there as it was very hot. Fira has a couple of museums, I think museum of prehistoric thera is the better one. We also took the cable car down to the shore line for a different perspective. We also a visited Oia, which is beautiful and offers a different perspective on the view. Our kids were 2 and 5 when we went.

So I think I’ve picked something! We’re going to go for a tour of the Artemis Karamolegos Winery and then have a wine tasting and lunch at their restaurant. They’re really child friendly! They have high chairs and even a big play area. I think my four year old will enjoy looking around the vineyard and seeing the machinery. From there we’ll head down to a beach club in the afternoon :D