Greece...quiet village near the sea..any ideas?

[Earthymama]

We want to go somewhere reaaly quiet with a nice beach, don't need any nightclubs or English breakfasts.

Some historical interest would be good, though basically just want to chill out on the beach, may be a walk, then nice food and a drink or two.

Can anyone help?

Oh yes and the other thing is it should really be a bargain or is that impossible?

At the risk of repeating myself, as this seems to be my stock answer this week: Stoupa.

Have you tried Kefalonia? Lovely island, quite big so lots to explore. Definitely a lot less touristy (until you end up in this town (can't remember the name but it's full of Captain Corelli's bars!!!! Yes, think it was called Sami...) than some of the other Greek islands. Had some lovely meals there. Assos is beautiful... Fiskardo is very picturesque... And the underground lake/cave is not to be missed.

Definitely remember things being a lot more reasonable there than Santorini (definitely 1000% more touristy there!). Do you have any kids? DH and I stayed at an adults-only hotel and would thoroughly recommend it. It was on a cliff and you could walk down to this very beautiful and quiet beach and a little cafe...

Sorry I did look at earlier threads but I'M NOT WELL!!

Have got horrid virus with no 'symptoms' except a banging headache and needing to lie down or sleep.

So sorry I missed Stoupa, will check it out now.

No children so a real chance to relax, and I really don't like touristy things.

Thank you, I can't believe we both posted at the same time after all those hours. i'll check Kefolonia too.

aegina (island near to athens), crete, parga, corfu believe it or not loads of lovely bits, symi, lefkhada, kefalonnia, zakynthos, ithica,basically any island, any bit of mainland if you time it right. peleponese are great too... we go to parga on sunday and cannot WAIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! we go every may half term now and it is the best time to go and oh so lovely and peaceful...even with the kids

Oh have a lovely time, I'm so jealous.

Have a fantastic time and bring that Greek vibe home with you.

Kato Katelios on Kefalonia

paradise

when we were childless we spent time in a beutiful fishing village called kassiopi

This was the hotel we stayed at: Trapezaki Bay Hotel. Can't believe it is now the number 1 hotel for Kefalonia/Cephalonia! You will need a car to get around Kefalonia though. Nikos and Sofia are the perfect Greek host/hostess. Can't believe they won't let me go back now I have DS... How could I forget to mention Myrthos Beach, it's absolutely stunning.

IME the least touristy islands/areas are those with no airport or some distance away.

I love Thassos, you take a boat there from the mainland and Golden Beach (resort and beach) is fantastic.
I love the look of Skopelos and Paxos/Anti Paxos but now we have small DCs the transfers are too long for us (they involve ferry/hyrdofoil).
Halkidiki looks lovely too as does the Peloponnese (sp?).

Sunvil is a good Greek independent agent with good apartments often near beaches.
www.sunvil.co.uk/

Paxos with PLanos holidays. Pretty basic, but very quiet, you get to the beach via a little motor hire boat.

Haraki in Rhodes is AMAZING. Google it and you'll see what I mean from the comments and reviews. Very few tour operators do packages there now, in fact I think it might only be Olympic...2 weeks in mid June based on 2 sharing self catering accomm (is there anything else in Greece?!) is around 250-300 per person.
Lots of repeat visitors, many travelling independently rather than in package. No clubs at all, lots of traditional tavernas and friendly bars for quiet drinkies. Even has it's own Medieval castle on top of the hill (actually, to be acurate it was a prison used by the Knights of St John around the time of the Crusades). Rhodes old town is a wonderful place to wonder around and soak up some history (and shop!). Lindos is also great for a day trip - traditional white washed hill village (also with castle), the list just goes on....

I went to Lindos and Rhodes nearly 20 years ago I would love to go back.

St pauls bay, was lovely - we went back packing and slept one night near the little white chapel.

I have been looking at some pics online and St Pauls Bay has changed so much. I remember it more like this.

When they get it wrong, tourism really can mess things up. How things change.

overthemill we're going to Parga a week on Sunday - ie May 31st. How exciting! We've never been before but it looks amazing.

Don't tell anyone but Sifnos is incredible. It takes 3 hours to get there by Flying Dolphin from Piraeus and is heaven on earth. Vedry typical Cyclades with the most beautiful warm-hearted people you have ever come across.

Appolonia is the main town and has one main charming street with restaurants and a few shops but not touristy at all. It is where Athenians go to for their weekends. Kastro is the old Venetian town and is so still with a few cats walking around. You can rent quiet rooms here. Heronnissus is the most idyllic fishing village you have ever seen. The one taverna there sells fish that comes in with the fishermen that morning. There are beautiful beaches and I cannot recommend it enough. No real nightlife so no rowdy people which can only be a good thing!

We loved Kalives, just near CHania, Western Crete. Stayed at Galazio Kima which is very quiet, clean, great pool from which you walk out on to a lovely sandy beach.

Kalives is about 10 mins walk away and is a proper town (you see the kids going to karate at the town hall on a Thursday night) and there are some decent tavernas and grocery shops selling locally produced cheese, olive oil, wine and vinegar. Also an abundance of veg.

Chania is a lovaly city with a Venetian harbour and some lovely tavernas and a great food market.

I think Simpson travel go there.

GrumpyOldWotz - the chapel in St Pauls is very much now a 'conveyer belt' for brides.

Stilla - what a shame.
It was not very touristy at all back then

You would see a huge difference now - Lindos is probably the most popular 'trip' on the island ,not only with holiday makers in other resorts but also with the cruise ships that dock in town .

But -Lindos somehow manages to hang onto its village feel (even if it is very crowded during the day). There is also alot of accomodation on 'Krana' - which is more or less opposite the top car park (the first one coming into Lindos from north- if they had one there back in the day)

Hydra is gorgeous. You can get the hydrofoil from Piraeus. The island has no motorised transport apart from one truck for tubbish and one for water (there is no water naturally on the island despite the name). It's really gorgeous and the pace is lovely. The Hotel Bratsera is the island's best hotel but we stayed in the Hotel Hydra, which is lovely.

have to give a quiet thumbs up to sifnos ..... wish we could go back this year .... jsut not sure about the 3 hour ferry ride with small dd .... one of my best experiences of the greek islands, and i have visited a few over the years ...

I know KrugerPark. I went there twice a year for nine years before I had kids. Will go back when they are slightly older as it is so magical. Where did you stay?

something like "the windmill" - i'll ask dh he will remember - fantastic couple that ran it .... they had done up an old windmill and built these rooms ....
i want to go back!!!

Earthy mama - we had a similar idea about our holiday to Greece this year (except with DCs along for company ). We are booked to go to Afitos in Halkidiki. Staying at Stamos Hotel.

Apparently Afitos had a preservation order placed upon it years ago and as a consequence is a truly greek village.

The holiday we have is available through THomas Cook. However, we have managed to book it independently and, despite flying with British Airways to Thessaloniki, have saved ourselves a whopping £1K!! In fact, BA were cheaper than any budget or charter airline by a long mark.

Also worth checking out is Sithonia. We found a number of lovely places along its coast line but settled with Afitos in the end.

We loved Kefalonia when we went, it was quiet enough for us but still had more lively parts when you wanted them. We stayed in Skala and our son had a great time on the beach. There were lots of photos and information on the Kefalonia Holidays website but we booked with Thomas cook in the end as they were cheapest. Id love to go again if I had the money.