which greek island holiday?

decided on greece again for next year, but theres just sooooo much choice we cant decide so thought id ask the experts on here 🙂

we had a great holiday last year at tsilivi on zante, and thats the sort of thing we’d like again, but dont like going same place twice.

itll be early september and we’d like hotter the better, close to a sandy beach, nice village/small town feel.
want to go self catering so we can eat out at the little tavernas rather than hotel, so just clean apartments with a decent pool would be good.

thanks for any suggestions.

Went to Santorini last year, that was very nice, but sometimes a little difficult to get away from the cruise ship hoards in the main town.

Following this thread we’re going to Sifnos this year, bit harder to get to but think it should be a bit quieter (or at least a few less brits) than santorini, and I believe its a particularly good one for food which is nice as my wife and I both miss her Greek grandmother’s cooking!

Ithaka is beautiful

Ithaka is beautiful

kioni on ithaka looks beatiful mate, but looks like gatwick only which is a shame (we’re lincs, so looking at flights from east mids/doncaster ideal, birmingham/manchester at a push).

We’ve done Santorini – was lovely. We also spent 5 days on Pathos and Naxos too – absolutely stunning but a ballache to get to I’d guess.

Not on an island, but Kardamili in the Southern Pelloponese would be worth considering. In September you’ll still be able to fly direct to Kalamata with Easyjet (I think only Tuesdays and Saturdays)and it’s only about 35kms. from there.
Or you could fly in to Athens any day of the week and drive down, which will take you about three hours. It’s almost worth doing this just for the drive, as it’s first class dual carriageway all the way from Athens to Kalamata now and the scenery is stunning.
A good beach, some excellent tavernas (Gialos, Xarilaos and H Elies specially recommended), good walking and/or riding up into the Taygetos range right on your doorstep, bike hire available from the outdoor shop, “2407m”[/url], plenty of good bars and a nice, chilled cosmopolitan feel.

For somewhere to stay you could do a lot worse than here [/url].My daughter and I stayed at the Liakoto hotel about 8 years ago and some friends of ours at Anniska apartments a couple of years back.
Highly recommended, in a beatiful location and run by nice people.

Samos is amazing stay anywhere near Pythagorion for a nice town nearby, all of the south coast of the island is pretty stunning.

Ios was very nice but that was over 20 years ago so its probably changed a bit

Avoid Rhodes though

Yes, Samos is a good place – we’ve stayed in Pythagorio twice and once in Kokkari. Of the two, I preferred Pythagorio.

Fernandos?

I actually really enjoyed Rhodes last week, although it probably helped going outside of the normal tourist season. Even got some biking in on the south-west of the islands with a company called Rhodes Roads – went through forests, olive plantations, an archeological site, by a lake and down to the sea. Most of the beaches seemed to be quite pebbley rather than sandy though.

As soon as I read the thread I was trying to remember the name of my favorite Greek island its Samos . we stayed at a smallish fishing village harbour beginning with K . lovely tavernas round the harbour and a truely excellent one virtually on the harbour wall . very nice costal walks and an easy trip into Turkey to go to Ephesus.

Corfu/ Falaraki and stop pissing about! It oy oy 😉

If that’s a bit too much for you to stomach these days a mate also went to santorini last year and loved it.

just having a look through suggestions now thanks. just back from the travel agents where we found a real cheap offer for 14 nights in rhodes (early september). havent booked it tho, still need to look at other options, and im feeling 14 nights is too long.

Avoid Rhodes though

whats wrong with rhodes?

You can ‘do’ Ithaka on a day trip from Cephalonia, which also happens to be my favourite island. Been a while, but loved Skala in the south.

Avoid Rhodes though

whats wrong with rhodes?

full of knobs innit – though the answer above is also more valid than mine

Andy R – Member
Not on an island, but Kardamili in the Southern Pelloponese would be worth considering. In September you’ll still be able to fly direct to Kalamata with Easyjet (I think only Tuesdays and Saturdays)and it’s only about 35kms. from there.
Or you could fly in to Athens any day of the week and drive down, which will take you about three hours. It’s almost worth doing this just for the drive, as it’s first class dual carriageway all the way from Athens to Kalamata now and the scenery is stunning.
A good beach, some excellent tavernas (Gialos, Xarilaos and H Elies specially recommended), good walking and/or riding up into the Taygetos range right on your doorstep, bike hire available from the outdoor shop, “2407m”, plenty of good bars and a nice, chilled cosmopolitan feel.

For somewhere to stay you could do a lot worse than here .My daughter and I stayed at the Liakoto hotel about 8 years ago and some friends of ours at Anniska apartments a couple of years back.
Highly recommended, in a beatiful location and run by nice people.

second the option of mainland Greece. We stayed in Stoupa which is a lovely little village.

Stayed in Sifnos beautiful place, Flew into Athens and then bus for a few euros to Piraeus Port and ferry out early in the moning what an experience that was. Pitta gyros in Piraeus in the evening and stock up on snacks and water before sunbathing on the deck of the ferry.

Excellent holiday the got a local boat to take us to Serifos as well .

Good accomodation too

Stoupa’s fab.

We’re going to Rhodes this year in high season. oops?

Skopelos is nice. They’re all nice if you go to the right village/resort, though. Corfu has some lovely places, for instance.

Nowt wrong with Rhodes. Yes faliraki can be a bit manic peak season. But September it’s bliss. Still very warm and quieter. It’s not a party resort anymore. Kalithea is lovely. Easy access to Rhodes Town and Faliraki. Sandy beach.

Lindos is lovely. Tsambika beach is awesome. Anthony Quinn bay is great for snorkeling.

Lesbos and Chios always get my vote – both very nice…

Corfu – off the beaten track and avoid the north.

Went to Thassos last year………….going back again this year!
Beautiful, quiet and green.
Going to chase this lot up, this time – http://www.mtb-thassos.com/………missus permitting. 😐

Skopelos is my favourite Greek island. You have to get there by boat from Skiathos which is sometimes a nuisance because the boat and flight times were not well coordinated the last few times I went there.
Amorgos is great too.

Another vote for Kefalonia, and Skala as a resort, only place I’ve been back to two years running. Hotel was called 9 Muses.

Worth hiring a car for a few days if you go as the island is well worth exploring.

Whats your budget??
Have you looked at Skorpios?

We went island hopping (I think there’s a really good book of the same name) in ’06. Alonissos and Skopelos were very nice. Especially the former. To a certain degree I didn’t mind Skiathos as we were away from the package resorts.

We went by bus from Athens to a ferry port in the north and took a SeaCat out to Alonissos. We then flew back to Athens from Skiathos. It was a nice little adventure.

We went to Agni, Corfu in ’10. A very small little beach hamlet down a steep singletrack road on the east coast of the island facing Albania. Amazing. There are very few places to stay. I think two. An apartment which we had that’s part of the house owned by the family that run one of the tavernas and a cottage to let.

There’s a wonderful little beach and a larger beach/cove a 10 minute coastal walk away. We hired a boat and travelled up and down the east coast finding our own little secluded spots to drop anchor and spend the day. Truly amazing. The tavernas at Agni were top notch and lots of ‘big’ boats and their owners and entourage would come for lunch so nice for people watching/watching the world go by too.

I’ve always said I’d never go back to the same place twice as the worlds a big place but I’d like to go back to Agni.

EDIT: I might add that without hiring the boat you’re very, very secluded/isolated so it’s a must.

Also highly recommend Kefalonia, been twice and big enough that I would go back in the future. Some beautiful beaches, definately hire a car – Old Fiat Panda with fold back roof was fun. I’m also a big fan of Crete.

Another vote for Kefalonia, some amazing views and some scary roads to ride too

Edit – if you liked Zante you can get a boat to Kefalonia for the day anyway, parts of Zante are amazing too if you can get away from the resorts

Paros is the place…

Bloody ridiculously charming main town, with a bit of bustle but nothing like the scrum on the ‘name’ islands, more popular with mainland Europeans as a destination, so you don’t get the same vibe as the UK brochure places..
Santorini is great, I spent a happy few months there one year sleeping under the stars..

Corfu is nice in the North.. We stayed in Sidari, but that was 20 odd years ago so I couldn’t comment on it now

I also had a coupla nights on Mykinos by a quirk of fate.. very interesting for a pretty lad like my good self and quite fun I imagine if that’s your bag 🙂

Corfu was nice up in the mountains. I’d probably avoid Kavos though, not the greatest area for a nice holiday 😆 I bet the other side of the island is lovely.

I’d suggest Thassos as well, although I’ve no idea what it’s like these days, I went there with my then g/f around 1980, on a 18/30 holiday, well before those sort of holidays turned into drink and shag fests. Stayed in a room as part of a larger house, ate and drank in Thassos Town every morning and evening for peanuts, bike hire and explored around the island, boat trips around to the other side of the island to spectacular empty beaches, (got sunstroke on that one!)
Had a brilliant time, lovely little island.

Skiathos is great although not as roastingly hot as most other islands. As a result it is a lot greener.

Fish restaurant at the end of the harbour in Skiathos Town is possibly the best fish I’ve ever eaten. We stayed in Troulos three times at the Green Meadow apartments. Just a few nice blocks in a field around a pool. Beach about 500 yards away (great beach).

Tavernas by beach and in the village. Lamb exohico. Mmmmmmm.

thanks chaps, so many recommendations we’re still trawling through them. budget is around £500pp

cheers

We enjoyed Samos, went back to Skiathos last year after about 10 years, a bit disappointed overall. However went to Stoupa the previous year and it was a double thumbs up.

Kefalonia is my favourite, stayed down by the airport but all of it is lovely. Ski authors is nice too, stayed down at koukounaries, really nice there, beach is top drawer.

Kefalonia meat pie nom nom nom.

Paleokastritsa, Corfu, is nice, over on the west of the island..

Pefkos in Rhodes is a proper chilled resort (a bit like tslivi) & also Kefalos on Kos are both places we’ve been to and enjoyed .Been a good few years since we last went abroad though and they may have changed.

Another vote for Kefalonia, lovely place. Also been to Zante , this year going to Corfu.