greece and its islands

bluebeary

never been to greece or any of its islands, where do you recommend thats not too expensive

we want some place that is nothing too touristy, no pushy greek sales people or shop people, were in our 30s so not interested in nightclubs

like self catering, the odd restaurant or pub night out

sun, sea and some nice sight seeing with a bit of history ?

where have you stayed, was it good ?

do they get roaches over there like in spain/ canary islands ?

or should i stop being adverturous and stick with france ?

happy35

i believe Santorini is very nice, friends go there every year and love it.

We have never been as they have told me that it is geared towards couples and that our teenage son would be bored, but intend to go in a few years time

KonkyWonky

Would recommend Santorini as well but it is far from cheap.

We enjoy Zante although it is a little more commercial than Santorini depending on what resort you go to. We generally go to Tsilivi which is the largest resort on Zante, as such it has many restaurants and bars, some authentic Greek and some not, although there are no McDonalds, KFC's, Pizza Huts etc. If you prefer a more Greek like resort then Kalamaki, Alikes and Argasi may be more suitable although they are much smaller resorts.

There is plenty to do on the island, both with tours run locally or by hiring a car and exploring yourself.

We were surprised at how cheap it was last year, most bars charge around 2.50E a beer, 5.00E a cocktail and there are plenty restaurants offering set menus at around 12E pp for two courses, sometimes including wine.

Nobjocki

bluebeary wrote: »

never been to greece or any of its islands, where do you recommend thats not too expensive

we want some place that is nothing too touristy, no pushy greek sales people or shop people, were in our 30s so not interested in nightclubs

like self catering, the odd restaurant or pub night out

sun, sea and some nice sight seeing with a bit of history ?

where have you stayed, was it good ?

do they get roaches over there like in spain/ canary islands ?

or should i stop being adverturous and stick with france ?

Have a read of this website - if it doesn't inspire you then I'd stick with France.
And yes, Greece gets roaches and mozzies just like everywhere else.

https://www.greecetravel.com

bluebeary

im still in shock and not over our visit to gran canaria three years ago, the whole bag was a nightmare so i dont want owt like that ever again but we are on a very tight budget

we are a couple and i think we were too old for the whole debacle that is anything to with spain, although santander was lovely in 2008 but i dont want to spend four hours on a plane or that long on a boat really

thanks for the tips, ill try and find a last minute deal nearer the time

nic_santorini

Greece is fabulous - I would highly recommend Crete, it has so much to see and do and is so beautiful. I have stayed in the Gouves and stayed in the San Constantin with Direct Holidays. Stay away from malia and hersonisos as they are horrid 18-30 but you won't notice that. I got married in Santorini - it is very expensive, Rhodes is really nice and Zaykynthos is great, you can book a flight to Zakynthos (also known as Zante) and book Hotel Venus on line - the owners are great and pick you up from the airport, its only 10 mins ride away and you get discount on your members club card - you can find this on the net. Good luck, I love Greece, food great, hospitality great. Enjoy and good luck.

SCFC1961

I've been to Tolon. Athens, Corfu, Aegina and Paxos and would recommend them all.

Pollycat

bluebeary wrote: »

never been to greece or any of its islands, where do you recommend thats not too expensive

we want some place that is nothing too touristy, no pushy greek sales people or shop people, were in our 30s so not interested in nightclubs

like self catering, the odd restaurant or pub night out

sun, sea and some nice sight seeing with a bit of history ?

where have you stayed, was it good ?

do they get roaches over there like in spain/ canary islands ?

or should i stop being adverturous and stick with france ?

If you're planning on eating in your apartment, you'll need to choose your accommodation very carefully.

We've stayed in lots of studios/apartments in Greece (Aghia Marina (Aegina), Tsilivi (Zante), Tingaki (Kos), Kavos & Roda (Corfu), Lindos (Rhodes), Skiathos Town & Kolios (Skiathos), Lassi (Kefalonia), Tolo (Mainland) and Petra (Lesvos) and only one has had any facilities that you could cook a decent meal with.

You usually just get an electric 2 ring hob (no oven) and an assortment of pans.
Sometimes a toaster, sometimes a kettle.

If you're going for a last minute deal, do make sure you don't choose a resort that is 'party-party'.
nic_santorini has mentioned a few places - I'd include Laganas (Zante), Faliraki (Rhodes) & Kavos (Corfu).

davidlizard

We have visited over 40 islands around Greece - and most are very different in character to each other so there plenty to choose from.

In my opinion, its worth looking beyond the package tour dominated islands - there are some great islands with wonderful beaches and lower level of tourism - no airports that accept charter flights and consequently limited package tourism - that are well worth the effort getting to.

If you do want to go down the package tour route, then I recommend Crete. Its big enough so you can find somewhere quiet, but also has a lot of historic sites worth seeing. See where the 18-30 brigade go though and avoid these bit though!

I would suggest an itinerary something like this, that would require perhaps 2 weeks which is straightforward to do if you are new to this part of the world.

1. Fly to Santorini with Easyjet. Be advised the beaches there are volcanic so not that good, and the island is over-touristed and expensive. However its worth spending just a couple of nights here for the scenery and history before moving on.

2. Get a ferry to Naxos (2 hours), spend the bulk of the holiday there. This has the best beaches in Greece IMO, some brilliant mountainous scenery, and is not massively touristed. Very few places offer package deals here, and is more oriented towards couples rather than groups. Most here are independent travellers rather than package tourists, and therefore you get a huge mix of nationalities. Alternatively there is Ios and Paros and several others which you could visit instead of or in addition to here.

3. Get a ferry to Athens (4.5 hours) and spend the final 2/3 nights there. Here you can do some serious sightseeing. You could stay on nearby Aegina which also has plenty of history and day trip into Athens there.

4. Fly home from Athens (Easyjet, BA or Aegean).

There is a book "Greek Island Hopping" that is well worth picking up that has detailed descriptions of all islands and how to get to them which I highly recommend.

sparrer

I second Crete, particularly the Elounda area. Small enough to be comfortable, big enough to find somewhere to eat out every day/evening. A nice beach, it's not from Agios Nikolaus for lively street markets, you can take a boat to Spinalonga island for the day or just a couple of hours, it's within reach of Knossos, the Diktion caves where Zeus was said to be born, you can visit Sitia to see olive oil made (and buy some). I had a second home there for 5 years and was never once bothered by touts, timeshares, someone trying to sell me watches or dirty postcards! Yes it has a few cockroaches, but I've also spent many a happy holiday in France and seen them there - and marching ants! If you'd seen the size of the ones in India you'd never heave home!

On the other hand, take a look at Simi. It has peace and quiet, very few cars and an atmosphere so peaceful and laid back you might never want to leave!

Be a devil, take a chance and broaden your horizons

irstaroo22

I have been to Rhodes and Zante and loved them both, the hotel we stayed in in Zante was amazing, it was in Kalamaki and near a lovely beach http://www.carettabeach.com/