Greece with kids

[Billy Pilgrim 1960]

Thinking about going to Greece this summer (2 weeks) with 15 yo, 11 yo and 8 yo. Would it be better to take a cruise to visit the islands or should we hop around staying in a hotel a couple of nights on a few islands?

Also- anyone have any must see places with kids? Santorini is a must for the wife.

[Telegraph_it 3357]

What month are you thinking of going? Santorini is a overrun during the summer months so advanced reservations will be necessary. The wife and I stayed in Oia in April and we thought it was crowded then. 

[Billy Pilgrim 1960]

1 hour ago, Telegraph_it said:

What month are you thinking of going? Santorini is a overrun during the summer months so advanced reservations will be necessary. The wife and I stayed in Oia in April and we thought it was crowded then. 

Thinking July- has to be summer when kids are off

[texasdago 7572]

Pick a couple of islands near each other, preferably ones not super popular (ex: pick Milos and Sifnos), just stay there, cruise around the island, hit the beach, chill out, eat well, drink wine.  That's it.   Screw going where the crowds are.  

[Thetexashammer 1062]

Is this 'Nam? Arer there no rules here?

[TornACL 7698]

I would make sure to push your wife hard on the Santorini thing. Why does she want to go there so bad? Is it so she can take her picture at the most over-photographed spot on earth and post it to Instagram? If so, fuck that place.

But while we're on the subject of pictures, pics of wife pls. 

[Zombie 284]

I just did an Athens/Santorini trip last month in the supposed off season. Athens was pretty cool, but no more than a three day visit unless you're a huge ancient history buff. I took a quick cheapish 45 minute flight on Sky Express, a Greek airline, to Santorini. I stayed in the beach town Kamari which is a 20 or 30 minute car/ATV ride to the main bleached white cliff towns Thera and Oia you see in all the pictures. Most people rent small cars, ATVs, and mopeds to get around the island.

I rented a buggy for a day and drove to Oia and then Thera and both were absolutely packed with tourists. I think I got to the towns shortly after one or two cruise ships disgorged their thousands of guests onto the island. I walked the length of both little towns in about 3 hours. It got boring really quickly and I longed for the beach town I was staying in. The beach town I stayed in,  Kamari,  which is one of two beach towns on the island, is made up of large black rock beaches. It's pretty to look at, but make sure to have water shoes because it hurts like hell to walk on them. The water is very nice, cool, and clear. Kamari has a ton of restaurants and bars and was actually pretty cool to stay in. The Greek food was mostly excellent.

But if you're coming to Santorini because you think the old white towns are going to keep you occupied for days with tourist activities, you'll be sorely disappointed. I think your kids would likely get bored pretty quick as well. So if your wife insists on going to Santorini, at least stay in Kamari or Perissa to keep your kids happy and occupied.  

[Judge Roybeanbag 11819]

Thread would have been more interesting if you’d titled it “Greek with kids”.  

[texasdago 7572]

Talk to Greeks about Santorini and they will bash it as being miserably crowded.  I've never seen it so can't speak from experience (and don't feel like I've missed out on anything) but I was told it gets absurdly full of tourists from the cruise ships that dump them off in droves.  Exactly what Zombie said except the Greeks kept saying it was all tour groups from China.