Greece with Kids Help

[wise_rita]

I feel like what I'm looking for is impossible!

-Good for small kids (2-7)
-One big villa to fit two families (2 adults/2 kids per fam), or families could split up if each had 2 bedrooms
-Pool (or multiple)
-Walkable to tavernas/bars
-Walkable to a sandy beach

Preferably nice traditional architecture, though it's the lowest priority.  Basically I want a Greek looking resort near civilization that isn't a 1-bed hotel room! 

For my own selfish reasons I want to reach this mythical place by flying into Kefalonia, Corfu, Crete (either airport), Rhodes, Santorini or Thessaloniki.


Any advice or help? 

[dutchgirl678]

We went to Crete with our kids (though they are older and we didn't rent a villa). There are plenty of options mostly on the NE side of the island with villas/pools near the sea. I have been to Rhodes as well and I think you could find something there too. On Santorini you will end up on the east side of the island if you want beach access. It is mostly pebble beaches if I recall correctly.

In Crete we stayed in the charming town of Chania, but we rented an apartment and there was no beach nearby but we rented a car and were able to visit several beaches. We really liked Falasarna beach and Elafonisi beach on the W and SW sides but I'm not sure if you'll find something similar to what you are looking for there. For the last few days of our trip, we had to stay longer because my DH got sick and I found this cute place (but not villas, just hotel rooms) in Stavros with a salt water pool. Stavros beach has sand and it is a very protected cove, so perfect for swimming with little kids (though my husband was no fan, because a small fish bit his calf).

[wise_rita]

Jan 9, 2024 17:26:54 GMT -5 dutchgirl678 said:

We went to Crete with our kids (though they are older and we didn't rent a villa). There are plenty of options mostly on the NE side of the island with villas/pools near the sea. I have been to Rhodes as well and I think you could find something there too. On Santorini you will end up on the east side of the island if you want beach access. It is mostly pebble beaches if I recall correctly.

In Crete we stayed in the charming town of Chania, but we rented an apartment and there was no beach nearby but we rented a car and were able to visit several beaches. We really liked Falasarna beach and Elafonisi beach on the W and SW sides but I'm not sure if you'll find something similar to what you are looking for there. For the last few days of our trip, we had to stay longer because my DH got sick and I found this cute place (but not villas, just hotel rooms) in Stavros with a salt water pool. Stavros beach has sand and it is a very protected cove, so perfect for swimming with little kids (though my husband was no fan, because a small fish bit his calf).

Story of my life, it seems!  It seems like it's time to pivot our plans because what I consider family friendly, Greece apparently does not.

LOL about the small fish.

[dutchgirl678]

Jan 10, 2024 15:45:56 GMT -5 wise_rita said:

Jan 9, 2024 17:26:54 GMT -5 dutchgirl678 said:

We went to Crete with our kids (though they are older and we didn't rent a villa). There are plenty of options mostly on the NE side of the island with villas/pools near the sea. I have been to Rhodes as well and I think you could find something there too. On Santorini you will end up on the east side of the island if you want beach access. It is mostly pebble beaches if I recall correctly.

In Crete we stayed in the charming town of Chania, but we rented an apartment and there was no beach nearby but we rented a car and were able to visit several beaches. We really liked Falasarna beach and Elafonisi beach on the W and SW sides but I'm not sure if you'll find something similar to what you are looking for there. For the last few days of our trip, we had to stay longer because my DH got sick and I found this cute place (but not villas, just hotel rooms) in Stavros with a salt water pool. Stavros beach has sand and it is a very protected cove, so perfect for swimming with little kids (though my husband was no fan, because a small fish bit his calf).

Story of my life, it seems!  It seems like it's time to pivot our plans because what I consider family friendly, Greece apparently does not.

LOL about the small fish.

I think there are certain resorts that offer villas plus one or more pools, but we weren't specifically looking for that.

[jamaicam]

have you looked at VBRO? We were looking for somethign similar in the north of Spain past year and found the best options there.

[jamaicam]

I'm not sure if you want a villa within a resort or a stand alone villa, but this place looks gorgeous! And it says it is near a nice beach. 

[ellipses84]

I did so much research for Santorini and thought I understood the geography but now that I’ve driven around the island I really do understand it so if you decide to go there and have options of places to stay I can give you a better idea of where it is/ proximity to other things.

In Santorini you definitely experience the typical Greek island architecture but I think some of the other islands have better beaches. We chose it because it was easy (late COVID times) and we could fly from Athens and later to London direct.

We stayed in an amazing 2 bedroom Villa on the east side of the island that I wouldn’t recommend for what you are looking for. Ideally you’d be on the west side for sunsets. Originally we were planning for a larger group and there did seem to be lots of Airbnb options (we only considered Superhosts with reasonable cancellation policies).

[wise_rita]

Thanks for the advice, everyone!

I'm going to come back to this thread in the future as my friend announced she's stopping in Copenhagen prior to Greece, which is infinitely easier to get to for us, so we're diverting there instead.

I do feel the need to see Greece at some point but unless we go the resort route (which I'm not opposed to) it will be when my kids are no longer toddlers!