Greek Islands

Jerry A

Im interested in going to Greece for summer hols.

Can anyone recommend a nice Greek island/hotels that are not overly touristy, nice beaches, cool bars for a couple.

How to get there? Flights to Athens with aer lingus are expensive enough.. then boat, hotel etc so not keen on that option

Has anyone booked with british travel agencies as the irish ones only go to crete, corfu and Zakynthos?



Any suggestions welcome

pw01

No frontier 1st programme about a month ago was on the greek island - seemed very good.maybe check out the rte player!

bullpost

Paros - Was there and its really nice but its over 10 years since my visit. Still seems to be a great place though:
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/travel/2009/0926/1224255255376.html

bullpost

I just checked and you can fly from the UK to Syros - one of the cyclades Islands. Its a really lovely friendly Island with lots of nice beaches and harbours and a great , architecturally interesting town centre.

bytey

santorini is THE greek island to go to .

go via gatwick with easy jet

Fratton Fred

If you book through a uk travel agent and go from Manchester or Gatwick then the world is your oyster tbh.

The best Greek holiday I've had was a two centre one, the first week in Skopelos, the second in Skiathos. Skopelos is very quiet but has stony beaches, Skiathios is busier (but nowhere near as busy as Corfu or Zante) and has golden sandy beaches.

First Choice, Thomson, Portland Direct etc all do packages to Greece or you can fly to most of the islands from Athens. Check out Monarch or Thomson Airways as well, I think they fly to several of the islands.

Lumbarda

The South Coast of Crete is gorgeous, especially around Plakias, originally a fishing village and while it has developed more over the past while, still relatively unspoilt. Book a flight only and then sort out your own accommodation, very cheap, probably around €30-60 per night depending on how fancy you go! We hired a car for a week very cheaply as well and there are lovely beaches either side of Plakias (nice one too in Plakias itself but quieter/nicer ones a bit of a drive/walk away). There's a lovely village called Mirthios on the hill just above Plakias which is where we usually stay as it's even quieter, just a few tavernas and breathtaking views over the Bay. One of my favourite places on the planet as it is just sooooooo relaxing!

RubyK

If you fly Dublin to Athens you will be able to get a domestic flight with www.aegeanair.com or Olympic to most of the islands.

I'd recommend going from the UK (easyjet) to Santorini (for a few days) get a ferry to Naxos (stay a few days) move onto Paros, and then back to Santorini. One of the nicest holidays we ever a two centre between Santorini and Naxos. Santorini has the scenery, Naxos the beautiful beaches. Food and drink on both islands was fab and reasonable.

You can also fly to the islands of Thassos, Skiathos, Kefalonia, Rhodes, Kos, from the UK, plus Zakynthos, Crete, Corfu, that you can fly to from Dublin.

Dempo1

Paros is a favorite of mine but like most of the Islands it requires a ferry trip. Heres some good advice if you need to use ferry's. Firstly Athens is a horrid place and in particular the ferry ports. I was in a group about six years ago and had the most appalling experience which ultimately required the involvement of the Irish Consulate. Essentially we were abandoned at the ports, group got mixed up and some ended up on the wrong ferries (admittedly the travel agents were at fault but what we experienced on our return was horrific).

When we got to the islands, we visited three, it was wonderful and I could not fault, however be ready for very long Journeys in appalling conditions. on our return trip was almost 10 hours the ferry's were poorly operated, filthy and to be honest i would have felt safer on a canoe. When we arrived at Athens port, again we found ourselves abandoned, late at night and in what is probably Athens worst neighborhood. We found ourselves (expanded group of 40) standard at bus stops witnessing local thugs boy racing cars. Eventually they got bored and proceeded to shower our group with Bottles, Rocks, you name it. Our only protection was bus shelters. Finally the buses arrived and we were hurriedly thrown onto the buses, shoulder high and terrified, some of the group had to be brought to hospital and we faced further delays at the airport.

This is a shortened version of our experience of Athens and in particular the ferry ports. I advise anyone traveling to Greece, stay clear of the port area in Athens and do not book a holiday requiring Transportation by ferry. Five years on i still have nightmares about this experience.

event

We went to Tslivi in Zakynthos a few years ago. It was a lovely place, very cheap and not very touristy. was a great place for couples and would go back to it no problem

Jerry A

Thanks for all the replies. They have been very helpful

messrs

have you looked at Kos, went there from Dub few years ago and was lovely, nice and quiet and beach and resort we stayed in was lovely