Where in Greece???

yourdeadwright

hey folks
Im 27 and looking to head to a greek island for tweo weeks in the summer with my girlfriend but cant quite decide where, that where i need your help.
IM looking for some where which, has a nice beach (for snorkelling if possible) and plenty of restraunts and things to do like days trips but at the same time i dont want to go to a place full of people bozzing and partying all night to old for that now

Iv heard Santorini is nice but any other suggetions,

thanks

RubyK

Do you want to fly direct from Ireland to an island? If so, your choices are Corfu, Zakynthos or Crete.

If you want can fly from the UK, you will have a lot more options.

We've been to Santorini, and it is stunning. It doesn't have white sandy beaches, more pebbly (Kamari) or black (Perissa). The waters are crystal clear. Stunning views over the caldera in Fira, and lovely sunset in Oia. There are some excellent restaurants, and it's a small island so easy to get around. For two weeks though, I would recommend you island hop. Santorini, Naxos & Paros. Naxos & Paros have lovely sandy beaches.

Also, Skiathos sounds like it would suit you too. You can also easily get to Skopolos (40 min ferry ride) for a day trip. Plenty of good restaurants.

yourdeadwright

thanks for the info,
I spent last year island hoping in thailand for a month so i reckon this year we'll just stay put somewhere for 2 weeks,
What part of Santorni woud you recommend staying in

Just a quick one, is there any travel agents you know of in ireland that you can book Santorni wit, if not ill fly to england cheaply first,

Thanks again for the feedback,

bills

were heading island hopping & going to santorini this year. from my research i would reccomend staying on the caldera in fira (however it is not cheap especially if you are going for two weeks). we have booked somewhere on the caldera because of the amazing views.
Firostefani & oia have great views too. Kamari & perissa are more beach resorts.

You cant fly direct from ireland but easyjet goes from London (not sure what airport)

or else you could fly to athens & then get a ferry or flight to the island

RubyK

We stayed in Kamari (pebbly beach resort). We did spend one night in Fira, and it was lovely to see, but budget wise Kamari was more reasonable. There are lots of restaurants bars and cafes lining the promenade, and up side streets.

You can get a water taxi to Perissa during the day, or climb over Mount Thira, which takes about an hour, but the views are fantastic. Note, while there is a road up to Thira from the Kamari side, the decent into Perissa is well dodgy (shingle track) and don't do it in flip-flops like I did.

We would definitely go back to Santorini, and would stay in Kamari again.

If you hire a car, you will get to see the island in a day or two.

Re Flights - no tour operator goes from Ireland to Santorini, after the demise of XL. Best bet is to pick up a cheap flight to Birmingham/Manchester, and get a flight only to Satornini. www.travelsupermarket.com is great for price comparison. Easyjet fly Gatwick to Santorini.

Happy planning

scudzilla

We got married in Zakynthos last sept and are going back in Sept, it's an awesome place.

Only problem is since Budget travel went tits up there's only 1 flight a week goin to the island.

With Sunworld it was 499 return, or a single (just going out) was 150.

We booked the single, and are returning with Easyjet to gatwick, hotel the night at gatwick, then aer lingus back the following day, all in all around 320 return each, incl hotel in gatwick.

Here's a few pics of the Island that i took last year, the water really is that blue!!

A great thing about Zante is that it's a nesting place of the loggerhead turtles, 2 years ago i was snorkelling in the bay and a turtle was 15ft away from me, that was awesome

Another good point about Zante is that Kefalonia is the next island, it's a 45 min ferry away, or a 10 min plane ride, ya could shoot across for 3/4 days like we're planning in sept.

If you're interested i can give you the details of the studios i use, they're the best i've ever been to, a family run place with an awesome restaurant attached to it

We spent a day snorkelling here at pic below









This boat is on the trip to the blue caves, it pulls up and lets ya swim for 45 mins or so, the snorkelling is deadly :D

RubyK

Fab pics Scudzilla - they bring back great memories of Zakynthos!

SL10

I did 4 week Island hopping around Greece a couple of years back and where you go really depends on what you want to do. I would definitely recommend Naxos- it has prob the best of all worlds...lovely beaches, fab restaurants(by far the best in all greek islands imho), and a good bit of life (but its not like Crete or Mykonos!) it also has really good surfing and windsurfing and other activities.

Santorini is lovely, but I found it was very busy and expensive. The sunset is fabulous but spending it with 1000 other people kinda ruins it! I think you can also go for a day trip to Santorini from Naxos too quite easily and visit the volcanoe and a few beaches and see the sunset!

Wherever you go I would recommend renting mopeds- so handy and you get to see alot of the islands

scut

I was in Zakynthos twice and hope to return some day. I loved it. Kos is also nice and has many daytrips like the ones to Turkey and Rhodes. Someone mentioned that budget travel have gone bust, well according to their website they're up and running again, think some other company bought them. Falcon and budget both fly to Zakynthos

Unshelved

You could just spend your whole trip in Crete (the Western side - not the over-touristy eastern side). It really has got everything - great beaches (Paleochora, Stavros - yes really), world famous ruins and museums (Knossos and Heraklion), lively city with a really quaint old Moorish harbour area (Chania), perfect remote villages (Loutro), and great hiking (Samaria Gorge).

You might have a better choice of flights to there too.

scudzilla

scut wrote: »

I was in Zakynthos twice and hope to return some day. I loved it. Kos is also nice and has many daytrips like the ones to Turkey and Rhodes. Someone mentioned that budget travel have gone bust, well according to their website they're up and running again, think some other company bought them. Falcon and budget both fly to Zakynthos

You can book on Falcon and Budget, also on Sunworld and another one, but there is only 1 flight a week from Dublin to Zakynthos and it's shared between the companies, i think falcon have 60% and the others share the rest, and the thing is they charge totally different prices!!!

unseen

Have a look at Skiathos Island. Ryanair is flying from Frankfurt and from Bergamo to Volos city which is 30 minutes away from Skiathos(by boat).
Watch the movie Mama mia and if you like the place go for it.There are another few islands close there that you can go. Skopelos and Alonisos.

badinfleunce

Id say check out www.skyscanner.net for your flights. Its very easy to plan your trip with their system. You can search for flights and connections etc and it shows prices for all the low cost carriers like Ryanair, Aerlingus and easyjet etc. Then for hotels and accomodation Id look at www.24hrhotels.com who have a great range of deals in Greece and seem to be a lot cheaper than most of the other hotel sites and their Irish.

fearruanua

my brother is heading to ios next week for few weeks. he's stressing over accomadation. when i was there about 6yrs ago we just landed off the boat and were swamped by people offering accomadation. i'm presuming its still the same????
apologies in advance for hijacking the thread

Closed ac

Zakynthos is great, but avoid Laganas!

I've been to Tslivi and would highly recommend it.

SL10

When we were there 2 years ago in some islands there were people waiting as we got off the boat but in others everything was completly full so we were advised not to go to the island or could only get one nights accomodation.

We didnt go to Ios tho so I cant tell you what that particular island was like.

Also we were there in August when its high season, I think June is still low season so I'd say he will be grand.

fearruanua

thanks for that SL. i'll pass the the info

Unshelved

Speaking to friends just back from Santorini, tourism is WAY down in Greece this year - because of the recession, the ash cloud, and worry about strikes probably. Your brother will have no problem at all getting accommodation.