My boyfriend is very stressed out with his job and wants to go on holiday to Greece. No tacky tourist destinations. Nice weather. With beach (not pebbled, please.) Relaxation is a must.
But where to go? I’m finding it surprisingly difficult to find much easily digestible information as there are so many possible destinations. I’m very concerned about picking an area and finding it heaving with nightclubs and tourist tack. I really don’t want that!
Can anyone recommend somewhere?
Thanks!
Buy a ticket to Athens or Kalamata, then rent a car and drive to Finikounda (400 km from Athens or 60 kms from Kalamata). It is a small fishing village, few tourists, great food, cheap accomodation (no need for reservation). Its a place where you will love for ever.
I have just had my first holiday abroad and went to Kalamaki in greece, we stayed at the Hotel Marleen.
It was a very lovely relaxing place to go to, as the beach is protected because of the loggerhead turtles, there are also noise restrictions in place.
The beach was only a few minutes away from the hotel, which was fantastic and clean.
The food was the best that i have ever tasted, and you can go and eat in any of the hotels, go swimming in any of the other hotels pools.
If you want a holiday with out the noise and a have a lovely sandy beach i would recommend here.
References :
go to sozopol in bulgaria. very beutiful there and cheapp…
some monastries and sights near by!
its just next to greece!
if not try… that island across form zante. Kalamaki i think . been there is gorgeous
References :
I live in a place called Voula just outside Athens, its not a big tourist spot but there’s nice beaches here and a few nice places to eat. I work in an area called Glyfada which is also very nice and only about 15mins from Voula. Both these places are more up market than the centre of Athens I think and not too many tourists. The weather’s not too bad at the moment although its not particularly warm for another couple of weeks. Its not too far from the airport either and with taxis being pretty cheap and plentiful transport is never a problem. There’s not many nightclubs around here but there’s plenty of nice bars and restaurants. The beaches round here are nice but can get quite crowded in middle of summer, theres also a bowling alley that i know of, a karting track and a golf course, these are not crowded with tourists either. I imagine theres a few websites with info on hotels etc in Glyfada so have a look and see what you think, hope this helps. Good luck
References :
Buy a ticket to Athens or Kalamata, then rent a car and drive to Finikounda (400 km from Athens or 60 kms from Kalamata). It is a small fishing village, few tourists, great food, cheap accomodation (no need for reservation). Its a place where you will love for ever.
References :
I would suggest Sani Beach Hotel Reasort in Halikidiki.
http://www.saniresort.gr/page/
Check out this link. My family has a summer house near by. Halkidiki is generally packed with tourists and ugly hotels and kitsch nightclubs and everything. This place is a bit more secluded and they provide you with a good level of services.
The beach which you see on the site is real i swear, although it’s more crowded during the summer.
There are also many islands you can visit. Check out Patmos. It’s beautiful, classy and peacefull.
Have fun wherever u go!
References :
I have been on Rhodos and it was soo nice! some times you can find red sand at the beach, that has gone with the wind from Africa to Greece! ;p
So i recommend Rhodos!
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you want a relaxing place thats not so touristy and over run? the past 2 summers I have gone to Marmaras in the Halkidiki region. Stayed at a husband/wife run hotel thats quiet, not a bunch of wild parties during the night going on, they are nice and very friendly. Its walking distance to the beach …sandy like or very very small pebbles that you can walk out into the water without hurting your feet. There is a cabana bar for coffees and lounge chairs right there on the beach and you can just lay back and relax the whole time. Plenty of good places to eat. Then if you want night life you can go into town over the .what I call a mountain, greeks call it a hill, and find more entertaining. So you have a pick of what you want to do.
Let me know if you want more information on this place.
References :
experience
http://www.canaves.gr/
http://www.katikies.com/
http://www.elounda.net/
http://www.greekislandtours.gr/myconos/hotels/default.asp
http://www.cyclades-orbit.com/paros/hotels/paros-hotels.asp
http://www.corfu-hotels.biz/
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There are many small islands,with beautiful beaches that are far from mainland and you can relax there for sure.
But like the most above if I wanted breathtaking beaches I would go to Chalkidiki.It is a peninsula with 3 "legs" near Thessaloniki(=airport) , Macedonia , N.Greece .At the first "leg",the nearest to Thessaloniki,are the most nightclubs and the most crowded(but also beautiful)beaches,due to the fact that it is near the 2nd largest city of Greece.At the second "leg" you can find peace,relaxation,breathtaking sandy beaches and rather low prices(in comparison to the rest of the summer destinations in Greece).Not many luxurious hotels(pansions mostly),but I think that it is exactly what you are looking for.The 3rd "leg" is Mount Athos or "Holy Mountain",which is closed to women because there are tens of monasteries there. But if you are really up to it,between the 2nd and the 3rd "leg" is a small island called Amouliani,which is absolutely beautiful,with extraordinaire beaches and it is very quiet and relaxing(at least it was when I last visited it,a few years ago).
Other not crowded beautiful destinations: Skopelos, Allonessos ( Sporades Islands) , Ionian Islands (Kefallonia,Lefkada,Ithaki even some places in Corfu, etc) ,Thasos, Chios ,Samos and many many others where you can find your heaven in earth and take some time away from your troubles.
Have fun and when you come back tell us your impressions!
ps : try to avoid the period 15 of July/15 of August.It is when most of the Greeks take their summer vacations(=crowded beaches,expensive hotels/restaurants etc)
References :
http://www.gto.gr/gr/accomm/loc/result.php?loc=CHALKIDIKI
http://www.e-city.gr/chalkidiki/
http://www.holiday.gr/gr/place5.php?place_id=27
http://www.chalkidiki.com/
http://www.travel-library.com/europe/greece/amouliani/
http://www.ammouliani.com.gr/
http://www.skopelos.net/
http://www.skopelos.gr/
Milos, Siphnos and Naxos are very good destinations for your case. Also Syros. Naxos and Milos have excellent beaches, Syros and Siphnos are very cute architecturally. All four are ideal for relaxing holidays. You can combine 2 (Siphnos+ Milos or Syros+Naxos, each pair is on the same ferry line, at least some days of the week). Also keep in mind that even touristy islands like Kos, Mykonos etc. have nice calm places if you choose to avoid the clubs and the towns where the clubs are.
PS. I know there are many choices and I am sure you will receive other suggestions too, which are also very nice, but if you listen to me you will not regret it! I promise you you’ll have a great time. email me for more details. Skopelos is a nice island too, but I haven’t been there for years, so I don’t know how it is now. Also, near Milos is Kimolos (there is a local connection every hour or so). Great beaches and VERY relaxing (pretty much nothing to do there but relax), you can combine that with Milos too.
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You come to Rhodes, and there, you take the catamaran to go to Patmos, the Apokalypse island.go there and you ll remember me.If you need information, you can contact me…
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To Stoupa, to the beautiful messinian Mani area.
The most famous place for tourist in mainland Greece, because it combines sea and mountain.
It is an organized place from where you can go with excursions to see the rest of the Peloponnese.
And most important is that it might be a touristic place but it is still nice, traditional,peaceful(no clubs, because we don’t have so much young tourist who come here, but families).
There are few hotels but mainly we have small stone houses and apartments for the tourist.
You can rent something from the internet and of course come with one company, like manos or direct Greece.
References :
http://www.zorbas.de/webcam/eindex.php
http://www.lefktro.net/
http://www.lefktro.gr/
http://kastraki.griekenlandweb.nl/index.html