Corporate schmo here, based in US. I am looking for the best Greek island/town where I can just sit, chill and decompress for 10 days or so. My interests, in the following order based on interest are: good food, chill pubs, nice beach (doesn’t have to be epic), day hiking, and sight seeing. Basically I need a place where I can check out of society for a bit and have a good time doing it. Any suggestions?
Yeah this is the way to do it. We just got back from Crete and stayed in Chania. Rented a car to drive to a few wineries and olive farms, but we most enjoyed the drives themselves.
Driving in Crete isn’t very hard as long as you share the road, move to the shoulder and let others pass and approach blind turns slowly. It was like playing peek a boo with cars at some intersections lol.
Did they ask you for an international drivers license?
No. They just need your passport info.
Can you recommend the wineries and olive farms? Plus where have you rented the car? The amount of options seems to be a little overwhelming
Definitely Crete. I just got back from 8 days of solo travel there. Chania is awesome, Samaria Gorge hike, spend a night or two in Loutro. So relaxing and beautiful.
Not renting a car but leaving for 3 weeks in Crete in 13 days and CANNOT WAIT.
We’ll see you there. wifey and I will arrive June 1 for a week and staying in Chania.
I’ll be in Luotro by then but hope you guys have fun!
Thanks for this- will def scout out the mountain areas….
Naxos? The biggest island of Cyclades? Choose a village as base and go around the island! Or change a couple of villages to stay!
Apollon is a small fisherman place, different beaches already there, restaurants and bars but if you find a place away from the Main Street but 3 minutes from there, you will have your peace and just watch the few people there go up and down.
Wow. Thank you for this. I will def check it out. Much appreciated.
I agree wholeheartedly with Naxos. As a fellow corporate schmo who just got home from Greece and traveled around a decent bit while I was there, I wish I’d just have stayed in Naxos for most of the time. I haven’t felt so relaxed and at peace in a long time. A day or two in Athens is worth it upfront or at the end for sure, but I plan to head back to Greece someday specifically to just mellow out on Naxos.
Athens is definitely a must! Maybe at the end, to be sure to catch your flight and have no surprises with the commute.
If you have questions, let me know! I can probably help quite a bit!
We are definite on early July trip to Naxos for 7 + days and saw your note... and have not picked where on island yet. Little background info: we are both active 70. 2 yrs ago had fabulous multi week Athens; Napflio; Zakynthos; Milos; Santorini trip and now we want to hunker down. We like beaches and the small town vibe but we will have a car so it won't matter. So where do you think will be best part of island? Hotel - B & B - Airbnb? Any input you provide would be welcome. Thanks, Jack C.
If you are active, head to 2 different places! My proposal would be Apollon and you visit the north of Naxos and the villages nearby. This is Apollon:
https://m.youtube.com/shorts/csqseAvTLxg
Then the other could be a big village like Filoti or one of the smaller ones, that is what I would choose and you can stay in the middle of the island and see the south and west part like Hawai beach
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yigFGs8ZrOU
If you want to be more specific on what u wish to see and do, I can propose more concrete places.
What a quick response! Thanks. Definitely going to take some digging to figure this out.
Amorgos sounds right up your alley
I agree; go to Crete! We just got back from our stay at the Creta Maris resort (all inclusive). Creta Maris resort is quite large with several restaurants, multiple pools (including a water park), beach, activities. Some bars and restaurants were still closed but should be open now or opening real soon for the summer season. You could also walk down the beach to the nearby town that has pubs and restaurants (not associated with the resort). You can rent a vehicle if you would like to go explore a couple days. This is what we did. We drove to the small but beautiful seaside town of Agios Nikolaos, we took a 3 1/2 hr drive to Elafonissi beach, we drove to Kourtaliotiko Gorge and hiked down to the waterfalls and then drove to Preveli Beach and the Palm Tree Forest. So beautiful! It was nice! I would love to go back one day.
The only thing that surprised me about Greece (everywhere) is that you cannot flush the toilet paper down the toilet. Instead you discard in the wastebasket next to the toilet. I didn’t read that prior to leaving so I was surprised upon arrival. However every bathroom I entered was incredibly clean and I never saw anything I didn’t want to see 🤣
Enjoy your holiday!!
PS - we travelled from California. If you’re coming from the west coast, I would recommend staying maybe one night on the east coast just to break up the flight time 😜
I would recommend Naxos as the very best option, but there are fellow travelers and myself who are never again going to refer people to Naxos, in the hopes that it stays relatively unknown and therefore less visited, thus staying the idyllic place we love. Well, after this time I'm NEVER mentioning Naxos again!!!!
Milos very low key and absolutely gorgeous
Paros was great- stayed on golden beach and rented an ATV the entire time to explore the island. Ran into the most fun beach party and had incredible food and saw sight all over. Also inexpensive
Where was the fun beach party at?
Monastiri! Bottle service to be in the “vip” area was only a 60 euro minimum. For anyone in the NYC area who has seen those prices, I was shocked lol. It was a blast
Gotcha, I am planning to go to Monastiri but the reviews for that beach club aren't very good. I am planning to go to Punda Coast for a party beach club. That place is the largest party beach club in Paros.
Just visit Ikaria!
I went to Aegina for 2 days for fun but the Island is pretty chill. There's not a lot to do but the sights are beautiful and the terrain seems like it'd be great for hiking, although we didn't do that.
Another benefit might be that it's close to Athens so you're back in a big city with an hour ferry ride.
Cool. Yeah, I don’t need a place with a lot of sights. That just means a metric ton of people, which I am also trying to avoid. Thanks for this.
Tinos
Naoussa on Paros
Crete is really the only correct response. All of the other islands are much smaller, thus much more expensive and WAY more crowded during peak season.
Moreover, unlike the smaller islands, people actually live there year-round -- so there's a LOT more unique stuff and real locals.
Lastly, for nice sandy beaches -- generally stay in the northern/western side of Crete. Best are Elafonissi, Falassarna, Balos.
Yiasou!
For proper relaxation, I would try Skopelos or Hydra (have heard great things, but never been!). Skopelos is beautiful, emerald sea and pine trees going all the way to the beach. It’s quieter than Skiathos next door, but just as beautiful!
I would say Crete but it can be windy. My vote is kefalonia.
Nei Pori. It's small, quiet and my family and I have been going for the last 15 years.
Crete hands down. It's my favorite place I've been in Greece. Driving in the city gets a little sketchy due to tight roads. But the highways are basically like American ones. You also drive on the same side of the road and in left-hand drive cars, again just like America. Be careful in the roundabouts. And watch out for the motorcycles.
Try Naxos I had a very relaxing week there.
Another vote for Crete here!
Can I come? Lol
Naxos has all this if you stay in or on the edge of the main town. You'll only need to leave the town to find the best hiking on the island, but the great food and bars, views, great beach are all right there and there's more to do there in town than most islands in the Cyclades.
Some of the best food I've had in Greece was in Naxos. If you do go, check out Taverna Naxos, was so good we actually had dinner there twice when we were there in April.
If you stay on south side of main town, stay near Agios Georgios Beach which is fantastic for laying out and swimming with sand bars that go out over a football field in some spots. Can still walk to heart of town in 7-10 min but it's a bit quieter around there too. If you want mountain fun, can take a drive to Filoti and Apeiranthos pretty easily, great views along the way.
Antiparos, kythera, antikythera, elafonisi, skyros… depends on the time of year.
Up voting Milos for beaches and Naxos for food. Must have Naxian fried potatoes. One of a kind taste. Both cover low key, local experience.
We are in Naxos at this moment. After Crete and Santorini, I can report that driving in the city is more challenging (back streets near the Airbnb). Parking anywhere near the residence is pretty impossible, but the vibe is def. More authentic. Way fewer t-shirt shops if you know what I mean.
I’ve only been to Paros and Milos and highly recommend both
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Go to Crete, rent a car and drive in the hills/mountains.