Which Greek island? Love the sound of hydra but pain to get to.

I'm no expert, but me and the family went to Kefalonia back in July and it was very nice, beaches are stunning, the sea crystal clear, there is at least one town that has a nice little square but we didn't stay there, just passed through. I'd happily go back and I don't say that about many places.

i agree, mykonos doesnt sound what youre looking for at all. what do your wife and daughter want from the holiday? what about beaches? renting a car?

we've been to quite a few islands now but have fallen in love with crete so keep going back there now. its massive so theres always a new area to stay and explore, theres something for everyone there.

Fiscardo in Kefalonia is a great choice and caters for a wide choice of budget and loads to do with walking, cycling and boat trips. Skiathos is nice with surprisingly excellent restaurants but more difficult flight wise.

We’ve done Mykonos and is a nice place but a lot of cruise ships but you do get the place back in the evening. You can do a day trip to Delos which is fabulous. The showy aspect is over stated and I wouldn’t worry about it being Instaville. Same with Santorini.

I spent a fortnight on Thassos many years ago, ‘79 IIRC, and it was a nice, quiet little place. It was an 18-30 holiday, but before that became an excuse for getting shitfaced every night and taking every opportunity available to catch an STD. It is, or was, a fairly quiet little town, with good eating every evening and then very cheap. There were opportunities to travel inland, or get a boat ride around to the opposite side of the island facing out into the Med. I got sunstroke on that particular day, which wasn’t pleasant. my then g/f and I spent most days lazing down on the beach, and eating at a nice little cafe/restaurant in the evening. At that time the trip involved a longish coachride from Thessaloniki airport, but it was a pleasant couple of weeks in a quiet part of the Mediterranean.

+1 for kefalonia - Lixouri and Fiskardo both great

Corfu?

Kassiopi is a lovely town on the north coast.

Hydra is not hard to get to at all, me and MrsIHN did it a few years ago, and included a day in Athens to see the Parthenon on the way.

We've stayed at the Miramar Resort and Spa near Agios Nikolaos in Crete. Nice hotel with a decent beach nearby but possibly more touristy than you're looking for.

Some random choices in the OP - Mykonos (very expensive) and Rhodes (very mainstream) to Hydra and Naxos (both much smaller and not as touresty). I do tend to agree that Kefalonia is a good shout though. Paros? Lesvos?Skopelos?

Been to Kefalonia loads , lovely place, lovely people great food. It's a very quiet place, no discos etc...
Haven't been to Thassos for three years but , again, lovely place, lovely people but quite a few not nice Russian/Albanians beginning to appear. Very brusque and pretty horrible to the waiters etc..

Lixouri is lovely. Also (admittedly it's been awhile) but have very fond memories of Aegina, Chania in Crete and also Rhodes (I think we went to Afandou / Afantou?) And also a few family holidays to Arilas on the west coast of Corfu.

+ another vote for Kefalonia

Sifnos or a bit easier to get to, lefkada where the Greeks go

Aegina was our favourite one, very quiet and hadn't been spoilt by the cruise ships .

Mykonos is exactly the opposite of what you want unless it’s way off season.
Paros is nice, 2 flights via Athens or Thessaloniki, or flight and ferry.
If you go anywhere with a ferry, a cabin is not expensive for four, and you get aircon, and an en-suite with a view of the islands and sail boats drifting by. A four hour trip is a doddle.

The more difficult to get to the nicer it'll be!

Over the last decade or so I've visited Naxos every other year. It's a great island with beautiful beaches and attractive old town. Large enough to keep you busy for a week easily.

I think all of the islands were full to bursting last year with the post covid boom and a huge amount of Americans taking advantage of the strong dollar. We always go off season to try to escape the crowds but even mid September, which is usually end of season was rammed. Had to book some restaurants which I'd never had to do previously. So late June to mid Sept will likely be busy wherever you go. I'd avoid July and August at all costs personally. The Italians tend to holiday then and it all gets expensive and mental.

If you're going for over a week, island hopping in the Cyclades is a great thing to do. Naxos-Paros/Anti-Paros-Folegandros-Milos would give you a great taste of the islands.

Hydra wouldn't be difficult to get to. That and Aegina,Spetses and Agistri are a fairly short hop from Piraeus. Have had a long weekend on Agistri in the past. Think there's a new train link from the airport to Piraeus now so even easier to get to.

I reckon most Greek islands are less hassle to get to than St Ives

Yeah we went in September for the first time his year, it was so nice, August is stifling and I found other than swimming, I couldn’t be arsed to do anything else.

Agree re Kefalonia but also have a look at Samos.

Never been to a Greek island (except Crete that is big) but have had many great holidays on the mainland, where the Greeks go, and you regularly get the taverna in the square, and can find a beach nearby. Napflio (popular), Leonidio, Gythio, lots of other places in the Peloponnese that are a coach ride from Athens. Also the Pelion peninsula, but Bozzas Dad has a place there so might not be returning!

Another vote for Kefalonia.

My dad's side of the family are from Syros whuch is in the centre of the Cyclades and has a beautiful main town which is the administrative centre of the those islands. As such the island has never really needed tourists and is very authentic and good value compared to some others. Some really nice beaches but no "resorts".

Aegina was our favourite one, very quiet and hadn’t been spoilt by the cruise ships .

it’s full of Athenians all summer though!

MrsJ is Greek so I've been to quite a lot of islands :-). Another which is not so well known is Andros - short ferry crossing from Rafina, which is closer to the airport than Pireus. If you really insist on flying you can go to Skiathos and then maybe pluck up courage to move on to one of the neighbouring islands.

End of September is our favourite time to go as it's quieter (these things are relative) and the sea is warmer.

We went to our first Greek island this year and were pretty bowled over by it. We stayed in an awesome hotel in Skala on Kefalonia. They have a really long beach, a nice little village/high street with loads of restaurants and bars and you can fly to kefalonia direct which was a big draw for us. Also highly recommend an all day boat trip which will take you right to the top of the island with swim stops etc. We loved it.

Kefalonia
Lasi has a nice beach and a number of hotels, about 30mins to walk over the hill to the capital at Argostoli, or do it the long way via the coast.

Thanks guys. Massive help. I guess we need a little bit of something for my daughter. Water sports. Snorkelling etc. possibly a hotel so she can meet some other teenagers.