Greece with kids
One island, not three, and probably not the famous two. Which islands suit families, the ferry maths, and why September beats July for a family week.
Photo · A P · Pexels
The whole of a good Greek family holiday comes down to two decisions, and most people get the second one wrong.
Which island. Not the two famous ones.
How many islands. One.
Euro. Convert any figure on this page into your own currency at today's published rate.
Open the currency converter →One island, and here is the arithmetic
Every island change costs most of a usable day. Checkout at eleven, port an hour before, the crossing, the queue off the boat, check-in at three.
With children it costs more than that, because a ferry day is a day of bags, queues and no swimming.
A week on one island with a day boat beats three islands and two ferry days comfortably. Our Greek islands guide has the ferry fares, which run roughly 15 to 60 euro a leg on a conventional boat and 40 to 100 on a catamaran, and those are per person.
Which island
Naxos, and this is the answer for most families
The best sandy shallow beaches in the Cyclades, on a long west coast running from family-perfect at Agios Prokopios to genuinely wild at the southern end.
It is a working island, so there is a town that exists in winter, a mountain interior with villages, and food that is grown there.
Prices are well below Santorini and Mykonos, and the ferry from Piraeus is straightforward.
The catch: the meltemi wind in July and August, and the west-coast beaches are exposed to it.
Crete, if you have a fortnight
A small country rather than an island: four hours end to end, three mountain ranges, Minoan palaces, gorges and the largest choice of family accommodation in Greece.
Needs a hire car, and a fortnight, and rewards both.
Paros, for the compromise
Real town life, good beaches, excellent food, and the best ferry connections in the Cyclades if you do decide to add a day trip.
Rhodes, for the longest season
Furthest south, so the season runs longer at both ends, which matters if your dates are fixed by school terms in late May or October. The medieval old town is also a genuinely good thing to walk around with children.
The Peloponnese, if you would rather not take a ferry at all
Reachable by road from Athens, with beaches, Nafplio, Mycenae and Epidaurus, and no boat involved. For families with very young children this is the easiest version of Greece, and almost nobody suggests it.
Santorini and Mykonos, honestly
Santorini is a cliff with steps. The beaches are dark volcanic shingle backed by a road, the crowd density is the highest in the Aegean, and it is the most expensive island in Greece.
As a two-night stop for the view it is remarkable. As a family base it is a poor choice, and our fuller answer is here.
Mykonos has genuinely good beaches and is the most expensive island for everything else, with a nightlife economy that a family week does not need. The comparison is here.
Athens with children, in two days
Most trips pass through, and two days is right.
The Acropolis at opening, before the heat and the crowds, and the Acropolis Museum afterwards, which has a glass floor over an excavated neighbourhood that children like more than the marbles.
The National Garden and the changing of the guard at Syntagma, which is genuinely odd and holds attention.
The Plaka and Anafiotika in the early evening, which is a village of whitewashed lanes on the side of the Acropolis rock.
Our three-day Athens route has the detail and the areas guide picks the base.
The practical layer
Greek tavernas are among the easiest places in Europe to eat with children. Late dinners, shared plates, grilled meat and chips, and nobody minds noise.
The heat is the real constraint. July and August routinely pass 35 degrees and the middle of the day is for the pool or the shade. Beach mornings, siesta, evenings out is the local pattern and it works.
Ferries and seasickness. The fast catamarans are enclosed and bounce more. The conventional ferries are slower, larger and much steadier, and with children prone to motion sickness the slow boat is worth the extra hour. The operators publish which vessel runs each sailing, which is worth checking rather than booking on departure time alone.
Hire car seats need booking in advance and are frequently in short supply in peak weeks.
Checked 21 Aug 2026.
Everything we check for Greece →Short tourist stays only. Checked 21 Aug 2026; rules change without notice and the government page is the source of truth.
Check your own passport →What to skip
Skip three islands in ten days. Covered above and it is the most common mistake.
Skip Santorini as a base. Also covered above.
Skip July and August if you have any flexibility. Early June and the first three weeks of September are both cooler, cheaper and far less crowded, and September has the warmest sea of the entire year, which our September guide explains.
Skip the all-inclusive resort on a Greek island unless you specifically want one. The tavernas are the point, they are inexpensive, and they are two minutes from the beach.
Before you book
The Greek islands guide picks between them properly and has the ferry costs.
The Greek calendar decides the month, and Portugal with kids is the other southern European family option in this set.
The with kids hub collects the rest and the Greece country page has the practical layer.
Ferry fares and seasonal patterns checked September 2026 against current ferry operator pricing and the Greek national tourism organisation. Island opening seasons and ferry frequencies change in October and again in spring, so confirm the shoulder weeks before booking. Here is how we research and re-check guides.
