Greece report - Greek Island Sailing
A fulfilling and relaxing family adventure in the Greek Islands.
Mark stayed with his family in the 2010 at the Ionian Beach Club, which is located in the Peloponnese, flying in and out of Athens. From 2011, this trip now stays at the Nikiana Beach Club, which is located on Lefkas island, flying in and out of Preveza. Mark's report below is from the Ionian Beach Club, however similar facilities will be experienced at the Nikiana Beach Club.
We arrived in Athens and were met and transferred to our base, the Ionian Beach Club, in the far north west of the Peloponnese. Our minibus was really comfortable and we stopped for lunch at the Corinth Canal.
We had our first taste of Greek food - sardines, salad, souvlaki and chips!
It takes about 3 and a half to 4 hours to get to the beach club, but it's worth it. The Ionian Beach Club is well away from the usual tourist haunts - it feels very Greek and there are only a few British tourists that go there. The accommodation is not luxurious by any means, but it's comfortable, clean and located right by the beach.
Every room is air-conditioned, is cleaned daily and has en suite toilet and shower, fridge, safe etc. The food is great too - see below) but the main reason for coming here is to enjoy the beach and sailing facilities.
We chose this holiday after all of us had filled in our 'Choose Your Holiday Questionnaire' - our collective needs were: somewhere hot, plenty of choice of activities, good food, beach and sea, some culture, a chance to try something new...
I am a keen on sailing and always want to learn more. I was hoping my wife and children would also join in but didn't want anyone to feel like they were under any pressure and HAD to sail. And it worked perfectly. The sailing facilities were excellent - a choice of sailing dinghies large and small, windsurfers and sea-kayaks - and all supervised by beach staff and safety boats. This meant that I could go off and sail all I wanted while the rest of my family did as much or as little as they wanted.
Days were spent by the pool, on the beach, using the sailing equipment. There were other club facilities too, like table-tennis, crazy golf, tennis, mountain bike hire and a few excursion possibilities...
Food in the Beach Club was excellent. Always served buffet style, with both breakfast and evening meals included in the price.
Families Worldwide also include two free half day sailing or windsurfing tuition sessions and I was delighted that my family took up the opportunity to learn a bit more about sailing. This was very informal and allowed them all to experiment and have fun while learning at the same time.
I'm not sure they will take up sailing as a sport afterwards, but they all certainly knew a jibe from a jib and a sheet from a sail by the end of the week and were sailing pretty competently.
We also hired a car for the day (arranged by reception, but probably better booked up front form the UK). We drove across to the ancient Greek city of Evidauros - a wonderful site situated on a stunning coastline. This was definitely worthwhile and provided a good midweek break. We also spent a morning in the nearby town for a bit of shopping and tried out a nice local restaurant. At the end of the trip we enjoyed three or four hours in Athens - I wished we'd booked at least an extra day or two here. The kids loved the Plakka area and we could easily have spend a whole day at the Acroplis. However, it gave everyone a taste and left us wanting to come back again for more.
We also had a day on a yacht, something you can pre-book and used by customers thinking of taking a flotilla holiday after (which we Families Worldwide can also arrange).
All in all a wonderful trip. We all came back tanned, well fed, healthy and refreshed. I'm going back for another taste in October (partly business, partly pleasure) and would certainly recommend it to friends, family and clients!
For more information about our family holidays in Greece - please click here
Mark Wright
Founder, Families Worldwide.