Holidays at sea with children are a great pleasure for both parents and children, however, if the children are small, the organization of holidays can be a great challenge. That is why good preparation is very important.

Good preparation for summer vacation means choosing the right destination, precise road planning, choosing adequate accommodation …

How to choose the right destination?

It is important that the destination is not too far so that the ride would not be too strenuous for children. There are beautiful land destinations in Greece, not far away. Distance up to a maximum of 1000km is bearable for a trip with children, of course with mandatory breaks. Driving longer than that would not be pleasant for children, but also for parents. For starters, choose a couple of resorts that are at that distance and then compare them with each other with the help of our tips below.

For families with children summer resorts that are hilly are not desirable, unless you have the opportunity to book accommodation on the beach. Hilly places are Neos Marmaras and Parga.

In order for children to enjoy the beach, it is necessary that the chosen summer resort has a sandy beach and gradual depth, and ideally a long shoal.

Ideally, the beach where you will most often swim has natural shade, although this item significantly narrows the choice of destination. Also, accommodation near beaches with natural shade is usually more expensive.
See what are the beaches with natural shade on Thassos here
Beaches with natural shade in Sithonia see here.
Beach with natural shade next to Nei Pori, see here

Avoid places with big ports and big cities, because the sea is more polluted in such places

Before choosing a summer resort, ask if there is a pharmacy or doctor’s office in the place or the surrounding area, ideally a pediatric one.

Click here to see the places we recommend for families with children.

How to prepare for a trip to a destination?

Plan more frequent breaks during the trip, but with a previous plan. It is best to find out in advance about convenient places for a break or a meal. It happens that there is no possibility of turning on the highway for kilometers, so it is better to know in advance where you will take a break.
Places you have recommended for a break, coffee and lunch to Greece

If it is a further destination, then it is necessary to plan accommodation halfway and book a hotel in advance. There are excellent and affordable hotels in Northern Macedonia and Bulgaria, where our tourists usually book one night each.

Take a look at several options for accommodation and breaks depending on which trip to Greece you use
Accommodation towards the Ionian coast, Metsovo. Take a look at another suggestion for a break and overnight stay if you are traveling to Kavala and Thassos via Bulgaria here.

It is important, while driving, that children drink plenty of fluids, the best water and that they have enough food available as a snack during the trip (juices, integral biscuits and light sandwiches).

If possible, it would be desirable to harmonize the travel time with the children’s sleep, so that a part of the journey would be easier, both for you and the children.

Although the use of electronic devices for children’s entertainment is not recommended, it is allowed while driving. Download the cartoons that are new to them so they will hold their attention better.

New picture books bought just before the trip will delight your children.

Listening to your favorite music and singing together with the children makes the atmosphere in the car more interesting and different, and reminds you of a real adventure that children will enjoy.

Bring food and water for abandoned dogs that are available at the borders, but also at toll plazas, gas stations and resorts. Children will be happy if they can help dogs that are left to fend for themselves, thirsty and hungry. It can be a ritual that you will respect on every trip. In this way, you develop a feeling for the weak and helpless children, and they will be proud to help. Offer dogs water, because they get food here and there, but rarely does anyone give them water.

Of course, car seats as well as first aid are mandatory!

It is good to have wet wipes, toilet paper, paper handkerchiefs, as well as a couple of bottles of clean water in your car.

Hand-held refrigerator is also useful to keep water and food (sandwiches) fresh for the trip, and it will also serve you during the summer if you visit wild beaches.

How to choose adequate accommodation for your family?

Once you have chosen a destination, you need to choose accommodation (villa, hotel, apartment). When choosing accommodation, the family budget plays a big role, so it is best to first determine the approximate budget that you can set aside for renting accommodation and then go in search. On our site, when searching, you can select a filter that will show you only apartments and hotels that are within your budget.

The following is important for both you and your children to enjoy during the summer:

As we mentioned, families with small children should not spend the whole day on the beaches (because of the sun and radiation). That is why it is important that they have good conditions in the apartment or in the yard of the apartment (hotel). For families with small children, the best apartments or hotels have a maintained yard, and if there is natural shade and toys for children in the yard, then that is the ideal accommodation. Such accommodation is usually intended for families with children, so usually the largest number of guests are families, and children can easily find friends to play with. Long-term friendships are often made in such accommodations and hotels.
To search for such accommodation, select the filter on our site “Arranged yard” and another: “Children’s playground”

Speaking of the yard, the ideal yards for children are fenced yards with maintained lawn for carefree play and running of children. Such yards can be recommended to you by our agents, who contact us by e-mail nikana@nikana.gr

The most popular are apartments and hotels located on the beach. There are really a lot of such apartments and hotels in Greece in general, and in our offer. Ideally, the beach in front of the accommodation will be sandy, with a shoal, and best with natural shade. Such apartments and hotels are usually expensive, but sometimes you can find some with a better price, but it is necessary to make a reservation well in advance. We offer more than 350 apartments and hotels on the beach, to see them click here.

What is a rarity, but it is also in our offer, are apartments and hotels that are directly on the beach, without any road in between. So, the sand starts directly from the yard. These apartments are really perfect for children, because they can run from the yard to the beach on their own, and parents are without fear that the child will run out into the street. Write to us at nikana@nikana.gr to make a selection of only apartments that do not have a path between the yard and the beach.

There are countless advantages of apartments and hotels on the beach, which is why they are so popular. While the children are messing with dad, moms usually prepare a meal for the children, going to the apartment to sleep is also easy, there is no carrying food to the beach, and you can jump to the room for juice, fruit, snacks, so you don’t even need to carry a hand fridge .

Parents often ask us for accommodation with a pool. Moms say that it is important for them to have a swimming pool, because while they prepare meals or pack towels and beach equipment, children enjoy the pool. On the one hand, the pool is really great fun for children and they adore it, on the other hand, some parents complain to us that children who have access to the pool do not want to swim in the sea. Undoubtedly, it is healthier for children to swim in the sea than in the pool. Various chemicals are used in the pools to keep the water clean, while the sea and sea water are really beneficial for children’s health. If you can dose children swimming in the pool, then the pool can be great, but if children refuse to swim in the sea because of the pool, we advise you to still choose accommodation without a pool. It is up to you to decide.

See more than 300 hotels and apartments in our offer with a swimming pool.

If you choose accommodation with a pool, and you have very small children or a baby, ask if the pool has a separate part for small children. If this is important to you, write to us at nikana@nikana.gr so that we can send you only such accommodation as a recommendation.

If you plan to spend part of the day in the apartment, it is important to find out if the apartment has enough space for the functioning and movement of children during their stay in it. Ideally, you should find out the size of the apartment or room. We have tried to mark the square footage of apartments and rooms in almost 2,000 accommodation facilities that we offer.
The size of the apartment is important if you bring a cot for the baby, so be sure to ask if the cot can fit and still have enough space to move.

Some apartments in the living room have stairs leading to the gallery or to the upper level. Stairs that do not have a railing are not very desirable when small children are staying in the apartment. Therefore, when choosing accommodation, pay attention to whether the description states that it is a maisonette (domestic agencies also use the name duplex) or when a gallery and apartments on several levels are mentioned, because that means that there are stairs in the living room. If you do not want stairs within the apartment, emphasize this in the e-mail for recommendations.

Greek apartments often have a double bed in the bedroom that is narrower than a double bed, but the owners still call them a “double bed”. These are beds that have the width of one standard bed for one person and one pole, so one and a half single beds. These beds are 1.2 m wide and are not wide enough for parents with one child to sleep in, and sometimes they are not wide enough even for parents. We call them, in our descriptions of accommodation, “double beds that are narrower than the standard”. They are designed for two people, but even for two people they are not always comfortable. If you come across a so-called narrow double bed, count on a width of 1.2 m, which would mean that it can sleep one parent with one child or only parents, but not two adults with a child or baby.

Ask if the towels are provided in the apartments and how much they are changed. If not, it is necessary to bring towels yourself, not only for the beach but also for the apartment.

Some apartments have their own washing machine, and some owners offer service laundry which can be charged or not. Sometimes the owners themselves want to meet the needs of their guests, so if you need to, you can ask them if they want to wash your laundry even if they do not have a washing machine designed for guests. On our website you can choose the option “washing machine” and you will receive suggestions only for apartments and hotels that have this service.

There is no summer resort that does not have mosquitoes during the summer. It is important that the accommodation has mosquito nets so that during the night you can open a window or balcony door and sleep in a refreshed room, without the apartment being filled with these temptations. Let us know by e-mail if you only want such accommodation or check the filter on our site “mosquito nets” and see only the apartments that have nets.

The terrace is one of the favorite places where families spend time during the summer. It is sweetest to have breakfast on the terrace, but also to drink coffee and chat with your family. Without sun protection, awnings or parasols, enjoying the terrace can be impossible.

Should you choose the ground floor or the first floor? The ground floor with access to the yard is what is most in demand. Parents sit on their porch and watch their children play in the yard, and constantly enter and exit the apartment without climbing the stairs. The downside of the ground floor is that for safety reasons, you have to close the windows and doors during the night, and therefore, if you are vacationing in July and August, turn on the air conditioning to make it more comfortable to sleep.

You can contact our agents by e-mail nikana@nikana.gr to make you a choice of apartments and hotels for families with children (based on all the criteria we mentioned above).

How can you improve the safety of your children during travel and holidays?

Car seats for babies and children are mandatory equipment, not only because of legal regulations but also because of safety.

First aid in the car is also mandatory equipment

Don’t forget that during the season, crowds are common, both on the beach and on the promenade, and that children should not be lost sight of for a while. Every summer, we have several cases when children separate from their parents and get lost in the crowd. Although children are found after a few hours at the latest, such situations are very stressful for both parents and children. Some parents practice putting a note with their contact in their children’s pockets. We don’t know if there’s a need for so much precaution, but if you’re not able to keep children in sight at all times, maybe that’s not a bad idea either. The summer resorts are really full of people, the crowds are big and a few seconds of inattention are enough to get the child away.

Children like to jump from rocks into the sea. Do not allow this activity by any chance unless you have checked the water depth first. We are witnessing that every year it happens that some teenagers are seriously injured while jumping into the sea. The reason for the injuries is mostly insufficient depth for such a jump.

Waves can be great fun for children and adults, but they can also be dangerous. Hundreds of people drown in Greece every year, including excellent swimmers, but mostly children. Even small waves in the shallows can splash and pull the child with them, so it is necessary not to lose sight of your children while they are in the water. Be sure to read great text on how to recognize drowning by clicking here.

Swimming in the swimming pool within the accommodation must also be under your supervision. By law, any accommodation with a pool should provide a lifeguard, but as this is not exactly the case in practice, parents should be the ones to supervise the children while bathing in the pool.

Long exposure to the sun is very dangerous and harmful, especially for small children and babies whose skin is very tender and thin. Never forget that. Young children’s skin turns red even after 10 minutes of exposure to strong sunlight. Holidays can be completely ruined if children burn in the sun. Children should never be exposed to the sun in the period from 10 to 16 and without a protective cream. Also, it is not enough to apply the cream once, but each time after getting out of the water and wiping with a towel. This is very important. The biggest danger that lurks in children during the summer is the sun.

If it happens that children step on a sea urchin while swimming in the sea, do not remove the thorns yourself, but take the child to the nearest office.

It is assumed that you and your children pay health insurance. Health insurance is not expensive, and there are benefits for paying insurance for the whole family. It is better to always choose insurance that refunds money directly to the doctor, and not to you only after returning from vacation. For more tips on what to pay attention to when choosing insurance, be sure to read our text here.
An examination by a general practitioner costs a minimum of € 30, and family insurance costs just a little more than that. You may need a doctor for a lot of harmless things: sun allergies or insect bites, hedgehog bites, cuts on rocks, ear infections due to diving and so on, and so forth.

What do you need to bring from home?

Before traveling, you should set aside some time that you will spend on buying the necessary things for the trip and just vacationing. Some things are best bought in your country because they are more expensive in Greece, and if you are vacationing in a small town, it can happen that the markets simply do not have everything you need.

First you need to pack a small travel pharmacy. It should consist of the following things:

-It is advisable to bring medicine against nausea while driving if you are driving children on a long journey for the first time. You don’t know how a child will react to a long ride.

-Heat meter is mandatory because it often happens that children get a temperature due to the strong sun.

-Medicine or syrup for lowering the temperature (consult a pediatrician)

-Antihistamine for allergies is highly recommended to have with you because sun allergies are becoming more common, even in those people and children who have not had such a problem before. Also, allergies can occur after the sting of any insect (wasp, mosquito, bee)

-Due to the change of water and climate, children easily get diarrhea and stomach problems, so it is very important to have a probiotic in a travel pharmacy.

-Rehydration agent is first aid in case of diarrhea and vomiting.

-First aid should contain cotton wool, bandage, povidone iodine, sterile gauze, antiseptic (wet) wipes, band-aid. Consult a pediatrician if you need to have an antibiotic on hand.

-If there is a chronic illness do not forget to bring therapy. Be sure to ask your pediatrician how to store the medicine during your trip and stay in Greece.

-It is obligatory to provide sunscreen with a high factor, for children 50+, with UVA and UVB filter, before the summer. If your child’s face is sensitive, buy a separate face cream and separately for the body and creams that do not contain perfume. Some parents wear special T-shirts with a UVA filter because of the radiation. T-shirts are made of thin material, they better protect children from cream, so they can be a great way to effectively and safely protect your child from the sun.

-If your child has sensitive skin, it is best to bring baths and shampoos that you have already used and that suit him

-If your child is on a special diet (gluten-free for example), it is best to bring the necessary groceries from home. Supermarkets in summer resorts usually do not have foods intended for special diets (gluten, lactose, etc.)

-Bring a mosquito repellent in the apartment, as well as a stick or body gel against mosquitoes that can protect you while you are outside. In the pharmacy you can buy products that are on a natural basis and which you can also use for babies
If you are traveling with babies, you also need to bring the following items:

-Saline

-You will find disposable diapers of the Pampers brand in Greek markets, but if you use a special brand, then it is better to bring them from your country. Children’s, disposable diapers in Greece are also sold in pharmacies.

-Anti-irritation cream

-Wet wipes

-Sterile gauze

-Mosquito repellents that are safe for babies.

You can find all of the above in most Greek resorts, but it is still best to take everything you need from your country.

What fun activities can you afford for children during the summer?

Adjust your plan and program of activities to the interests of the children; because that is the only way they will enjoy the sea. In addition to going to the beach every day, plan additional activities.
 
-Summer is the right time for children to try out in some water sport or maybe diving.
-You can pay for a boat trip where fishing or other entertainment for children is usually organized (pirate fight, etc.).
-You can take a day off and visit some water park near your summer resort, which will definitely be the children’s favorite day during the summer.
-Ask if there is a amusement park or a playroom near your summer resort.
-Lately, water playrooms have been popular in Greece, and as far as we have noticed, children really enjoy them.
-Consider visiting some villages in the interior, a waterfall, a cave or an archeological site. Read about all the attractions in Greek summer resorts in our guide and blog.
 
In order for your summer vacation to really be a real pleasure, the most important thing is a good mood. Leave worries, problems and quarrels at home, and on vacation be relaxed and enjoy the sea and everything that Greece has to offer, but even more so in your family and your children and the love you give to each other.

Offer of more than 2 500 accommodations in Greece see HERE.

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