Vassia Birliraki, CEO of EZ Greece (short for EY-ZHN, which means The Art of Living Well), a destination travel design company based in Greece, joins us to share what makes Greece Vacations great for families.
For more family vacation inspiration, check out all the podcast episodes. Adventure Awaits!
Tell Us About Greece Vacations
Greece is a year-round travel destination. Many people don’t realize it’s a great place to visit in the winter as well as the summer. Of course, we have thousands of islands to go around, from the Aegean Sea to the Aeolian Sea. Every time you come, you can find yourself on a different island. And we also have a great mainland because you can take your car from Athens and in two hours you are in a pristine nature forest or in the mountains. Our winter is only 20 degrees Celsius typically (68 Fahrenheit), which is not very cold. And the warmest waters in the sea are in October.
Greece has everything. You can find anything from cruises to hikes to food. The food is incomparable.
Another thing that people don’t know is that we have ski resorts in Greece. We are not Switzerland or like the Alps, but if you are a medium-level skier and you want to be close to the beach because you can go in the morning and ski in the mountains, and then if you can swim in the afternoon by the sea. For us Greeks, it’s cold, but for people who come from the north, it’s not cold.
Of course, you cannot see Greece in one trip. You should visit the country at least three times to visit the very important things to do.
Why are Greece Vacations so great for kids and families?
Greece is great for kids. They have such strong imaginations, and they see all these movies like Percy Jackson or Hercules. Then they come to Greece and see in person what they’ve seen in the movies or what they read in books like The Acropolis.
You can see Mount Olympus, Greece’s highest mountain and home to the Greek gods. It’s in the center of Greece. Families with kids five and six years old tell me they want to climb this mountain because the kids want to see the mountain of the gods.
There are so many wonderful experiences families can have. You can do a cooking class. Or go into the mountain of Crete to meet a local family. They can take you, feed the goats, make the milk, and create the cheese, which is an experience of a lifetime.
And as we are here in Greece, we have the connections to give families incredible experiences.
What destinations are great for family Greece Vacations?
I know Acropolis is number one. And from there we can arrange a car and take you to Delphi and the Temple of Apollo or to Meteora, which is incredible. There are huge rocks on the mountain surrounded by trees and forests. And there, the monks built the monasteries. It is beautiful, and the monasteries are open to the public, and you can meet the monks and have coffee.
There are so many wonderful islands for families to visit. Santorini is not one of the places I suggest to take younger kids as it’s very crowded and there isn’t much to do.
Naxos is an island full of adventures with kids. And it’s off the beaten track, not many people know Naxos. It’s a 30-minute ferry from Paros, also a nice island with kids.
There is the beautiful island of Sifnos. It’s a big island, and big islands usually have more things for families to do.
On Milos, it’s beautiful to take a boat, explore the caves, have a picnic on the beaches, or go snorkeling. Kids love it. They also have many different types of minerals, and there’s a mineral museum where kids can explore the colors of the minerals and the different types. You can find a variety of experiences that you don’t expect.
Crete is a great destination with great history and great beaches. It’s where I’m from. It’s the birthplace of Zeus, so it has a lot of history and mythology around the island.
On every island that you visit in the summer, especially around the 15 of August, they make local fiestas, and everyone is invited.
How do you work with families?
We like to get to know the family. The ages of the kids are very important and the interests of the family and what they want to do.
We offer all these different kinds of options to choose from and create an itinerary that will also be very easy to follow because you need travel time between the islands or the destinations.
We take care of all the details and are available 24 hours a day on What’s App. And we are here in Greece.
We have a team of 20 professionals. You have your dedicated person, who is the same person you will have a connection to when you are here in Greece for anything you need. They can solve all of your problems. This is how we work.
When is the best time of year to visit Greece?
The best time of the year to visit the country is May, September, and October. It’s beautiful. You avoid all the tourists. And I really suggest you visit the country in December or January for Christmas. It’s my favorite period to be in Greece as everyone’s celebrating, there are open markets, people outside, and its usually a good temperature.
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Thank you for joining us, Vassia!
Find out more about Greece and working with Vassia and her team on their website. You can contact them directly from there.
You can also find them on social media, Facebook and Instagram.
For more family vacation inspiration, tune in to all the podcast episodes. Adventure Awaits!