Greece- why is this so difficult?
 

With two BIG birthdays coming up in the autumn my husband and I want to take our family away.
It looks as if it will be Greece and sometime after the `12th June.
Without going into the reasoning these are the things that I think will work
1. We like small local places (hotels I suppose) from which we can walk to restaurants at night. Not looking for five star but it would help or in fact we DO need a pool. Recently we have returned to the Hotel Anixis in Naxos Town which would be ideal if it had a pool.
Needs to be quiet at night

2. Not ruling out a villa ( which is probably more likely to have a pool) but that is less likely to be within walking distance of a town as per 1. above. If it was to be a villa we'd probably want two because of a tot who doesn't sleep the same hours as us.

3. As we would be flying from different places we are looking at somewhere with direct flights from the UK.

4. Duration of 7-10 days

We will be six adults and one grandaughter who will be three. We have seen many Greek islands and that should make it easier but it doesn't. Current fave is Naxos but we've been there 4 times in the last five years and so my husband and myself have really seen a lot of it. However I always remember thinking that Skopelos was really the best destination with a little one. On the other hand its 34 years since we were in Corfu and I loved that. To be fair I should say that probably the only island I've visited which I wouldn't consider is Alonissos and that is because it was all closed- it was Sunday!

Any ideas please?

Maybe I should add
1. We don't want All Inclusive and
2.Perhaps £1000 each?
Thanks

You have many choices for direct flights from the UK, and if you want something different from Naxos than go to another island group. I've been to Skiathos and loved it. Skopelos would be easy to reach from the airport there, and a a quieter destination. I understand beaches on Skopelos are pebbles rather than sand, but if that doesn't put you off it would be a great place to go.

Crete, Rhodes, Turkish Coast?

Regarding your price range -- are you saying that you would like 2 Villa for £1000 each Villa, for 10 days?

This villa West of Chania, right on the sea & with a pool, is ideal for you (sleeps 8, 5 BR) but I did not inquire about rates http://www.cretetravel.com/hotel/villa-sevi-houses

I think Chania has some direct flights from UK. It would help if you would look up which destinations have direct flights from Uk, otherwise your helpers here will be suggesting places not within your guidelines.

I meant £1000 per person.
Thank you for the link to Villa Sevi houses.Have you been there traveljan? This is the sort of info and recommendation I was looking for.
As far as I know you can fly to the following destinations from the UK
Crete (Chania and Heraklion)Rhodes, Corfu, Kefallonia, Mykonos, Santorini, Samos, Zante, Skiathos, Athens Thessaloniki, Kavala, Preveza.There used to be charter flights to Karpathos but I think that they have stopped.Having said originally that I needed a direct flight on reflection I don't think that a short ferry crossing would be out of the question for my grandaughter.
I would welcome any more suggestions from anyone .

Glad to know what the £1000 was for. No I haven't been to this villa, I am a budgeteering traveler, but I DO know the area, and it is a good location -- on the N. Shore, West of Chania but as description says, not in a touristic center.

As for Ferries, I would not think your granddaughter would have trouble with the large ferries that are the backbone of the ferry network. Not "fast ferries" that carry 400 passengers, nor the car-carrying catamarans, but big modern ferries like the Blue Star Line which you must know from Naxos: 4+ decks, 1200 -1800 passengers, 200-300 vehicles including giant trucks.
These do not rock or roll, especially in June when the sea is like glass.