Which island with young children?
 

We will be traveling to Greece in September for my sister's wedding in Santorini. We will be there for several days and would like to visit one other island. We will have our two children with us ages 3 and 1. We're not big on touristy places, so we've elimintated Mykonos. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Naxos is a good choice. It's close to Santorini and has good child-friendly beaches. The old town is interesting and fun to explore. You can get there by car ferry in the morning leaving around 7:00 a.m. or Flying Dolphin fast boat at 11:00 a.m.

Thanks! We had heard good things about both Naxos and Crete. Do you know if you can fly from Naxos back to Athens?

not sure if it must be an island...we spent 5 days on Santorini and 5 days on the mainland (Athens, Delphi, Meteora)... my husband, children, and I much prefered the mainland of Greece.

Yes, Olympic Airlines has flights from Naxos to Athens.

Crete is also very close time-wise to Santorini by Flying Dolphin. There are flights back to Athens both on Olympic and Aegean.

http://www.aegean-air.gr/aegeanen/home/

http://www.olympicairlines.com/

Olympic in the USA: 1-800-223-1226

Naxos is a laid back island, a great place for a family to relax and unwind. In addition the main town has a good beach (St George beach) with small hotels just steps away. It is perfect for a family with small kids. On our last visit there were lots of young families with small kids on the beach.
Although the town is built on the side of a hill it is stroller friendly, which I think is important.

Here's a third for Naxos -- for plenty of reasons. Great beaches, wonderful variety. Much better place for families -- in most cases -- than Santorini. Paros is nice too.

If Santorini was the only island I'd seen, I'd prefer the mainland (especially the Peloponnese) too. But spectacular as it is, Santorini is a long ways from a typical Greek island and not the best family choice.