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PLANET HOLIDAYS AND THE GREEK ISLANDS
*The Times Travel section on Saturday 03 October 2020 carried a whopping 25 Greek island holiday section. Our long time friends Mathilde Robert and Hari at Planet Holidays feature 21 out of the 25 destinations mentioned , but also offer more islands…. that were not mentioned!
Check out below what Planet Holidays and Malvern World Travel feature and simply get in touch, with Malvern World Travel for more information about our special and spectacular holidays for discerning travellers, looking to head to Greece in 2021. Plus we can help you with wedding and honeymoon enquiries too.
Our good friend Mathilde was one of the first to pioneer the original idea of offering British couples the chance to get married in Cyprus . Planet Weddings and Honeymoons now features a variety of destinations including a fabulous choice of nuptual venues in Cyprus plus in the prettiest Greek Islands as well as Halkidiki on the Mainland.
Responding to demands, new wedding destinations are being added regularly to the Planet Holidays portfolio such as Malta, Gozo,Portugal,Italy ,Croatia and France.
Call Malvern World Travel on 01684 562406 or [email protected]
The intro to the Saturday Times travel feature read: Rub shoulders with the A-list on glitzy Patmos, marvel at a volcanic wonderland in Milos or simply flop on a deserted sandy beach on Naxos. So take a walk with us here at Malvern World Travel and one of our preferred Tour Operator partners Planet Holidays and give us a call on 01684 562406. With three decades plus of expertise in packaging and unpackaging Greece, we’re here to help you make the most of your travel experience to well-known and lesser-known Greece.
Greece is the word!
Awesome Andros boasts an immaculate neoclassical main town, beaches for every taste and miles of ancient footpaths, winding through the Greek island’s densely wooded hills and mountain villages, all lush with romantic springs and waterfalls (androsroutes.gr).
Charming Corfu probably the most well known of Greek Islands made famous by the Durrells, has great hotels (and we feature most!), not least elegant Venetian-French-Georgian Corfu Town where there’s golf and cricket, (even a September literary festival!). In the 1800s when the Ionian islands were a British protectorate, along with a thirst for tzitzibira, aka ginger beer.
Pretty Paxos. Just south of Corfu, there’s a tiny island Paxos. Picture perfect and ideal for couples who want to snuggle among the ancient olive groves and lose all track of time. The delightful pocket-sized main port, Gaios, is packed with tavernas and offers boats for touring Paxos’s sea caves and making the short hop to its vine-covered neighbouring island …..A short hop away is the neighbouring Greek Island of Antipaxos, where a pair of outrageously beautiful Caribbean-style white beaches are kissed by a turquoise sea. You could be forgiven for spotting Tom Hanks and wife Rita Wilson
Water sports galore on Lefkada. A causeway and a short drive from Preveza airport will transport you effortlessly to another world that is just as lush, wooded and dramatic as its near-neighbour Corfu. Lefkada has traditional mountain villages, such as lofty Katouna, but is also well endowed with sports-oriented resorts: hire a boat at Nydri, swim under towering cliffs at Porto Katsiki and Egremni, and test your windsurfing mettle at Vassiliki, blessed with some of the most reliable big gusts in Greece.
Kefalonia boasts the crispiest of Robola wine, but Captain Corelli’s big island cries out for touring, amid vine and cypress clad landscapes .Three musts: drive up through the towering black firs of Mount
Ainos (5,341ft) and make the short walk to the top for jaw-dropping views; take a boat ride into the iridescent blue-purple cave lake of Melissani; and scramble down to the island’s eye-popping pin-up beach, the incandescently white Myrtos, wedged between soaring cliffs and the cobalt sea. Consider recommending this island for clients that are yearning to say ‘I do’, This is another of the Greek Islands that Malvern World Travel knows well. Call Malvern World Travel for the latest details
Happy Hydra, is the place for insta selfies. The 1957 film Boy on a Dolphin with Sophia Loren introduced this iGreek Island to the English-speaking world and Leonard Cohen bought a house in 1960 when he met his beloved muse Marianne. Head here for cocktails and art galleries.
Exceptional Evia. The country’s second-largest Greek island, green, mountainous Evia is for explorers and lovers of Old Greece, a mystery even to most locals, yet you can drive there in just over an hour from Athens airport. Discover more than just beaches, head to the archaeological sites, old-fashioned villages and spas, including one of Greece’s finest, Loutra Edipsou, where the hot springs spill directly into the sea. Karystos in the south, known for its marble quarries, has splendid hill walks — aim for the mysterious dragon houses on Mount Ochi.
Ah Aegina! The perfect Greek island to combine with a city break in Athens. Here you’ll find all the Greek isle must-haves, including fine beaches at Agia Marina and on the nature reserve islet of Moni, plus something special: the exquisite 500BC Temple of Aphaia. Whiffs of faded grandeur linger at Aegina Town and port — it was the capital of Greece for almost two years from January 1828; today it’s perfect for lingering over an ouzo, scoffing the island’s addictive pistachios and watching the world drift by, so close yet so far from the city.
Special Spetses. Popular with weekending Athenians, pine-covered Spetses, one of the Saronic islands, is two hours from Piraeus port. The cobbled lanes of Spetses Town are lined with historic mansions that once belonged to leaders of the War of Independence that began in 1821. Cars are banned; horse-drawn carriages, bikes and scooters are the transport of choice. By day, hit the beaches along the road that encircles Spetses, passing the lone white villa that inspired John Fowles’s enigmatic novel The Magus. After dark, the seafront esplanade of the Dapia sways to the sensuous rhythms of the latest Greek hits.
Something for everyone on Kos. Sumptuous sandy beaches are the bread and butter of family-friendly Kos. But this island, birthplace of Hippocrates, the father of medicine, has been a resort for the world weary since the 5th century BC, when it opened the Asklepion, its health centre and wellness spa. Children love Kos Town, with its Crusader castle, Roman villas and an unbelievably huge plane tree, said to have been planted by Hippocrates himself. Recommend that your clients don’t miss the unusual effervescent Bubble Beach or the frisson-giving sunsets from Zia. Lee and Hilary of Malvern World Travel spent two years as Holiday reps on the Island of Kos and neighbouring Greek Island of Kalymnos.
For wedding options on Kos, Call Malvern World Travel for the latest details on 01684 562406 or email [email protected]
Step back in time on Kythnos. If you ever wondered what the Greek islands were like in their 1970s backpacking days, head to Kythnos. The little island is as authentic and unspoilt as they come — mainly because ferries to here depart from Lavrio, which is further from Athens than Piraeus. But it has all the Cycladic essentials: a whitewashed main town bathed in radiantly clear light; sandy beaches (Kolona, a delectable isthmus of sand, would be packed out anywhere else); and blazing starry nights.
Art deco Leros. This ruggedly wooded and delightfully low-key island is one for a lazy holiday by the beaches and yet your clients will want to explore the wildly serrated coast by kayak and see its unspoilt villages by mountain bike — a new thing here. It also has the best anchorage in the eastern Med; the Italians (who possessed the Dodecanese until 1948) based their fleet here. They also left architectural delights: Lakki, a model town in the art deco-ish rationalist style, inspired by the surreal street scenes painted by Giorgio de Chirico, is just waiting to become a film set.
Magnificent Milos. As a volcanic wonderland, Milos rivals Santorini, and although it’s increasingly popular, only a purist would call it spoilt. The island of the Louvre’s famous Venus has the only catacombs in Greece. But what steals the show is its extraordinary coast — a photographer’s dream with 70 beaches in all shades (there’s even a sulphur-yellow one, Paliorema). You’ll also see bear-shaped sea rocks, as well as dreamlike caves and formations at Kleftiko and Sarakiniko that seem to be made of meringue. Elsewhere, intimate fishing ports are lined with syrmata — painted boat garages sculpted from volcanic tuff.
Beaches and hiking on Naxos. Largest, tallest and greenest of the Cyclades, family-friendly Naxos doesn’t have the achingly hip reputation of its neighbour Mykonos, but is all the better for it. Just beyond the sugar-cube maze of its main town stretch miles of sandy beaches. The hiking is exceptional, taking in lovely early Byzantine churches and Hellenistic towers. The white marble of the north has been quarried for 3,000 years; don’t miss the startling contemporary Cycladic figurines in the archaeological museum and the huge statues at Flerio, Apollonas and Melanes — abandoned because of flaws in the stone.
Get away with the stars on Patmos. A dreamy otherworldliness lingers over the craggy little “Jerusalem of the Aegean” — where St John wrote his Book of Revelation. This atmosphere has since made it a bolt hole for anyone who wants to escape the world — Julia Roberts and Richard Gere included. Just above the port, Skala, you’ll find St John’s Cave (complete with his stone pillow) and the exceptionally lovely 18th-century main town, built by sea merchants. The fortified 11th-century Monastery of St John the Theologian is filled with rare Byzantine art. Come to Patmos to take quiet walks, swim in crystal waters and refresh your soul.
Ancient sights and sunshine on Rhodes, an island that has remained a holiday option this October! The Colossus statue, one of the Seven Wonders, may be long gone, but its subject, the sun god Helios, makes his presence felt 300 days a year on his favourite island. Full of gently shelving beaches, fancy resorts and rich history — it was the powerhouse of the Aegean for centuries — Rhodes is a good bet even in winter. That’s the time to explore the island’s atmospheric medieval Crusader-Ottoman town, Grand Master’s Palace and three ancient cities, including exquisite Lindos, its acropolis teetering high over the sea.
For weddings on Rhodes, Call Malvern World Travel for the latest details
Foodie Sifnos. When Greeks think of Sifnos, they think of food. Home of countless chefs, including Nikolaos Tselementes, who in 1930 published the influential Cooking and Patisserie Guide, the island is famed for its restaurants serving specialities such as mastelo (lamb slow-cooked in a clay pot). But the arty-boho island has other tricks up its sleeve: brilliant-white cubist villages; paths meandering past its ubiquitous blue-bubble-domed churches; Venetian dovecotes and ancient towers. The beaches are divine, from the silky soft sands of Platis Gialos to idyllic Cheronissos way up north, with its two excellent tavernas.
Walking and relaxation on Skopelos. Like its neighbour Skiathos, this island served as a location for the film Mamma Mia!, so the cast of visting celebs is very impressive . It has since then reverted to a tranquil way of life amid a thousand blues and greens, from its lofty pine forests to its pebbly beaches. The traditional architecture of red-tile roofs, colourful woodwork and balconies is charming and nightlife means sitting late outside a taverna. Hire a boat to explore the wild northeast coast and don’t miss the walk up the Mount Palouki peninsula, adorned with Byzantine monasteries and commanding spine-tingling views.
For weddings on Skopelos including that iconic church….. Call Malvern World Travel for the latest details
The beautiful beaches of Skiathos. Fun-packed Skiathos is rightly renowned for having more than 60 heavenly beaches — the golden pine-backed crescent of Koukounaries and silver-pebbled, cliff-foot Lalaria are often named in Greece’s top ten. But there are secret ones to be found if you take one of the few roads through the island’s wooded interior. While hotels and villas sprawl along the coast, Skiathos has only one real town, with lots of restaurants, bars and clubs for 30-pluses. Look out for Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn who are frequent visitors.
It too attracts loved up couples, check out wedding options Call Malvern World Travel for the latest details
Explore Symi’s colourful harbour. Symi is only a short hop from Rhodes, but couldn’t be more different; small and arid, but endowed with a superb harbour. Here, Symi’s renowned shipbuilders and merchants built a spectacular neoclassical town in shades of lemon, tangerine and cherry-red, rising 500 steps up to a sky so blue that it seems to throb. A bus or taxi boat will take you to the beaches, and at night the lone town sparkles to life; sheltered, it stays warm until late as its lights dance across the still water of the port.
Planet Holidays and Malvern World Travel also feature:
Alonissos (neighbour to Skopelos and Skiathos)
Tinos
Thassos
Zante
Kea
Ios
Amorgos
Mykonos
Crete
Call Malvern World Travel for a quote, we’re here to help.
Love Greece, love Planet Holidays
PLUS remember we also do weddings and renewal of vows in many of the Greek islands for more information
Call Malvern World Travel for the latest details
