Due to my phone issue, we didn’t meet the Acropolis guide quite as planned, but again Christina sorted that and we had a super tour. You’ll remember that we had discussed putting more ancient ruins into the trip, but I’m glad we didn’t as the kids had their fill quite quickly. The Temple of Apollo on Naxos was a nice surprise though.

The guides in Athens were great. But even at the end of the holiday we still weren’t used to them not eating when we were eating! 

Booking the slow ferry for us was brilliant. Not only did it mean we could catch up on sleep, we had a refuge for the bags and just to chill out when not on deck. It was fabulous weather and calm so we had a lovely time travelling into and out of the islands en route. Knowing now what the fast ferries are like and how enclosed inside you are with those, this was a super alternative. 

Receiving the ferry tickets via WhatsApp worked very well – Christina always sent through the day before and we had no issues using them.  On the second ferry, we didn’t get seats altogether, but that was fine. 

Amorgos was lovely. The hotel was simple but perfectly located for the town and the beach, just as you said. It didn’t matter that there was no pool and that was something I’d been concerned about.  

The guided tour with Dimitrios was brilliant. He realised that Martin and the kids would be up for jumping off the rocks at the appropriately named ‘Aghia Anna’, so after visiting the monastery we headed there for a couple of hours.  Climbing up to the top of the fort at Hora was also great.

 The snorkeling trip was good too. The boat we went out on included people diving and free diving. So Martin and the kids didn’t have an instructor with them, which was fine as they are all strong swimmers and we’re happy to go off and snorkel. For a less confident family, this might be a problem though. I stayed on the boat: I don’t do sea swimming. I tried but got out after 30 seconds (literally) and they were totally fine with that. 

On reflection, I wonder whether we could have had one less night here and one more on Santorini.

Naxos was great too. Very different arrival experience from Amorgos, but the taxis Christina arranged all worked out. It took some time to adjust to the different pace here and how built up it was. The hotel was fine – our room seemed to be much larger, newer, and nicer than a lot of the others and some new ones were still under construction (although not while we were there). The pool was small but nice and fully in the shade in the late afternoon which was fantastic. 

The Mount Zas and the walk/cooking lesson tours were excellent. Top chap, very knowledgeable and friendly.  He also took us to a nice restaurant in Filoti after Mt Zas in a beautiful shady square, which was ideal. The cooking lesson (which was just us) and the farm tour were very good – the food was delicious too. The setup they have there is stunning.  My only comment here is that breakfast was from 8 and an 8.30 pick-up was too tight, but Christina sorted that for us.

The hotel was right by the bus stop into Naxos Town, which was great so we headed in for the sunset at the Temple of Apollo – along with everyone else! 

The catamaran day was fantastic. We were on a boat with lots of Americans who were there to make the most of the free bar, but it was all very friendly and good-humoured. The kids were the only under 20s on board.  I didn’t swim and they didn’t pressure me to, which was great. Much jumping off the boat and snorkeling. It was quite choppy though and I’m glad we had taken travel sickness pills! 

Santorini was lovely. We’d received so many warnings before we got there about being ripped off in restaurants and it being so busy we’d lose the children (no joke) that I was a bit nervous. But we loved it. It was super staying on the side of the caldera and where we were at 6 o’clock on the inner rim meant we watched all the cruise ships come and go and we could see Fira and Oia. It was really special. The hotel felt quite quiet and was mostly grown-ups, which meant we felt like we had to tip-toe about a bit. The beach at the bottom of the cliff is also good – a deep drop-off into the bowl of the crater apparently. 

The walking tour with Lydia was superb. So memorable. And a good distance too, meaning lunch was eaten. 

On the Saturday afternoon, I contacted Christina to ask if there was anything we could arrange for our last day as our flight wasn’t until 5.40 pm. She came back with some options and we chose to rearrange our airport transfer and go into Pyrgos (the travel company looked after our bags for the day) and then wandered down to the Santo winery where we had a quick glass of fizz before we were collected, with our luggage and taken to the airport.  It was a great way to spend our last day – I hate just waiting for flights! I’m really grateful that Christina was able to help us come up with a new plan so quickly. We just needed to pay a further €50 for the airport transfer. 

Santorini airport was very minimal. Had I known I would have loaded up with snacks at the supermarket before we got there!! Thankfully we got home before the air traffic control chaos began. 

Thank you, it’s been brilliant.

I also wanted to call out the company on Amorgos used for the day trip. The guide was so lovely and really connected with our disabled son Rory. He made that day very special. 

The only other thing that I wanted to give feedback on was the bike trip on Naxos – it was a bit hairy with quite a lot of cycling on busy roads. The guides were great but I’m not sure it was suitable for families – there isn’t much cycling infrastructure on Naxos and so much of it was dirt roads or busier public roads. 

Charlotte – I wanted to say a direct thank you to you. We felt the way you put the holiday together really got what we wanted and how to make it memorable. Your experience made the itinerary feel so well-paced, with a great balance of activities and then quieter days when we needed them.

All the activities worked out really well and our local contact Christina was amazing and made the whole experience exceed expectations. Her daily messages were such a nice touch. 

It was perfect to start with the tour of Athens with the food element as it introduced the boys to Greek food in such a good way which set them up for the rest of the holiday. Once again our guide was fantastic with the boys and I was pleasantly surprised to see how interested they were with the Acropolis and all its history.

I really recommend the diving and snorkeling on Amorgos – I think both my boys said that was their highlight.

On the pottery, it was a great experience.  The only problem was that we couldn’t glaze our pots as we travelled the next day so brought home unfinished products. I am not too sure how many days would be needed for this but maybe the pottery could have been earlier (but this is such a minor thing and the only thing I can find as a small improvement).

The tour of Amorgos was great and our local guide Dimitris was brilliant- I also really appreciated how he adapted the day to the kids’ moods.

On Naxos, the highlight, without a doubt, for us was the sea kayaking trip – it was a long day but so worth it and will be an experience we remember.  The tour company used was really good and again great with kids and teenagers. This day was a fantastic contrast to the day on the cataraman and again recommend doing both as they were different experiences.

We did the cookery course in the end on my birthday on our last full day in Naxos (we had to change the itinerary slightly due to high winds on the original day of the cataraman tour) and this was such great fun. We cut out the hike due to the high temperatures and I am glad we did so as I believe the boys enjoyed the cooking even more. Nikos, the farmer, was great and it was an extra bonus to get a tour of his farm.

I could probably keep going but will stop. I would be very happy to have a review on your website and have attached a sample of some photos. I would also be happy to share more for any future itineraries you do.

I will end by saying thank you once again and can highly recommend Stubborn Mule to others.

Thannanis was our cycling guide and was great with my eldest son as well as incredibly informative and we really enjoyed the day. The only thing I would say is that as a family of cyclists being part of a small group meant that it was very slow for us. My husband described it as a “pootle”.

Alice was our Samaria Gorge guide. In hindsight, we probably didn’t need a guide and could have been dropped at the top with our tickets with instructions to get the ferry by 5:10 pm at the bottom and again with our ferry tickets. But Alice was lovely and again very knowledgeable.

The apartments in Loutro had lovely views and all you needed. We enjoyed a couple of days chilling out and getting pedalos and snorkelling. Yves was our sea kayaking guide and we had a great day. When I realised he was taking us back to Loutro for lunch he was happy to take us somewhere else once he realised that was where we were staying. 

I LOVED the eco-village. The green, the peace, the beauty, the apartment (and the incredible cleanliness !), the views, and especially the walks to the monastery and to Axos. We all loved the amazing pool with a view! The boys also found an astro pitch in Axos and a shop that sold a ball which cheered them!

The beach villa was AMAZING. We spent most of our time there for relaxation at the end of our busy fortnight using the pool loads and only really going to the beach for a day – which was lovely and quiet because we chose the stony one.

The lovely owner let us stay until 2:30 pm on our last day when we were being picked up which helped us massively.

Thank you again for an absolutely unforgettable holiday.

The Nafplio accommodation was great too – but it would have been really useful to know that we needed to park away from the hotel as it is in a pedestrianised area. 

The guides were all fantastic – knowledgeable and engaging for both adults and children. G loves Greek history and it was brilliant that they all picked up on this and drew on what he knew, and could answer both of the boys’ questions. We all got so much more from the sights because they were able to tell us so much about how they linked with various periods of Greek history.

The watersports guides were particularly brilliant (kayaking and paddleboarding). I loved that they totally knew their sports, were very hot on keeping everyone safe as well as being really encouraging, but could also share so much local Greek history too. They also really helpfully took photos for us and emailed them the same day.  They were both fantastic days. The white-water rafting was also great fun. 

The locations were well chosen – quite a few people we met were a bit surprised that we had taken a slightly different route to the usual “tourist trail”. But it meant we explored without so many crowds and got to experience different sides of Greece.  

The tours and activities were all amazing. It was such a great mix of history, culture and adventure. Everything was really accessible – even in the summer heat. I think we all had our own highlights – the ancient history, spotting a sea turtle, swimming with fish in the crystal clear turquoise seas, the incredible food, the list goes on…  It was brilliant to share such memorable experiences with the boys as a family. We loved every minute. 

We came home talking about what other Stubborn Mule trips we might want to book in future!! 

Thanks again.

Loutro was definitely our favourite destination, and would love to go back – such a laid-back, relaxed place. The food was amazing, the staff so helpful and the seawater was so clear! Just beautiful. We didn’t get to do the kayaking trip as it was too windy for the first two days of our stay, and I wonder if it would be better to pay locally for this activity if it goes ahead, rather than pay in advance? They did offer us the activity on the third day of our stay in Loutro, but it was so hot, I thought we might have fried on the kayaks, so decided to give it a miss! 

The eco-village was good, set in the amazing mountains, and worth the trip to see another, different area to Crete, away from the beach. The rooms were comfortable, the staff great and food very good too. We stayed by the pool though, again, just too hot this year to do the outdoor activities, so we may not have appreciated the area as much as we could have done. The pool was lovely though, an infinity pool overlooking the mountains, with all sorts of wildlife to watch while dipping in the pool.

The cycling trip in Chania was great – a super guide, not too difficult for us and there were interesting places to visit along the way, such as an Orthodox Church and a local village. We are all quite fit, it might be worth mentioning to anyone considering this activity, that the uphill bits are quite strenuous! If fitness levels are generally low, it would be hard work, especially in the heat! We were expecting a private tour, but this was not available, again, not a problem for us, the day worked well, the transfers to and from the hotel were really slick – definitely worth going! 

The gorge hike was really good – it is mainly downhill, the landscape is very pretty, with very high rock cliffs towering on either side of the path. We found the smaller gorge just long enough though. I think we all found it quite hard work, the longer hike would have been too much for us! It does require a reasonable level of fitness. 

Crete is an amazing destination, one of our favourites, and we would definitely go back again. I have been recommending it to everyone since we returned! Our itinerary was mainly relaxed with only a few activities, but to be honest, we were all very happy to take a slower pace and relax! 

Thank you very much for organising such a great itinerary! 

Already thinking about the next destination…

We switched to a half-day kayaking – and that was perfect.

Also, Imbros was a great recommendation.

Melita was excellent as was Eva at the Chania hotel. Their texting us and meeting us on the evening we arrived got the holiday off to a cracking start. Generally, we felt really looked after and I can see this would be even more welcome in a more exotic destination.

Thanks again.

We loved all the trips/tours and it was clear that the guides were all of a very high standard – punctual, professional, friendly, informative and extremely enriching. They were all extremely helpful and enjoyable to be with too. 

We learned and saw so much of Crete without even trying to and I have to say I totally fell in love with the place. Such an amazing island. We all found the activities extremely rewarding.

All the accommodation was great, each quite different which was a bonus. Both Chania and Loutro are amazing places to stay.

We had to quickly change plans for our gorge walk day as the gorges were all unexpectedly closed. Melita was brilliant and provided a fantastic alternative hike, with Cretan snacks and a wonderful restaurant stop at the end, not to mention all the land and sea transfer and logistical re-jigging she had to do to make the day work. She was really communicative and efficient on this and many other occasions throughout the trip which meant we always felt supported.

I am happy to answer any more specific questions about the trip but I will leave it there. I hope that gives you helpful feedback.

 We have already been back on your website looking for our next destination for early August 2024 and we are looking at Egpyt.

Many thanks to you, Jess, and your team again.

It was obviously the end of the season, so some restaurants were closed, but this didn’t matter at all because there was still plenty of choice in Chania. Actually, this was to our advantage because some places (eg Loutro) that get very busy during the peak season, we almost had to ourselves. 

Special thanks to Melita and taxi driver Giorgos who were so helpful and made sure the week ran very smoothly!

Whilst in Naxos we did a hike up Mount Zas on our day off which was great.  I asked the family for good and bad feedback and we don’t have anything negative to say. We all loved our time away. For the first time in over a decade, we turned off our works phones which speaks volumes on how much fun we had. Annie and Christina were godsends and really helped us if we needed anything.  When we first landed, our transfer didn’t turn up however I messaged Annie and quickly managed to figure out what we needed to do. 

The only thing which M was upset about (and by no means this isn’t a criticism), was that she wanted to do some pottery. We hadn’t specifically booked this and I had stupidly shown her some photos on Stubborn Mules Facebook website of another family doing it in Greece so she thought she would be doing it.  Must ensure we include it on another holiday in the future.  The cookery course made up for it.

All the hotels were great, it was nice to have separate rooms in some of the hotels.  The guides were really friendly and made it a trip to remember, particularly in Naxos. The kayaking team were so patient with me as they realised I feared the open sea. In addition to that, George who gave us a tour of the island was really lovely with the children. 

Hope this brings a smile to your face.

The cycling was much more fun than I had anticipated – thoroughly recommended. Plus I hadn’t realised that the cookery session started with a decent walk up the most beautiful gorge on the island.  It was a proper walk – 2 hours – absolutely beautiful but completely unexpected!  Would have loved to have done the full walk!

The food trip in Athens was a definite highlight – and it was great that we did it at the beginning of the holiday as it gave us a great intro to Greek food so we were ready for eating out. It was also a good tour of the city and covered the key highlights with history.

We didn’t like Santorini – almost a glorified shopping mall – too busy and too little space.  Glad we went to have seen it, but won’t be going back.

Amorgos was our collective favourite place – really relaxed and lovely – could have stayed longer. The hotel rooms were the nicest. The location of our hotel here could not have been better.  The hotel in Santorini was also lovely and was unusual in having a decent-sized pool – many of the others have glorified bathtubs! 

Both Annie and Cristina stayed in touch and quickly answered any questions.  All the guides and some taxi drivers (especially the first one – Bill) were really friendly and helpful.

Thanks again for all your help – it was a really lovely trip and all the effort in advance meant it was very smooth, relaxed, and enjoyable.

We certainly would not like to be there later in the year with heat and crowds to contend with. It’s definitely an April place although we were surprised by, and unprepared for, the cold.  We didn’t have adequate clothing and it was impossible to purchase anything as the numerous shops were stuffed full of thin, floaty numbers which were not what we needed. We also loved the walks but were not prepared for how challenging they were and, again, had failed to take walking boots, thinking that good quality trainers would suffice.  pathetic really – and we call ourselves walkers!

The boutique hotel was wonderfully “typical” and the staff very friendly and eager to deal with our strange English ways, such as sort of expecting that somebody would be in evidence at 8.30 in the morning…  When breakfast eventually came, it came in massive, and delicious waves and I’m not sure how we managed to get up from the table afterwards.  The bathroom was fairly basic and the bedroom simple but fine and we did enjoy the experience of being right in the heart of the old town. On the last day we were driven along the “old road” and saw the endlessly spreading hotels and apartments and were very glad that you had spared us those!  

We had a glorious coastal, flower-bedecked drive to Knossos with a couple of excellent stops en route (Giorgios, our permanent driver when Melita wasn’t with us, was very pleasant indeed and chose just the sort of places we like).  Knossos itself was OK although we had nothing but praise for our extremely well-informed guide – perfect English again.  We were extremely disappointed that the wretched museum in Heraklion was closed (or rather chose to close earlier on the day we were there with nothing but a piece of paper stuck to the wall to inform people of this time alteration) so we didn’t see all the artifacts etc from the site.  

Thank heavens Knossos itself was only gently heaving – our guide said that one could queue for the Throne Room for 40 minutes in the summer – and the Crown Jewels it sure ain’t!!  Getting on for 60 years ago A and a couple of University chums had been there more or less alone and had not only SAT on the throne (!!!) but had also been allowed to wander through the Labyrinth – that’s now verboten in case of panic underground in an earthquake… So it was quite difficult to get much atmosphere for a 13-year-old.  

Said young teenager really had a good time but not of the late-night and disco variety which (so far) isn’t her thing anyway. She has a great sense of direction and loved guiding us through all the narrow streets – and also giving a supportive hand to her Grandmother over the watery rocks and crevasses of the walks. She also developed a real taste for olive oil which I was really surprised at.  It was a really good place to take her.  

So, full marks again.  We shall never forget those endless orange trees, the olive trees, the views, the White Mountains, the seascapes, the little churches, the goats, the sheep, the birds, the food.

So thank you for organising two such excellent holidays for us.

Finally, I would mention how great and warm the people we met were to us.

Athens was really fun. We just loved exploring Plaka which was so colourful with all the flowers everywhere. It was hot so we didn’t see masses and had to have frequent drink stops but it was great and we were so pleased that we had decided to include a couple of nights here.

We’ll be going back next year but will find it very difficult to decide whether to go back to Naxos or try somewhere else. We’ll be in touch!