Adventurous, independent travelers loving nature and unique experiences? Yes, you might think that sounds more like us, but this time we did a completely different kind of holiday! Since we had our hands full with our newly born daughter, our tantrum throwing toddler and all the daily work, we were looking for time to unwind, beach, sun, good food and entertainment for our kids.
We chose to go with a beach holiday at a 5* family resort – the right decision at the right time!
In the following post, you can read more about our time in Greece, the resort, the natural surrounding, our excursions, our day trip to Thessaloniki and how it all worked out with our little ones. As little extra, we reveal the budget - how much did we pay?
Nice beach, but a little bit cold on the first day
When and how long
7 days at the end of September
Infinity pool early in the morning
Where
Chalkidiki is a peninsula in Northern Greece, a 60 minute drive away from Thessaloniki, where the nearest international airport is located. As you can see on the map, it resembles a hand with three fingers (Who has a hand with three fingers?). We stayed on the most Western finger, which is an incredibly beautiful region, but also the most touristic developed area.
Chalkidiki map - the resort is located where the Danish 5-krone coin points
Weather
If you are lucky, the thermometer raises up to 27 °C with 9 hours of sunshine during the day in September in Chalkidiki. Thus, agreeable late summer weather – not too warm, but still warm enough for a great time at the beach or pool. However, we have been a little more unlucky. The sun was a rare sight during our stay and mornings and evenings could get quite chilly, so that I (certainly, my always-warm husband did not need them) tend to bring a warm pullover or jacket with me. The positive side of this was that we did not have to worry too much about our kids’ sun exposure and the weather was perfect for small excursions and outdoor sports.
The right temperatures for an excursion to Thessaloniki
Beach
Beautiful, fine sand with small colorful stones and shells, turquoise crystal-clear water and in between the beaches pine trees and high cliffs – that’s my dream of a perfect Greek beach and it came true. Our beach was simply picturesque just as the whole region of Chalkidiki is known for its beautiful beaches. Our son was driving with his toy cars though the sandy race tracks around the sandcastle or collecting flotsam and jetsam while our daughter was hiding in the shade.
Every day we have been swimming in the sea - the first second it felt cold, but then it became heavenly warm
Accommodation
Sani Resort is part of a family-owned ecological reserve offering luxury holidays for families and comprises six individual hotels. We stayed at Sani Beach Club, which has been awarded by TripAdvisor to be one of the Top 10 Hotels for Families in the Word.
Our room had good space for the four of us including a nice terrace. The hotel provided us with a baby travel cot and a high chair for the room, but I would not have expected anything less. We liked in particular the king size bed, which was almost as comfortable as our bed at home and the bottle of red wine which waited for us when we arrived. To all other parents with short nights and coffee addiction I have to mention the Nespresso with daily free capsule refill! Overall, the room’s furniture could need an upgrade, but otherwise it was spotless clean.
The resort also offers larger apartments with their own infinity pools, which were renovated recently. If you are planning to stay there soon, I recommend you to have a look at these.
The most important asset of a resort is the service they provide to the guests, which was in our opinion clearly living up to the 5* rating. The staff at Sani Resort was always kind and very child oriented - if your baby needs anything, they will do their utmost to organize it. One day, our baby girl was throwing up so that the fresh bedlinen were all soaked in milk, but we made one call and the sheets were changed within 10 minutes.
Overall, we had a splendid experience at the resort as they created the perfect setting for us to relax and spend quality time as a family.
Extra tip 1: During the off-season, which starts end of September, prices at Sani Beach Club are more than 30% lower than during the high-season. Guess what? Our first day of holiday was the first day of the off-season.
Breakfast time with a view
Map of the resort including 6 hotels, 22 restaurants and a marina
At the marina, you find both luxury yachts (this one here in the picture is one of the smaller versions) as well as old, rusty fishing boats
Food
Everything you can wish for and much more. Which means that I gained at least 1 kg during our stay… The restaurants of the hotel did a first class job in offering local Greek dishes, that are fresh and delicious, paired with simple food that every kids loves.
Going to a restaurant with a toddler can be quite a challenge if you want to avoid food flying all over and under the table, especially when it is a 5* experience. However, at this place, the staff loves children and they were literally crawling under the table to clean up the leftovers from our toddle – always with a kind smile on their face. That’s what I call child-friendly!
At the resort, we could choose between 22 restaurants, but as most of them opened at 19:00 we chose to stick to the ones that were located close to our room. Southern Europeans seem to eat dinner later than we do - we already eat between 17:00-18:00 due to our always-hungry toddler – so if you are travelling south keep in mind that you might have to adjust your and your kids’ rhythm. An extra tip from us: at least with two kids in tow, we must say that a buffet restaurant is much more flexible and easier to handle than one with a 3-course menu.
Happiness is... an omelette breakfast
Being active
As a counterbalance to all the relaxing time at the beach and the good food, we joined some activities offered by the hotel. We have been doing SUP – Stand Up Paddling. My husband has been running a nice track through the pine forest along the cliffs, while I was more into Pilates. Every day, there was the possibility to get an introduction to archery. Whoop whoop, I hit the center circle at least once!
With kids in tow, we couldn’t try everything from their fitness and activities program – even yoga on the paddleboard was on the schedule as well as TRX, aqua fit, snorkeling, a wide range of water sports, tennis or beach volleyball. Maybe next time!
I brought my baby girl to the yoga class
Activities for kids
The best entertainment for kids are other kids to play with. At this resort, there were kids basically everywhere, which was fantastic for our toddler. However, apart from the heated baby pool and the large playground, which we used several times, the entertainment possibilities for kids below an age of 4 were limited.
We did not use this, but if you need some quality time to yourself, childcare specialists can look after your baby as young as 4 months old.
Day trip to Thessaloniki
The second day of our holiday was somewhat rainy, so we decided spontaneously to rent a car and head off to Thessaloniki. It is about an hour drive and it seemed perfect for a cultural excursion. By walking around the centre we could already see many impressive places and get a first impression of this lovely city. Not at least Thessaloniki is known for its vibrant street art and wild cats – surely, our toddler felt in love with it.
Here is what we did:
Walking by the Monument of Alexander the Great
Listening to music along the promenade
Visiting the White Tower of Thessaloniki – 4 EUR per person, kids free. Walking up the stairs was hard with the kids in the carrier, but we were rewarded with an awesome view
Lunch at a Greek Italian inspired restaurant next to the White Tower
Walking up to the Rotonda, a Roman Temple
Stopping at the Arch of Galerius and other impressive excavation sites
A little bit of shopping… including buying organic Greek honey
There was so much more to see and do, such as visiting Ladadika district, but with kids, it is clearly more fun to travel slowly.
Extra tip 2: You can save you up to 30% on the car rental by making a reservation online from home. The local prices came as a surprise to us after we had checked online in advance.
The White Tower in Thessaloniki
Greek coffee in Thessaloniki
Excursions
The nature around Sani is spectacular. North of the resort is a 272-acre expanse of land, which is home to over 200 species of birds, many of them rare and endangered. We have been hiking through the wetlands and the bird sanctuary with our kids in the carriers on a cloudy afternoon and enjoyed the wild nature. Even though we had a map, we got lost at some point, while at the same time big clouds with rain were coming closer. Our toddler got bored; our daughter hungry. We had to return with a power hike quickly, but otherwise, we would have loved to spend more time there. A picnic, finding a peaceful, lonely beach or visiting the beehives – there was so much more to experience.
Not just the shore, but also the sea has fantastic views. When the hotel offered a complementary cruise to the South tip of Kassandra, we could not refuse and joined in. Unfortunately, the cruise was scheduled at after-lunch-kids-napping time, which wasn’t ideal for our toddler who tried to sleep on the floor of the main deck, but the views of the coast, the sea breeze in the hair and the sounds of the waves, made this an unforgettable cruise.
If you are more into biking, bird watching or farm visits, please be aware that the resort offers much more than was you can fit in a 7 day holiday; and many adventures are free of charge.
An easy walk along the high cliffs
Beehives in the ecological reserve
See who we met on our hike
Budget
Last but not least, that’s what we paid.
Accommodation: 224 EUR/day
Additional costs – drinks for dinner, lunch snacks and diapers: 100 EUR
Extra tip 3: We bought some fruit and diapers at Lidl on our daytrip to Thessaloniki, which was much cheaper than at the overpriced mini market in the hotel.
Flight: 350 EUR (2 adults, 1 toddler, 1 baby)
Extra tip 4: When booking the stay via the webpage of the resort instead via an agent, the airport transfer is included in the price. The airport transfer or a taxi would otherwise costs around 100 EUR one way.
Day trip to Thessaloniki (65 EUR car rental + parking 8 EUR + lunch & shopping 40 EUR + entrance to the White tower 4 EUR)
Total cost for 7 days: 2,135 EUR
Last but not least - the sunsets were beautiful
The right holiday at the right time
The main purpose of this holiday was to relax, while spending quality time as a family. Being far away from all the daily work and duties helps to find the inner balance again and to focus on the most important things in life. If you are looking for a relaxing holiday with your family, this is without doubt a great location.
While we all enjoyed these 7 days in Greece a lot and found it truly relaxing, we both agreed on our flight home that our next holiday will be again more adventurous.
I hope you enjoyed reading this blog post. What is your holiday experience with smaller kids? Have you been to Greece or do you plan to travel there soon? Have you done a similar resort holiday before? Let me know - I would love to hear from you.
I have not received any compensation or rewards for any of the locations or activities mentioned in this post.
All recommendations are based on my own experience.
Comments