GREEK DELIGHTS

This mainland region of Halkidiki in Northern Greece is the perfect location for a family holiday away from the 'madding crowds'. The unmistakable three pronged peninsular of Halkidiki juts out and pierces the warm, clear waters of the north-east Aegean sea, is still one of Greece's best kept secrets. The area is unspoilt and rarely crowded, it has 300 miles of fabulous coastline with clean sea and safe beaches, fringed with pungent pine covered hills and endless terracotta roofed villages. Halkidiki is described as "Greece's secret paradise" with only about 3 per cent of the region being developed. There are no concrete jungles sprawling along the coastline and no major rivers or industry to cause pollution.

Tourism is relatively new in Halkidiki, mainly because access to the region was formerly difficult due to poor roads. Today however, most Halkidiki resorts are reached via a 90-minute road journey from the city of Thessaloniki, the capital of Macedonia and second largest city of Greece. Known as 'The Queen of the North', located next to Halkidiki in the heart of Macedonia, Thessaloniki is a thriving city and an ideal gateway. It's a beautiful city with 2,300 years of history; it's ancient market, Byzantine walls and churches, museums, the old city, luxurious stores and traditional shops, tavernas and ouzo bars, provide something to interest the whole family.

The main tourism area of Halkidiki is on Kassandra, the westernmost finger, which has many excellent hotels with wonderful private beaches. Tourism is mainly concentrated on the eastern coast and around 40% of the holidaymakers are Greek. It makes for a very lively season during weekends and main holiday periods April till October, with a real Greek atmosphere, but the beaches in particular are relatively quiet during other periods, especially on weekdays. During the high season the busiest nightlife centre is Kallithea, a village with a good range of discos, bars and tavernas and there are incredible scenes of Saturday-night traffic jams that can last until 2am. Elsewhere, nightlife is more subdued and most hotels feature in-house discos and entertainment programmes if that's what you're looking for.

On the middle peninsula, Sithonia, Porto Carras offers the most expensive and exclusive tourism in the area. Sithonia features a wildly twisting coastline with small coves and sandy bays overlooked by pine forested hills. Close to Porto Carras is the fishing village, marina and resort of Neos Marmaras, with charming streets and houses around the harbour.

The most dramatic finger of all is the Athos peninsula and the towering Mount Athos - the Holy Mountain of the monks. Amazingly, due to an edict dating from 1060, women are not allowed to visit the monastic state and even female animals are forbidden on the Holy Mountain. Many famous people have made a retreat to the Orthodox monastic enclave of Mount Athos, including Russian president Vladimir Putin, Prince Charles, Rasputin, Edward Lear, and innumerable Byzantine ex-emperors. There is much conjecture over what is it that unites these men in their desire to visit the Holy Mountain; could it be the peace, the beauty, the icons, is it the chance to meet some interesting hermits, or perhaps it's because Mount Athos is the world's only country (and the peninsula of Athos is virtually an independent country, complete with strict border controls) where you are guaranteed not to meet any women!!

Orthodox monks can often be seen in the pretty port of Ouranopolis, a largely unspoiled fishing village that acts as the gateway to the restricted part of the peninsular and whose name translates as the "Gateway to Heaven". Boat trips from the port provide the ideal way for the whole family to see some of the twenty monasteries that cling to the rugged coastline of the peninsula like fairy tale palaces. At the extreme tip you get a clear view of Mount Athos mountain rising like a great pyramid from the sea, 6500 feet high. About 2,000 monks live on the mountain and because of the ban on women, cruise boats are forbidden to approach closer than 300 yards from the shore. But the incredible architecture of the monasteries, like something out of Tibet, can still be seen and is quite unforgettable. Far removed from industry and large cities, the waters are brilliantly clear with sparkling visibility thirty or forty feet down, the kids will especially enjoy watching a three-dimensional ballet of shoals of fish and looking out for dolphins who enjoy giving a display for the entertainment of boat passengers.

The best time to visit Halkidiki is during the early season when spring flowers are at their best, the sea is just warm enough for swimming and it's cool enough to enjoy walking in the hills. If the kids enjoy walking and exploring there are many excellent routes to choose from, including walks from hotels. I would recommend choosing a waymarked route from the guidebook Halkidiki Walking (David Ramshaw) that has 20 excellent walks with advice on their suitability for children.

Other places of interest for families visiting Halkidiki include the awe-inspiring Petralona Cave. Most kids love being underground and this fascinating cave, located along the western foothills of Mt Katsika, is an ideal place to visit. The cave was first explored in 1959 by Mr Petrocheilos, then president of the Greek Speleological Society, who named it Kokines Petres (Red Rocks). Its 1500m of tunnels are lined with formations of impressive stalactites and stalagmites that form a variety of columns, discs and many other odd shapes and sizes. Interesting aspects include the displays and reconstructions showing examples of human occupation over many hundreds of thousands of years. A human skull found in the cave is an estimated quarter-million years old and scientists have found evidence that man-made fires were lit here around 700,000 years ago.

Halkidiki is an ideal place to spend a quiet, relaxing holiday away from mass tourism and all the hype associated with trendy, often over commercialised resorts. The area is dotted with an abundance of apricot and peach orchards, olive groves, glowing fields of sunflowers, vineyards and beautiful sandy beaches. Bee-hives, mostly painted bright blue, provide excellent honey gathered from brilliant displays of spring flowers, and from aromatic shrubs and pine trees that cloak rocky hillsides. Halkidiki offers all the atmosphere of the Greek islands, with the bonus of easy access to mainland sightseeing. If you have a car there are many pretty villages scattered around the area that will give you a true flavour of traditional life. One such village is Arnea, an ideal place to stop for a coffee and explore narrow streets lined with traditional houses, churches, and shops of popular art. The water from the fountain in the village square flows from the trunk of a plane tree, and the Folklore museum is a fascinating place to visit.

USEFUL INFORMATION

Most hotels along the coasts of Halkidiki have excellent leisure facilities, including children's clubs during the high season. Two hotels I can personally recommend are the Kassandra Palace Hotel, located on the western coast of Kassandra Peninsula, and Eagles Palace Hotel, located near Ouranoupolis. Both are beautifully located and are very child-friendly, they have private beaches, two swimming pools (including a shallow toddlers pool), playground, games room, family rooms and children's clubs.

Contacts details:
www.kassandra-palace.gr
www.eaglespalace.gr

The Halkidiki Hotel Association has a very good website with lots of useful information and a list of over 150 hotels covering the whole area.
www.halkidiki-hotels.gr

For UK visitors, many major tour operators have programmes to Halkidiki, including First Choice offering the Kassandra Palace and Thomson offering the Eagles Palace.

For independent travellers the web-based hotel booking company, Medhotels.com , has eleven Halkidiki hotels including the Kassandra Palace, and can arrange any length of stay and also book flights.
www.medhotels.com

Olympic Airways operate flights from Gatwick
www.olympicairways.com

For tourist information:
Greek National Tourism Organisation
www.gnto.gr

email: info@gowithkids.com