Georgios Makkas
Greece is much more than a big museum with a "do not touch" sign hanging on it. The whole family can splash along the beaches, head to public parks and playgrounds, and explore archaeological sites.
Here are eight destinations across the country where kids and adults alike can have a good time.
Photo Caption: Corinth Canal, Peloponnese, Greece
The beautiful, safe walk through the National Gardens in the center of town leads you down to a small zoo and then to a playground with swings, slides, and a maypole-style ride for bigger kids.
Photo Caption: A family looking into the pond at the National Gardens in Athens, Greece.
It's not that Skiathos doesn't offer plenty of adult pleasures, but the small island is an especially easy place to keep the little ones amused. Young adventurers can take their pick of sandy beaches, float into Spilia Skotini, a spectacular sea cave, and clamor across the ruins of Kastro, a ghost town at the edge of the sea.
Photo Caption: Day-to day life centers on the waterfront of Skiathos Town, Skiathos, Greece.
If you need to drag the young ones kicking and screaming to ancient sites, go for the wow factor. Stop first at the isthmus to watch slips slide through the narrow canal; then take them up to the Acrocorinth, a remarkable ancient fortress that looms 540m (1,772 ft.) above the coastal plain.
Photo Caption: Acrocorinth in Ancient Corinth, Peloponnese, Greece.
The openair railway navigates 14 bridges and tunnels, ascends steep slopes, and glides along the rushing Vouraikos River, providing no end of thrills. The beaches of Diakofto are at one end of the route, the pleasantly cool mountain town of Kalavrita at the other.
Photo Caption: The train from Diakofto to Kalavrita, Greece.
Adventurous children will love exploring these medieval wonders, clambering through deserted palaces and churches in Mystras, and wandering through lanes and squares before climbing to a mountaintop high above Monemvassia.
Photo Caption: Ruins of Mystras, Peloponnese, Greece.
Eerie ruins, pirate legends, beaches, and a boat trip across the Gulf of Mirabello make this little island a hit with young travelers. As the boat passes the nearby islet of Agios Pantes, tell them to keep an eye out for the agrimi, also known as the kri-kri -- a species of long-horned wild goat endemic to Crete.
Photo Caption: Spinalonga has long been a place of refuge, most recently for lepers. Crete, Greece.
At one of the largest and most sophisticated aquariums in Greece, jellyfish, sharks, and other fish and marine life swim through beautiful re-creations of Crete's offshore seascapes. But the slides, tunnels, and pools of the nearby water park will be the real kid pleasers.
Photo Caption: A child looking at the sea life at the Cretaquarium in Crete, Greece.
Here are eight destinations across the country where kids and adults alike can have a good time.
Photo Caption: Corinth Canal, Peloponnese, Greece
Photo Caption: A family looking into the pond at the National Gardens in Athens, Greece.
Photo Caption: Day-to day life centers on the waterfront of Skiathos Town, Skiathos, Greece.
Photo Caption: Acrocorinth in Ancient Corinth, Peloponnese, Greece.
Photo Caption: The train from Diakofto to Kalavrita, Greece.
Photo Caption: Ruins of Mystras, Peloponnese, Greece.
Photo Caption: Spinalonga has long been a place of refuge, most recently for lepers. Crete, Greece.
Photo Caption: A child looking at the sea life at the Cretaquarium in Crete, Greece.