Kos Family Holiday

Nick Webster on 10 September 2016
For our family holiday in 2016 we decided to visit the island of Kos in Greece. Did you know that there are 6000 islands or islets that are scattered around the Greek coast, 227 of them are inhabited?

This were our first visit to a Greek Island and we were not disappointed. Having three children of ages 3, 6 and 8 the only requirements from them were a waterslide and a hotel on an all-inclusive basis. The Aegean Sea View Resort in Psalidi ticked all the boxes.

Arriving into Kos airport I was surprised by how small it was for such a popular destination, many flights were arriving in from the UK but also the Netherlands as well. We arrived smoothly through immigration and collected our luggage and had departed the arrivals hall all within around 25 minutes.

We had booked a shuttle transfer to the hotel and this took around one hour after a few drop offs on route. We arrived at the Aegean Sea View Resort just after midnight. We were greeted at the reception and were in our room within five minutes of arriving. Reception guided us to the bar where drinks were available for us late arrivals.

Our room was a family suite, sometimes it can be very hard to find a room with three children but this was not a problem. The family suite had one large bedroom upstairs where all three children slept and downstairs there were a double bedroom with a small lounge area accompanied by a sofa. As parents it were great that the kids had their own little space to explore upstairs and also meant we could have some peace and quiet throughout the holiday if needed!

The room was located in a little complex of similar rooms around a small pool, one of many pools at this hotel, so within 20 yards of our terrace we could be in the pool. Ideal if you have kids and don't want to travel far for them to have a splash. This pool was mainly frequented by guests who had a room next to it but other guests could use it. Naturally the guests around this pool also had children so it had a good feel to it and you didn't feel bad if the kids were making too much noise.

As mentioned there were lots of pools around the hotel but the Aquapark on the top level of the hotel was something else. Inflatables and slides for the kids to play with whilst a lifeguard was on duty. The view of the Aegean Sea with Turkey in the background was spectacular, more so in the evening.

A pretty much relaxing break but we ventured into Kos during the day to visit the beach. The hotel offered a shuttle bus which were ideal and this only took around 10 minutes. It would not be possible to walk to the beach from the hotel as it were located in the mountains. We also got a taxi into Kos town in the evening and this cost 9EUR which I thought were reasonable. We did lots of shopping at night as the heat had died down and it was lively suited for families at this time.

We were undecided on which boat trip to take. There were plenty around at the harbour including trips to some small islands or a day shopping in Bodrum etc. We decided to book onto the Katerina three island cruise on the well named Pirate Ship. It even had a water slide! We left the harbour at 10am and returned around 1730 so a full day. You get to visit three islands including Kalimnos which were the first stop. We stayed here for around 1.5 hours and visited the sponge factory and also had lunch at a restaurant which was provided in the price, minus the drinks. After that we headed to a remote island for an hour or so where you could snorkel and jump off the boat into a good depth of water. My two boys 6 and 8 loved jumping from the boat's edge even if I were a little nervous! The waterslide was also a good feature on the side of the boat and all the kids loved that. The final island we went to were on a nice sandy beach where you could swim and snorkel in shallow waters. We stayed here for around 1.5 hours before heading home on a lively boat full of Greek music and dancing alongside guests using their own mobile phones for music. We had a truly unforgettable day and would definitely recommend the three island tour, cost for the five of us were €55 which as mentioned included lunch.

All in all a fantastic trip. Would we return? Yes without doubt. Very impressed with the food at the hotel who source much of it from the farm they have on site. The BBQ nights and the burgers cooked on the BBQ were to die for! The staff were also very friendly, in particular the bar staff who were lively and chatty.

Happy kids = Happy parents.