Travelling the long way round to a Greek island with a whistle-stop
tour of Athens thrown in for good measure might seem a bit crazy with
a little one in tow, but if like my husband and I you have a love of
independent travel, then it's a great way to enjoy a slice of this vast
and varied country.
Pre-planning!
While our one-year-old daughter, Isabella, is at an age
where school isn't an issue we opted to travel out of season via Athens
to Glossa, a traditional Greek village on the island of Skopelos. In
late April the daytime weather is warm enough for t-shirts but not unbearably
hot, tavernas are quieter leaving your children free to run around with
the local kids or as often happens here, be looked after by the proprietor,
you have the beaches to yourself, even if it's a little too cold to
swim and most importantly you get to experience the true culture of
this traditional island. Of course, although our already well-travelled
daughter didn't bat an eyelid at this trip, for us negotiating 18 hours
travel by car, plane, train, bus and boat took a little bit of pre-planning!
Planning
When you choose to head to Skopelos you can take the easy
option of going in season, which means a charter flight to the neighbouring
island of Skiathos followed by a short boat-ride. For us we opted to
go out of season, which meant the longer more varied itinerary via Athens.
We were a little daunted about how Isabella would cope with an early
morning Gatwick flight to Athens, a metro from the airport to the centre,
a 3 hour bus ride from there to the port of Aghios Constantinos and
finally a 3 hour boat ride from there to Skopelos, but we decided what
the hell and went for it anyway!
On such a long trip the main thing we were worried about
was keeping Isabella entertained. A bored, restricted one-year-old can
and will scream the plane, bus, train or boat down relentlessly if they
feel like it and for us, we know that this is much more likely to happen
if Isabella is tired! With this in mind and with our Easyjet flight
like the budgie - cheap - and therefore with the unsociable departure
time of 6am, we opted for a very reasonably priced hotel room at Gatwick
airport so we could all get a good sleep before departure.
Packing
Much as we all seem to edge away from being like our mothers,
I'm not ashamed to say that the single most important trait I have taken
from mine is lists! When you travel with a baby a list is essential.
Although some unnecessary item always makes it into your luggage trust
me, there will be less than if you packed with carefree abandon!
For a week in Greece in April you will need to pack for
your baby:
- A small selection of light dresses, shorts and t-shirt as well
as a cagool, a really warm layered outfit, which should be worn
on the plane, a second warm jumper/jacket/trousers and a couple
of sleep suits. Work out how many outfits you can realistically
hand-wash and get dry, to limit the amount you pack.
- Small selection of toys to keep baby happy, absorbed and comforted.
Once there they will have far more interesting things to play with
like pebbles on the beach … hours of pleasure!
- Don't fill your bag with nappies; remember, there are babies the
world over! If you can't live without a certain brand airlines will
take a packet on the plane for you so no need to pack.
- We take Isabella's blanket and teddy with us on the plane to save
on packing.
- Our Samsonite pop-up cot is Isabella's home-from-home. We strap
it to our Mountain Buggy (essential for Skopelos terrain and to
double-up as a sleeping place) so that you get away with loading
them both into the hold! Normally you are limited to one cot or
one buggy.
- Basic First Aid kit to include Calpol, insect repellent, plasters,
antiseptic cream, sun lotion.
- Bottles, formula and sterilising tablets if you are bottle-feeding.
- If you are going in season when it is much warmer a collapsable
sun tent is ideal for the beach.
We managed this trip with one large back-pack, 2 hand-luggage rucksacks
and a buggy with cot.
Getting there
Whenever
we travel we always carry a diddy rucksack filled with Isabella's favourite
items. In addition we take little boxes of sultanas as they are healthy
and picking them out of the box keeps her content for quite some time;
I get my husband to do the first few nappy changes afterwards though!
When she was smaller we took ready-made formula cartons; perfect to
decant when necessary. Bananas, baby biscuits and plenty of water were
essential for this long trip.
Extra space on a plane is a godsend so we headed straight
to the back row where we waved Isabella around as passengers boarded
and low and behold we were left alone and she was left with more space
to play and sleep! I guess luck might have had something to do with
the fact that she slept on most moving parts of this journey, but we
did try to hang out her usual nap times for as long as possible to encourage
this.
When
we arrived in Athens we took the metro (which makes a great 'monkey-bar'
playground!) into the centre to pick up our bus tickets and enjoyed
several hours wait soaking up the sun and people-watching in a local
park. The bus journey went without a hitch; she slept for most of it
while we enjoyed the scenery and when she did start to get fractious
a lovely Greek lady entertained her. The great thing about the Greeks
is that they LOVE children and are hugely accommodating to their being
present in most situations.
The bus links up with boat departures at the port of
Aghios Constantinos and Isabella travelled free. Once again Greeks came
to the rescue and passed her around when she became fed up! By the time
we arrived on Skopelos she was exhausted from socialising and went straight
to sleep.
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