You will certainly receive lots of replies to this one!
I'll start because I'm the only one still up at this time of night.

1. Symi. Quiet, very relaxed. Good tavernas and bars. The Bus (only one). Beautiful harbour. Best restaurant in Greece. Boat trips. Good, small hotels and apartments.
2. Paxos. Still relaxed. Good walking, though a bit hilly. Excellent bus service. Good food.
3. Parga. See Parga page on this site.
4. Thassos. See lots of reports on this site. Excellent archaeology.
I can carry on if you wish.

So many places!

Crete - Myrtos - proper village, lovely people, great local wine.

I agree on Paxos and Symi as well - but be aware the restaurants in both are a higher standard (and therefore higher prices than elsewhere).

If you wouldn't mind travelling independently, there are so many more little gems out there!

Skiathos,

Small island. Brilliant bus service and no need to hire a car as there is one main road which runs the length of the island and the buses run from approx 7am - 1am every 20 mins or so. Also in excess of 60 beaches

Have a look at Crete. Stalis is fine, but others will say Aghios Nik or Elounda.
It all depends on what you want in the way of accommodation. We're the same age group as yourselves and have been spoilt in the last few years by going 4 or 5* All Inc, but have never felt trapped.

Parky

Skiathos, good bus only one main road. Stay in town we do and bus or water taxi from the harbour to one of the many beaches. Mainland Greece. Stoupa, first time in June, second time in October same year. This is ideal if you just need a quiet holiday in the resort. Skopelos, into Skiathos, then ferry over, loverly by the harbour on an evening in town, all the locals out.

We've tried a split holiday in Skopelos and Alonissos which was great fun and peaceful as well as a couple of weeks in Skiathos which was OK, especially if you like beaches (which I don't particularly). Very good for young families and an excellent bus services, as Myrada says.
Crikey, I'm getting to know this country. Time to write my book!

You're spoilt for choice. I won't start recommending - we've been to KOs, Zante, Corfu and Santorini and loved them all. I suggest you traipse through all the resort reports first to see what takes your fancy. Then it's a case of narrowing them down and taking up further suggestions from fellow members.

This is the best part of booking a holiday for me. All the anticipation and research. The trouble is I've already booked this year's holiday last summer so haven't got that to do for a while again. I will start all over again for 2008 soon. My husband thinks I'm mad - but I just love it!

I agree with Shirley. Do lots of research, best on the internet. It is a big part in deciding exactly what is for you. There are so many places to choose from. How quiet do you want it? How touristy?Do you want public transport at hand?
I have written lots of reports on our Greek hols on Virtual Tourist.
(This site doesn't allow me to copy links) look up Virtual Tourist, put in member nickandchris and go to my travel pages.

Hi mrabulldog

As the others have said take a look over the web and maybe join a few forums like this to ask questions when you have narrowed it down, then read the reviews of the places you'd like to stay. Good place to start is http://www.clearspray.co.uk as it's run by and it's members are of your age group.

Try Molivos Lesvos, its a place without the noisy young crowd ( drunken Brits ) hence its also without Karaoke bars, English Sunday roast etc.
But if you are looking for a place that is still working Greek village with a good choice of authentic Greek restaurants, friendly bars, live Greek music and tavernas.
Everything is within the confines of the village, if you pick a hotel thats central you never even need to use a taxi.
Has loads of return visitors every year, but has limited number of English tour companies through which you can book, thats why its not over run.
Only drawback is that it doesn't have sandy beaches.

have a look at

agios nikitas on lefkas
really nice village now with a number of small apartment blocks right next to a couple of spectacular beaches. several good tavernas and a couple of very low key bars.

loggos, gaios or lakka on paxos (see paxos.foi.org.uk for more info)
can't go wrong with any of these, they are all your quintessentail tiny greek harbours - beautiful, good food, numerous coves within walking distance

kapsali on kythira
bit more difficult to get to as you have to fly out via athens but absolutely spectacular location, a twin horeshoe bay with a huge cliff towering six hundred fett above one side, capped with a venetian fortress. very cosmopolitain, favoured by greek and italian tourists. seven or eight very good tavernas and a couple of low key bars, beach on your doorstep.

katelios, lourdas or agia efimia on kefalonia (see kefalonia.foi.org.uk for more info)
assos is really the most beautiful spot on kefalonia but it doesnt have much of a beach so a car is a bit of a must. all these places are very pleasant though with everything you need at your doorstep. quiet, traditional greek places.

these are some of the nicest places in the ionian islands that you could easily stay without a car, that are quiet and have a good greek feel to them

hope this helps

I agree with Skiathos. Brilliant - no better island !! but stay close to either Skiathos Town or Koukenaries because if you dont want to hire a car, the bus service is excellent but you will never get on it anywhere in between during June-August - they get so packed they just drive past the queues of people and you end up walking !! But the island is a must !

Well, the only part of Greece I have been to is Kos Town by myself with My 12year old son and 12year old nephew 5years ago - the place was wonderful. The people so friendly, the area steeped in history and yet so contemporary and cosmopolitan.

I am going back and taking hubby with me in May and can't wait, I just hope he enjoys it as much as I know I will! Kos has something for everyone, but as stated before the best thing is to read the resorts and try to narrow down what suits you best.

Good hunting.

JoJo.

hi all,this will be our first ever time to greece,off 3weeks tomorrow to halkidiki.
done the spain,canaries and 3 times to turkey which we loved,have always gone in a gang ranging from teens to 60 year olds.we are mid fortys and hoping on our own for the first time ever we will be able to relax and enjoy greece.bit apprehensive though about greece.
any hints and tips on what to expect would be nice from you all,bit worried wether the sun will be out much though!!

cheers all

karen

we go to Kos the first week of the season [only 14 days to go] we usualy have warm enough weather to walk around in lightweight summer clothes, although the evenings can feel a little nippy, last year there were many families who spent most of their days sun bathing around the pool, and we did get a half days rain which was late afternoon and into the night

wizard

Hiya, law of averages says you should have some really nice weather in Greece. We went on 5th May last year. We had 1 day when we had rain showers on and off for a couple of hours but for the rest of the week we were sunbathing around the pool from about 11.am until about 4.oopm. It was a little cooler first thing in the mornings and after about 8.30pm. I wore summer clothes in the evenings with a light cardi for later on. Enjoy! Greece is fantastic.

Hi laingy
Just a few little things you may not know about Greece.
1. you cannot put toilet paper down the loo, it has to be put in a bin. The toilets are usually very clean.
2. Self catering does not mean you get a full cooker. It's usually 2 cooking rings and that's it.
3. Nothing is finished i.e. footpaths if they exist at all.
4. The Greeks are really friendly.
5. The food is superb, try gyros pitta at lunch time, stifado (beef/onion stew), kleftico (lamb baked in oven), souvlaki (skewers of Barbequed meat), not to mention the pastries and desserts.
5. Greece is brilliant.
Just take it as it comes, have a sense of humour and enjoy!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yiamass (cheers) Jean

thanks all for the info,sounds a bit like turkey,lovely people,toilet paper not in loo etc.bit bothered about none existin footpaths when ive had a few,well i should say hubby might be bit bothered,hehehe,getting me back to hotel,struggles on proper pavements with me,lol.
anyway we do love to eat out so looking forward to the lovely food,i must say though we dont like the breakfasts anywhere really even when its say full english,so i normally take a small cooler bag with a load of bacon and sausage in,mmmm lovely and hubby serves me well,hehe.but i dont no wether we,ll be able to take anything like that out of this country and into greece.what are your thoughts on that??
thanks again
karen

One word .... Parga!
http://www.parga.com for info