Chilling in Chalkida, Greece

After some steamy days in Athens it was nice to get to the beach. We took the one and a half hour air conditioned train to stay with some friends who kindly invited us to their family home in Chalkida, (also called Chalcis or Halkida – I told you Greek is a difficult language :). It is the main city of the island of Euboea or more commonly known as Evia. This island is a popular area for Athenians to go for weekend and has mostly Greek clientele.

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Chalkida has lots of decent beaches so the first thing we did was go to Jumbo, a massive store that sells every kind of toy or beach need imaginable. I actually loved it for some house furnishings too. The kids got kitted out with towels and floating armbands. They were in heaven and we left with a car full of holiday goods (And me £80 poorer).

It came in super handy to kit the kids out as and we spent most of our time at the village of Drosia, on Alykes beach, frolicking in the sand or in the sea. This is one the best spots in the area and the kids were armed with floaty unicorn blow up inner tubes and arm bands for the sea. I had burnt my arm on some boiling water and couldn’t swim properly. When the sea was calm, which was most the time, I could go for a walk up to my waist and enjoy the beach music from the local bars while paddling around.

After a couple of days of enjoying Drosia our friend suggested we mix it up a bit and go to Zefyros in Artaki. This place was completely focused on relaxation and has superb sun loungers and nature around it. The beach was more shallow and rocky so you needed underwater shoes to get out to the better swimming areas. For this reason the kids cut their feet and the overall experience was better at Drosia. At Drosia while there is little town planning, the selection of beach venues and nice sand makes up for any downsides. Both beaches require a car to get to so aren’t easily accessible on pubic transport.

We decided on our fourth day to leave Chalkida outskirts and go to downtown Chalkida. This is the first place you find when you arrive at the train station from Athens. It is a clean and pleasant city centre with a well planned water front and pedestrian walk way. The first place I experienced there was Mostar Altercafe. My mobile roaming wasn’t working so I came out from the station and enjoyed an amazing Freddo cafe and good wifi there. Another time I grabbed a bite to eat and a cocktail in the evening and it was really happening. They even have a DJ in the day time and great views.

Because the area is mainly for Greeks enjoying themselves in the summer it’s an excellent place for a cultural immersion. It seems the Greeks love Ibiza-type music (or should I say a Mykonos vibe) even in the daytime and have similar food in most venues. I never get tired of Greek food, however.

Don’t expect to be able to read a single word anywhere or understand anything the Greeks say. The phrase “It’s all Greek to me” sticks in my mind but at least menus tend to have an English translation. Also don’t expect train timetables to be the same as they are online either!

Chalkida Water Park

Regardless of sightseeing in the area every holiday has got to include an obligatory stop at a water park. Our friend took us to Blue Terra Evia Eretria. This place was clean and had good water slides for younger kids plus a nice swimming pool. For kids over 1.2 m high there was a larger water park but our kids were too small for that. It wasn’t a problem as they really enjoyed the younger kiddo side. They swam and played there for hours and there’s a snack bar for lunch, serving the typical fast stuff, ice cream burgers and fries.

The water park was worth the €15 per person entrance fee. Kids are not free to enter the water park so I spent €30 for our entry and another €30 on food and drinks (there is a wide selection of beer and cocktails onsite). It would have been hard to find the water park if I was not with our friend from Chalkida who drove us there. There are taxis and car rental places as you really can’t get around most places otherwise.. and you need a very good GPS.

That night we went to a local taverna in Chalkida on the water called Delphinia. Every taverna or restaurant has a host of stray cats and dogs, we really enjoy this because we don’t have a pet at home. My daughter likes to feed them so we put the left overs on the floor most nights. We actually spent a whole afternoon with a two kilo bag of dry food walking around feeding cats and that was a good day out for us.

The next day we spent a long afternoon on the waterfront feeding geese also and they have an actual house built for the ducks and geese on the water.

Coco Beach House

Our last day we took a longer drive to Coco Beach House. This was my favourite venue of all, on a remote location off a nice private beach with a great swimming pool. While it was more pricey it was worth it as the kids loved the pool and I loved the beach beds next to it covered by straw thatched roofs.

Again they played Ibiza style music and eventually the manager came over to tell us that the kids should be less noisy but it didn’t put me off the venue. It was more expensive than the places we ate in Chalkida and Drosia but a nice treat nonetheless as the nature made it feel like a real escape.

All in all it was a great summer destination for the kids and the parents and we are most thankful to have had this summer experience there!