When I was a child, we didn’t do holidays abroad as a family. We went to India just twice in 18 years due to the cost. And India wasn’t a holiday, it was a pilgrimage, mostly spent in family sitting rooms parrying questions about school in faltering Punjabi. So please don’t tell me about your amazing year “doing India” — I never got to do that. I got my cheek pinched and ate biscuits.
We did take three UK holidays, my parents, my brother and I, in modest rented flats in British seaside towns — once in Aberystwyth above a Chinese takeaway where our advertised sea view was from the top of a wardrobe with a telescope. Yet despite the budget accommodation, the inevitable downpours and some crappy away days — the petting zoo housing one psychotic goat and a depressed donkey was a highlight — it is the time spent together I remember most, the memories made over sandy fish and chips.
That is why, after my son was born, I organised our first multigenerational holiday for five families, ranging from four grandparents in their seventies to three under-fives. It was a challenge finding a break that wouldn’t bore the teenagers and is also wheelchair and buggy accessible. I learnt fast: choose a rental with enough bathrooms and garden space to avoid congestion. Parking is essential, as you will be driving someone old or tiny somewhere. A large dining area helps because much of your holiday will revolve around food and board games.
Syal on holiday with her family, including her husband, the actor Sanjeev Bhaskar
Scrap anywhere miles from civilisation. The idea of somewhere remote is lovely until someone needs nappies or antibiotics. Book restaurants in advance — a group that large can’t wander around hoping to find a table — and check you can get a takeaway and groceries delivered to your address. Big house rentals can be pricey, so it’s easier shared between families. What you get is a lifetime of memories that are even more precious now we are down to one remaining beloved grandparent, my mother-in-law.
After the death of my parents, the annual multifamily break lapsed. It was too painful a reminder of who was missing. Then I realised we had the chance to revive a joyful family tradition and celebrate life trundling on. The toddlers were now young adults, baby monitors had been replaced by portable speakers and Snap swapped for competitive poker. We were still a mixed group of random ages. One of us in her mid-eighties, a 30-year-old, two teenagers and two sets of quite tired parents who very much wanted a holiday that could be relaxing.
What you need to know
The perfect spot for a reunion
We chose Simpson Travel’s family-friendly Villa Alessia on the Greek island of Lefkada for a week. It was truly special, perched on a hillside with sweeping views of the Ionian Sea and a sky dotted with paragliders like airborne jellyfish. True, the bumpy single-track road up from the village of Kalamitsi was daunting at first, but the peace, mountain breezes and views were worth it. Our property consisted of two separate adjoining villas, which the teenagers loved, as did we — if you can’t see the wet towels on the floor, they don’t exist — plus self-contained grounds, a large pool, a tennis court and a rooftop hot tub that proved a hit once we had worked out the thermostat.
Villa Alessia has a large pool and a rooftop hot tub
As my mother-in-law has mobility issues, we knew that accessibility on this hilly island could be a challenge. This is where Simpson’s concierge service proved invaluable. Our brilliant concierge, Hazel, organised a wheelchair for our stay and then, like a northern Mary Poppins, she basically sorted our whole week. On request she stocked our fridge with groceries and home-made Greek dishes for when we arrived. She booked all our restaurants — invaluable with a large group during peak season — made exhaustive lists and maps of the best beaches and places to visit and how wheelchair-friendly they were, and even reserved parking spaces where possible. She also organised any activities we fancied. I suspect she would have thrown in a foot massage if we’d asked nicely. This took a lot of planning stress off our shoulders and freed up more time for evening chats in the hot tub, watching the bats glide silently overhead.
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Lefkada is a plane-free island but it’s only an hour’s drive from tiny Preveza airport on the mainland, and accessible via a floating bridge and causeway. It has a sleepy, laid-back feel that we loved. We spent our first two days just chilling at the villa and dining at the village taverna because we had everything we needed. I spent an hour blowing up an inflatable pool volleyball kit, which, despite my head rush afterwards, was worth the effort. We moved from pool to sunloungers to naps indoors and chats outside, often via the fridge, and we had enough space that everyone could slink off and do their own thing when they needed to. Being high up and seeing nothing but the sea, the sky and the mountains does something wonderful for the soul. And the sunsets were spectacular, every night a front-row seat to watch the island become saturated in gold, red and, finally, blue.
Agios Nikitas is just one of Lefkada’s numerous sheltered beaches
ALAMY
We did venture out eventually and, armed with Hazel’s long list of recommendations, discovered some fantastic places. Lefkada is blessed with numerous sheltered coves with great beaches and Agios Nikitas has those picture-postcard turquoise waters and a beach bar with its own small swimming pool. It’s not great for little children, as you need surf shoes for the pebbly shore and the sea gets deep quickly from the shoreline, but it’s gorgeous to swim in. That evening we braved another squeaky-bum car ride higher up the mountain to Karia. We found stunning views, cobbled streets hiding tiny churches, boutique shops selling olive wood carved kitchenware, plus organic skincare products and gourmet-level food at the Crazy Goat, a family-run restaurant in the centre of the shaded village square. We are still talking about its braised mushrooms and homemade panacotta in reverential tones.
Island-hopping in the Ionian
The following day we went island-hopping and, as there are 24 islets just around Lefkada, there’s plenty to explore. Hazel booked us a skippered speedboat with Starboard Charter, with a minibus to and from Lefkada Town, a wise move as parking was always an issue and island taxis are scarce and have to be arranged well in advance. Dimos, our captain, took us to various picturesque coves where some of us snorkelled in the crystal-clear water and others ate the free snacks and took some ill-advised pictures of a swimsuit malfunction (you know who you are). We stopped off for an ice cream on unspoilt Meganisi island and wandered around Vathy harbour, still essentially a pretty fishing village with colourful waterside cafés. On Kalamos island we ate a lazy, delicious lunch at Varka — the fried feta with honey and sesame seeds is a must — surrounded by curious stray cats and endless sparkling sea. It’s a pricey treat, hiring a private charter, but it was the day everyone voted as their favourite (£955 for the day, including snacks, drinks and water sports).
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Vasiliki bay is popular with windsurfers
ALAMY
The last few days we got the vibe of the island. We’d breakfast on fresh fruits and yoghurt, load up the car, wheelchair in boot, and explore. The town of Vasiliki proved such a hit that we went two days in a row. A golden sandy beach with a shallow sheltered bay surrounded by mountains, it’s gorgeous and a centre for water sports, particularly windsurfing. It’s busy but still relaxed, with plenty of places to eat, sunbeds galore (at a price, about £9, but that’s the deal everywhere). My kids even got me on a paddleboard, though I passed on being flung around in an inflatable doughnut. I ate a few of them, though: sold by a guy on the beach, made in his own bakery and possibly the finest doughnuts I have ever eaten.
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Another winning recommendation was the Pinewood restaurant in Nidri, where you are dining feet from the beach and can move from shallow warm sea and sandy beach to sunbed to your food in two minutes (thepinewood.gr). It was also the place where my 88-year-old mum-in-law got fully into the sea for the first time in her life. Like many women of her generation she never had the opportunity to learn to swim, but seeing her joy as she discovered the magic of a dip in the sea was a special moment. I am hoping there will be a blue plaque there one day.
An evening visit to Lefkada Town was a welcome adrenaline shot after our chilled-out week; plenty of tempting shopping, churches galore and a pretty marina and harbour. We dined royally at Thymari restaurant, hidden in one of the many alleyways off the main drag and surrounded by colourful wooden-framed houses with their Venetian-influenced balconies and painted shutters (thymari-lefkada.gr). On our final night we had a private dinner at our villa hosted by three local chefs, including the aptly named Adonis, who served us three mouthwatering courses of local dishes — and even did the washing-up afterwards. Being cooked for is always a gift, but eating glorious food with the people you love under the stars on a Grecian hillside is another level of lucky.
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I’m already feeling nostalgic about this holiday. I know it will be a touchstone in years to come: my son and teenage nephew in hysterics after a rude word mash-up in Bananagrams; my daughter and I jumping off the boat into the blue; my husband tying a new sunhat under his mum’s chin; me and my sister-in-law either side of my mum-in-law, each holding an arm as we jumped the waves. In the end it doesn’t matter whether it’s Aberystwyth or the Aegean, though one is definitely warmer than the other. It’s about the time spent together while we still have it. And hopefully my kids will carry on the tradition even when I’m the one in the wheelchair being carefully helped into the sea.
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Meera Syal was a guest of Simpson Travel, which has seven nights’ self-catering at Villa Alessia from £698pp, including flights, car hire, welcome hamper and concierge service (simpsontravel.com)
