UKC

I am after a family holiday destination where there is loads of cultural stuff as well as super convenient climbing (quality 6b to 7b) for me and my daughter that can be got to in less than 30 minutes.

Kalymnos has been ruled out by wife as being too remote (difficult to get to) and not enough stuff from her research to keep the non climbers in the family entertained. 

So I am after other suggestions in Greece or even elsewhere that are less than a 4 hour flight from the UK.

Probably October, but could also be a Feb trip.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions

I’ll admit that there’s not much for a non climber in Kalymnos but it’s not difficult to get to. 

The package companies do cater for non climbers in the autumn but no idea what they get up to.

Rather than Greece,  Sicily - San Vito Lo Capo ?

There's quite a lot of climbing north of Athens (not climbed there myself but looks pretty good in the guidebook). If you based within reach of that, you would have easy access to Athens and plenty of other cultural stuff within day tripping distance as well as beaches and so on. Might be worth looking in to.

Here? https://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/destinations/manikia_-_the_next_interna...

Closer too. There's an actual Athens guidebook. I've only seen it in shops and leafed through briefly - no idea if any of the climbing's actually any good, or only evening crags for locals.

There's also a complete with English language guidebook to the Argolid (NW Peloponnese), with plenty of non-climbing tourism to go at around Nafplio, Mycenae, Nemea vineyards.

(I nearly flashed spelling "Peloponnese"! Go me!)

No, I've been there and it's amore fiddly drive from Athens than it looks on a map and I found it rather disappointing as a climbing venue anyway.

North East Peloponnese? I've heard Napflio is good. A bit further from Athens but an easy drive.

Exactly. Oops, I said north west didn't I? Mistake.

Fear not - There's SO MUCH MORE to climbing in Greece, other than Kalymnos!  Leonidio, is our favourite, and it's a much more authentic experience of Greece, but there's not a huge amount of antiquity nearby. Instead, here are three possible suggestions for a base with enough climbing for a week and plenty of culture:

Athens - I've heard they have one or two old buildings, and there's some excellent climbing within a reasonable radius (some of which feels surprisingly unspoilt despite being near the city). https://rockaroundtheworld.co.uk/category/greece/athens-area/

Meteora - if mountains and monasteries are more your thing, then this is an absolutely stunning location, though don't expect quite the Kalymnos clip-up style! https://rockaroundtheworld.co.uk/category/greece/meteora/

Nafplio - Good combination of seaside and culture, and numerous crags in the vicinity and elsewhere in the Peloponnese https://rockaroundtheworld.co.uk/category/greece/peloponnese/

Enjoy! Cheers, Dom 

Have you thought about Sardinia, my experience is limited to Cala Gonone but thoroughly enjoyed it.  Aghero is a good visit walking, swimming, snorkelling good too.  

What did you find disappointing, if you don't mind me asking? I've been thinking of going as a change to Leonidio.

The main area is south facing and was too hot for us in April. There are some very impressive hard tufa crags there (too hard for us - we were looking for climbing in the 6b to 7a range) but they just didn't look the rock quality of other places. The appealing pickings at more reasonable grades looked thin even if it had been less hot. All the climbing we did was in the shadier lower valley. There were some pleasant routes but nothing special. The impressive Dragonera crag there looked pretty scrappy mediocre quality at close quarters compared to top crags at other venues. We didn't visit the shadier North Face area, but there were very limited routes there. Maybe more development will improve things. It just ain't Kalymnos or Leonidio. We were disillusioned enough to write off several days' accommodation and pay for more on the coast north of Leonidio to salvage something from the trip. This was a good decision and we had several excellent days on the crags around there.

It might improve with further development and it might be better with lower temperatures or if you are climbing in the upper grades. Obviously this was just our experience and it would be interesting to hear other peoples' views, but I wouldn't go back and wouldn't recommend it to friends when there are so many top quality places to go. Perhaps if you are mobile van based it might make more sense to try without the commitment of paying for accommodation

Thanks for your thoughts. I only know one person who has been to Manikia and their experience seems to chime with yours - Leonidio is just better for those grades. As you say Manikia may appeal more once it gets more developed and/or Leonidio gets busier. With respect to temps in Greece when to go is somewhat of a dilemma as the cooler months tend to be less settled. I've been to Leonidio twice in October and it has been too hot, dry heat so not unbearable for single pitch stuff but it would have been murder on the multi pitch routes.  However I'm sure if I went in November (or March) I'd be moaning about getting rained off!

Napflio is an interesting place and great town. . But the climbing is below par compared with Leonidio