This blog was written by our son Fred and his partner Louise:

We set off from sunny Bristol with our almost 3 year old and 5 month old baby, at 8am on Wednesday morning.  Once at Paddington, it's just a few stops underground to St Pancras International Station, before our 11.30am train to Paris du Nord.  Once through security at St Pancras, the station was very busy and no seats available so we were thankful that a French couple gave up a seat so that I could feed our 5 month old not sitting on the floor!

Once on the Eurostar, we were pleased to have table seats shared with a kind lady who helped us to pack up our little toys at the end of a quick journey!  We arrived in Paris around 2pm French time and headed straight for the AirBnB which was located near Gare de Lyon Station (across Paris - important to note if doing both the Euorstar and Milan train on the same day). 

Luckily, there was a good play park near the AirBnB so our toddler could burn off some energy before delicious falafel in the Jewish quarter.

The next morning, our train for Milan left at 7.30am.  There were good food options (especially for vegetarians) in Milane Centrale Station so we were fuelled for this 4 hour 40 journey.

The train was a busy one!  The tickets we had bought meant no seat reservation for our toddler and we had the added 'fun' of a second family being allotted to our table.  The price difference varied for family tickets vs 2 adults but when we do the trip again we would definitely look to pay the difference!

The train reaches speeds of 300km/hour and only stops a few times, meaning impressive distance is covered fast.  The onboard cafes on all trains are very reasonably priced, with a pizza and bottle of water costing 8E and the coffee was enjoyable too. 

Once in Milan, our AirBnB was a very short walk away before finding another park (a very long walk away) and heading on to the metro system to central Milan to see at least the outside of the very impressive Duomo and have some delicious pizza not far from the main square.

Then on the Friday, soon to be known as 'epic Friday', we headed to Brindisi on a 7am train.  For us, this meant a 25 minute change over in Bologna and a total journey time of 8.5 hours.  Again, no reserved seat for the toddler and a slower second train on this day.  However, the train became less populated as it journeyed down the coast and actually became quite spacious - made even better by our toddler napping successfully for a few hours!

Our ferry for Igoumenitsa departed at 11pm that evening so we had a few hours to wait in rainy Brindisi.  Once more, pasta was consumed by all of us, before a helpful local woman ushered us onto a bus labelled AP.  After a (mildly terrifying) Italian bus driver took us to the airport and back to where we started, we were very happy to learn the route did continue onto the ferry port.  There's a small bar/shop at the terminal which provided much needed ice lollies and cold beers.  We were able to board the boat at 9pm and were prioritised due to having young children so that we were in our very comfortable cabin quickly.

We woke up at 8am Greek time as we pulled into Igoumenitsa.  We took a short taxi ride (about a mile)  to the local port for a crossing Corfu.  We hadn't pre-booked the ferry crossing to Corfu as travelling in May, we could be certain to buy tickets for the next available crossing.

Then it was on to beautiful Villa Loukia (www.villaloukia.com, @villaloukiakassiopi) for a brilliant week of relaxing with family!

We certainly found the journey an adventure, especially with small children and it is not the cheaper option as compared to aeroplane.  It is important to us to think carefully about our CO2, made even more so when travelling with 2 little people!  By our rough calculations, our travel method caused 230kg of CO2 emissions, whereas flying would have been 2300kg.

Next time we are eyeing up the sleeper train from Stuttgard to Venice, meaning a longer ferry down to Greece.  Another adventure to be had!!

As I write this we are currently on the train back to Milan.  Left Corfu on Thursday morning and will be back in Bristol on Monday afternoon.  Of course, if you have the time you could take a week to travel down, breaking your journey in Paris and Milan or Stuttgard and Venice.  Lots of possibilities for adventures!

Louise & Fred

17th May 2025

Very unusual to have a 2 week availability in August - so grab it while you can.  Email me direct for a price.

Do please plan ahead in order to avoid disappointment .  I have already taken bookings for 5 weeks of 2025.  Get your preferred weeks secured early.

Villa Loukia is wonderful and we have now visited five times, which is the best recommendation that we can give. Every detail, for a magic holiday is covered , from the initial booking to the tearful farewell. The internal spaces and external areas and pool are immaculately presented. Kassiopi is a great little town with the harbour still used by local fishing boats, pleasure cruises and small daily hire boats. There are numerous restaurants and bars to cater for any taste or budget. Already booked for 2025.

Best Wishes

Barry and Val

Villa Loukia is looking forward to another busy season this year.  With the exception of some late April/early May availability, we are fully booked.   We already have 5 weeks of 2025 reserved, so it is worth booking ahead.   The weather right now in April is amazing - spring flowers, lush olive groves, spring lambs, blue skies and full sun.  It doesn't get much better than this!

April 2024

First guests for 2023 have just left their review.  Clearly happy with their choice!  Think this guest must be a writer...  

For the first time in 15 years, we have not sent out one of our Villa Loukia Christmas Cards.  A family tragedy in late November set back all the normal planning.  So instead I am doing the first Villa Loukia newsletter!

I am writing this on December 21st - it is 15 years to the day since we bought the very basic villa, without a pool or garden, just built in the olive grove above Kassiopi.  What an adventure the past 15 years have been.  We have met and had contact with so many people from different countries and from all around the UK .  Loukia has provided holidays to couples, groups, and growing families alike.  It has seen big birthdays celebrated, anniversaries and even a honeymoon.  And some guests have come back year after year.  And for us, new friendships have been created.

Whilst I was at Loukia at the end of this season in late October, I went through all the many thousands of photos that we have taken, cataloguing the way Loukia has evolved and improved over the years.  I have made an album of the adventure, which you will be able to see in the villa next year.  

2022 saw Villa Loukia back to 'normal' following the two pandemic years.  Many of our guests this year had been waiting a long time for their holiday, as Covid had forced many postponements.  It was lovely seeing guests confidently travelling once more and without testing, masks and PLFs!  Let's hope those days are firmly behind us.

Nick and I have worked very hard creating the Villa Loukia of today and so we are always so pleased when guests contact us soon after arriving at Loukia with messages like this one:

Well. Wow. This is absolutely lovely! The villa looked great from the pictures but in real life it’s 10 times better!    Just confirming we are in ok. VERY happy with everything. It feels like a very loved house. Also - you will probably think we are totally bonkers - but what is your availability looking like next summer!?   

That really says it all!  

We are all facing difficult times this winter, so having holidays to dream about is always a good way of getting through the winter.   I have good availability for 2023 with the exception of June and August and I have taken a booking for 2024.  Planning ahead does guarantee you the weeks you want and at the previous year's price.  Also the best deals on flights are always when they are first released.

The booking platforms (with the exception of Simply Owners which is free) seem to become ever more costly for our guests, so booking direct is the most cost effective way.  Next year, I want to find a way that you can do an instant booking directly with me (for those of you who don't prefer the personal touch!) - more news on that when it happens.

We continue to strive to make holidays at Loukia as sustainable as they possibly can be.  We made 61.5% of the electricity used from our solar panels this summer and I once again offset the carbon used in running Loukia and all guest flights.  In addition we have just planted a further 9 cyprus trees in the olive grove.  

We had our first guests arrive by train and ferry this year from London - will try and get a blog done about their experience early next year.

Wishing you all a very Happy Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Best Wishes

Lucy

Once again we have offset the carbon used in everyone's holidays at Loukia this season.  This includes flights, electricity (we made 61% of what we needed from the PVS), car transport, staff etc.

In addition we are just buying 9 large Cyprus Trees to be planted in the olive grove over the winter.

1.     Energy:  During 2021 Villa Loukia used 9684 kwh of electricity.  However, Villa Loukia also created 8588 kwh of energy from her Photovoltaic roof panels.  This means the total number of kwh used to run Villa Loukia was just 1096.

2.     We have offset the electricity used and all flights connected to the villa (ie the flights taken by all guests).  This comes to a total of 28 tonnes.

3.     To offset other omissions created by the cars hired, cars driven by staff, laundry and the general running of the villa, we are planting 2 new Cypress Trees and 2 fast growing Paulownia trees in the olive grove.  They are reported to absorb 10 x more C02 than other trees.  We are doing this in collaboration with Vassilis Sofitis of www.poolsandgardens.gr.  If this is successful, then we aim to extend this planting next autumn through Villa Loukia’s olive grove.

4.     From 2023 we plan to start charging for the use of the pool heater in low season (April/early May or late September/October) .  Often the pool is heated even though the guests are not using it which is not good environmentally.  We feel that bringing in a charge will focus people’s minds as to whether they really want it heated or not.  Obviously for most of the season the sun does a perfect job of heating the pool naturally.

5.     At Villa Loukia we remain committed to recycling and the use of eco-friendly products wherever possible.

6.     Our offsetting policy is at our own expense and is a personal pledge to creating a better future for our granddaughter, Imogen.