About us

Henk and Gordana started in the 90s with Baby Boom Bicycling (cycling holidays with children on Corfu). The name was a tribute to the baby boom generation and the birth of Dunja and Sander, the children of owners Henk and Gordana.

But just like the children, the company grew, and it changed its name: Kinderzonvakanties. We were one of the pioneers of adventurous holidays with children on Corfu with partners like SNP and Cycletours.

Now, years and gray hairs later, we have switched to the name Kidonakia Corfu Apartments. But this doesn’t mean we’ve roots forgotten our roots! Baby cots, baby monitors, baby baths, toys, books – you name it, we have it! Also, it’s perfect for those seeking tranquility, especially in spring and autumn, when all you hear is the sound of crickets.

History

The history of cycling holidays on Corfu and the Kidonakia apartments; an interview with Henk van der Does, founder of the apartments.

The question that naturally occupies all of us: how did it all start?

In 1986, the first brochure came out for cycling holidays to Corfu, with "The Flying Bike Service" for individual cyclists who wanted to travel with their own bike.

This idea came about because, in the previous year, I had brought a beautiful RIH touring bike from the Netherlands to Corfu by plane. It wasn’t very easy, and that was a shame because cycling on Corfu was fantastic; I was convinced that many more people would love it. I was looking for a good excuse to stay in Greece a bit longer and saw an opportunity in offering cycling holidays to Corfu.

So why exactly Corfu?

My love for Greece started early. I traveled with an Interrail pass through the Balkans to Greece as my farthest destination. I arrived in July 1974 on the last train entering the country due to mobilization and the end of the Junta. The first days were exciting, but soon the typical life began for a young person with little money traveling for an extended period: sleeping on the beach, hitchhiking, and traveling in rickety buses through beautiful landscapes. And seeking contact with the friendly people in small villages. It became an annual holiday, and I eventually stayed on Corfu in the then hippie village of Agios Ioannis. Friendships formed with Greeks, and my interest in Greek music and literature grew.

And from one thing came another…

As a professional bookseller at the Island Bookstore in Amsterdam, I opened a special section for Greek books and records in 1981: The Greek Island. This made it easy to connect with Olympic Airways and other tourist companies for the sale of cycling trips.

Did these trips catch on immediately?

The first season was still quite quiet, with about 30 cyclists joining a successful wine tour during the autumn holiday. Frits and Ilja, the owners of the travel organization Cycletours, also visited to see if Greece would be a good destination for their travel offerings.

Cycletours had already started offering cycling holidays in other countries a few years earlier and was open to collaborating in Greece. As a result, more group tours were organized across the country, and even a large bike workshop with its own rental bikes was set up. Over the years, branches opened on other Greek islands like Crete and Zakynthos. Our regular staff included bike technician Sylvana Primowees and tour guides Chris Beer and Louis Starmans.

That soundslike you found a gap in the market. How did you promote it?

Promotion was through Dutch holiday fairs like OP PAD and the Cycling Holiday Fair. Of course, the internet didn’t exist yet, so bookings came in via Cycletours and other specialized travel agencies, just like flight tickets. There weren’t many cycling destinations at the time, so most people stayed within Europe. For Corfu, it typically involved one holiday a year, during which people stayed in one place for 1 to 2 weeks. And with just one arrival day per week by plane, everything was still quite manageable.

Can you still remember your very first guest?

One of my first regular guests was Bertus Legebeke, who cycled a lot and as a hobby described the routes and even made little books about them. A good collaboration began, where he wrote the route descriptions for new trips and helped promote them at the fairs.

In 1991 and 1993, my children were born. We soon took them to Corfu. I also saw that as a young parent, you could use a bit more service. And that’s how Baby Boom Bicycling was born; a name taken from a column by the writer Martin Bril, who had visited us a few times.

We provided a child-friendly accommodation with amenities such as baby cots, high chairs, baby baths, etc. We were one of the first; it was a new concept. In the following years, we welcomed many guests through travel organizations like Cycletours and SNP, who were well assisted by hostesses Hennie and Marlies and later Willy.

Around 2005, the market became somewhat saturated due to the rise of all-inclusive resorts and several ‘copycats’ in Greece. But we had excellent years and financed a large part of the apartments with it.

Where did your children play a part in all this? Hoe vloog je dit aan How did you handle it when they became of school age?

We decided in 1996 that the children would attend school in the Netherlands, which meant we could no longer spend as much time in Greece. Bertus Legebeke took over the organization of the cycling holidays, and I continued with the children’s holidays with two hostesses. We also managed to purchase a lovely piece of land in the village, with the possibility of building our own apartments and a bike workshop. In the fall of 1996, the construction started, and by May 1997, the first three apartments were built. The large cellar beneath these apartments was ideal for the bike workshop. A few years later, we added two more apartments to the complex.

How did you name the apartments?

We named the apartments Kidonakia. Kidonia means quince in Greek, and the name of daughter Dunja has the same meaning in Serbian. A bit of foresight, because she is now the owner of these apartments.

In 2010, we installed an inflatable Zodiac pool in the backyard. This was recently, in the summer of 2023, replaced by a constructed pool. We also bought a piece of land behind the pool to house the donkey Marley, who after more than 10 years living with us is now enjoying her well-earned retirement at the donkey sanctuary.