Lauren Taylor visits the Ionian coast to play the fast-growing sport and explore the local area.
“You stepped into the kitchen so unfortunately you lose that point,” Freddie Fellows, head of tennis at Mark Warner Paleros Beach Resort in Greece, calls to me, very diplomatically.
I’m playing pickleball for the first time – a fast-growing sport in the UK, according to the LTA – and the strangely named ‘kitchen’ is a section of the court in front of the net.
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As I learn, players are only allowed to step into the area if the ball bounces in it first.
It’s one of the few rules that takes some getting used to, along with the scoring (first to 11).
But – given my tennis skills are pretty poor – I’m surprised I can hit the ball back and forth, mostly inside the correct areas, successfully.
Played with a small paddle and a lightweight plastic ball with holes in it, across a lower net than tennis and a court half the size, Fellows insists it’s difficult to ‘overhit’ and you really do need to give it a whack.
“Get the paddle facing where you want the ball to go and just fire that direction” – sounds easy enough right?
And it is.
Lauren Taylor playing pickleball at Mark Warner Paleros Beach Resort, Greece.
(Image: Lime Photography/PA)
This feels like tennis I can actually play.
“It’s huge in America,” says Freddie.
“It’s just that it’s been there longer.”
While padel (which is also enjoying a boom in popularity recently) featuring external structures to hit the ball against, is a variation of squash and tennis, “Pickleball is more of a table tennis and tennis love child”, he explains, and it’s easy to see why so many people are giving the sport a go.
“It’s more accessible, it’s a fair amount easier [than tennis], you’ve not got the strings, so you’ve not got that trampoline effect off the racket, the ball doesn’t bounce anywhere near as much, it’s a much smaller court to cover.
“Often it is a slower game, based more on feel.
The professionals play a technique called dinking, trying to make it awkward – angle wise – for their opponent.”
A pickleball bat and ball at Mark Warner Paleros Beach Resort, Greece.
(Image: Lime Photography/PA)
None of the eight people at this ‘Introduction to Pickleball’ session on the Ionian coast of the western mainland Greece are dinking, quite yet, but it doesn’t take us long to have decent rallies, with some right-on-the-line winners, volleys and smashes.
For older people, especially former tennis players, pickleball may give a chance to still compete at a good level, Freddie says: “It’s a brilliant sport for that reason.”
This summer the package-holiday company have expanded their pickleball programme across their beach resorts in Greece and Turkey, and it’s proving hugely popular with guests.
“For the last 10 or 11 weeks, pickleball has been the dominant [racket] sport that’s played here,” reckons Freddie.
“It’s been very, very well attended.
Everybody’s interested, [there’s] enthusiasm.”
So that parents can take advantage of the activities included (the holiday company is suited to active travellers, particularly families) there are excellent kids clubs included in the price, catering from four months to 17 years old.
The pickleball courts at Mark Warner Paleros Beach Resort.
(Image: Lime Photography/PA)
My six-year-old, Seren, does everything from crafts and Disney dance parties to kayaking and windsurfing on a mini board (with very close supervision).
The hotel – between the towns of Palairos (the local spelling of Paleros) and Pogonia, each around a 45-minute walk – doesn’t benefit from amenities in the immediate vicinity, but is in the centre of a protected bay that means the waters are calm and unusually shallow, which is ideal for swimming with young children.
“I can stand here!” Seren says excitedly, pretty far out into the cordoned off swimming area, the water providing a cooler respite than the three pools in the summer heat.
In the mornings, the water is calm in the bay – it’s the perfect time to take out a paddleboard, kayak, or rowing boat.
I opt for the latter – this particular Mark Warner resort being the only one that offers coastal rowing as part of its water-sports programme, so it’s a unique opportunity to see if I have remembered anything from rowing 20 years previously.
One of the friendly waterfront staff help carry a single scull boat into the water and, thankfully, I seem to have retained some knowledge of how to handle oars.
These wider rower boats are designed for beginners and (I’m told) very difficult to capsize, which is comforting.
As I pull the blades through the water, picking up speed, gliding out into the bay, it feels really serene.
Lauren Taylor rowing at Mark Warner Paleros Beach Resort, Greece.
(Image: Lime Photography/PA)
There’s a peace out here at 9am, before any other sailing boats and windsurfers have made their way out.
The best way to see the surrounding area is on two wheels.
There’s a large collection of road and mountain bikes used for guided group cycle rides – two a day and of varying levels of length and difficulty – as well as personal hire.
I pick up a road bike to take my own time on the quiet, hilly, coastal road towards Mytikas, with some serious scenery to my right as the road winds around the coast.
Palairos, the closest town and where I stop on my way back for an ice coffee overlooking the sea followed by a swim in it, has an authentic feel, coffee shops spilling out onto pavements in front of the marina, where fishing boats and small white sailing boats dock.
Tavernas line the seafront and pretty awnings hang above the winding streets, with a few boutique shops in the mix, but it’s very clear that this is a working Greek town, not just one reserved for tourists.
I take a seat under an umbrella in the shade on the stony public beach, the waters quietly lapping the shore, with views of the hills wrapping around the coast.
It’s a stunning place to swim, the water is deeper here than back at the hotel shoreline, but just as sparklingly clean and clear.
It’s just the refreshing dip I need after a ride under the August sun.
Towards the end of my week-long active Greek escape, and after taking part in some social pickleball sessions, it’s time to put my new-found skills to the test during a tournament.
I, somehow, inexplicably, win two out of three games and end up in the top-four players when all our scores are added.
Flabbergasted that I’m in the final, I luckily end up with 50-something John as my partner, clearly a skilled tennis player – and now pickleballer – who suggests I volley at the net more.
Lauren Taylor playing pickleball at Mark Warner Paleros Beach Resort, Greece.
(Image: Lime Photography/PA)
It’s a close match, and I’m surprised just how much I want to win.
Win we do, taking home the glory, thanks, in large, to John’s drop shots and kind encouragement of my beginner skills.
At the start of the week, I thought I’d be terrible at this racket sport, but if my week at Mark Warner proves anything, it’s that pickleball is accessible, fun, a good work out, and seriously easy to pick up – and you might even get a trophy.
How to book:
Lauren Taylor was guest of Mark Warner.
Seven nights at Paleros Beach Resort costs from £999 per person (October 4 2026 departure), plus a £59 tourist tax, based on two sharing, includes return Gatwick flights, half-board, shared transfers, sports activities and tuition.
For all last-minute 2026 bookings made before September 15, there is a £50pp saving on September and October 2026 departures and summer 2027 holidays to all the Mark Warner resorts.