Greek Islands

I have only been to two Greek islands so keep that in mind but we all loved Naxos. (Family group including 20 somethings and 50 somethings)

Why?

Variety. We chose it for the beaches which are wonderful but were so busy exploring that only spent a couple hours on the beach.

Has mountains and beaches. Lots of hiking-we hiked to peak of mt zas -the highest point in Cyclades.

History. Kastro from Venetian rule in town, prehistoric ruins, early Christian churches.

Places that look like they have been untouched by time. Our two sons went to the north end of island where the rest of us did not go. Some places in their pictures look like they are from another century.

Moderate prices, great food, and hospitable people.

Good transportation connections. There is an airport and multiple ferries a day.

No cruise boats or tour groups. But a good tourist infra structure.

We spent four nights. It was not enough!

Beth

Like previous contributor we stayed on two Greek Islands last September. We spent 4 nights in Santorini (three would have been fine) and a week on Naxos. Have to say Naxos met all our needs and expectations. Ditto the same reasons as Goodorf! We liked Santorini, but loved Naxos. The islands were a perfect downtime following our tour of Greece.

Lots of wonderful Greek Islands to go to that don't get the attention of the "Big Name" Islands:

Amorgos (a favorite)
Naxos (great, something for everyone)
Astypalea (quiet with one of the most beautiful Choras in Greece)
Sifnos (popular but still Greek)
Milos (nice beaches, unique geological formations)
Tinos (a gem)
Chios (Mastic Villages, abandoned village of Anavatos, spectacular mountains)
Crete (largest Greek Island and will leave you impressed)

Lots more there with everyone having their favorites:

For lots more options check out this link:
https://www.greektravel.com/greekislands/

It really depends on what you're looking for. Some islands are good for 2-3 days, some you could spend weeks on. Some have beautiful sandy beaches, some have rocky beaches. Some are crowded with tourists, others are not. A few offer a lot of night life and partying, most do not.

There are more than 100 inhabited Greek islands. I have stayed on 20 islands and enjoyed every one, for different reasons.

A little detail about who you are, what types of places you like, when exactly you are going, how long you will stay, etc., would help us to give you better advice.

I am currently on the Island of Alonissos which is part of the Sporades group. You can read my other post about Alonissos here in the Greece forum below. I have been here for 8 days now.

But to answer your question: If you want an Ilsand the Greeks favor as a vacation spot, if you want a quieter more peaceful place, if you want a lusher greener island than the Greek poster ones of dry scrub, if you want great restaurants and affordable prices for the Greek Islands, if you want small town ambiance and friendliness, if you want a drop dead gorgeous harbor, and if you want really nice beaches including the one right here in town then Alonissos should be on your list.

It isn’t well known and that is its biggest selling point in my opinion. Of course if what you want is thumping discos going until 5 Am every night right on the waterfront I think Mykonos and Santorini and maybe Corfu are for you.

Alonissos is lively with plenty of tourists mostly Greek and Italian but it is not by any stretch of the imagination “over-run”. It is also home to one of the few protected Marine Parks here and has great boat trips to those out islands.

I am staying in a small hotel/pension called Glazios Kolpos which sits high on a cliff above the harbor with a commanding view of town and the boat docks. We have a big terrace and a spotlessly clean air on room which is very nice. The place is run my a Mother daughter team who clean like madwomen and are so kind and friendly. All of this in the height of the season in August for 60€/night. You cant get that on Mykonos I am sure.

So give it a look if it sounds like your kind of place. And note too there are plenty of people in their 20’s here too, I guess looking for the romantic and slower also.

Good luck and have a great trip

Thanks everyone for your input. We are in the preliminary stages of our planning. You've all certainly given us a lot to look into and think about. Charlene, we are looking at probably going Greece the end of June/beginning of July. While we don't mind crowds if that's a means getting to see historical things that we want to see, we prefer places that are not quite so crowded but still with things to do. We aren't sure how long we will be there but approximately 4-5 days.

4-5 days is not a visit to a country. I am guessing you are from N America, and also guessing you are not flyng 4,000 miles for 4 days in Greece, then going back. You are probably spending several weeks in other places and have 4 days in between and thought, why not "do" greece. That's like a European visiting east coast US for a few weeks and have 4 days unplanned and thinking Why not do California? My 2 thoughts:

• June, even late june, is better than July. July 1- Aug 26 or so, huge megaplanes from N. Europe descend on all isles and jampack all those that have airports.

• If u hope to have any time at all on Ground, you'd have to find a flight that goes direct nonstop from your other country (France? Italy?Spain?) to an island -- and those flights mainly go to the "famous" and over-touricized islands i.e. Santorini, Mykonos, Corfu, Rhodes, Crete. Best bet would be last 2, if yu could rent a car in advance, pick up at airport and drive immediately to areas of the island that are not "resort hives" of Europeans on package holidays. Both islands are big enough to offer less-visited areas.

Yeah, I wouldn't travel to Greece for just 4 or 5 days unless I were living in Europe and had many opportunities to bounce around the continent on long weekends. Otherwise, I'd prefer to spend that limited time seeing more of the country I was already in. Time spent dealing with airports is lost time.

How about stay in Athens? So many athenians away in August, Athens is less crowded then, amazingly and - also surprisingly - temps tend to be a bit lower than July. You can totally enjoy 4 days there. With a good a/c room with balcony w nice view, close to the major landmarks you can truly enjoy ... Look at hotels just S of Acropolis like Herodion or its sister hotel Phillipos ... higher floors have great views, restaurant terrace ato p the former... and both are just steps from Acropolis Museum & s. entry to acropolis. If you are there midweek you could slip away for a day on nearby isle that's packed with locals on weekends but OK midweek -- Aegina. Just taxi or Metro to Piraeus then 1-hour on ferry On Aegina get taxi .... have him stop 10 minutes midisland so you can run up to hilltop site of fab TEmple of Aphaia (360° view of saronic bay) , then back in taxi to nice beach club like La palma on Marathona https://www.aeginagreece.com/aegina-island/directory/aegina-listing/restaurants-cafes-bars/beach-bar/la-palma-marathonas/ late day you can return to harbor to browse town, have beverage at seafont cafe, then catch a twilght ferry. Most ferries to Aegina ar hyddrofoils, a bit faster but no fun; all seats inside no deck or view, windows salt-frosted. Ask at ticket office for times of Conventional ferry For at least 1 way either outbound or returning --- sit on open decks, enjoy breeze & seascape of huge cruise ships, freighters, yachts, little sloops ... Here's a photo album of a 1-day June trip to Aegina https://www.flickr.com/photos/36264706@N03/sets/72157621604646139/detail/