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Island options

Posted by (North America) on

Good morning,
I was hoping to gather some perspectives on island choices for a late September trip.

We (50s couple) have visited Greece a few times, trying different islands each time. Have visited Athens several times as well so not included in the plans other than one night before our flight home. Our favourites so far have been Folegandros and Sifnos but have visited others including Crete, Milos, Naxos, Syros, Santorini.

We are looking at our next trip…10 nights. I have been considering Andros and Tinos or a combination of Aegina, Hydra, and Spetses. Any views from personal experience?

We like views, scenery, ancient history and not into night life etc. we are flying into Athens and want to go directly to first island.

Would appreciate any recommendations. Thanks so much.

Posted by
1158 posts

I can highly recommend Tinos as it's one of my top 3 favorite Greek Islands.

Tinos has some of the most beautiful villages I've been to in Greece.

Photos of Tinos:
https://tinyurl.com/y6w5ncb8

I combined it with Andros. It was just OK for me but many like it.

I think Syros may be a better option to combine with Tinos.

Aegina is a lovely island often overlooked by tourists. Hard to combine with Hydra as there is limited ferries between the two depending on time of year.

Aystaplea and Amorgos is another great combo. Fly to Astypalea then ferry to Amorgos.

Both lovely and still not overly devoted to tourism.

Astypalea photos:
https://tinyurl.com/y7mdg7rv

Amorgos photos:
https://tinyurl.com/y7bqwfma

Lots of other nice islands to consider so do your research on any that may appeal to you.

Posted by
1441 posts

Are you limited to the Cyclades? If not, consider other islands for a change of scenery and budget.

Posted by
230 posts

There is only 1 afternoon ferry from Rafina to Tinos during high season. Most ferries are in the morning. Your flight arrival may not work to get to the 14:30 sailing. It's a 2 hour trip on a fast ferry.
Neither Tinos or Andros has an airport, which keeps them more authentic. I visited Tinos in May, 2018 and loved it. Many beautiful villages and hiking trails. They have a food culture that they are trying to perpetuate.

Posted by
2127 posts

You might consider flying to Rhodes for a few days, then island-hopping up the Dodecanese to Kos and flying back to Athens from there.

The big Blue Star ferry makes a run from Athens to Kastellorizo & back to Athens every week. We’ve done this, visiting Rhodes plus gorgeous Kastellorizo, Tilos and Nisyros, where there’s an active (but not erupting) volcano that you can walk into. You could check the ferry schedule & see which islands you could fit in.

Posted by
10 posts

Thanks everyone. My flight gets in mid morning so could likely make flights or ferries anytime after 1 pm.

Posted by
2127 posts

We really loved and highly recommend the Dodecanese trip that I previously mentioned, with Kastellorizo, Tilos and Nisyros.

But I should have mentioned these as well ...

  1. Fly to Ikaria (a blue zone island), then ferry to Samos. From Samos, take a day trip by ferry to amazing Ephesus in Turkey. Explore Samos by car for a few days, then fly back to Athens. If you've never seen Ephesus, it will amaze you.

  2. Fly to Lesvos, stay at the wonderful Votsala hotel north of Mytilene for a few days. Then have a car delivered to you at the hotel and spend time exploring the island -- the 3rd largest in Greece yet lightly populated and easy to drive around. Fly back to Athens.

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