Greek islands’ description. How to choose which Greek islands to visit?

There are more than 6000 islands and islets in Greece, from which 227 are inhabited. Somehow seems impossible to visit all of them… So you must choose one or few islands (island hopping in Greece is amazing!). It’s not going to be an easy choice, I can warn you right away!

In this article, you will find generic information about Greek islands groups. And few tips how to choose which Greek islands to visit.

Here you can find great hotels (tested!) on Greek islands.

Greek islands groups’ description

It’s best to talk about Greek islands, dividing them for groups. As Greek islands differ from each other quite a lot. Islands in one group are similar culture, cuisine, history and climate wise.

There is only one group of islands on Ionian Sea, others are located on the Aegean Sea.

• Ionian Islands

Yes, these are the islands located on the Ionian Sea. Most known are Corfu and Zakynthos, but also Kefalonia (which is the biggest island of this group), Lefkada, Paxos.

They are the greenest among Greek islands and have ‘the most’ wet summer.

They are the only one that were not under Ottoman Empire, but for long time under Venetian. This is visible in the architecture on the islands, where sometimes you can feel more like in Italy than ‘typical’ Greece.

• Sporades

24 together, 4 inhabited. Skiathos – island with international airport, Skyros, Alonissos and Skopelos. Skopelos is quite famous, as it’s where the first part of film Mamma Mia was recorded.

• Saronic Islands

Those closest to Athens. Salamina – biggest in the group, only 15 minutes by ferry from Athens, Hydra – probably most known, which is around 2 hours by ferry and Poros, Aegina, Spetses and Agistri.

• North Aegean islands

They don’t form an archipelago, but still are grouped together. They are close to Turkish coast. The most known islands here are Samos, Lesbos, Ikaria and Chios, as well as Thasos, which is most northern from major Greek islands.

• ‘Other’ islands

There are 2 islands which don’t belong to any of the groups.

First of them is Evia, second-largest Greek island. Sometimes it’s even not called island, as it’s separated from mainland by a strait (which is only 40 m narrow) and connected to mainland by bridges.

Second one is known by everyone. It’s biggest Greek island, Crete.

• Dodecanese islands

Closest to Turkish border, with long and dry summer. Name of group come from ’12 islands’. The most known island of the archipelago is Rhodos. Other islands: Kos, Karpathos, Leros, Kalymnos etc.

An island called Astypalea is also included in Dodecanese, but with architecture is more similar to Cyclades. Interesting fact, Astypalea is first word smoke-free island!

• Cyclades islands

220 islands, 24 inhabited.

The biggest of Cyclades island is Naxos, ‘the capital’ is Syros, while most famous one is Santorini. Santorini, probably, is the most known Greek island at all.

But Cyclades are more than Santorini (and Mykonos). I can be speaking about these islands for long, as they totally stole my heart. I’m going to tell you more in next articles.

OK, so… Has this simple description helped, or it has only made it tougher? Few tips which can help you to decide which Greek island would be good for you below:

How to choose which Greek islands to visit?

Transport

There are islands, which have international airports and which you can reach even with low-cost airlines from many European airports. There are islands with smaller airports, where only international charters land during season.

And islands with airport with only internal, national flights from Athens.

There are also small islands without airport, and they can be reached only by ferry.

Check to which islands you can fly directly. See how much time you have, see if you feel like travelling more and taking ferry, or you just want to keep it simple.

Vibe

More known island, more touristic vibe. Do you like discos, bars, shops and lively atmosphere? Then probably you should choose one of the biggest/most known islands.

If you rather fancy calm atmosphere, few local tavernas etc. choose less known, smaller island.

Or find ‘less known’ location on the island. It’s possible, even on Crete;)

Accommodation

The same applies to accommodation style. If you prefer bigger hotels, with a lot of attraction and animation for children, you should rather look at Corfu, Rhodos or Crete.

You will not find many like this on smaller islands. However, these islands are perfect for fans of smaller, family-run hotels.

Time of your visit

If you visit during season, high or even medium, you can look at every island, there will be ferries and transport options. However, if you plan to visit during very low season, some islands can be tougher to reach.

Also, many places like restaurants can be just closed on small islands.

How do you want to spend the time

If you like want to party, look at Mykonos or Ios. Romantic trip? Santorini or other Cyclades like Naxos or Paros.

Thinking about surfing? Ikaria or Karpathos. Climbing? Then definitely Kalymnos island.

Do you want to do island hopping or 1 island is enough?

There is no better place than Greece for island hopping. If you want to do this, do it between islands from one group, though. Don’t try to incorporate Corfu and Rhodos during the same holidays!

Thinking about Santorini? Here you can check how to get there and get around the island. Here, where to sleep in Santorini.