A guide to the most (and less) beautiful Greek Islands
For years we have explored the length and breadth of the Aegean Sea, going from one island to another, starting with the best-known and ending with those that even the Greeks themselves have trouble remembering. Noisy islands full of life, islands quieter than the calm sea, small accommodations in blue and white houses by the sea, or luxurious hotels with breathtaking views. Rocky, pebble or Caribbean sand beaches. Darkest blue water into which volcanic soils sink, or small coves with clear waters and coral pink sand. Dry, gentle lands lashed by the winds, or jagged by impassable forest-covered mountains.
In short, the Greek islands are with good reason our favorite seaside destination, and they will please every taste. Whether you enjoy a quiet vacation lulled by the chirping of cicadas, or are looking for trendy bars where you can spend your evenings dancing under the stars, you will find it all in the Greek islands, as well as three basic constants: temperate climate, crystal-clear waters and great food.
THE CYCLADES ARCHIPELAGO
Arid, windy, dotted with villages whiter than snow. They ply sparse like grains of a rosary from the Peloponnese toward the deep Aegean Sea. Golden-colored dry grass carpets every promontory, vines and tomato crops grow sprawled on the ground to avoid the constant winds. Some known the world over, others unknown to most, all offer those villages of little white houses as sugar cubes, towered by a church with a dome as blue as the sea. The sea is always rough, the ferries always late, but the sun always shining.
Santorini
It needs no introduction, but if you want to know more before you go to Santorini, surely we can tell you that the sea is not its strong point. The island is a part of the caldera of an ancient volcano, so it has dark, shady beaches, mostly impervious coves and deep sea.
The essence of Santorini is definitely its villages: Chora, Firostefani, Imerovigli, which wind one after the other on the eastern side of the caldera, and distant Oia, which dominates the northern side. They are a tangle of narrow streets among the white cubic houses, interrupted by a few blue domes of the famous Cycladic churches. They cling to the amphitheater of the caldera, dotted with cafes and restaurants, luxurious hotels with pools overlooking the sea, offering unforgettable views of the sunset over the sea at every point. Oia can be seen in the distance, and it is beautiful both from this perspective as well while strolling through its narrow streets full of fine designer stores. Under the sun they draw tourists with ceramics and colorful clothes waving in the alleys, in the evening they captivate with the blue lights of the pools that dot like sapphires the entire coastline swallowed by the night. A sight you will find hard to forget.
If walks among the villages are not enough for you, you can certainly explore some of its beaches. Our favorite is Paralia Vlichada, south of the island, an expanse of black sand dominated by wind-molded limestone cliffs, with a nice lounge bar on the beach. More difficult to reach is Red Beach, also to the south, a small, crowded pebble beach at the foot of a red earth cliff. To the north is Paralia Pori,, which goes into shade very early in the afternoon, with pebbles and a high cliff.
If you happen to be on the island in September, don't miss Ifestia, a celebration with fireworks simulating volcano explosions, on the caldera. You can watch it from a boat in the sea, or better by walking to Firostefani, and finding a quiet spot overlooking the sea where you can sit and enjoy the darkness on the island and the lights of the fires on the sea.
If you want to indulge for a day or two in a luxury hotel overlooking the Caldera, we recommend Sophia Luxury Suites.
Koufonissi
Koufonissi is a tiny, tiny jewel of the Lesser Cyclades, 3.5km long at its widest point, and practically walkable in every direction. The village is tiny and doesn't offer many attractions, but if you're looking for a dreamy sea, you'll hardly find a better destination. The beaches are fine golden sand, though some are very windy. Beautiful, gentle cliffs alternate between the beaches. Choose this island if you want a lonely (maybe not in August) and slow-paced place to rent a sea-view studio and read in the shade of a fig tree.
Don't miss Sti Strofi's Souvlaki or Pita Gyros, a little green window in a house downtown that you'll almost hardly notice except for the line waiting for this treat.
Milos
Milos is a piece of the moon plunged into the Aegean. Underwater hot springs, white chalk cliffs that are shaped by the wind, coves hidden among limestone caves. You will be hard pressed to find a more diverse island than Milos. The small towns are unmissable, while the coastal vistas are truly unique.
If you want a complete overview of all the beautiful beaches on the island you can read the dedicated article.
Sarakiniko beach is the island's emblem, with smooth white cliffs that suddenly plunge steeply into the sea. Always lashed by strong winds, which have surely shaped its beauty, it is a must-see place, even if only to admire from a distance if swimming in the high waves is not possible.
Paralia Tsigrado is another gem: leave the car and sling your backpack to descend the steps of the steep ladder that slips into a pocket of rock and takes you to this alcove, with its beach of small golden pebbles and the sea that creeps into picturesque caves.
Thiorichia, finally, is a very special beach to reach which you will have to walk half an hour after driving a long dusty road. It is an old abandoned sulfur mine, where the ruins and iron carcasses remain intact, and the water is an unusual dull emerald color.
The cliffs of Milos and its beaches, which cannot be reached from the mainland, are worth a day's boat ride to explore.
Kimolos
Kimolos is Milos' unknown sister, but nevertheless offers chic accommodations, delicious restaurants, and heavenly beaches. The conformation of the two is very similar, so much so that Kimolos seems to have detached itself from Milos and drifted, where it has remained suspended in time for at least 50 years.
Goupa is the town's old harbor, and a tiny agglomeration of boathouses with colorful doors, carved into the limestone cliff, close to the sea, with a small pier. Some of these sheds are still in use today; others have been converted into lodgings.
The beach at Prassa, although a bit remote, is the most beautiful on the island, with a couple of beach bars, crystal-clear waters, fine sand, and a wonderful cliff that frames it.
The only village on Kimolos is very picturesque, with small white houses with colorful doors, a few churches, the smell of cinnamon cookies, and elderly people sipping ouzo while watching passersby, sitting in front of deserted restaurants. At the top of the promontory, several stone windmills withstand the force of the winds, amid barren fields and prickly pears, and from this place there is a magnificent view of the rising sun.
Don't miss the Ladenia from the Paradossiakos bakery, a kind of small pizza with tomato and oregano that really leaves you amazed. While the tiny Nikos Bakery makes really delicious cinnamon cookies.
Serifos
A lively and busy marina, pleasant beaches with soft sand and emerald waters, but more than anything else what bewitched us about Serifos is its rugged nature with rough peaks that stand out against the blue sea, a succession of heights that are lost in the mist at sunset, and an unusual old town perched atop a high mountain overlooking the island from above, amid white cottages nestled on the headland and churches lashed by the winds.
Scenically, one of the most beautiful Cyclades, it also offers excellent food, with restaurants that have revisited traditional Aegean cuisine. In a more temperate season, you can also hike the dozens of hiking trails the island has to offer to reach headlands with endless views of land and sea.
Folegandros
Folegandros was one of the islands we loved the most, but since we have been to this unfamiliar place, it seems to have entered many people's tourist radars.
When we visited Folegandros, it was a quiet and lonely island, ploughed only by farmers on mule backs, with steep cultivated fields and coves with beaches of small pebbles or golden sand and calm sea.
In addition to the Chora, with its church with the very long white steps that stand out on the promontory, there is the small village of Agkali, with some apartments right on the beach and excellent taverns and cafes just across the street. On a vacation in this little corner of Folegandros, you will hardly need to move from your apartment.
Paros and Antiparos
Known for its viveur spirit, Paros is much more than an island for entertaining to the beat of DJ music resonating among the white tents of the most popular beaches. Although it is less wild and unspoiled than other Cyclades, you will also find in Paros the authentic taste of the lesser-known Greek islands.
You can choose beaches that are well-equipped and lively, or free, quiet beaches where you can chill in the shade of tamarisk trees. You can wander among the tables of the gourmet restaurants that stud the harbor of vibrant Naoussa, after browsing the expensive clothing stores downtown, or stop at a fragrant, quiet bakery where only the sound of a fan resonates, pick up a local pastry and enjoy it sitting on a whitewashed wall in the shade of a bougainvillea in one of the inland villages, listening to children playing in the distance.
There are many beaches, and a week wouldn’t be enough to visit them all. You can also make a day trip from Paros to its smaller sister, Antiparos, a tiny and seemingly more exclusive island that offers remote paradise beaches and a small village full of life.
DISCOVER PAROS
DISCOVER ANTIPAROS
THE DODECANESE ARCHIPELAGO
Rugged and wild nature, mountainous islands, living rock covered with Mediterranean scrub, thorny shrubs, thyme, heather and gorse. Shady pine forests, impervious cliffs overlooking the sea, on which it is almost difficult to build roads. Quiet coves, endless beaches buffeted by winds and surfers, rock walls for climbing. Architecture somewhere between modest island dwellings and pompous neoclassical mansions. Seamless history and sea.
What's more, ancient Italian colonization makes these islands a veritable paradise for cuisine, with dishes inherited from the Greek tradition, with strong influences from Italian cuisine.
Rhodes
Big, even too big, beautiful, rich in history and many different villages and beaches. Old Rhodes alone is worth the trip here: the ancient Venetian city is a perfectly preserved jewel within severe stone walls. A couple of days here are a must, and then you can move on to the beaches or to the beautiful center of Lindos, an expanse of white houses on red rock, enclosed in a sheltered bay and topped by a moonlit fortress.
The beaches are of all kinds: from Tsambika, an endless stretch of golden beach, close to several resorts and suitable for sports and families, to Prasonissi, in the far south, where on the reddish sand dunes are stretched hundreds of kites ready to take flight thanks to the very strong and constant winds. Pass by Glystra, with its turquoise waters and a small sandy cove in front of a grove of pine trees, or the very crowded but picturesque beach of Lindos.
In the north of the island, you must not miss the restaurant Café Marco Polo, refined, gourmet, delicious, with a crazy location in the old town.
The same comments apply to the Odyssia restaurant in Lindos. While if you want a more spartan tavern but without sacrificing great food, there is the Platanos Taverna on the road to Prasonissi in the south of the island.
Symi
A short ferry ride from Rhodes takes you to nearby tiny Symi. It's not a bathing spot, but you'll have to spend your day getting lost in the town's decadent streets, lined with colorful neoclassical, gable-fronted buildings alternating with sun-sculpted ruins. Fishermen, unthinkably chic boutiques and artists painting in the sun will frame this idyllic place.
Karpathos
If there is only one place to eat better than on Rhodes, it is Karpathos. Genuine dishes, from the land rather than the sea, to be enjoyed after a day at the beach in the island's many rocky coves, such as Apella and Kira Panagia, or in the sandy beaches of Diakoftis, the most beautiful and remote, or Lefkos, at the foot of the village of the same name.
Karpathos is impassable and forested, and driving inland with endless views of the blue sea is really enjoyable. You can take a full tour of the island, and push on to Olympos, a magnificent village of neoclassical houses with colorful gable facades, perilously perched on a promontory, with breathtaking views of the turquoise sea.
For a complete guide to our favorite restaurants, read our dedicated article.
Astypalea
The surprising Astypalea is unknown to most people. You will recognize it by the row of red-roofed white mills that soar over the ridge, losing themselves in the built-up area all the way to the fortress, at the apex of a veil of white houses covering the promontory. The nature is very rugged, but there are beautiful beaches.
Aminakia was our favorite, with rough, wild nature forming its backdrop in a deep bay that almost looks like a fjord. Getting there will take at least 45 minutes from the village, on a road that to call it rough almost feels like lying. But there are plenty of beaches, more or less accessible.
Even the food as usual did not disappoint us: there are beach taverns where cats, children and long-lost relatives lead their lives as if the customers were not there, as at Aerino's in Agios Kostantinos.
There are hippie taverns that instead churn out delicious eats, to eat with your feet in the sand, such as Taverna Steno; and finally, deliciously spartan places where old people play cards after dark while sipping a beer, heedless of travellers who stop by for the unexpected sea view, finding themselves enjoying gourmet squid that melt in their mouths like cream, as at Almyra's.
CRETE, THE QUEEN OF THE AEGEAN
Like a mother watching her small children scattered across the sea, Crete stands guard over the southern Aegean and watches all the Greek islands from afar with composed tranquility, having been the scene of conquests, piracies and colonization.
A large island, it is worth exploring at a slow pace, staying a little here, a little there, enjoying all its different aspects.
Not only is the sea fabulous, but the cities are also worth time. Heraklion is the gateway to the island. The Venetian-style town is pleasant to walk around and offers many culinary highlights. Nearby, you can spend an afternoon (or perhaps a morning, to avoid the hottest hours) visiting the palace of Knossos, with its frescoes and carmine-red columns among the legendary ruins that speak of the minotaur.
The beaches to the east of the island, such as St. Nicholas, are small pebble coves with deep water, surrounded by a few scattered villages and a few fish taverns. To the south, the sea is rough and the beaches windy, but the cliffs picturesque, such as those at Matala Beach. Not our favourites though.
Looking for nightlife, you will find yourself in Rethymnon or Chania, the other two major centers in the north of the island, proceeding westward. They, too, amid Venetian fortresses and houses with wooden balconies and arches in the windows, look like something out of a pirate book. They offer plenty of vitality, in the alleys filled with stores, on the waterfront, or in the restaurants that watch the waves.
West of the island, the beaches become a sandy paradise, starting with the golden one at Falasarna. A series of 3 expansive sandy coves segue between umbrellas, large open spaces, and a few excellent beach bars.
Balos is a symbol of Crete, a small deserted promontory in the middle of the sea connected to the mainland by a strip of very white sand and rocks surrounded by waters of an alien color. To reach it one will have to drive along the peninsula northwest of Falasarna, and then an impassable stretch on foot that descends to the sea and offers a splendid view of the bay.
At the southwestern end of the island, the remote beach of Elafonissi is the best-known beach on Crete, with its very shallow, crystal-clear waters, turquoise color, and pink sand composed of fragments of corals and shells.
The food is, as everywhere, excellent. With saganaki shrimp, feta with honey, stuffed squid and fresh fish, you will be spoiled for choice. These are some of our favorite restaurants:
Taverna Antoni. You won't even find it on Google, but you will come across this tiny taverna clambering up the headland on the way back from Elafonissi toward Kissamos. The tastiest and simplest fish eaten in Greece.
Ippokampos, Heraklion. Excellent saganaki and seaside dehor.
En Plo Estiatorio, Heraklion. Good seafood cuisine overlooking the sea.
Knossos Taverna, Rethymnon. A bit touristy, but the view of the harbor is outstanding, especially if you are lucky as us to find the little upstairs balcony free. The cuisine is good, though a little less authentic.
ARE THESE ISLANDS WORTH THE TRIP?
Since we began our exploration of the Aegean archipelagos, we have collected more or less memorable experiences. Not all the islands we have visited make our list of recommended destinations. Here are the ones we least liked and why.
MYKONOS: The best known of the Cyclades along with Santorini, did not meet our tastes. The party-island par excellence certainly has beautiful beaches, but if you are not a fan of the crowds, rubbing elbows with your beach umbrella neighbors, music at all hours, alleys overflowing with people and unacceptably high prices, then we recommend you choose another island.
IOS: Ios is a better compromise for those who like nightlife but also want to enjoy a quieter side of the vacation. However, the attendance is very young, and the old town rowdy and unkempt. We did not find that authentic atmosphere that for us makes the Cyclades special, which, for example, despite the overcrowding, is also found in Santorini. The beaches are also nice but not unmissable, although it is positive that the crowds are concentrated around the main village, and in the beach bars with pools and sunset views, and so the beaches are quieter and more livable.
NAXOS: A similar argument applies to Naxos. The main town is very unkempt and less picturesque than others, as are the smaller villages. We found no unforgettable views, and the recommended archaeological sites are of little interest. For beaches we do not have much advice, as on the days we visited the island the wind was so strong that beaches and sea were unlivable.
SIFNOS: Modest island, as are the beaches. If you are looking for tranquility and good food, you can definitely put it on your bucket list, but don't expect white villages perched on hillsides, windmills and white sandy beaches.
KALYMNOS: There is no center worth visiting and the beaches are very small or hard to reach, nothing memorable anyway. The village of Vathy is a pretty fjord where you can take a swim from the pier. Otherwise the island is mostly known for its cliffs suitable for climbing.
