Best Greek islands to visit: 12 ranked, by type of trip and by ferry from Athens

The best Greek islands, ranked

The ranking weighs four things: how good the island is to visit (beaches, villages, food, things to do), how crowded it gets, what a room costs in summer and how easy it is to reach from Athens. An island with spectacular beaches but a 15-hour ferry drops a few places; one that combines well with its neighbours climbs.

1. Naxos: best all-rounder: sandy beaches, food, villages, easy ferry, fair prices
2. Milos: the most striking coastline in Greece, best by boat
3. Santorini: the caldera view, worth it once, outside August
4. Crete: the one island that fills a week or two on its own
5. Paros: the easiest base for island hopping in the Cyclades
6. Kefalonia: big green Ionian island, Myrtos beach, needs a car
7. Corfu: Venetian old town and a calm east coast for children
8. Hydra: no cars, 1 h 15 from Athens: the best short break
9. Rhodes: medieval old town and a season that starts early
10. Ios: the party island, with better beaches than its reputation
11. Zakynthos: Navagio and sea caves, but a busy package-holiday south
12. Kos: cheap, flat and good on a bike, but a long way from Athens

Mykonos is not in the twelve. It is worth a night or two for its old town and its bars, but it is the most expensive island after Santorini and has less to do over a week than Naxos next door, which is 35 minutes to 1 h 25 away by ferry. See our Mykonos guide if it is on your list.

The 12 best Greek islands to visit, island by island

Each island gets a verdict, who it suits and who should skip it, the beaches worth the trip and how to get there. Ferry and flight times are from Athens; the full table is further down. To see where each island sits, open the map of the Greek islands.

1. Naxos: the best Greek island for a first trip

Naxos is the largest of the Cyclades and the one that does the most things well. The ferry docks right below the Portara, the marble gateway of an unfinished temple, and the old town climbs behind it. South of town runs a string of long sandy beaches: Agios Georgios, Agios Prokopios and Plaka, shallow enough for children and big enough not to feel packed in July. Inland, the mountain villages and farms are the reason Naxos food (cheese, potatoes, meat) is better than on most islands.

Getting there is easy: about 5 hours on the Blue Star from Piraeus, or about 3 h 30 on a fast boat, and a 40-minute flight. Rooms cost noticeably less than on Santorini or Mykonos for the same standard. Skip it only if you want a small, quiet island: Naxos town is busy in August. Compare areas on the Naxos map and in our guide to where to stay in Naxos.

2. Milos: the best Greek island for beaches

Milos is a volcanic island, and its coastline shows it: the white rock of Sarakiniko, the sea arches and caves of Kleftiko, the coloured cliffs above Tsigrado and Firiplaka, the fishing villages with boat garages painted at the water's edge. Kleftiko has no road, so a boat trip is part of any visit. The main town, Plaka, sits on a hill above the bay and is the place for sunset.

It suits couples and anyone who spends the day swimming and walking. It is less good without a car or quad, because the best beaches are spread around the island on dirt roads, and less good in August, when it fills up. From Athens, fast boats take 3 h to 3 h 30, the slow ferry about 7 hours via Serifos and Sifnos, and flights about 45 minutes. Read the Milos guide and the Athens to Milos ferry timetable.

3. Santorini: the best Greek island for views and couples

Santorini is the rim of a flooded volcano, and nothing else in Greece looks like the view from Oia, Imerovigli or Fira over the caldera. It is the island for a honeymoon, a winery tour and sunset dinners. What it is not, is a beach island: the beaches, such as Kamari, Perissa and Red Beach, are dark volcanic sand or pebbles, hot underfoot and backed by roads rather than cliffs.

It is also the most expensive island in Greece, with a room with a caldera view easily running to €350 or more a night in summer (about $400), and the most crowded at sunset in Oia. Go in May, June, September or October, and spend two or three nights rather than a week. Ferries take about 5 hours fast or 8 hours on the Blue Star, flights 45 to 50 minutes, and many European cities fly direct. Start with the Santorini guide.

4. Crete: the best Greek island for a long trip

Crete is big enough to be its own country, and it rewards time rather than a weekend. In one trip you can see the palace of Knossos, walk the Samaria Gorge, swim at Balos lagoon or Elafonisi, and eat in the old harbours of Chania and Rethymno. It has two international airports, Heraklion and Chania, which makes it the easiest big island to reach directly from Europe.

It also has the longest season in Greece and, outside the resort strips, some of the lowest prices for the standard. The catch is distance: from Athens there is no fast boat, only overnight ferries of 8 to 9 hours to Heraklion or Chania, or a flight of about an hour, and you need a car once there. Skip it if you have four days and want several islands. See the Crete guide and the ferries from Athens to Crete.

5. Paros: the best Greek island for island hopping

Paros sits in the middle of the Cyclades, and most ferry lines stop in its port, Parikia, which makes it the most practical base for day trips and onward boats. It has two pretty towns, Parikia and the fishing harbour of Naoussa, and good beaches at Kolymbithres, with its smoothed granite rocks, Golden Beach and Marathi. Antiparos, a short crossing away, adds a smaller and calmer island to the trip.

It is slightly more polished, and pricier, than Naxos. Ferries from Athens take about 3 hours fast or 4 hours on the Blue Star, and the small airport has 45-minute flights on turboprops only. It suits a first trip and a group of friends; it suits less anyone looking for wild landscape. See the Athens to Paros ferry and where to stay in Paros.

6. Kefalonia: the best Ionian island for scenery

Kefalonia is the largest Ionian island and the most mountainous, with pine forest on Mount Ainos and long drives above the sea. Its best-known beach, Myrtos, is a bright white curve below the cliff road, and the small harbours of Fiskardo and Assos are among the prettiest in the Ionian. It gets fewer visitors than Corfu or Zakynthos for its size.

You need a car: the sights are far apart and buses are rare. There is no direct ferry from Athens; the overland route is a bus to Kyllini and a ferry of about 1 h 30, more than 8 hours in total, so most people fly (about an hour from Athens, or direct from Europe in summer). Ithaca, the island of Odysseus, is 30 minutes away by ferry. Plan with the Kefalonia map.

7. Corfu: the best Greek island for families and history

Corfu looks more Italian than Aegean: its old town, a UNESCO World Heritage site, has Venetian fortresses, arcaded streets like the Liston and a cricket pitch. The island is green, with olive groves down to the sea. The west coast has the most dramatic beaches, Paleokastritsa and Glyfada; the east coast has calmer, shallower water, better with small children.

Corfu is a summer charter destination, so the resorts around the airport and Kavos get busy, and August rooms are expensive: our hotel survey found an average around €275 to €335 a night for a double across all categories. Easter in Corfu Town is one of the best in Greece. There is no direct ferry from Athens: fly in about an hour, or take a 6 to 7-hour bus to Igoumenitsa and a 1 h 30 ferry. See the Corfu map and where to stay in Corfu.

8. Hydra: the best Greek island near Athens

Hydra has no cars and no scooters: luggage goes up from the harbour on donkeys and mules, and you walk everywhere else. The stone mansions around the port, the coastal path and the swimming from rocks rather than beaches make it the most elegant island in the Saronic Gulf, and the easiest to reach: fast boats from Piraeus take 1 h 05 to 2 h 20, about 1 h 15 on a direct sailing.

It suits a two-night break before or after Athens, or a couple who want to walk and eat well. It does not suit a beach holiday, and rooms are pricey for what they are. Only fast boats serve it, and wind can cancel them outside summer: sailings were called off on 25 and 27 March and 1 April 2026. Check the Athens to Hydra ferry and the other Saronic islands.

9. Rhodes: the best Greek island for history and a long season

Rhodes Town has the best-preserved medieval old town in Greece, built by the Knights of St John and listed by UNESCO, with walls you can walk around and the Palace of the Grand Master. Down the east coast, Lindos stacks white houses below an ancient acropolis, and beaches such as Tsambika and Faliraki face warm, sheltered water.

Rhodes is far south-east, close to Turkey, so the season starts early and ends late, and parts of the island stay open in winter. It is a place to fly to: about an hour from Athens, or direct from Europe, because the Blue Star ferry from Piraeus takes 15 to 19 h 30. Kos is a short hop away for a second island. See the Rhodes map and the other Dodecanese islands.

10. Ios: the best Greek island for nightlife

Ios is the Cyclades party island: from late June to August, the bars of Chora stay loud until around 5 am and Mylopotas beach fills with young travellers. Outside those weeks it is a much quieter place than its reputation, with a pretty hilltop Chora and long sandy beaches such as Mylopotas.

Rooms are among the cheapest in the Cyclades, from roughly €30 to €60 for a simple room outside August. Ios has no airport. Fast boats from Athens take about 4 to 5 hours, but most people combine it with Santorini, 35 to 40 minutes away on a fast boat. Skip it in July and August if you are travelling with children. See where to stay in Ios.

11. Zakynthos: the best Greek island for sea caves

Zakynthos has the most photographed beach in Greece, Navagio, the Shipwreck beach, a cove of white sand closed in by cliffs and reached by boat, plus the Blue Caves in the north. The south, around Laganas Bay, is a protected nesting area for loggerhead turtles, and Gerakas beach is part of it.

The other side of Zakynthos is the Laganas strip, one of the busiest package-holiday resorts in Greece, loud in summer. Stay in the north or on the Vasilikos peninsula if that is not your scene. Rooms start low outside August, around €45 to €65 depending on the resort. Fly in (45 minutes to 1 hour from Athens, many charters from Europe), or take a bus and ferry via Kyllini, 5 to 6 h 30. See the Zakynthos map.

12. Kos: the best Greek island on a budget

Kos is flat, sunny and easy, with cycle paths around Kos Town, long sandy beaches such as Tigaki, Paradise Beach and Camel Beach, and the ruins of the Asklepion, the healing sanctuary linked to Hippocrates. It is among the cheapest islands for a beach week: simple rooms from €20 to €40, four-star hotels from roughly €60 to €90.

It ranks last of the twelve because it has less character than the others and it is far from Athens: the ferry takes about 10 to 14 hours, so fly (about an hour), and combine it with Rhodes. It suits families and a cheap all-inclusive; it suits less someone looking for villages and landscape. See the Kos map and where to stay in Kos.

Greek islands compared: ferry from Athens, budget and best season

Ferry times are from Piraeus or Rafina, flights from Athens airport. Budget is the order of magnitude of a mid-range double room in high season, from € (under about €100) to €€€€ (€300 and more). "International airport" means direct flights from other European countries in summer.

Two things stand out. Corfu, Kefalonia and Zakynthos have no ferry from Athens: the Ionian islands are on the other side of the mainland, so you fly or spend most of a day on a bus and a ferry. And Rhodes and Kos are 10 to 19 hours away by boat, which makes them flying destinations too. For a ferry trip from Athens, the Cyclades and the Saronic are the ones that work. Our guide to Greek ferries covers the companies and how to book, and the best time to visit Greece has the month-by-month detail.

Best Greek islands for couples, families, budget and every type of trip

The same island can be perfect or wrong depending on who is going. Here is the pick for each type of trip, with the reason.

Best Greek islands for couples

Santorini is the obvious answer and the right one if the budget allows a caldera-view room in Oia or Imerovigli for two or three nights: sunset dinners, a catamaran trip and wine tasting fill the days. Milos is the better pick for a whole week, with boat days to Kleftiko, sunset in Plaka and rooms that cost much less. For a short break, Hydra is car-free and 1 h 15 from Athens, and Paros has the harbour restaurants of Naoussa. A classic honeymoon is Milos or Naxos first, then Santorini to finish.

Best Greek islands for families

Naxos is the best island for children: shallow sandy beaches at Agios Prokopios and Plaka a few minutes from town, a direct Blue Star ferry with cabins and decks to run around, and plenty of family-run rooms. Crete has the widest choice of family hotels, direct flights from many European airports and easy days out to beaches and archaeological sites. In the Ionian, pick Corfu's east coast for calm water. Kos and Rhodes suit an all-inclusive week with warm, sheltered bays. Avoid Ios in midsummer, and know that Santorini's cliffside hotels are full of steps.

Cheapest Greek islands for a budget trip

Naxos, Ios, Crete and Kos give the most for the money. A mid-range room on Naxos runs about €80 to €140 in summer, against €220 to €450 on Santorini for the equivalent. On Ios and Kos, simple rooms start around €20 to €60 outside August. Two more savings: the slow ferry costs about half the price of the fast boat on most Cyclades routes, and May or the first half of October bring rates well down while the sea is still swimmable in the south.

Best Greek islands for partying

Ios is the party island for travellers in their twenties, with bars in Chora open until around 5 am from late June to August and beach parties at Mylopotas. Mykonos is the glamorous, expensive version, with beach clubs and international DJs. On Zakynthos, the Laganas strip is the loud package-holiday option. Paros, around Naoussa, has good bars without the all-night intensity.

Greek islands you can visit without a car

Hydra has no cars at all, so the question does not arise. On Paros, Naxos and Santorini, the bus network links the main town, the port and the busiest beaches often enough in summer, and boat trips cover the rest. Mykonos works the same way. Milos, Kefalonia, Crete and Zakynthos are the islands where a car, or at least a quad, makes the trip: their best beaches are at the end of long or unpaved roads.

Best Greek islands to visit off-season

From November to March most small-island hotels close and fast ferries mostly stop. The islands that stay alive are the big ones with real towns: Crete, Rhodes and Corfu, where people live and work all year, plus Hydra, which Athenians fill at weekends. Santorini keeps a reduced crew of hotels and restaurants open in winter, with empty sunset spots in Oia. In spring, Corfu is the place for Greek Easter, which falls on 2 May 2027 and 16 April 2028.

Least touristy Greek islands

Of the twelve, Kefalonia feels the least crowded for its size, and Milos and Naxos are calm away from their main towns outside August. For genuinely quiet islands, step off the famous list. Ithaca is 30 minutes by ferry from Sami, on Kefalonia. Sifnos and Serifos are stops on the slow ferry to Milos, and the Small Cyclades, Koufonisia among them, are reached from Naxos. You trade nightlife and choice of rooms for empty beaches and village tavernas. The Cyclades guide and the Ionian islands guide list the smaller islands of each group.

Greek island combinations that are easy by ferry

The easiest trips stay inside one island group, because ferries run between neighbours but almost never between groups. These pairs are linked by frequent, short sailings in summer.

Paros and Naxos

The easiest first island hop. The Blue Star line from Piraeus calls at Paros, then Naxos, so you can take the same ship out, stop at one, continue to the other and fly or sail back. The two islands are neighbours, with several crossings a day in summer, and together they give you a polished harbour town and a big island with sandy beaches. Add Antiparos as a day trip from Paros.

Mykonos, Naxos and Santorini

A first-timer classic. Mykonos to Naxos takes 35 minutes to 1 h 25: in August 2026, the slower Golden Star cost €36 against €44.70 to €57.70 on the catamarans. Mykonos to Santorini is 2 to 3 hours, depending on stops at Paros, Naxos or Ios. Start with Mykonos, finish with Santorini and fly home from there. Timetables are in Mykonos to Naxos and Mykonos to Santorini.

Santorini and Ios

The shortest hop in the Cyclades: 35 to 40 minutes on SeaJets, 45 to 50 on Golden Star, about an hour on Blue Star. Santorini's port is Athinios, about 25 minutes by bus below Fira, so allow time to get down. Two nights on each gives you the caldera and the beaches Santorini lacks. Details in Santorini to Ios.

Crete and Santorini

Heraklion to Santorini takes about 2 hours on a seasonal fast boat. It is the best way to add a few days in the Cyclades to a Crete holiday, but the crossing is exposed and wind cancels sailings on some summer days, so do not plan it the day before a flight. See Crete to Santorini.

Kefalonia and Ithaca

The Ionian pair. From Sami to Piso Aetos the ferry takes 30 minutes and costs €3.50 on foot, €13.50 with a car; from Fiskardo to Frikes it is 45 minutes for about €5. Ithaca is small, green and quiet, an easy day trip or a few nights away from the bigger island.

Athens, Hydra and the Saronic islands

The combination for a short trip or the end of a longer one. Hydra is 1 h 05 to 2 h 20 from Piraeus, and Aegina and Poros are closer still. Two nights on Hydra after the Acropolis is a better use of three days than a rushed flight to the Cyclades.

Which Greek islands to avoid, and when

No island on this list is a mistake, but timing can spoil any of them. Santorini and Mykonos in the first three weeks of August are at their most crowded and most expensive, around the 15 August holiday, when Greeks head to the islands and ferries sell out. Ios in July and August is built around nightlife. The small Cyclades are mostly shut from November to March. And the Laganas strip on Zakynthos or the resorts around Corfu airport are not where to stay for a quiet week.

The other common mistake is distance. Trying to see Santorini, Corfu and Rhodes in ten days means three flights and almost no beach time. Pick one group, the Cyclades, the Ionian, the Dodecanese or Crete, and go deeper.