Greek Island Hopping

[crodonilson]

Not long got back from a cruise round the Eastern Med and loved the Greek Islands we wetn to. So much so we are thinking of doing a fortnight backpacking round the islands later this summer.

So after some advice, firstly any recommendations of islands to visit off the beaten track that are not the usual renowned islands (plus places to stay) and also has anyone done this before?? Any decent websites to help plan ferries and which islands you can get to from where.

Cheers

 

[Norman Potting]

Cepahlonia (Kefalonia?) is nice but quite a large and touristy place (Site for both novel and film of "Captain Corelli's Mandolin). The island of Paxos is small, very nice and adjacent to Kefalonia; also the source of the name of a well known brand of instant stuffing mix. Some of this post may not be entirely true.

 

[portslade seagull]

Flying out tomorrow to Venice for 3 days then 7 day cruise around the Greek Islands. Can't wait

 

[Daffy Duck]

Kalymnos and Simi are both small and beautiful.

 

[Blue3]

Always difficult to advise others without knowing what you are looking for is it history, beachs, night life, walking, biking, sailing, mountains, village life, monastic life, picture post card views, wild life, nature?

All the islands islands have a unique character, I have been to loads however only one in my opinion has a bit of everything the island Crete, but all the islands have something.

Do not discount mainland Greece one place I like is Thessaloniki being the second city of Greece it has a history to rival Athens and is the gateway to visit Haldadiki and the three peninsulas which are fascinating to visit, Thessaloniki has a good air links to the UK and a huge port where you can jump on any number of ferries to the islands

 

[CC2]

Did this in 2005 with my wife and two teenage kids, booked Easyjet flights to/from Athens, a hotel in Athens for the night of our arrival and one for the night prior to our departure, with nothing booked in between.

I wanted to go back to Paros as I had been there in 1986 and wanted to see if it had changed. We literally turned up at the docks and looked at what ferries were available and went from there. We did a few nights in Paros, followed by Sifnos and Milos, it was great. When you dock at the islands there are loads of people offering accommodation and you can barter with them over the price, we ended up in some pretty good places.

There is a book on Amazon called Greek Island Hopping which I believe is printed yearly, you can probably pick up a second hand one from somewhere which will have most of the information you require, the only issue would be the ferry times.

 

[BlockDpete]

Did this a few years back.

Flew to Rhodes and island hopped around the islands to the north. Had a lovely time.

Its true about locals offering accommodation as you arrive, makes it all very easy.

 

[Norman Baker suck my lozenge]

I can lend you a rubber dinghy if you want to do it on a budget?
Careful you don't get rounded up an given a council house though.

 

[Lankyseagull]

I was in Zante at the beginning of May during which time there was a 3 day ferry strike in Greece and scuppered any plans we had of visiting Kefalonia. I think all islands were affected, so be mindful that this could be still going on when you go back.

 

[Ⓩ-Ⓐ-Ⓜ-Ⓞ-Ⓡ-Ⓐ]

I'd recommend flying in to Crete and out of Athens (or vice versa) and visiting a few of the Cycladic islands. Islands to visit would be:

Santorini - The most picturesque, but also very touristic. Make sure you stay in Oia in the north of the island rather than Thira. Also be sure to to walk down to the little fishing port of Amoudi for a water side lunch one day. There's also a small island there you can swim to with a great rock for jumping off!

Paros - Paros is a great island to visit as it is one of the largest Cycladic islands and has a lot of things to keep tourist entertained but also is a full of every day real life. I know it very well as my parents live there. There are a couple of great towns on the island, the capital Parokia and Noussa a fishing village which are both very picturesque with narrow winding streets full of tavernas and restaurants. There are also some smaller sleepy mountain towns worth visiting like Lefkes, Marpissa and Kostos. Beach wise there are some great spots, especially across the bay from Naoussa there is a beach called Kolimbithres which is a surreal lunar like landscape with several small coves and shallow warm, turquoise water. There is also a beach on the island which has decent waves if you're in to body boarding or surfing (Parosporos beach) and a couple of world class windsurfing spots.

Antiparos - From Paros you can take a quick 15 minute ferry journey to Antiparos which is much less developed than Paros itself but it's great to rent a quadbike and whizz around the island for a day exploring. There is a nice little town where the ferry arrives and also a pretty decent underground cave system you can explore.

Other islands worth checking out are Amorgos (I've never been but meant to be very undeveloped and beautiful), Siros (The capital of the Cycladic islands and a quite large town to explore).

Personally I'd give Mykonos the swerve as it's expensive, overcrowded and not quite as picturesque as some of the other islands nearby.

 

[Spicy]

My favourite is Hydra and there are some good cheap hotels are guest houses at which you could stay.

 

[Surf's Up]

I love the greek islands and spent many a summer island hopping. Its really easy to do although some of the nicest islands are more remote and therefore not as well served with ferries. I used to get the night flight out of Heathrow to Athens, taxi to Piraeus, have a long leisurely breakfast at Piraeus while deciding which islands to visit, checking ferry times etc - make the decision and just go. Recommendations from me would include Patmos, Symi, Karpathos, Naxos, Amorgos, Hydra, Spetse, Ithaca, Paros and anti-Paros, Paxos, Folegandros, Nisoros and Tilos.

 

[Surf's Up]

I should've added - you dont need to worry about booking accommodation as the locals with rooms to rent come down and meet the ferries irrespective of the time of night or day. Take a room for the night, if its ok stay there, if not look around the next day and get somewhere more to your taste.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

I should've added - you dont need to worry about booking accommodation as the locals with rooms to rent come down and meet the ferries irrespective of the time of night or day. Take a room for the night, if its ok stay there, if not look around the next day and get somewhere more to your taste.

This.

 

[The Antikythera Mechanism]

Used to go sailing in Greece a lot. The Ionian Islands were the best, in my opinion, for Island hopping as they are relatively close to each other, and can be covered in a couple of weeks, with the exception of Zakinthos (the least attractive, in my view) Found some amazing tavernas and beaches that were off of the beaten tourist tracks.

 

[yxee]

I went to a few of these, my favourite was Naxos for the scenery. The view from some of the peaks is stunning.

If you go to Paros, take a ferry to Antiparos too, the views and caves are incredible.

You'll have a great time exploring.

 

[Cowfold Seagull]

Cepahlonia (Kefalonia?) is nice but quite a large and touristy place (Site for both novel and film of "Captain Corelli's Mandolin). The island of Paxos is small, very nice and adjacent to Kefalonia; also the source of the name of a well known brand of instant stuffing mix. Some of this post may not be entirely true.

Well what IS entirely true, is that Kefalonia is indeed a wonderful island, and receives frequent visits from my wife and l, (seven times now in total).

The one problem with the Ionian islands though, (Kefalonia, Corfu, Zante, Lefkas, and Ithaka), is that they are a long way from the rest of Greece. Fine if it is just these islands that you are interested in seeing, but pretty hopeless if you wish to visit any of the others.

 

[Cowfold Seagull]

Always difficult to advise others without knowing what you are looking for is it history, beachs, night life, walking, biking, sailing, mountains, village life, monastic life, picture post card views, wild life, nature?

All the islands islands have a unique character, I have been to loads however only one in my opinion has a bit of everything the island Crete, but all the islands have something.

Do not discount mainland Greece one place I like is Thessaloniki being the second city of Greece it has a history to rival Athens and is the gateway to visit Haldadiki and the three peninsulas which are fascinating to visit, Thessaloniki has a good air links to the UK and a huge port where you can jump on any number of ferries to the islands

Agree re Thassalonika, a facinating city, also the home of Malamatina retsina . . . Yammas!

 

[Cheshire Cat]

www.gtp.gr is a reliable timetable website

Just get the first ferry out of Pireaus and go from there. It's easy going north and south (to and from Pireaus. East and west is a bit more challenging these days as the numbers of ferries are not what they used to be - although the overall standards are astronomic compared to some of the old rust buckets they used to float in the 1980s and before.

If you want to go really obscure try the Little Cyclades group south of Naxos, (Iraklia, Schinoussa, Kofounissi, etc), using the Express Skopoletis

 

[Cheshire Cat]

Agree re Thassalonika, a facinating city, also the home of Malamatina retsina . . . Yammas!

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Salonica-City-Ghosts-Christians-Muslims/dp/0007120222

Excellent book.