The white cube of the Greek-island architecture, the lime-wash, the blue window frame, the bougainvillea that is the magenta against the white, the step, the narrow alley, the cat asleep on the wall, the domed church that is the blue and the white, and the sea that is the turquoise at the end of the alley at the 500 metres, is the image that is the printed on the collective imagination as the “Greek island,” and the image is the correct. The Greek islands, the 227 inhabited islands, the 6,000 islands of all sizes, the islands that receive the 33 million tourist arrivals a year, are the most popular island destination in Europe, and the popularity is the deserved: the light, the sea, the food, the history, and the sense that the time slows the down. Here is why they are so popular and which to choose.

Why Greek Islands Holidays Are So Popular

• The essential islands, the Cyclades and the Ionian: The Santorini, the most beautiful: the crescent-shaped caldera, the 1,600 BC eruption (the largest in the recorded history, the Minoan eruption that the may have the inspired the Atlantis myth), the Fira and the Oia (the white, the blue domes, the sunset, the most photographed sunset in Europe, and the essential Santorini experience: the walk from the Fira to the Oia, the 10 km, the 3 hours, the caldera view, and the best walk in the Cyclades. The essential accommodation: the cave hotel in the Oia, the €400–800/night in the August, and the essential alternative: the Finikia, the village the 1 km from the Oia, the €150/night, and the best value near the Oia). The essential Santorini activity: the Akrotiri (the Minoan Bronze Age settlement, the “Greek Pompeii,” the 3-storey buildings preserved by the ash, the frescoes, the most important archaeological site in the Cyclades, the €12), the Santo Wines (the terrace, the tasting, the €15 for the 6 wines, and the best caldera view in the Santorini). The Mykonos, the party and the chic: the Little Venice, the windmills, the Matoyianni Street, the best shopping in the Cyclades, the beaches (the Psarou, the €80 for the sun-lounger, the €25 for the cocktail, the Paradise Beach, the party, the Super Paradise), and the Mykonos Town (the Chora, the labyrinth, the most beautiful Cycladic town. The essential: the Mykonos is the €200–500/night, and the best value: the May or the late-September). More Greece →
• The Ionian and the lesser-known, the essential choice: The Kefalonia, the most beautiful Ionian island: the Myrtos Beach (the most photographed beach in the Greece, the white pebbles, the turquoise, the cliff road that is the viewpoint, and the best beach in the Ionian), the Melissani Cave (the 1951, the collapsed roof, the lake, the 36 metres deep, the €7, and the essential Kefalonia experience: the noon, the sun is the directly overhead and the light through the cave roof is the ethereal), the Assos (the village, the pastel, the castle, and the most beautiful village in the Ionian). The essential for the first-time visitor to the Greek islands: avoid the Santorini and the Mykonos in the August (the €400/night and the crowds of the 2 million visitors a month), choose the Naxos (the largest Cycladic island, the beaches, the Agios Prokopios, the Agia Anna, the best sand beaches in the Cyclades, the Portara, the 530 BC marble gate, the unfinished temple of the Apollo, and the €80/night for the hotel), the Paros (the Naxos’s neighbour, the Naoussa, the fishing village, the €100/night), the Milos (the Sarakiniko, the white, the moon-like, the most unusual beach in the Greece, and the €90/night). The essential Greek island strategy: the island-hopping in the Cyclades by the Blue Star ferry, the €40 for the Naxos to the Santorini, and the best 7-day itinerary: the 3 nights in the Naxos, the 2 nights in the Santorini, and the 2 nights in the Mykonos.