On this collection, Lonely Planet’s workforce of writers and editors solutions your journey issues and offers ideas and hacks that can assist you plan a hassle-free journey. This week, Lonely Planet contributor Helen Iatrou, who considers herself a full-blooded Greek islander shares some concepts for planning an island-hopping journey.
Query: I’m planning a trip to the Greek islands this summer season however don’t know the place to begin. Which islands ought to I go to, and what number of can I match right into a week-long journey?
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Helen Iatrou: Crusing is my nice ardour, which makes the islands my literal playground. I choose to take my time to get to know one island at a time, normally over one week. You’d be shocked how a lot there may be to see, even on the tiniest specks.
With dozens of islands in Greece to select from, it’s a tricky determination – belief me, I do know. Yearly I wrack my mind and spend hours researching my subsequent island journey. I’ve misplaced depend of the variety of instances my husband has requested “Why did you guide that island?!” However each single time we return, we all the time delight in that glow of getting explored someplace new and intriguing.
Discover the other ways to get round Greece’s areas and islands to search out the proper choice for you © Dejan Kolar / Getty Pictures
The right way to journey across the Greek islands
Whereas ferries are nonetheless the primary mode of transport between the islands, nowadays it’s a lot faster and simpler to achieve them by way of air. Whereas not all of them have airports, you may normally fly into one of many bigger islands with home carriers reminiscent of Aegean Airways (test their helpful low-fare calendar), Olympic Air or Sky Specific and take a brief ferry to smaller isles close by. When you do journey by way of ferry from port hubs Piraeus or Rafina, select the quick ferry choices, which price a bit extra however get you there quicker. Ferryhopper is among the finest reserving platforms, as you may map out your full inter-island journey.
My favourite mode of journey is (you guessed it) by sailboat. When you constitution a yacht with a skipper, you may hop between islands at your tempo – until you or your companions possess a skipper’s license and have enough expertise to captain your craft yourselves.
Whether or not you choose Santorini or another of Greece’s attractive islands, the pure magnificence will amaze you © Gatsi / Getty Pictures
Planning your island-hopping getaway
Could to October is prime time for the Greek islands, notably if you wish to take in all of the sunshine and swim within the wonderful Aegean. Remember the fact that June by August might be hectic, notably on the preferred islands, and flights and lodging are at their most costly, too. And who needs to attend hours for that restaurant desk?
Begin by excited about what pursuits you and what you’re searching for. Seashores with all of the facilities or hidden rocky coves? Excessive-end eating places or toes-in-the-sand tavernas? Historical websites or late-night bars? Do you need to chill on one or two islands and see as a lot of them as you may? Or would you like to see a number of islands?
I counsel taming your ambitions, and specializing in one island group, visiting not more than two to a few islands in complete. When you’re crusing, you may actually drop anchor at a distinct island every day.
Hit the seashore on Skiathos Island © Shutterstock / Aleksandar Todorovic
Take your choose of Greek island jewels
Most first-timers select the Cyclades, homing in on Santorini for its cliffs dripping with whitewashed cubic buildings, and Mykonos for its charismatic attraction. When you’ve had your fill of Mykonos, take the ferry to close by Tinos. This low-key island has quietly earned itself a popularity for distinctive farm-to-fork fare, mountaineering trails and boutique wineries.
When you’ve received children in tow, you may choose to fly or ferry your solution to Naxos, the place children can safely swim in shallow waters amid golden sands or study to windsurf. From there, {couples} desperately in search of serenity and umbrella-free seashores can board the hardy Specific Skopelitis for the Small Cyclades isles of Schinoussa, Donousa, Iraklia or Koufonisia.
If verdant hillsides, turquoise seas and stark white pebble seashores sound dreamy, the Ionian Islands beckon. Fly into Corfu, the place you may cool off at sandy seashores and stroll the emerald isle’s romantic, cobblestoned capital. From there, take a hydrofoil to the dual isles of Paxi (or Paxos), whose unpruned olive bushes ship delicately flavored olive oil. From Paxos, rent a motorboat and scoot over to Antipaxos to dive into translucent aquamarine waters.
Medieval Rhodes all the time enchants – and extra delights lie in retailer in smaller, further-afield islands within the Dodecanese © Franz-Marc Frei / Getty Pictures
Down south within the Dodecanese, fewer vacationers enterprise past Rhodes and its medieval previous city, the place you may envision knights thundering down flagstoned alleyways and wander by the seaside village of Lindos. But a brief flight away is distant Karpathos. In hillside Olympos, girls nonetheless don lavish conventional costumes for particular events and have fun with all-night panegyria (feast days).
Mapping out a Greek-island getaway might sound daunting, poor vacationers – however relaxation assured that whichever locations you determine on, you’re assured to return house with recollections that can stay in your thoughts for years to come back.
