Greek Islands

Updated: 2026

Greece is one of my favorite places to visit. Here are my quick thoughts on the islands I've spent time on.

Quick comparison

Scored out of 5, where 5 is exceptional.

TL;DR

Milos for beaches. Sifnos for hiking and eating. Amorgos for island vibes. Skopelos for green scenery and a boat tour. Mykonos if it's a stop along the way.

Sifnos

Sifnos has around 200 km of waymarked trails on restored monopatia, the old stone footpaths that linked villages before there were roads. Roughly nineteen numbered routes. You genuinely can do a different full-day walk every day for a week without repeating yourself.

My favorite walks

• Kastro to Chrysopigi. Coastal, past the monastery on its rock spit. The signature Sifnos walk.
• Apollonia to Vathi. Crosses the island's spine and drops into a quiet bay with a good taverna at the end.
• Profitis Ilias tou Psilou. The climb to the island's high point and its monastery. Best early or late; there's no shade.
• Agios Symeon and the northern paths toward Herronissos, which is remote enough to feel like a reward.

Towns. Apollonia is the capital and lively in the evenings. Artemonas next door is quieter and where I've stayed. Kastro, the medieval former capital, is built on a cliff with the houses forming the outer wall. Go at sunset and walk down to the Seven Martyrs church on its little promontory.

Food. Sifnos has incredible spots. Look for revithada (chickpea stew slow-baked overnight in a ceramic pot, traditionally a Sunday dish) and revithokeftedes (chickpea fritters). The island is also known for its pottery, which is why the ceramics matter to the cooking.

Beaches. Platis Gialos and Vathi are the long sandy ones, with Vathi the calmer of the two. Faros has three small coves within walking distance of each other, and the walk from there to Chrysopigi ends at one of the best swimming spots on the island. Herronissos in the far north is worth the drive.

Milos

Milos is volcanic, and the geology does all the work. The coastline is white pumice, red iron, sulphur yellow, and black obsidian, often within a few kilometers of each other.

Beaches

• Sarakiniko. The lunar one. White rock formations sculpted by wind and sea. Go early; it's the island's most photographed spot and it fills up.
• Tsigrado. Reached by descending a narrow rock crevice on a rope and a wooden ladder. Small, spectacular, not for everyone.
• Firiplaka and Paliochori. Long, with dramatic cliffs behind. Paliochori has geothermal heat in the sand, warm enough to notice underfoot.
• Kleftiko. Sea caves and rock arches on the southwest coast, reachable only by boat. A full-day sailing tour around the island is the single best thing you can book here.
• Agia Kiriaki, Provatas, Plathiena for quieter days.

Elsewhere. Plaka is the hilltop capital; walk up to Panagia Korfiatissa for sunset and continue to the Kastro ruins above it. Klima, Mandrakia, and Firopotamos are fishing villages with boathouses cut into the rock with brightly painted doors.

Practical. Rent a proper vehicle rather than a scooter. Several roads to the southwest beaches are unpaved and rough, and rental agreements often exclude them. Adamas is the port; Pollonia in the northeast is the nicer base and has the short ferry to Kimolos.

Amorgos

Long, narrow, and mountainous, with a spine that drops straight into the sea along its southern coast. That geography is the whole appeal.

The monastery. Hozoviotissa is built into a vertical cliff face 300 m above the sea, eight stories tall and only a few meters deep. The climb is a few hundred steps. Modest dress required, though they lend wraps at the entrance.

Beaches and water. Agia Anna is the small cove below the monastery. Mouros is the standout for swimming, with clear deep water off rocks. Near Kalotaritissa, the wreck of the Olympia sits half out of the water and can be swum to.

Hiking. Underrated here, and nearly on Sifnos's level. The Old Strata from Aegiali to Chora is the classic route; the Melania path loops through the northern villages of Tholaria and Langada. Krikelos, the northern peak, is a serious half-day.

Towns. Chora has a true island vibe: dense, white, almost car-free, with a windmill ridge above and a Venetian castle rock in the middle. Katapola and Aegiali are the two ports, at opposite ends. Aegiali is the better base for walking, Katapola for ferries.

Skopelos

The one island here that isn't Cycladic, and it looks nothing like the others. Skopelos is dense pine forest running right down to the water instead of bare white rock, which is a genuine change of scenery if you've been island hopping in the Cyclades.

The beaches are larger than on the Cycladic islands, and the boat tour was the highlight of the trip, but the food was a step below the other islands and there were noticeably more people around.

The boat tour. Worth doing, and the thing I'd go back for. Most trips head out toward Alonnisos and the National Marine Park of the Northern Sporades, the largest marine protected area in Europe and one of the last strongholds of the Mediterranean monk seal.

Beaches. Panormos, Milia, and Kastani are the big ones, all on the sheltered southwest coast, mostly fine pebble with pine shade behind them. Stafylos and Velanio are smaller. Limnonari is a good calm bay for swimming.

Towns. Skopelos Town rises in tiers above the port, with slate roofs and an unusual number of churches packed into the lanes. Glossa in the north is quieter and better for a wander.

Mamma Mia. Filmed here, and the island has leaned into it. The chapel at Agios Ioannis sto Kastri sits on top of a rock with a long staircase up, and Kastani was the film's beach. Both get crowded for exactly that reason, which is part of why the island feels busier.

Food. The one thing to seek out is Skopelos cheese pie, a coiled spiral of pastry fried to order. Otherwise I'd rank it well behind Sifnos or Milos.

Hiking. Trails run up Palouki hill to a cluster of monasteries above the town, and there are forest paths inland, but they're less signposted and less maintained than on Sifnos or Amorgos.

Getting there. No airport. We flew into Skiathos and took the short ferry across.

Mykonos

I found Mykonos very touristy, with a lot of people everywhere. It's the most developed island of the five by a wide margin, and even in September it was genuinely packed. My recommendation is to stop for a couple of days at most.

Beaches. The southern strip (Paradise, Super Paradise, Platis Gialos, Psarou) is beach clubs, sunbed fees, and music. If that's what you want, it's the best of its kind in Greece. If it isn't, go north: Agios Sostis has no facilities at all, and Fokos is remote enough to need a rough drive. Ftelia is a kitesurfing beach when the meltemi blows.

Town. Chora is genuinely beautiful early in the morning before the crowds land, with the windmills, Little Venice, and the maze of whitewashed lanes. By noon it's shoulder to shoulder.

Hiking. Limited. There's a coastal walk out to the Armenistis lighthouse and some rough tracks in the north, but nothing near what Sifnos or Amorgos offer.