Greek Island Recommendations?

[RabbitsRock]

DH & I went to Crete before we were married & loved it so I have been looking at other islands. Santorini is famous but is there much to do there? Found a beautiful hotel but it’s £500 a night with just breakfast! Princess Luxury Spa Hotel or something like that. Obviously there are loads of other places to stay. Heard good things about Kefalonia & Zante.

Rhodes is good too but it would be really hot in July-August. Lots of all inclusive hotels too.

Just come back from Skiathos. So pretty. Beautiful beaches. Have done Crete, Corfu, Kos, Cyprus, Rhodes, Zante too. Corfu and Skiathos my faves.

Greek islands are my favourite European summer holiday. Standouts for me are Crete and Antiparos.

Kefalonia is lovely in my opinion. Been to most of the island as driving is easy and really friendly. Not much in the way of 5* places to stay but nice hotels and self catering options aplenty. Lassi is great as near the airport and has the best beaches.

Love Skiathos. Beautiful beaches and plenty to do while still retaining Greek charm.

Kos really is lovely; Kos Town has a lot to do and Kardamena is gorgeous. Also Kalymnos - 2 miles off Kos, you fly to Kos and transfer by boat.

We struggled to find a beach in Lassi that wasn't rammed to within an inch of its life with sunbeds.

We did like Kefalonia though. Returning this year.

Any recommendations for places to stay and are there direct flights?

How about island hopping? We did go to Santorini and yes it’s pretty, as is Mykonos, but also rammed.
Our favourite was Naxos, but you can’t fly there. It is easy to fly to Athens do Mykonos, Naxos then fly back from Santorini.
That said, you might just want a fly and flop holiday…In which case Rhodes is lovely. Really enjoyed Rhodes town, Kalithea springs and Lindos.

Zakynthos just back amazing.

Any holiday company recommendations? Ideally fly from Newquay, Exeter or Bristol

I absolutely love Kefalonia. Been there several times. We stayed in Skathos I think it’s called but did trips all over the island. You can get to Ithaka easily from there too.

Fly to Rhodes. Don't stay there longer than a night as it is over crowded and hideous.

Go island hopping on the ferries from there. I love the Dodecanese islands myself. Take rucksacks rather than wheeled suitcases. Makes life easier.

Thassos is gorgeous. Small green, with some killer beaches. Remember snorkeling there, and looking down at brand new,carved temple pillars, carved thousands of years ago, fallen off the boat loading them all those years ago.

@Beautifulcreatures2 We've stayed in a few different villas, I'm afraid I can't remember the exact names. Personally, I prefer the Koukounaries end of the island.

As for direct flights, that depends where you're starting from! But I think there are flights from most decent sized UK airports. We fly from Bristol.

Glad to hear the good reviews for Skiathos - I’m going next week for the first time!

Can you fly directly to Thassos? I love snorkelling

Why fly to Rhodes if you think it’s hideous 😆

Rhodes is a stunning island but very arid
Crete is very hilly/the rounds are terrifying but I hate heights
skiathos is small and green but rains
zakynthos is lovely also a bit greener
Mykonos has some beautiful beaches but I haven’t been for 20 years
also Santorini is stunning but probably ruined now
I really rate corfu it has an Italian vibe due to the history and a lovely town to explore

Because Rhodes has or had really good ferry links

I absolutely adore Greece! I went to Kos last year, which is lovely - you can do a day trip to Turkey. I have been to Corfu, again really lovely and very green. I went to Zante 30 years ago, which is where I fell in love with Greece. I'm off to Zante in August and have a day trip booked to Kefalonia. I've been to Crete too. Rhodes is meant to be nice. Not sure which has been my favourite, possibly Corfu.

Highly recommended Rhodes.

loads to do and see,loads of boat trips to other islands.
we stayed down near elli beach end and near the old town but walked into new town and further up every day.

the bus trips were awesome aswell and we did quite a few of them.

loved it so much we are going back in august but up the other end nearer Lindos way.

the people are awesome,it’s a really clean island and the food is amazing

Fiskardo on Kefalonia is a world away from Lassi, that's a nice beach but just a resort along a road. Fiskardo is set around a harbour with pretty coloured houses.
Kassiopi on corfu is similar but pebbly beaches there

I love Kefalonia and Corfu. Kefalonia is quieter and there’s probably less touristy stuff to do. Corfu caters more for tourists with lots of different options of things to entertain you and Corfu town is just beautiful. But there’s something about Kefalonia. It has my heart.

im off to Crete this year. Not been for quite a few years and looking forward to it.

I always wanted to go to Santorini, so would not say don't go if you really want to. But! It's rammed with Insta-wankers who totally ruined every single nice bit of it. If you want to go, I'd say go for the day from a different island, don't waste thousands on staying there.

@RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie Yes can imagine but I’ve never been in high season.