Greek island hopping- without a car

[Florabella]

I'd love to plan a holiday with my teens where we visit say 3 Greek islands. I don't want to hire a car at any point. I really don't know where to start: has anyone done similar and can advise? Thanks

Haven't been island hopping since the 90s but one of the well trodden paths then was fly to Athens, get metro/subway to Piraeus port and get ferry to Cyclades chain of islands - Paros, Naxos, Ios, Mykonos, Santorini + a number of smaller ones. Can also fly direct to Mykonos and Santorini now also I think.

Could easily spend 2 weeks hopping between 3/4 of those islands - the ferry journies between them aren't that long at all

Car definitely not needed - in fact I think it would be a hindrance if anything.

The Cyclades are a good bet. I’d either go for the larger islands with decent bus systems (eg Naxos, Paros) or the really small ones like Koufonisi (spelling?) where you can walk everywhere.

Agree Cyclades from Athens are a good idea. I’ve hopped islands a few times and would never have crossed my mind to get a car so definitely easy to do without. I found my Greeks Island hopping Rough Guide a really useful staring point for planning.

This is what I did have many happy memories from that trip we camped first two weeks last week we ranted a room and lazed on a beach as we were tired .

Fly to Zakinthos, and get ferry to Kefalonia and then ferry to Lefkada and bus to mainland to Preveza airport to fly home.

We have done Hydra , spetse and Porto heli combo- all from Athens using the 1hr 15 mins hydrofoil - not expensive to do either and short journeys between each - no car needed(not allowed anyway on Hydra)

This.
Oh this over and over. I did this with my then boyfriend in 2002.
Looking back it was wild, we'd rock up on the island and then hotel owners would run up to us with photos of their accommodation. We'd pick one that we liked and then drive off with them to their place.
No wifi so we relied on bus timetables and ferry timetables to get around. And then when there was a power cut on Ios for the whole day, we just played cards and ate ice cream for free from the shops whose freezers had gone off.
You'll have a fabulous time in the Cyclades. I'd recommend doing Santorini last and then flying back to Athens from there.
Nobody needs to do that 9hr ferry more than once.
Naxos has the most beautiful sand I've ever seen.
All of the islands are beautiful.
Have a great time OP.
Do it do it and do it again xx

This option is probably more teen friendly I would say compared to the Cyclades.
Lefkada has a lot going for it.
And the trip suggestion is very easy to do in that there's not too much faffing with lots of ferries.

Thanks all. That has given me somewhere to start in my research