Whilst on holiday on a Greek Island and particularly when on hiking trips our favourite day out is when we can get a 15 or 20km
walk
during the day (hopefully without getting too lost...) and then finish off by finding a
nice beach at around 4 o'clock or so - preferably a beach where we can strip off
for a nude swim and sunbathe - and spending a few hours relaxing before heading
back to our hotel.
On
most of our individual Greek Island pages we have indicated where this was
possible and have included quite a lot of photographs of the various beaches we
used.
Please note there are no photographs on our site which are unsuitable for
children to look at.
Finally if you are interested in playing around with GPS mapping we usually took
our Magellan on our walks and so there are latitude and longitude readings too
(wgs84) on our walks pages which you could use to calibrate a map. Many of the
Greek Islands now have quite good maps available often quite accurately showing
paths and tracks which makes planning walks a lot easier and getting lost a
little harder.
The Greek Island of Alonissos is a really excellent
choice for a Greek Island holiday and also good for walking as it has lots of paths and tracks
many of which are way-marked.Alonissos's Beaches are mostly pebble but one of the enjoyments was going out hiking and finding your own empty little beach somewhere miles from anywhere - so you could go nude sunbathing, swimming and snorkelling without bothering anyone. We have walking guides for ten walks both circular and end to end described on Alonissos with distances varying around 7 to 14km and mostly starting or ending around Patitiri. |
Andros Island is situated in the Cyclades Island Group -
and is reached by
flying into Athens and then a ferry ride from Rafina to it's capital of
Gavrio.
Most people
going to Andros on holiday stay in Batsi - we found the island really quiet as
few holiday companies go there anymore. Andros in springtime is probably
the most scenic island we have been to in Greece - full of streams,
springs, old buildings, churches, mills and wildlife - really excellent
for sightseeing. Also for walkers
the walled paths and Moni-paths are excellent - probably only Paxos beats
them and then only just. Andros is pretty inexpensive to stay in - food and wine are really cheap but the quality is good. We have nine Andros walks described varying from 6 to 22km and visiting beaches, gorges and monasteries - quite often on walled paths and moni-pati |
The large Greek Island of Crete is really scenic giving
holiday walking and sightseeing opportunities of
all sorts from
![]() beaches to gorges to mountain tracks, ravines and trails.
There are miles of beaches to chose from whilst on holiday in Crete with variations between small sandy
coves to really long stretches of sandy beaches. We think Crete food was the best we have had on any Greek Island with a huge variety and choice of dishes on offer and loads of vegetables too - not the sometimes compulsory chips that taverna owners think English people must have with everything. We have six walks described including walks to Palm Beach (shown above on the right) and hiking through two of Crete's gorges - Imbros Gorge and the excellent and wild Prassanos Gorge. |
Only just a Greek Island
Lefkada (also known as Lefkas) is
located in The Ionian and easily reached by road or air - the island has no
airfield but is served by the close by military airport of Preveza on the
mainland.
The island is dominated by the high mountains which split it in two -
these mountains plus the close by ranges on the mainland can create some
interesting weather in Spring and Autumn. Lefkada is covered with small trees
and one really interesting aspect of the mountains is when you have a look up
around the Pirghos area - there are large flat areas of fields up here and in
the Spring they are covered with wild flowers - it really is beautiful. The
farmers are still very active up here plus there are the occasional thousands of
snooty goats and sheep wandering around - this is a "do not miss"
area to look around if you are in Lefkas on holiday early in the season. The
island also has some really good wild beaches on the top side of it's west
coasts, ideal for some swimming and sunbathing and ok for nudists too. |
Lesvos or Lesbos is located
in the Aegean and is the third largest Greek Island. If we were offered a free
holiday to any of the islands mentioned on this page then a holiday in Lesbos
would be our choice. The walking,
scenery and just the general island we found to be really great - we walked
around 250km whilst on the island for our two weeks.
Perhaps the
only thing that might put you off might be the large amount of snakes
around - never a day passed without us seeing snakes and not just because
we were out in the hills walking - there were snakes around in Petra for
instance. However they do tend to clear off fast so not a problem usually although you do
need to be aware of them - particularly vipers - when up in the hills. We have
ten walks described for Lesbos and lots of photo to go with the walks
descriptions. |
The
Greek Island of Naxos is full of really nice walled paths and moni-paths - it's a brilliant
island for holiday walking.
![]() Naxos does not have a jet capable/commercial airport so you have to take a
ferry from
Mykonos. Naxos Island is a main switching point/hub for Greece's
ferries
and you can probably get anywhere from here by ferry. Naxos Town is full of tavernas and can be really busy
during the summer period.The Island has loads of beaches of all varieties - from sunbed and taverna etc types to isolated rugged beaches where you can go nude if you wish - it's a really nice place for a holiday. We have six walks described which you can do on Naxos plus lots of photographs of the island's beaches, coasts, paths and moni-paths, churches and general countryside. |
Paros is located just a few kilometres from Naxos and you have to take a ferry from Mykonos to
get to the island -
we really enjoyed
our holiday in Paros and perhaps found it better
than it's neighbour Naxos (just) for the sheer scenery and huge amount of
walks available.
You can walk round most of the island's coastline if you
wish and of course visit all sorts of beaches on the way - as usual the
more remote ones are nice and quiet and easy to use for nudists. Internally Paros has a lot of moni-paths and walled paths although some
have fallen into neglect as they are not used very much which is a shame.
The main places visitors and holidaymakers stay at are Parikia, Lefkes and Naoussa.
As mentioned we did a huge amount of walking on the Paros and we have described nine of them - including walks to Golden Beach, Aliki, Aghia Arini, marble quarries, Tripiti, churches and monasteries. |
Located in the Ionian Paxos is reached by hydrofoil or ferry
from Corfu - about a 10 mile trip - i.e. there
is no commercial airport -
you have to travel to Paxos via Corfu for your Paxi holiday. The island is really small and
has
plenty of small usually pebble beaches on its coastline. The main towns are Lakka,
Gaios and the small fishing village of Logos (these are all served by
a fairly regular bus service). The harbours found on Paxos are amazingly scenic - especially
Gaios
harbour where the
views are stunning.There is a lot of walking available on Paxos - beautiful walled paths are available for walkers all over the place and we have described nine walks on the island all with plenty of photographs - including walks to Trypitos Arch and Geramonachos. There is also a little about Anti-Paxos and a straightforward walk detailed to the lighthouse and back. |
The North East Aegean Greek Holiday Island of
Samos has really excellent - usually sandy
- beaches, great
scenery and good, simple and reasonably priced food.
The walking available
is pretty good with lots of tracks and paths to use especially up in the
hills where you can visit monasteries and see lots of churches.
We have
created five walks descriptions for Samos both going via countryside and
visiting beaches - all our walking guides for Samos have as usual loads of
accompanying photographs.
Skiathos -
although we have been through Skiathos quite a few times on our way to other
Greek Islands it has been 10 years since we last actually stayed there - we
finally went back for a holiday in Skiathos during July 2007.
Sciathos has not changed that much and it was good to see that the authorities
have left the northerly part of the island undeveloped - so there are still some
really lovely wild looking beaches to enjoy and the forests are excellent to
walk around - though there are not too many footpaths - mostly you have to use
dirt tracks. Although you may immediately think of Skiathos as noisy and so on
(there is a lot of action in Skiathos Town at nights of course) the Island does
offer plenty of opportunity for anyone wanting a quieter evening - it is no
problem to find a nice friendly taverna along the coastal road for instance.Our Skiathos holiday guide is packed with photographs plus information about the beaches, food costs, bus and taxis and so on. |
The
unusually shaped Greek Island of
Skopelos is really quiet especially in Spring but gets pretty busy in
July and August when many Italians and Greeks
turn up for their summer
holidays. The island is reached by hydrofoil or ferry from Sciathos - and with Alonissos only a short hydrofoil trip away you can take a look at that island easily enough too on a day trip. Apart from general Skopelos holiday information on food and beaches etc we also have
quite a few walks - in fact nine in all - described for Skopelos Island. These walks take you out visiting beaches (several of which are usually empty and ok for naturists), lots of monasteries and churches including the huge monastery at Panormortis and walks out in the forests and hiking up into the hills. (Skopelos is not a particularly flat Greek Island). |
The small Greek Island of
Symi is located in the Southern Dodecanese and
located just a few kilometres from Turkey.
The island is reached by fishing boat ferry or hydrofoil from Rhodes since it does not have a jet
capable airport.Apart from general holiday information about Simi we found the island to be pretty good for walking. Symi is remarkably hilly - especially if you start your day's walk from the harbour and have to meander up the famous Kali Strata before commencing the next even higher and steeper climb to get over the saddle and into the centre of the island. This latter part of the climb is on a gorgeous moni-path and is full of goats (which delight in throwing rocks at you seemingly) and offering really excellent views. We have nine Symi walks described - mostly circular - varying from 5km to 20km and all with lots of accompanying photographs. |
Thassos. Another Greek Island without a commercial airport (you come in via the
mainland at Kavala and take a ferry to this North Aegean Island) -
Thassos is a small nearly circular island with loads of sandy beaches to
chose from whilst on holiday (including
the excellent nudist beach at Paradise Bay and the huge - perhaps more
family type beach - at Golden Bay).
There are archaeological sites all over the place to be enjoyed
including the Ancient Agora and Ancient Theatre at Limenas (Thassos Town). Walking is not at all bad on Thassos - we have several walks described
including walks via churches and monasteries, a trip up to Kastro and also
another hike which takes you past a large working marble quarry. Whilst on
holiday in Thassos we found Thassos Town to be really quiet -
the evenings were just a peaceful stroll along the harbour to one of the
tavernas - a good inexpensive meal with lots of house wine and a few ouzos
and finally perhaps a wander up to the Ancient Agora to walk it all off a
bit. |
| Mykonos Town photos. We have not actually taken a holiday on Mykonos yet - just stopped several times in Mykonos Town whilst going elsewhere, so this is mostly just a selection of photographs taken around Mykonos Town whilst we killed some time waiting for our next ferry or our flight home. | We previously had a holiday on Rhodes and did a lot of walking but we do not have any digital photos from those days so there are no walks descriptions. The Rhodes Old Town and Castle photos are just from more recent times when we had to wait at Rhodes Old Town for our hydrofoil over to Symi. |
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