Greek Island Holiday and Travel Guides.

The Greek Holiday Islands of Lesbos, Symi, Skiathos, Lefkada, Thassos, Crete, Samos, Naxos, Skopelos, Alonissos, Andros, Skiathos, Mykonos, Paros and Paxos.

Greece's Islands really do vary enormously in both countryside, food, wine, beaches, types of paths and moni-paths for walking and so on. Even close neighbouring islands are often different - for example Alonissos, Skopelos and Sciathos are geographically quite close to each other but certainly are not similar to each other. Our various "Greek Islands Holiday Guides" pages are very much about the walking we have done and most have 6 or more walks described. We take plenty of photographs whilst on holiday and the pages are also scattered with descriptive and scenic photos of the areas we hiked. Even if you do not like walking too much the photos do show what an island is like. There is also information about the types and quality of food, what the beaches are like, transport availability i.e. buses and car-hire plus an idea of costs. Obviously and sadly prices for things change (only upwards of course especially since Greece changed to the Euro) so we have said what year the information relates to.

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.

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