Dave's Travel Pages

Bicycle Touring and Travel Blog

Adventure Travel Blog

  • Greece Travel
  • Greek Islands
  • Europe
  • Asia Travel
  • Americas
  • Bike Touring
  • About

Last updated on January 15, 2021 By Dave Briggs 7 Comments

Greek Island Hopping Guides To The Best Greek Islands

Turn your Greek island hopping dreams into reality with this guide to visiting the best Greek islands. I'll show you how to book a ferry easily, which Greek islands to visit, and more!

Dave's Travel Guide to Greek Island Hopping

So you want to go Greek Island Hopping…

One vacation. 227 inhabited Greek islands. Where do you begin? I've written this guide to Greek Island Hopping with the aim of keeping it simple.

As such, if you're really only interested in the classic Athens – Mykonos – Santorini itinerary, take a short cut and check out my guide here: 7 Day Athens, Santorini, Mykonos itinerary.

Also, if you really only want to know how to book a Greek ferry ticket online quickly and easily, go directly to this site: Ferryhopper.

But if you want to know more, make yourself a nice cup of tea frappe, and let's get started!

Guides To The Best Greek Islands To Travel

To begin with, I'm going to list the Greek islands I've currently got travel guides about. Underneath that, I've included useful tips and advice for planning a Greek island hopping adventure.

I think this guide will have everything you need to go island hopping in Greece. You can always ask me questions via the comments at the end of the travel blog post.

Cycladic Islands Travel Guides

When most people think about Greek islands, they've probably got images of Santorini and Mykonos in mind. These are two of the Cycladic islands, but there are dozens more.

A view on Andros Island

I've not been to all of the Cycladic islands yet… but I'm working on it! I've got a post here about all 24 inhabited Cycladic islands in Greece.

You can get to some islands in the Cyclades by international flight. Others, you'll need to travel to by ferry. Read how to get from Athens to the Cyclades islands for more information.

These are the Cycladic island travel guides I have so far:

Santorini

  • Santorini Travel Guide
    • Best time to go to Santorini
    • Santorini in October
    • Santorini in November
    • Random facts about Santorini
    • How to get from Athens to Santorini by ferry
    • How to get from Mykonos to Santorini
    • Crete to Santorini by ferry
    • Naxos to Santorini by ferry
    • Santorini Airport Transfers made easy
    • Best Santorini hotels with a sunset view
    • How to book a Santorini hotel with breaking the bank
    • One day Santorini itinerary
    • Two day Santorini itinerary
    • Three day Santorini itinerary
    • Day Trips from Santorini
    • Wine tasting in Santorini
    • Best Beaches in Santorini
    • Red Beach Santorini
    • Hiking from Fira to Oia in Santorini
    • Best Santorini tours and excursions
    • Best boat tours in Santorini
    • Santorini Island Hopping

Mykonos

  • Mykonos Travel Guide 
    • Why visit Mykonos?
    • Best time to visit Mykonos
    • How to get from Athens to Mykonos
    • Mykonos Airport Taxi Guide
    • Where to stay in Mykonos
    • One day in Mykonos itinerary
    • 3 days in Mykonos itinerary and travel guides
    • Best Mykonos tours and day trips
    • Best beaches in Mykonos
    • Islands Near Mykonos
    • How to get from Mykonos to Milos
    • How to get from Mykonos to Naxos

Milos

  • Milos Travel Guide
    • How to get to Milos
    • Where to stay in Milos
    • Best things to do in Milos
    • Best day trips in Milos
    • Where to eat – Best restaurants in Milos
    • Best beaches in Milos
    • Sarakiniko Beach in Milos
    • Kleftiko Milos
    • The most awesome Milos boat tour
    • How to get from Milos to Kimolos
    • Ferries from Milos to other Cyclades islands

Kimolos

  • Best things to do in Kimolos island Greece

Naxos

  • Naxos Travel Guide 
    • Athens to Naxos Ferry Guide 
    • Where to stay in Naxos
    • Naxos Tours and Day Trips
    • Best beaches in Naxos
    • Naxos to Ios Ferry information

Schinoussa

  • Schinoussa Travel Guide
    • Where to stay in Schinoussa

Iraklia

  • Iraklia Travel Guide
    • Where to stay in Iraklia

Ios

  • Best things to do in Ios
    • Best places to watch the sunset in Ios
    • How to get from Athens to Ios ferry guide
    • How to get from Ios to Sikinos
    • Ios to Santorini ferry guide

Sikinos

  • Best things to do in Sikinos
    • How to get from Sikinos to Folegandros

Folegandros

  • Best things to do in Folegandros
    • Hiking to Katergo Beach in Folegandros
    • How to get from Folegandros to Kimolos

Syros

  • The best things to do in Syros, Greece

Tinos

  • Tinos Greece Travel Guide
    • How to get to Tinos island
    • Best hotels in Tinos
    • How to get around Tinos Greece

Andros

  • Andros Island Travel Guide
    • How to get to Andros Island Greece
    • Where to stay in Andros Greece
    • How to get around Andros

** Travel Guide to Andros and Tinos now available on Amazon! **

Ionian Islands of Greece

Perhaps the other island chain that people associate with Greek island hopping, are the Ionian islands of Greece. Located over on the west coast of mainland Greece, they include popular holiday destinations such as Zakynthos and Corfu.

Near Frikes village in Ithaca island Greece

Whilst many people from outside of Greece might associate these islands with a ‘resort' holiday, they are actually ideal for island hopping. They are not too far apart, and regular ferry services run between the islands.

Zakynthos (Zante)

  • Zakynthos Travel Guide
    • Zakynthos airport transfers
    • Zakynthos tours and day trips

Kefalonia

  • Kefalonia Travel Guide

Ithaca

  • Ithaca Travel Guide

Lefkada

  • Lefkada Travel Guide

Crete and the Cretan Islands

Crete is the largest of the Greek islands, and has a number of smaller islands surrounding it. Whilst some people seem content with visiting Crete for just a day or two, it really deserves weeks not days.

A guide to the best things to see in Heraklion, Crete.

From Crete, you can island hop either to the Cretan islands (often on a day trip), or further afield to places such as Santorini.

  • Crete Travel Guide
    • Best time to visit Crete
    • Crete in October for autumn sun
    • Athens to Crete (Chania) by ferry
    • Transfers from Heraklion airport
    • Best things to do in Heraklion
    • Heraklion tours and day trips
    • The Palace of Knossos (near Heraklion)
    • Chania tours and day trips
    • Top 5 experiences in Crete
    • Plan a road trip in Crete
    • Chrissi Island near Crete
    • Crete to Santorini ferry guide

Dodecanese Islands

Although the name seems to indicate that this would be an island chain of 12 islands, there are in fact 15 larger ones and a few smaller ones. Welcome to Greece!

The windmills of Patmos

The most famous of the Dodecanese islands is Rhodes, and whilst I have visited the island, I haven't gotten around to writing any travel guides yet! As such, only Patmos is listed below.

Patmos

  • Patmos Travel Guide
    • Porto Scoutari Romantic Hotel and Spa
    • Where to eat in Patmos

I've still got over 200 Greek islands left to visit and write about. As the Greek saying goes, Siga Siga…

You might also be interested in: Gulet Cruise Around Greece

Travel Tips for Greek Island Hopping

I think you'll find the following travel tips useful as you start looking where you want to go Greek island hopping.

These tips have come from my own experiences, as well as those of readers who have left me comments and sent emails. In my opinion, these Greek island hopping tips are essential before you book anything!

Dave Briggs getting a ferry from Piraeus in Athens

Look at a map of Greece

More than once, someone has asked how they can go island hopping between Santorini and Zakynthos. The answer being, with great difficulty!

It really pays to look at a map, and then narrow down the places you'd like to visit. For most people, this means choosing an island chain (for example the Cyclades), and then looking at which islands best suit them.

Greek island hopping routes are best done either within one island chain, or neighboring chains.

Ferry or Plane

In the past, Greek island hopping was associated with only ferries, and still that is what most people think of today. It is, however, just about possible to hop between some of the bigger name islands by using low cost airlines and Greek national airlines. 

For the ‘return leg' back into Athens for your flight home, I'd suggest taking a flight rather than a ferry. One person wrote to me asking if their itinerary looked ok, arriving at Piraeus at 18.00 and flying out of Athens at 20.00. That's leaving it far too tight. What if the ferry was delayed?

Which ferry service to use in Greece?

I've used most of the Greek ferry companies now, and there's not much difference between them. You'll probably narrow down your choice by the most convenient crossing and price in any case.

Take a look at this comprehensive guide to the ferries in Greece.

A Greek Ferry docking

How to book a Greek ferry ticket

Time was you used to have to go to an office to buy tickets. Now, most tickets can be bought online. I personally use Ferryhopper. It's an easy to use platform, and reliable.

Don't book a hotel first

Don't make the mistake of booking a hotel first which might be non-refundable, and then looking for connections between the islands after. If no connection exists, you've lost out.

When you do book a hotel, use Booking. After you've used it a few times, you'll be given ‘genius level' which gives you discounts.

Best Time To Go Greek Island Hopping

May through to October is the best time to go Greek island hopping. From November until May, ferry services may be reduced to some of the islands. Additionally, tourism all but closes down on the islands.

There are exceptions, as the off season months such as November can be a good time to visit Santorini as there are far fewer tourists.

A guide to the best Santorini sunset hotels

Cheapest Time To Go Greek Island Hopping

Forget July and August, when hotel prices are higher. You might also want to skip high end destinations such as Mykonos and Santorini altogether if you want to plan a budget island hopping itinerary.

Instead, travel slower, and for longer, and to the smaller less popular islands. You can still get nice 30 Euro a night rooms (and cheaper!) on the islands if you look hard enough. A lot of Greek islands also have camping.

Walking through the quiet streets of Tinos

Strong winds can be STRONG

I'd never heard of the Beaufort Scale of measuring wind before I moved to Greece. Now I know it intimately! Strong winds known as the Meltemi can plague some of the Cycladic islands during August. In fact, they can sometimes be strong enough that the ferries cannot sail. 

This is nature at her finest, and nothing that can be predicted. I would suggest that you arrange to fly into Athens from your last island rather than rely on a ferry. That way, you won't miss the flight home. Although I guess there are worse places to be stuck than in Greece!

Do you have any travel tips you'd like to add? Please leave a comment below, and I'll include them in the blog post!

A practical guide to Greek island hopping

Filed Under: Greece

Comments

  1. Casey says

    October 13, 2019 at 7:22 pm

    Wow, Dave! What a great resource! Thank you!
    My partner and I (along with our dog) are planning a cycling (e-bikes) trip through Greece in July/August of next year. We are hoping to camp most of the way to save on expenses. I was just wondering how easy it is to find campsites in Greece? Would be difficult to find places to charge e-bikes and, most importantly, are campsites dog friendly?

    Do you have any experience with free/wild camping? and do you know of any resources I could use to locate campsites along the way?

    Thanks again for a really interesting and informative blog!

    Reply
    • Dave Briggs says

      October 15, 2019 at 12:17 pm

      Hi Casey,
      I’m glad you found the info useful so far!
      In terms of camping, you’ll find campsites mainly along the coastlines rather than inland.
      They are all dog friendly in my experience.
      You’d probably need to pay extra to charge the bikes (electricity has an extra charge at Greek campsites normally).
      For free camping, there’s plenty of olive groves to choose from! Some areas of Greece (such as south Crete) are popular with freecampers who often spend the entire summer camping on the beaches there. There’s a similar setup around the west Peloponnese.
      I’ve taken a couple of bike tours around Greece, and you might find some useful info in them. You can check them out here: Bike Tours

      Reply
  2. Chris says

    September 25, 2019 at 3:23 pm

    OK thanks Dave for your response. I think I read somewhere that you can pre book Taxis ? Do you know how that can be done online ?

    Reply
    • Dave Briggs says

      September 25, 2019 at 4:05 pm

      Hi Chris,
      Airport (and Piraeus port) taxis can be pre-booked here: Welcome Taxis

      Reply
      • Chris says

        September 25, 2019 at 5:20 pm

        Thanks very much. I think, even if I had more time, I’d still choose Rafina as it’s closer to the airport, cheaper to get to and presumably not so crowded ?

        Many thanks once again

        Reply
  3. Chris says

    September 24, 2019 at 5:46 pm

    Great blog and tThanks for a load of comprehensive information about Island hopping.

    I have one question which may apply to more than just me so here goes.

    My Aegean Airlines flight arrives in Athens at 5.50am on a Tuesday morning. Given that the plane is on time I should be out of the airport by 6.15am latest (no checked in bags)

    Two ferries leaves for the Cyclades in the morning. One from Piraeus at 7.25am and the other from Rafina at 7.55am. So my question is should I buy a ticket online in advance or wait until I’m actually there in the port (in case of delays and non refundable tickets) ?

    Thanks in advance

    Reply
    • Dave Briggs says

      September 24, 2019 at 10:21 pm

      Hi Chris,
      In my opinion there’s no way you can make the 7.25 am from Piraeus. (At least it’s not worth the risk).
      The 7.55 from Rafina is better, but you’d have to get a taxi I think.
      Also, it would be more straightforward to buy the ticket at Rafina port, as the offices as easier to find and so much closer to the port as it’s smaller.
      Assuming you’re not travelling in August, buying at the port is perhaps the better option, but I’d book it online if it was me so I could go straight through to the ship.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recent Travel Posts

  • How to travel in Greece: Ferries, Buses, Driving and Cycling
  • Milos to Amorgos by Ferry: Schedules and Travel Tips
  • Milos to Ios Island Ferry Schedules and Travel Information

Dave’s Travel Pages has a number of affiliate links placed within the travel blog. If you decide to buy items through these links, you will be helping Dave to fund this site and perhaps the next adventure. More importantly, it doesn’t cost you anything extra. Win win – we like that!

Dave’s Travel Blog Privacy Policy

Read our privacy policy here

You might also be interested in:

  • Travel by Bicycle
  • Travel Quotes
  • Travel to Athens
  • Greek Island Hopping
  • Dave’s Santorini Travel Guide

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

"Copyright Dave's Travel Pages (c) 2005- - 2020 "