Let’s have a look at how to travel the Greek islands. We have made the Greek islands a staple part of our European holidays now. After a few weeks of rushing around on the continent, a couple of weeks relaxing in a sun drenched paradise seems like the perfect way to round out the holiday.

Too often we we getting home and feeling like we needed a holiday from the holiday. Now we are well rested, refreshed and ready to face the real world again. So lets see what it takes to make a successful Greek islands holiday.

My guide books tell me that there are 777 islands, and I have no reason to doubt this. They are broken up into groups, based upon which region of the Mediterranean they are in. I would suggest picking islands in one region and hit that for your holiday. If you try to hit several different regions you will spend a lot of time at sea.

When Should I Go There?

You can go there at any time, but you will get the most out of your trip during summer. Not only is the weather much warmer, but also the water. Don’t be confusing the Mediterranean with the tropics, which are warm pretty much year round. The Med definitely has seasons and you will need to wear plenty of warm clothing in the off seasons.

The other reason to go in summer is because that is when all of the land based activities open up. Many restaurants and shops close outside summer, so you will lose a lot of the experience and atmosphere which makes these islands so special.

How Do I Get There?

The most common way to get to the islands is by fast ferry. These vessels crisscross the region every day and allow you to have a fairly flexible holiday itinerary. There are a few journeys that are quite long and we generally have this at the start and end of our trip. By focusing on just one region, once you are there, the journey time between islands is only an hour or two.

Most ferry journeys start from Piraeus, which is the port city attached to Athens. This is a real hive of activity every morning when the ferries are getting ready to leave. Passengers are getting dropped off by taxis or coming by foot after getting off the train. There are trucks delivering supplies to go to the islands, as well as stocking the ferries themselves.

Boarding In Piraeus

The berths are labelled alphabetically and you definitely need to know which berth you’re going to, otherwise you’ve got a long walk ahead of you. A few years back this happened to my parents and our daughter. The taxi driver of their taxi seemed to understand but he took them to A instead of E.

Our taxi driver had brought us directly to E. after waiting for about 20 minutes I could see them off in the distance struggling with bags, so I had to run off and give them a hand. By the time we got on board I was a puddle of sweat.

Most of these ferries load and board from the rear. As you board there are racks to put your luggage on and crew members to assist. With your luggage stowed you can head to your allocated seats. As you approach your destination, the passengers head back down to the luggage area and retrieve their bags. The boat backs in, doors open and everyone heads out. The ferry only stays at port for 15-20 minutes, so it’s a pretty efficient operation.

Here is a link to the ferry booking service that I use.

What about flying?

Yes you can fly to the Greek islands. Some of the bigger islands have airports and regularly scheduled flights. This is probably what we will be doing for the next few trips. We have enjoyed Athens, but we’ve given it a pretty good look. We will look to arrange our flights so that we can connect with a flight heading to the region we want to explore. Once there, we will revert to ferries for the shorter more localized travel. This will allow us more time in the islands.

What About Accommodation?

Most of the accommodation in the Greek islands consist of little guest houses or bed and breakfasts. They have a lovely family run feel to them. We have been brought in and introduced to the whole family and really given the feeling that we are treasured guests. It is a special feeling. That has been the case with almost every place we have stayed in, specially the places where the owners also live on site.

The ones that weren’t like that were still very nice and accommodating, but not around as much to give that feeling. I have very strong memories of one place in Naxos. The owners father was a man well into his seventies and he had a little farm. One day he he came in and made a large Greek salad from his own produce and invited my father, my son and I to join him. We sat for a couple of hours just talking about everything and nothing for a couple of hours. That memory takes me straight back to Naxos.

In the vast majority of cases if you contact the owners by email a few days ahead of your arrival, they will come and collect you from the port and drop you back at the end. This makes it a lot easier with your luggage, as some of the islands have rough pathways which can play havoc with wheeled luggage.

Getting Around

One of the most popular ways to get around the islands is by scooter. They are everywhere, and a fairly cheap option for those game enough to give them a go. My advice for using these is, wear a helmet, wear covered shoes, and as always have travel insurance. After spending most of my adult life in emergency services, I know that car versus bike is never a win for the bike. I’ve seen horrible cases of people in open footwear stubbing a toe while on a bike. That sort of thing requires a lot of medical care. Probably a lot more than you will find on the islands, so that means a trip to the mainland.

With all that said though, scooters are a fun option and give you great flexibility to go where you want to go. If you’re going to hire scooters have a look over them first. Some of these bikes cop a real hiding by first time riders and they’re not always in great condition. I make sure that the bikes we get look in almost new condition, and we’re good to go.

If you have a car license then you can hire a 50cc scooter. If you have a motorbike license then you can hire a larger capacity machine. The 50cc machines are good for one person, but two people leaves them fairly under powered. I hired a 250cc bike as I had my daughter on the back, and that had plenty of power for the job.

Cars

Cars are easy to hire in the islands, but my only advice is to go small. The roads tend to be small, places to park are small and you would quickly learn to hate a big car. Additionally fuel is very expensive in the islands. Granted, you’re not covering great distances but it soon adds up. On our last trip we hired a car for 6 people and it cost about 15 Euros per day to run it. That probably doesn’t sound too bad in hindsight, but the price per litre brought a tear to my eye.

What About Tours?

Most islands of any reasonable size have organized tours. Given the history of these islands, it can be well worth getting a tour, just to get the commentary and a bit on sight into what you’re seeing. Sure it would be cheaper by bike or car, but sometimes getting the history of a place helps to put it all into context. Normally the nice folks at your accommodation have a list of available tours. If they are nice people, and they make a couple of Euro out of it, then I’m happy to spread the love around.

Money

We haven’t been to the islands since Covid-19, and I’ll be very interested to see if it has changed their outlook at all. While most of the world had embraced plastic, the Greek islands did not. It was quite funny to listen to the locals complaining that their government was not doing this and that. But when you went to pay they insist on cash. I thought, no wonder the government isn’t doing much. No-ones paying any tax, so the governments got no money.

Unless Covid-19 has brought about huge changes, I would be prepared to spend most of my money in cash and keep the plastic as a back up. You will be making regular trips to the ATM to stock up. As most of the accommodation is mom and pop type operations, they are not that keen to let on how many customers have come through the door, so even this is done largely with cash.

What To Do When You’re There

For Jacqui and I, it’s mostly about the water. We are keen scuba divers and love snorkeling. A lot of people will tell you that the Mediterranean has been fished out and is devoid of life. I disagree. While not as fishy as some tropical locations there is still plenty to see underwater, and the terrain has a beauty all of it’s own. Along with this is absolutely stunning visibility. Quite often it’s like swimming in a pool.

Above the water is the natural scenery and the history. To walk among buildings that have stood for a couple of thousand years is a humbling experience. These islands helped develop our modern world so it good to see where it all came from.

I should also point out that the shopping in fairly unique as well. If you’re a shopper then you could get lost in these islands for weeks. And although they have stuff that is all similarly themed, it seems like no two shops are alike. even though I’m not really a shopper, I do enjoy exploring these shops way more than I should.

So that’s about it for this post. If you’ve always wondered about going to the Greek islands, and weren’t sure about it, just go. Like most travel to first world countries, it will all work itself out. If you forget toothpaste or sunscreen, it’s all here. I have a couple of other posts that go along with this one, which may help you on your way.

The first is “How to pack for overseas travel” and you can check that out here. And “how to travel around Europe” which is here.

Cheers and Happy Travels