May go to Greece mid June. What I remember from years, past, you can show up at the domestic airport and there are tons of flights to all the islands, ,--very bookable, on the fly, and very cheap, About same today? thanks.

Also, confirming, June, still way better than July / Aug (but water may be more chilly?)

one way to check is to look for tickets for tomorrow and compare prices for dates further out.

How long ago did you do these "on the fly" trips?

I imagine it depends on the where here.

I mean, if you're going to show up and try to get a ticket for major places like Santorini, Mykonos, Crete, and many others, you may be SOL. Overtourism has changed the landscape.

But if you go somewhere more off the beaten path, you might get lucky.

Question is more than vague.

From where? Maybe in Athens you can find those flights daily but I think from the rest of Europe you won't find it true.

London might have the most flights but even then I wouldn't count on cheap last minute flights. Planes are full. Worse the cheaper airlines tend to want you to check in online before getting to the airport. They can charge a fair bit for airport check ins. London also has many airports. You might find the flight you need is from Stansted,Gatwick or who knows where.

Worse here those flights are not only infrequent they're usually really late night or early morning. 4am or 6am. Once maybe twice a week. Not all cities have flights to all islands.

First of all: domestic flights are not really cheap.
If you book today a flight from MILAN to Rhodos for the random date of June 2nd, it will cost 50 EUR with hand luggage and checked in luggage.
The cheapest similar flight from ATHENS to Rhodos that you can book today (departure in 11 hrs) will cost 202 EUR with hand luggage and checked in luggage,
if you book today the same flight for May 20th, it will cost 80 EUR.
A ferry ride from Piraeus to Rhodes will cost 75 EUR without cabin.

Whatever you book, it's not necessary to go to any agent, you can do all by smarthphone.

The fact that you refer to “the domestic airport” suggests you last visited Greece many years ago when Athens Airport was at Hellenikon and had separate domestic and international terminals at opposite sides of the runway. These days Athens Airport is at Spata, with a modern terminal that serves both international and domestic flights.

Most domestic flights from Athens depart full, and the only way to get a flight at the last minute is to hope there is a no show, and the seat won’t be filled by someone who already has a ticket with the right to a seat on the next available flight. Some island airports have short runways with takeoff weight restrictions, and can’t fill all the seats on the airplane, so it is even harder to get a ticket back to Athens if you haven’t booked ahead.

It’s usually possible to get a ferry ticket at the last minute if you are travelling outside high season, but I wouldn’t try it with flights.

Thanks guys, well long time ago, I"m talking being in Athens, yes to a place like Skopelos, in mid JUne... Yes, this was just a domestic airport, no internaltional nearby...

Even June bad? And all agree June still better then July/ August?

So you would all have flight done way in advance, time wise..... Same with lodging? I used to just do that on the fly with Greek islands, never a problem...there were so many motels like place on water on all islands...

In this day and age, I would not have something lined up without advanced planning.

Sometimes, its not the foreign tourists you have to worry about but also the locals.

But the days of old that you describe are long over, mate. Sorry.

Your call on what you do here.

I was unfamiliar with Skopelos but looked it up. They filmed Mamma Mia there.

Because for some weird reason people feel the need to tour filming locations, I will say this:

Yes. Book flights AND lodging. You might already be too late.

Not only book ahead -- but as far ahead as possible. Flight capacity is less than demand. Same with accommodations -- it ain't anything like the old days when one could roll up at the last minute and have landlords trolling arriving passengers to rent rooms.

My answer would be.

Do you care where you stay?

Do you care how much you pay?

Even on the worst day of the year there will be something to rent. It might be a large luxury suite in the most expensive hotel in the city or it might be the worst hotel in the city. In either case you'll be paying walk up prices which tend to be top of the scale.

End of this week is the May 1st long weekend. Check what sort of options you see on booking that day. June won't be busier.

And don't forget:
Skiathos has direct flights not only from Athens but from
Stansted
Gatwick
Manchester,
Copenhagen
Frankfurt
Munich
Zurich
too.
You may also reach Skiathos by bus and ferry from Athens via Mandoudi
The Volos - Skiathos - Skopelos - Alonissos ferry runs all the year round.

The times where hotel or spiti keepers came to the harbour or to the airport in order to offer free rooms are long over. Today everybody books in advance, most of them via booking.com or airbnb.com

It's often easier to get lodging at the last minute than flights. Trains are definitely easier. I would imagine ferries would also be easier to book at the last minute than flights.

This past weekend, in Saturday the funeral of Pope Francis took place and on Sunday there was a Youth Jubilee in Rome, with some 100,000 attendees. My granddaughter decided on Friday afternoon that she wanted to go to Rome for the weekend and found both train tickets and lodging. The train on the way back was a problem; most trains were fully booked. She got a seat on Italo. Failing that, she could have taken regional train, which doesn't have reserved seats, but takes more than twice as long, and is not direct.

The best time to buy airline tickets changes every year and season. Sometimes it's better to book months ahead, other times just a few days before. That said, June in Greece is almost high season and most flights are already sold, so I would suggest buying them at least a bit in advance. Spend several days checking the prices and when you see a good one, buy it! The same goes for hotels. In June many will be fully booked, so do your research now!

Even on flights there often is one seat empty. The problem is you'll be paying €300 or more while the person next to you maybe paid €50