Zamn

My girlfriend and I are going island hopping in Greece for 15 days in June. We're flying out to Athens and back from Kos so we need to make our way across the Aegean in that time. I was hoping to get some advice on which islands would be best to visit.

We're interested I'm quieter and less touristy islands for the most part. We're not going to spend any time in Athens and no more than one day in Kos. Neither of us drive so the islands we go to need to be practical without needing to hire a car.

From our research so far we're keen to go to Naxos especially. We're also intending to go to Astypalea which sounds appealingly untoursity and would break up the long sea journey between the Cyclades and the Dodecanese.

We'd like to go to one or two other islands as well. Obviously, they need to be logistically feasible given our route. At the moment we're looking at Milos, Syros, the little Cyclades and Santorini (touristy, I know, but it seems like it would be a shame to miss it), but we'd be happy to consider any others as well.

I'd love to hear any recommendations or advice. Thanks!

Heimdall

From Naxos you could take Blue Star, which en route to Astypalea stops at islands in the Little Cyclades and Amorgos. Of those I would probably pick Amorgos. When you reach Astypalea there will be connections to islands in the Dodecanese, although timetables for those ferries don't seem to have been released yet.

Another route would be Naxos > Santorini, where you could pick up a Blue Star going from there to Kos and Rhodes, or a slower ferry (Prevelis) that stops on Crete, and several other islands between Crete and Rhodes.

None of the ferries between the Cyclades and Dodecanese run daily (more like 2-3 times/week), so you will have to plan carefully. Get a copy of <i>Greek Island Hopping</i> to see the routes and descriptions of the islands. At the back of the book are timetables, but use them as a rough guide only.

brotherleelove2004

Although it doesn't show the route between Rhodes/Kos and Santorini, which of course does exist, you might find this map useful to help you plan a route.

http://www.greeceathensaegeaninfo.co...erry-chart.htm

http://www.gtp.gr http://www.openseas.gr/openseas/index.html

Zamn

Thanks, that's really helpful.

I'm sure we can sort out the logistics though; I'm more concerned about choosing which islands to visit! Provided it's remotely feasible we'd be happy to go of our way to visit somewhere really great.

Retsina

You have been answered quite comprehensively on another site, hence your selection seems to be based on users of that forum favs, getting tons of more different answers won't help much.

You can't do it by randomly picking out islands then trying to get to Kos. You quickly end up with an impossible route. You only have a bit less than 2 weeks.

So you have have to more or less take the direct routes stopping off on islands on that route. Just about all you have to decide is a basic route.

That could be via Samos or Astypalaea or Santorini or to Crete thence to Kos.

You seem to have just about decided on Astypalaea, thus islands conveniently on that route are Paros/Antiparos > Naxos > 4x small Cyclades > Amorgos > Astypalaea > Kalimnos > Kos.
That alone is 11 islands, just not possible in your time, so you miss some islands. That's just about all you have to decide.

Milos is too far off any route to Kos. Syros is probably best as part of the Samos route. That would delete Naxos and Astypalaea.

Heimdall

Exactly as Retsina wrote! Actually 15 days is quite a short time for an island hopping trip, and logistics are the most important factor. An "out of the way" island may have only one or two ferries per week, so you would spend most of your holiday just getting to and from that one island. On the other hand, you can find "out of the way" places even on a large, busy island.

Zamn

Thanks for your advice. (By the way, I haven't posted anything on anther forum, I'm not sure where you got that idea from. I've just been doing my own research).

I'm aware that not every possible combination of islands is doable. But it seems that many different are if you're prepared to take a couple more ferry journeys than you otherwise would, bearing in mind that of course we don't want to waste too much of our time at sea.

We won't be going to Samos or Crete which are too far out of the way. Milos could apparently be feasible if you went Piraeus > Milos > Syros > Naxos, for instance. But we're not completely wedded to any island yet.

In any case what we're really interested in is where you think we really should stop by if we can. Descriptions of islands are easy to come by, but people's own impressions are priceless. Thanks!