Sheila, have you been to Karpathos?

Jackster

This photo of the main beach in Loggos on the tiny Ionian island of Paxos - http://tinypic.com/kaqjoj.jpg
was taken at about 1.30 in the afternoon in mid-July.

If that's uncrowded enough for you and you want to find out more about Paxos, have a look at my page on the Corfu Travel Guide here - http://tinyurl.com/7q3kb

I travelled to Symi with Laskarina about 20 years ago and was surprised at how busy the town was even then and that was towards the end of the season.
However Symi is delightful and we stayed in what was quite basic accommodation (but not cheap)with the most exquisite view high above the town. Unfortunately many, many day trippers arrive in big boats from about mid-morning onwards. We walked all over the island and took boats to remote beaches always making sure that we left early in the day and returned when the day trippers had gone.

Xenos I have been to Loggos a few times staying in the Manor House and again I have been there early in the season when there were only a handful of tourists there. It is such a lovely place and a good base for exploring the island. Many lovely walks and a boat trip to Anti Paxos is a must.

Folegandros! It literally just got an ATM last year and there is only one on the island. Ditto for car rental. There is no airport -- you get there via ferry (a short ride from Santorini or other islands in the Cyclades).

However, I will also say that on almost any island you can soak up the culture of the Greek people away from tourists if you go to where the tourists AREN'T. We spent a lovely day driving the backroads of Santorini and stopping in little towns and at family-run wineries, with virtually no other tourists around.

You can see some of our photos at homepage.mac.com/lisaandmarktravel. The Greece ones are at the bottom and we haven't put all of them up yet -- most of the ones up are of Santorini, only the last two are of Folegandros, but we'll be adding more as soon as we can.

Lisa, BEAUTIFUL pics!
Where did you stay on Santorini?
Also, we are going to Sifnos and Folegandros for a month, May-June, and will be spending most of our time on Folegandros - thinking of a day or 2 on Anafi and checking out Santorini if we can bear the crowds....
Where did you stay when you were on Folegandros? Looks like up at the Hora.... do you have a pensione/hotel name? Thanks!!

djuna -- thank you! Yes, on Santorini we stayed at Anastasis Apartments in Imerovigli, which was fantastic -- gorgeous views and so relaxing. www.anastasisapartments.com. On Folegandros we stayed at Anemomilos Apartments which was the perfect location and I would definitely recommend it (unfortunately we haven't put up most of our Folegandros pics yet, but I'll get around to it eventually!). You can see lots of reviews on both of these places on tripadvisor.com.

We did not find Santorini too crowded at all, other than Oia and Fira (which were each good for a dinner one evening but we didn't spend a whole lot of time in either). Staying in Imerovigli was perfect for us. And Folegandros was blissfully relaxing and quiet. Hope you have as great a time as we did.

I am planning a 2007 trip (hopefully 3 weeks) to the Greek Isles and am just in the very beginning research stages, so your query is helpful for me, too, jackster, thanks. I've been to Athens and environs twice, but this will be my first time to the Islands and the choices are...wow, mind-boggling!

lisa - Just re-read a Conde Nast Traveler article this weekend about Folegandros, and the author stayed at the Anemomilos apts you mention. Sound perfect. Any more tips on Folegandros?

jules - I made note of your comment on the 40 minute ferry to Kusadasi from Samos. Good tip. Part of the planning for this trip is seeing if we can include a bit of the Turkish coast in our itineray.

The beaches on Folegandros are lovely and there are lots of them and they are not crowded at all. You can take little boats from one to the other. The cafes in Chora all have really good food and it's not expensive. You can rent a car at a little place in Chora for 30 Euro per day (or at least you could when we were there in early September of 2005) -- well worth doing for a day or two.

Annabelle2 - if you go to Turkey, make sure that you do some research. We went to Marmaris, Turkey from Rhodes. It was OK, but not spectacular. Glad we went, but if we could do it over we would have spent more time than a day and went to a better place. Marmaris is like a resort town and a tourist trap. We did find time to do a Turkish bath though! That was an experience.

Thanks...I am just starting my Greek trip research so I will keep these comments in mind.
annabelle

Sorry, I hadn't been following this thread.

I've not been to Karpathos, but friends of mine go every year and swear by it. I've checked it out a bit and quite fancy the experience.

On Samos you must rent a car and drive into the interior. It's beautiful, and you'll find a quaint little town or two, as well.

Lisa, wonderful photographs! Who knew? I only regret that there is no accompanying commentary with a few details about some of the pictures. All are on Santorini except for the last two? Do you have a trip report somewhere? Thanks, J.

jmw44 -- My trip report thread is here: http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34673178
Yes, all of those we have up so far are Santorini except for the last two. And yes, we will add photo captions and more photos (from Folegandros & Athens) in the next couple of weeks! Work is a bit crazy at the moment so bear with me