O62

Hello all,

I'm working on a trip to Europe this or next summer and I'm looking at adding another island to my humble collection (Eleuthera, Mahe /Praslin, Aitutaki). As you can see, I typically like more off the beaten path islands but ones that aren't so primitive as to not have a few nice hotels or restaurants should one need. Of those above, the most favorite was Aitutaki in terms of its balance between size, access, and amenities. Least favorite was Mahe - was a bit too big and crowded for our tastes.

So, what islands of Europe can you give me to start researching? The only other requirement besides being relatively small / non-touristy is it must be nearby a Star Alliance served airport. (The actual island can be another short flight or ferry away, however).

Andy33

Well since Aegean Airlines is a Star Alliance member, a vast number of Greek islands come into play.
How about Kastellorizo (also known as Megisti), flight to Rhodes, connecting flight on Olympic Air (an Aegean subsidiary with full Aegean codeshares). Tiny island, one flight a day, they clear livestock off the area round the runway when the plane is due.
Or my favourite, Symi. Ferry from Rhodes or Kos. Lower town has lots of tourists, but the upper town is much more Greek, lots of mazy lanes with no vehicle access to wander about in. Stunningly beautiful setting and buildings.

KLouis

I didn't dare answer earlier as the OP was asking for an island with resorts and most small non-touristy islands have none (they all have plenty of restaurants, though ). At any rate, there are lots of great non-touristy islands in the Aegean (and Ionian), Symi and Kastelorizo being two of them. Others that come to mind are Thasos, Samothraki, Skiathos, Alonissos, Skopelos, most Cyclades except for Mykonos, Ios and Santorini, which are extremely touristy, and most small members of the Dodecanese, except for Kos and Rhodes for the same reason as above. Also, all of the Ionian outside July and August and not Corfu, which is also packed from April till October (some resorts on Zakynthos and Cephalonia).

A word of caution: Aegean is a member of *A but Olympic that flies from ATH and SKG to the islands is not. You do get M+B miles but for any other *A programme!

stut

One of the easiest bets is the Stockholm Archipelago. Thousands of beautiful islands to pick from and plenty ferries to reach them (or better still, get your own boat).

The Isles of Scilly are rather lovely, although not the most accessible via *A (there are DUS-NQY flights in the summer, otherwise you're looking at BRU-BRS or the train from London to Penzance).

I have friends who swear by the Ile de Batz every year (I've yet to go). You need to get to Brittany first, of course (train from Paris?)

Sark is a fascinating place (accessible via JER, which does have some seasonal *A flights, or more easily from GCI).

SwissBritMiss

Rügen in northern Germany is gorgeous in summer and with interesting history too. It has infrastructure for tourism, but almost completely unheard of outside of the country (in fact, many of my southern German friends also were unaware)!

I chanced upon it when, like you, I was out for a European island trip and this was the closest to where my dart landed on the map...

stut

Actually yes, there's some good ones round there on the Danish and Swedish side too - Bornholm and Ven, for example. And don't forget the Nørrejyske Ø where you can watch the seas meet at Skagen...

And I haven't even started on Scotland yet... Fly to Barra, and land on the beach!

theSaladDays

Absolutely, the Pomeranian region on both the German and Polish sides is lovely and dotted with forested islands with endless sandy beaches, very much off the beaten path for foreign tourists, but still with enough small towns and villages to keep busy. They can get busy in summer, and the beaches near the villages are often packed, but it's usually enough to walk along the coast 5-10 minutes and you'll probably have the whole beach to yourself.

Local *A airports are Szczecin, Heringsdorf (seasonal), or Berlin Tegel if you don't mind the distance.

Or head for the Danish island of Bornholm in the middle of the Baltic!

SwissBritMiss

Or Hamburg. Get the Meck-Pomm Länderticket for EUR23 and stop off at Schwerin on the way for some castle action.

O62

Love the recommendations so far!

Hah, yes, that was silly. Replaced resort with hotels to be more clear and open the search a little more.

theSaladDays

Good point, for some reason I always imagine Hamburg to be much further west than it actually is. Schwerin looks nice!

pogonation

Have you had a look at Sardinia? Off the beaten track and very beautiful. Lovely Italian food and a few nice hotels on the island. Can fly to Cagliari with LH and LX. I prefer it to the majority of the Greek Islands which are ususually a lot busier and touristy (although a few are very nice).

KLouis

Only a few?

PS Although Sardinia, like Corsica, Crete, Sicily and Cyprus may be islands but this is not what one really means by island. Otherwise we could recommend... Great Brittain.

STBCypriot

As a resident of Cyprus, I take offense to this comment. Cyprus is an island and I really mean it is an island.

KLouis

Easy! Coming from a 34 yeqrs long resident of Crete: the "island feeling" only comes up during an ATC strike or during a winter storm, when you can't fly out or into them and wish you were on the continent!