Originally Posted by
KLouis
Zakynthos: Great island, I simply love it (it was even better before a major earthquake and an ensuing fire destroyed 90% of the houses in the 50s, I've only seen pictures
). Rather touristy.
Kalymnos: no idea, but my son says it's very nice and not very touristy.
Kos: again, based on my son's experience (6 months of his military service there), nice but very, very touristy.
Rhodes: Big island, nice places but very, very, very, very touristy, including places you should avoid (e.g. Faliraki, full of Brittish youths that are drunk whenever they're awake).
Same goes for Laganas on Zakynthos - avoid! Unless you like puking Brits and questionable microwaved food that is. That said, I agree Zakynthos is a lovely island, and it is not too difficult to escape the tourist masses if you do some research/have a car to explore some villages. Food is indeed great!
As for the other islands
GetSetJetSet mentioned before I can't speak out of personal experiences, but I heard great things about Kalymnos from Greek friends (the island is high on my own list of Greek islands to visit!).
Originally Posted by
Agneisse
For a first-time Greek islands visitor would people recommend Santorini or Crete (Chania) for a couple of days? I am interested in good views (so the caldera is very tempting) and chilling with a good book. Don't really care for beaches as would be visiting outside peak summer season. Any other suggestions also welcome but ideally one that has a flight from Athens. Thanks!
What do you exactly understand by 'outside of peak summer season'?
Especially Santorini is still very crowded from mid-May until mid-October. When I was in Athens last May (heading to one of the smaller Cyclades islands) there were already droves of Americans/Asians on the airport and in the port of Piraeus all heading to/coming from Santorini. Heck, on my ferry to Serifos (which continues to Santorini) 95 percent of all passengers were overseas visitors heading for Santorini with only a few tourists/locals heading to some other islands.
Crete as also busy/popular but to a lesser extent (the island as a whole and Chania as a city are bigger so obviously you won't notice the crowds as much). If chilling is important to you, and if that goes together with crowd size (it does for me, I can't relax in an overtouristed place!), then I would certainly avoid Santorini and go to Chania.
Sure, the views might be beautiful on the island of Santorini, but Chania isn't all too bad either, especially if you head out of town into the mountains/down the coastline. More importantly, Chania has so much more local life and flavour than Santorini. There are tons of lovely places on the waterfront or in the atmospheric backstreets of Chania where you can linger over a glass of wine and read a book in all quietness while watching the world go by.
PS. I have to disclose that I have lived in Chania in the past and I might be a bit biased
