blackball

Having very recently flown to Milos with my girlfriend using the first of my 2 Aegean gold companion tickets, I feel I don't want to ever travel by boat to an island again (at least not during high season)! Flying was so easy and so fast

Anyway, I'm already looking into our next island destination for this summer, taking advantage of the 2nd gold companion ticket. I would like to hear recommendations on which island to go for this time round, and if you have any insider tips, even better! A few restrictions/thoughts:

- Needs to be served by Aegean/Olympic (obviously!).
- No need to recommend Naxos (I know it well, will go there anyway).
- Looking for something slightly off the beaten track, trying to avoid ultra-touristy, party islands (e.g. Mykonos).
- Ideally, I'd like to also find a place to stay near a beach (again, a not-so-touristy beach would be best, but obviously that's not always possible, so I'm open).
- I kinda have my eyes set on Samos- I've never been there and it looks like its lush and full of nice places to see/experience. In fact, if I do pick Samos, I'm not even sure which part of the island to stay at! The proximity to Turkey is also appealing- looks like a day trip is possible. Has anyone done this?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

frenchft

We went to milos and anafi last year and loved it. Anafi only in september IMO (the island is small and too many people in july/august).
But milos is really an option, love this island.

Xandrios

Slightly outside of the original scope; but I would suggest Kalamata. Or at least its airport

Yes that is the mainland, but that has its advantages:

- More places to explore within a 1hr drive; like Pilos, Methoni, Koroni, Kardamili, Stoupa, Areopoli. Each with their own unique history, style and beaches.
- If youre open to a longer (2 hrs) drive; visit ancient Olympia or Sparti, Nafplio or Kalavrita. There is also a great (very steep) train ride from Kalavrita to Diakopto, through some of the roughest terrain you can imagine.
- Possibility to do hiking, rafting in the mountains or visit some caves.
- Still the ability to visit an island if you need to, with a day trip, like Kythira or Zakynthos.
- Way less tourists!

realgoose

Samos is an island we visit frequently. It's a big island and there is much to see by car. The ocean is much colder than Naxos. We love the 'village' at Doryssa Bay. It's made to look like a small Greek village and each 'bungalow' is different. This puts you close to Pythagoria which is an easy walk what now appears to be called Doryssa sea side resort. Take a taxi from the airport and when you are ready to get a car, stroll into town. You will find multiple car rental offers at outstanding prices. There are indeed day trips from Samos to Turkey, so you can book that on the island.

Knobbgb

I live here on a Greek island year round and I've been to many, but I get lazy and I always plan to see more "next year". I've always fancied going really off the beaten track - either Kestellorizo, Karpathos, Kasos or Kythira are all served by OA.

The first three - I think are served on the Dash 8 from Rhodes, rather than directly from Athens. I think the flight goes Rhodes-Karthapos-Kasos so you can still "Island Hop" in the true sense of the word. I think it's a 15 minute flight between the two islands. Kastellorizo is very remote and also right off the coast of Turkey (but I don't know if there are day trips) and a lot closer to Cyprus than Athens.

I've never been to any of these places but I'm sure they're all nice.

Or, try Skopelos or Alonysos. You would fly to Skiathos which is nice, but VERY crowded and over-touristed in the high season. Then it's only a short ferry ride to the quieter islands.

Paros_fan

I might be biased but I would always suggest Paros

Furry

Zakynthos or Kefalonia.. Just finished a trip to both islands and will be going back in August! In April it was very very quiet, but in summer these islands should be more touristic but not to the extent of Rhodes for example..

N1120A

How about staying in one of the less touristy parts of Santorini?

KLouis

Half of Italy is there in the summer (the other half is in Corfu).

romans

Old thread but found some still useful advices here. For 2024 I want to visit another beautiful Greek island and this time thinking about Samos (also because of good connections). Is the weather still ok in the beginning of October? I mean my last time I have visited Mykonos & Heraklion around that time therefore asking if Samos will be a big difference or not much. Yes I have read a few articles and found that Samos is not ranked in the most popular islands but even better for me this time. thank you

btw, also thinking about Karpathos, heard it's quiet and beautiful

KLouis

Since my retirement, 9 years ago, I've been to Corfou, Erikousa, Ithaca, Kalamata (not an island, but see post #3), Karpathos, Kassos, Kythira (twice, one month each time), Lefkada, Paxoi (4 times), Rhodes, and a few places on the island I live on (Crete). I enjoyed all of them, of course, some of them a bit more than others. I usually stay home during July-September and, masochistically, I've learned to love bad weather periods during low season on all of them. I'm now considering going back to the Ionian islands again next year, right after Easter. I'm hardly ever flying anymore, mostly because we take our dogs along: they certainly prefer being in a hotel or a "rent rooms" with us to spending time in a kennel in Heraklion...

irishguy28

Yes. Send the Parisian back to Paros!

;D

wimbor

I know it is not an island, but I fully agree with Xandrios on this. :-) And if you go to very south of the tips of Peleponnese, it does feel like an island. :-)

We did Kefalonia and Ithaki last year, and I most say both (but especially Ithaki) seriously impressed us!

nk15

Kythira as a day trip from Kalamata is a stretch, maybe Elafonisos is more like it, but even then Elafonisos-Monemvasia make a nice weekend trip from Kalamata (or in general), and Kythira deserve a trip of at least 3 days.

KLX has some interesting direct flights every summer, most commonly MIL, LON, VIE, ARN, CPH, MUC, AMS, even TLV, but it varies every summer...

vectrox

Thinking of Samos next year aswell. Resonable connectivity (at least daily flights), some nice nature and quite some hicking infrastructure seems like a good combination for me.

Been to Karpathos once in Januar 2022 and absolutely loved it, but it IS quiet at that time of the year. And due to the Geographie one drives a lot and quite long, which is a little bit on the downside for me. Weather was fine though and I could even swimm in the sea .