Update: As you can tell from the comments below, I get more questions on hotels than almost any other topic. What’s the best hotel on Santorini? Where are the cheapest hotels on Mykonos? And how do I find good deals on the internet?
I admit I might have confused matters a bit by often suggesting that people don’t book hotels in advance. I recommend that for many countries but I really recommend it for Greece.
Sometimes. And for some people.
But not for everyone. And not for all situations.
So, when do you need to book hotels in advance for Greece?
Santorini: From June to September you definitely have to book something before arrival.
Mykonos, Rhodes, Corfu and Crete: From late June until early September.
Naxos, Paros, Milos, Skiathos, Skopleos, Kefalonia: July and August.Also, the more unusual your group is, the more an advanced reservation is worthwhile. A single backpacker will have a lot more success finding a hotel in Corfu in the middle of August than a family of 5.
And what’s the best website for booking hotels in Greece?
I recommend www.hotelscombined.com for most people as it searches 100s of websites and finds the best deal for any given hotel. I use it all the time. It’s great.
For islands not mentioned above you’ll often be fine just showing up and looking for a hotel. In fact, it’s a lot of fun hunting around the little Greek towns looking for a hotel. And it’s a great way to get good deals – and see the place you’re going to stay at, before you stay there.
I hope that helps. Good luck.
One of the most common questions I receive is “What is the best beach in Greece?“. It’s difficult to answer because it can take so many different forms. What’s the best beach for kids? What’s the best beach for swimming? What’s the best beach for partying?
You get the idea. Everyone is looking for a great beach, but they all have different criteria.
Add to that the fact that most islands have upwards of 20 different beaches.
Here are my personal favorites and a couple others that get great reviews from travelers that report back to me.
The Best Beach in Greece (personal favorite): Elafonisi Beach, Crete
Elafonisi is as perfect as beaches get. Shallow waters lead out to a little island and postcard-perfect scenes of sand and sea. Elafonisi can get very busy with day trippers from Chania but if you stay overnight in one of the nearby hotels you can wake up early and have the entire beach to yourself. Tip: avoid the crowded and chaotic buses and take the daily boat to the delightful Paleochora instead.
The Best Beach for Kids: Agios Gordios Beach, Naxos
A short walk from the islands capital village Agios Gordios is the family-friendly champion of Greece. A shallow shelf extends well out into the sea and the calm protected waters are perfect for children. Many places to eat and stay are in the immediate area.
The Best Beach for Partying: Paradise Beach, Mykonos
This beach is not for everyone. The category was Party Beach and this defines Paradise. Water sports, young people, sand, sun, and drinks wherever you look.
The Best Beach for Quiet and Solitude (on a popular island): Ambelas Beach, Paros
There are quieter beaches on less popular islands, but considering it’s on Paros, Ambelas is downright tranquil. There are enough restaurants and hotels in the area to not feel totally isolated. But visit outside of July and August and you could have the beach to yourself.
The Best Beach close to Athens: Vouligmeni Beach
A great swimming beach less than an hour from Athens. It can get very busy on the weekend but if you’re stuck in the heat of Athens you won’t complain once you’re here.
The Most Unique Beach: Red Beach, Santorini
Covered with red and black sand (that can be blazingly hot in the mid-day heat) and backed by slabs of red and black volcanic rock Red Beach is a one of kind destination. Perhaps not the best for swimming (though the snorkeling is good) the beach makes a good early morning destination.
Paradise Beach on Mykonos.
Greece and the Greek Islands are famous for many things – chief among them for the modern traveler are it’s fantastic beaches. From Corfu and Zante in the Ionians to Rhodes and Karpathos in the Dodecanese, from Skiathos to Crete, and Mykonos to Milos, the most popular attractions on the Greek islands are invariably the beaches. The best beaches – and best islands – are obviously a subjective matter for vacationers but there is such a wide variety of phenomenal beaches that it hardly matters which island you choose. Almost all of them have their hidden beach coves and long stretches of idyllic sand.
My personal favorite: Elafonisi beach on Crete. A few hours drive from Chania.
A beach near Heraklion, Crete.
A beach on the Cycladic island of Syros.
Santorini doesn't have the best beaches in Greece. But they are the most unique.
Greece has many family-friendly beaches.
The less touristy island of Karpathos and one of its great beaches.
Every island has a few quiet beaches.
A beach on Skiathos in the Sporades.
Crete has many great beaches to choose from.
Matala beach in Crete overlooked by popular caves.
Plaka beach in Naxos.
Preveli beach on Crete.
Some islands are so close to each other you feel you can swim between them.
A beach in Corfu.
Best months to visit the Greek islands: June, July, August and September.
[Photos by: culturalcurator, daniela.bartosova, robertpaulyoung, anjči, miemo, Horia Varlan, dags1974, Random_fotos, Wolfgang Staudt, sub_lime79, N_Creatures, hozinja]
Questions and Comments
Hotel Tips
Many readers ask about the best websites for booking hotels. These are my favorites.HotelsCombined.com – The absolute best for finding deals and discounts.
Booking.com – Specializes in Europe.
Agoda.com – Specializes in Asia.
Mylopotas beach is beautiful. Really love the beaches in Rhodes too. Fantastic. And over all like Rhodes more than Ios. (Also went to Santorini but wasn’t so wowed by the beaches there.) Lots of things to do in Rhodes beside the beach. The old town is great and the other city with the castle (can’t remember the name), was great too.
The rest of my family started in Mykonos and said the beaches there were great.
Anna
I can’t remember any of the names, besides Mylopotas because I just read it, but my favorites were on Ios, Paros and Milos. Also visited Mykonos (nice beaches), Santorini (didn’t go to the beach) and some on northern Krete that were ok.
Oddly the ones on Krete I thought would be the best as our hotel was right on the beach, and was planning to end my 2 week trip with some major chill time, but was a little disappointed.
Cheers.
Zante has some killer beaches.
Corfu is my favorite island but the cyclades have the best beaches.Naxos has a whole string of beaches that are amazing. I thought anyways. Paradise beach on Mykonos was a lot fun but I’ve seen nicer beaches. A little too busy for me. Too much of a party scene.
I’m going in July and August 2012! Totaly excited. This looks great! My parents took me when I was a kid and I don’t remember a thing. and I was 16! not like a toddler or anyting. We fly to Athens (of course) then ferry with my friends. Got 2 weeks! Mykonos here we come!
I’ve been to Greece about 5 or 6 times so have seen a number of beaches. Most of the great. And the ones that aren’t postcard worthy they tend to be pretty quiet. I’ve had a couple of pebble beaches on Mykonos, Folegandros and Corfu all to myself (with my husband of course). Great for swimming.
The best? probably Koukounaries on Skiathos, Balos and Vai on Crete, some on Naxos that I did on my first trip but haven’t been back to. I’ve really liked a few beaches on Santorini too. I’ve been to probably 20 islands so I could go on and on. The beaches on Milos have probably the most striking setting. Kefallonia island has some really nice ones – Myrtos probably the best. And the Halkidiki has whole stretches of almost deserted beachs. That’s where we went the last time with our daughter – first time to Greece with children – and it was wonderful. Salonika is much nicer to go through than Athens.
You really can’t go wrong – unless you ferry over to Turkey ha ha – I’m sure it has great spots and cities but the beaches that we visited were really packed with holiday package tourists.
I flew from London to Crete last summer then took the ferry north through Santorini, Mykonos, Paros, Naxos and the beaches just kept getting better and better. It was amazing. I’ve been to Spain, Portugal, France but this was a whole nother level (maybe I hit the wrong beaches there but still … Greece = Glorious). We actually went to one more island but for the life of me I can’t figure out which one it was, I had so many island names surfing around in my head I guess it just swam through. Folegandros, Sikinos, Sifnos, Andros everyone I read about I think this was it but can’t remember for sure. Hilarious! We flew from London back to Paris and then home. I recommend Greece to anyone. Like your photos too. Thanks.
Mykonos had the best beaches of our short tour through the Greek Islands. We rented a car and toured around the entire island (with our 2 kids). Get the cheapest hotel you can and spend the whole day at the beach.
Almost all the islands have a few great beaches. The question is which island. I like Lesvos, Samos and Folegandros. Some of the best islands take a bit of time and effort to get to but that makes it so only the people that “really” want to get there visit it. It’s a trade off, but I think the quiet and solitude are worth it.
Sitting on the ferry deck in the sun, tanning, watching the water and islands pass by, that was my favourite beach.
If I could go to only one island in Greece it would be Milos. You need to rent a car to get around to all the isolated beaches. And it seemed a bit more expensive than the other islands (cheaper than the hotels in Santorini mind you) but it’s worth it. A different world than the other cyclade islands. For culture, history, tourist sightseeing do Crete and Santorini, for a landscape and beaches do Milos.
Kefalonia isn’t as popular as the other islands but it has some great beaches.
Zante and Mykonos have the best beaches in Greece that I’ve visited. I still have a lot more to see. I went 8 years in a roe, but have missed the last 2 summers. I’m hoping September of next year (2012) will get me back there. September is great if you’re island hopping because you don’t have to worry about hotels and reservations so much or at all.
One year on Mykonos couldn’t find a hotel – the whole island fully booked. Had to sleep on some guys, some shop’s roof. It was great. Really great. Seeing the stars. Had a few drinks that night. Mighta helped a little. Got kids now, so not planning on that. but looking forward to getting back there. The Greek people are great and friendly, even in the tourist islands. This time will probably visit Mykonos and Santorini (for my wife) and then 1 or 2 quieter ones. Cheers!
My friend and I are heading to Greece in a few weeks. We plan on going to Mykonos, Paros (Naoussa),Santorini,
Rhodes and Crete.
Which would be the best island to rent a vehicle and tour the entire island?
Thanks guys!
Hi Tina. Crete — as the largest Greek Island — certainly has the most to offer. You can visit Knossos and some great little villages — not that far from Iraklion — do the Samaria Gorge, check out some of the great beach towns along the south coast and finish off in either Hania or Rethymno (both really cool small cities). So if you’re looking for what island has the most to do, then Crete is it.
If you’re looking for an island that suits one day of driving then Rhodes or Santorini are probably better choices to splurge on a rental car. The tour through Crete that I recommend would take at least 3 or 4 days. The other islands you could get around in one long day of driving and sightseeing.
Hope that helps.
The best beach is the fifth one on your article Apella beach in Karpathos!
The best beaches in Greece are in Skiathos, Corfu, and Mykonos. For quiet beaches I like the ones in Ikaria. For party beaches I’d say the ones in Ios are great. In July I will be in Milos for the first time and hope they are as good. Everyone has told me they are fantastic.
Livadia Beach in Armenistis on Ikaria. Completely deserted and the most amazing aquamarine blues ive ever seen. Limnos has some really nice beaches to, especially Platy and the little bays around towards Thanos. Love Greece! Wish i never left….
Hello! Two questions. We arrive in Santorini at 7:30pm on a Wednesday and leave Mykonos at 12:30pm on Monday. With 5 nights is it best to do two nights in Santorini and 3 in Mykonos or the reverse? I am concerned that one full day and a half in Santorini is not enough time to see everything in a relaxed manner. But if we do three nights in Santorini, will we feel frustrated having only Saturday afternoon til Monday midday in Mykonos?
Also, not island related but if you happen to know i am grateful for your input….if our flight lands at 12:50pm in Athens and leaves for Santorini at 6:30pm, is there time to race to the Parthenon and back?
Thanks so much in advance for your thoughts.
Not sure what time of year you’ll be there. If it’s in the summer months when you can swim I’d probably err on the side of Mykonos. Otherwise Santorini has a pretty cool vibe in the off or shoulder seasons. As for Athens, I think you’ll probably be able to swing it though undoubtedly it will be tight. Taxis between the airport and downtown Athens can take between 30 and 80 minutes. It will be in the middle of rush hour on your way back to the airport so you’ll probably need to leave Athens by 4:00 or 4:20 at the latest. So with a bit of luck you should have 2 hours to make a quick run up the Acropolis to the Parthenon. I think it’s worth a try. If you miss your flight just head straight to Piraeus and grab a night ferry to Santorini
Good luck.
David,
Great Blog! I’m planning a trip with my wife and 2 boys (ages 7 and 4) to Greece for 12 days. I could use a little input on my itinerary. We’ll arrive in Athens on May 4th. My plan was to fly directly to Crete (Hania) for 5 days (where we’ll rent a car), then depart Iraklio via ferry to Santorini for 2 nights then Naxos for 2 nights. Then 2 1/2 days in Athens before flying back to the States. We’re not huge beach people and the weather will probably be a bit cold. I was thinking about hitting Rhodes as well – but that seemed to be too much. How does that sound?
thanks
ps: drop in for a homebrew if you’re ever in Wenatchee!
Hi Jeb. Thanks. That sounds like a great itinerary. I wouldn’t add Rhodes myself. You’ll already be a little stretched to do justice to the islands you’re visiting and Rhodes is a long way off this route. Stick with these plans. And yes the weather could be a bit chilly (and maybe some rain) but it could also be fantastic – so you’ll have to pack for a wide range of weather. Have fun!
Can you recommend a website to search for hotels for Oia and Fira, Santorini? We’d like to stay a few nights in both towns if it works out. Thank you.
Absolutely.
Hotels in Oia.
Hotels in Fira.
Good luck.
hello David,
my fiance & I went to Greece last summer & we fell in love with greece. We only got to visit Athens & Mykonos (loved the beaches in Mykonos). I thought going back to Greece would be the perfect destination for our honeymoon this summer.
My fiance & I both love traveling, siteseeing, old towns with lots of character & I especially love great beaches. We are definitely going to visit Santorini for 4-5 days. Do you have hotel recommendations that would be great for a honeymoon that are moderately priced in Santorini?
Also, I am looking for another Island that has a beautiful beach, we’re NOT big party people. looking for more quiet and picturesque beach with white powdered sand & clear turquoise water! I am thinking Naxos or Rhodes, do you have other recommendations that would great for honeymoon?
thanks so much!
Naxos and Rhodes would be great. Honestly, I don’t know any islands that would be bad for a honeymoon. Folegandros is an awesome island that for some reason comes to mind just now as having some appeal if you’re looking for a quieter island for a few days. Great for walking. Milos has awesome beaches and a very unique geography – sort of Santorini but with great beaches.
As for hotels on Santorini, not sure if you saw this post but maybe it might help: http://mylittlenomads.com/santorini-hotels
Good luck.