Greece, island nuances of a summer holiday that works for everyone

Visiting the Greek islands in the summer means enjoying all the beauty of an extraordinarily welcoming and warm country, a place of cultural contamination and magnificent landscapes that cradle a millenary tradition. Greece, in particular, is one of the Mediterranean nations that best manage to combine the desire for travel of each traveler: just think that there are about 6,000 of them overall, of which just over 200 are actually inhabited.

Many archipelagos, but a lot of territory that extends from the Ionian to the Aegean, and which are divided into well-defined groups (Ionian, Sporades, Cyclades, Dodecanese and North Aegean) or into unique protagonists, such as Crete, Rhodes, Euboea and Lesbos.

Drawing a comprehensive picture of all the islands of Greece is a matter for geographers, and certainly not for travel storytellers. Fortunately, however, there is a truly exceptional way to enjoy these wonders of nature. Eden Viaggi, of the Alpitour group, in collaboration with the Hellenic National Tourist Board, offers interesting solutions to admire the Greek islands at 360 degrees, with hotels or apartments where you can stay with packages tailored to your needs and including return flights from Italy.

In short: pack your suitcase, make yourself want kolokithokeftedes and souvlaki, because we are about to leave!

Cyclades Islands, between nightlife and wild landscapes

They are the real heart Aegean, the Cyclades Islands. Halfway between Athens and Crete, this group of twenty islands is a concentration of Hellenic emotions ranging from fun to exploring unspoiled places, passing through the discovery of traditional cuisine.

Here everyone will find “their” ideal island: for young people it is certainly Mykonos, home of the fun that begins the night before and ends the next morning. For couples and more romantic travelers it is Santoriniwith its dreamy sunsets that draw magnificent pink shades.

Sparkling, modern and at the same time relaxing it is Iosa best of both worlds which takes the best of Santorini and Mykonos and dresses up in pleasant evenings between ouzo, good music and a dip in the beaches of Kylopotas and Manganari, the most popular especially by young travelers.

However, there is a different side to the Cyclades, and that is the exploration and discovery of barren, windswept, exciting landscapes. The intense white of the cliffs of Milos you can admire it from the sea, but it is by traveling the length and breadth of the island that you discover unique shades and colors, such as the pastel ones of Firiplaka beach, one of the 70 of Milos.

Not very glamorous, very traditional and almost spiritual it is instead Folegandrosto be discovered outside the busiest months, perhaps to enjoy the tranquility of the sea in front of Katergò or walk the narrow white alleys of Chora and Ano Meria.

No trip to the Cyclades could be complete without visiting Amorgosthe pearl that bewitched Luc Besson: seeing the sky full of stars during the night will repay you for the journey and the effort: not very suitable for mass tourism, it is a place for aware travelers eager to test themselves.

Dodecanese Islands, Hollywood flavors and beaches

You say island, and you say signature beach. An axiom that is the identity card of islands of the Dodecanese, in the eastern Aegean area. There are many bays to discover, including Halkinot far from Rhodes, a relaxing place between the sound of bouzouki and a taste of makarounia with seafood.

What about Kastelorizo? This is where Salvatores shot his Oscar-winning film Mediterranean, set in the Second World War. The beaches of Plakes, Mandraki and Faros are still protected today by the barely 300 inhabitants of this island which, from a very inhabited destination, has become an oasis of peace and serenity in the heart of the Aegean. Space also for Tilos with its caskets of sand and pebbles where you can relax with the sound of the waves moved by meltemithe impetuous wind of the Greek summer.

A visit to the Anthony Quinn Bay in Rhodes. Perhaps one of the best known beaches in all of Greece, it owes its name to the famous actor. It is a bay with crystal clear water, with very little space for umbrellas, challenging to reach: all elements that make it even more unmissable in the eyes of tourists, who flock for a dip or a shot.

Ionian Islands, between Venetian influences and poetic shipwrecks

Never again will I touch the sacred shores. Where my child body lay. Ugo Foscolo dedicates his most famous sonnet to Zakynthos, or Zakynthos. It is the island par excellence of the Ionians, for centuries it has experienced Venetian influence and control and in fact stands out from its Aegean colleagues for a more varied and Mediterranean architecture. Above all, however, it is visited for the transgression of Laganas, the Greek Las Vegas and to reach Navagiothe beach made famous by the sinking of a ship in 1980, whose wreck is located in the center of this small, white beach washed by a blue sea.

But the Ionian islands are very different from each other, and together with Zakynthos many deserve the trip: not only the best known Ithaca, Paxos, Kefalonia, but also Kythera and Antikythera, which are located at the southern end of the Peloponnese.

Corfu, an island that in the white of its churches suspended over the blue of the sea ideally represents the colors of the Hellenic flag. “Kerkyra” has a decidedly elegant, almost French style: you realize it when you arrive in Lefkimmi, full of bridges that remind you of the Venetian influence and above all you are enchanted by Vlaxernon, the monastery of Pontikonisi surrounded by boats, as if to join the Orthodox spirituality to the culture of the sea.

Kefalonia finally is the island of Myrtos, the beach that looks very similar to the imposing cliffs of the Conero: from the Aegean to the Adriatic, after all, the jump is more nominal than geographical. Here you can still hear Italian spoken, the island is basically an ideal extension of our country, there are ovens and pizzerias and it almost seems to feel at home. Rich in greenery, easily reachable by plane, so rich in beaches that it gives us the embarrassment of choice: 46 according to some, for canonical and naturist tourists, where to shop and where to stay in total isolation, for diving and for families. And just the latter, here, will enjoy a pleasantly familiar and extraordinarily welcoming atmosphere as only Greece can be.

A destination to live, appreciate and get to know at 360 degrees: Greece is a book to leaf through, a story to live, a table set to refresh, a sea to dive into.