Every island, every beach, plotted
Interactive map of Greece
Every beach, sight, taverna, hotel and beach club on this site, on one map of Greece. Pick an island to zoom straight to it, and switch categories off to see only what you are looking for — the beaches of Milos alone answer a question a map of everything cannot.
How to read Greece on a map
Greece looks compact until you try to cross it. Three things make the map make sense.
The seas decide how you travel. The Ionian islands — Corfu, Lefkada, Kefalonia, Zakynthos — sit off the west coast and connect to the mainland, not to the Aegean. Everything else is in the Aegean: the Cyclades in the middle, the Dodecanese along the Turkish coast in the south-east, the Sporades to the north-west, and Crete closing the sea to the south. There is no practical ferry from Corfu to Santorini; going from one sea to the other means going back through Athens.
Island groups are the unit of an island-hopping trip. Ferries run well within a group — Naxos to Paros, Milos to Sifnos, Skiathos to Skopelos — and badly between them. Plan one group per trip and the map stops lying to you.
Crete and the large islands need a car. Crete is a long island and its beaches, gorges and villages are spread end to end; the same goes, on a smaller scale, for Kefalonia, Rhodes and Naxos. Pins that look close on the country map can be an hour's drive apart on mountain roads.
Using the filters
Pick a destination first, then switch categories. Beaches and hotels together show you which stretch of an island to sleep on; beaches alone show you where the island's best water actually is — often on the opposite side from the port.
Frequently asked
Can you take a ferry between the Ionian and the Aegean islands?
Not in any practical way. The Ionian islands connect to the western mainland ports and to each other; the Aegean groups connect through Piraeus, Rafina and Lavrio near Athens. Combining, say, Corfu and Santorini means a flight or a return through Athens.
Which Greek islands are easiest to combine?
Islands in the same group, because that is where the ferry routes run: Naxos, Paros and the smaller Cyclades; Milos, Sifnos and Folegandros; Skiathos and Skopelos; Hydra, Spetses and Aegina from Piraeus. Check the season's timetable before you commit — frequencies drop sharply outside summer.
Do I need a car on the Greek islands?
On the big ones, usually yes: Crete, Kefalonia, Rhodes, Corfu and Naxos spread their beaches far from the main town. On small islands such as Hydra (which has no cars at all), Symi or Folegandros you get around on foot, by local bus or by boat.
Before you go
We may earn a commission from these. It never changes your price.
