Greece in June

Milos is the Cyclades’ volcanic sculpture park: white lunar rock at Sarakiniko, the sea caves of Kleftiko, painted boathouses at Klima and dozens of beaches, with good tavernas and far less swagger than Mykonos or Santorini.

The largest of the Cyclades and the most self-sufficient: marble villages, mountain farms, Archaic temples and a west coast of long, shallow sandy beaches. Naxos suits families, walkers and anyone who wants the Aegean without Mykonos prices.

Corfu is the green northern Ionian island that Venice shaped: a UNESCO-listed Old Town of arcades and fortresses, olive-covered hills, pebble coves in the northeast and long sandy beaches in the west and south.

Kefalonia is the largest Ionian island and the most grown-up: mountains and fir forest, cave lakes, pastel villages like Fiskardo and Assos, and cliff-backed beaches such as Myrtos. Rent a car, slow down and plan on a week.

Sifnos is the Cyclades’ table: clay-pot revithada, potters’ workshops, a medieval Kastro above the sea and whitewashed chapels on every headland, linked by walking paths and served by ferries rather than planes. Gentle, grown-up and busiest in August.

Three pine-covered peninsulas south of Thessaloniki: busy, sociable Kassandra, greener Sithonia with its turquoise coves, and the monastic republic of Mount Athos. Northern Greece’s beach playground, and an easy drive from Romania.

Andros is the green Cyclade: running water, stone footpaths across the whole island, shipowners' mansions in a town built on a spit of rock, and long empty beaches on a coast most people sail straight past on the way to Mykonos.

Karpathos is the second largest of the Dodecanese and one of the least changed: a long rocky island with a mountain spine, beaches that take real effort to reach, world-class wind at the southern tip, and a northern village that kept its own dress and dialect.

Odysseus' island: 96 square kilometres of green hills and deep harbours off the north-east coast of Kefalonia, with 2,862 inhabitants, two villages everybody falls for, and no airport, no resort and no rush.