Here is the summary you have been waiting for on the 10 Aegean Islands I visited in the past 3 weeks – The Verdict.
My favourite island was PATMOS. Why? Because it is still very Greek, small, easy to get around, not mountainous, a milder climate and has many crystal clear beaches for its size. I think the secret to maintaining its Greek status and not being overrun with tourists is that is has no airport (therefore no charters) and is a 7 hour fast ferry ride from Athens – too long for most tourists with no time to spare, especially the Americans !
If I forget my own subjective choice and I place myself in the shoes of a typical family with two kids looking for an island with touristy conveniences and an overall balance of beaches with banana chairs, some isolation, some mountains, some typical Greek tavernas and food then my recommendation is PAROS !
Here is the best and worst from my subjective perspective:
BEST ISLAND: Patmos (For reasons above)
WORST ISLAND: Mykonos (Way too busy, overrun, crowded, bad roads and 50% min more expensive than all other islands)
BEST BEACHES: Mykonos (The only think I liked about it – very natural – very crystal clear and impressive settings)
WORST BEACHES: None of the islands had bad beaches but Ios did not have many accessible ones.
BEST COASTLINE: Milos (The western side is only accessible by boat and has incredible volcanic outcrops and caves and rocks of different colours along the coast)
WORST COASTLINE: Sifnos (A small island with very ordinary coast)
BEST LANDSCAPE: Milos (Very rugged and beautiful)
WORST LANDSCAPE: Sifnos (Smaller hills with fewest extreme shapes and colours)
BEST FOOD: Sifnos (Traditional Greek vegetarian dishes specific to island and very cheap)
WORST FOOD: Mykonos (Too many pizzas, burgers
and modernised souvlakia – it has lost the taverna feel and taste)
BEST ISOLATION: Folegandros (Small island, hardly any tourists, rugged coastline, beautiful looking shrubs and hills)
WORST ISOLATION: Mykonos (Like Athens on an island – way too crowded and touristy)
BEST TOWN: Ermoupoli in Syros (Neoclassical buildings of all shapes, sizes and colours dating from early 1800’s with superbly clean streets and harbourside tavernas – gorgeous town !)
WORST TOWN: Limani Chora in Mykonos (Crowded, busy)
MY BEST RUN: Patmos (Ran along the coast very near to water and then inland next to big valley – terrific scenery)
MY WORST RUN: Sifnos (Because I could not run due to leg injured by scooter falling on it) Of those I ran: Folegandros (Extremely steep hills, nowhere flat but terrific inland scenery)
MY BEST SWIM: Folegandros Angali Beach (Crystal clear, lots of fish and different coloured rocks to look at – all coastal – beach too small)
MY WORST SWIM: Mykonos (only because it was very, very windy that day and full of chop and stir – not much to see)
RANK: Here is my personal ranking of the
islands I visited taking into account all things in balance: beaches,
coastline, landscape, food, Greekness, tourists.
1) Patmos
2) Milos
3) Folegandros
4) Syros
5) Paros
6) Naxos
7) Kalymnos
8) Ios
9) Sifnos
10)Mykonos
Don’t get me wrong, all 10 islands were definitely worth going to for the experience each provides – it is AMAZING how DIFFERENT they all are even though they are so close together.
The best way to get around is by ferry and the best website to book ferry hops in logical order with all ships and prices in one place is WWW.FERRYSCANNER.COM
I hope you have enjoyed the images of these islands – when the film BALKANOPOULOS is produced it will feature drone footage of each island by Spark and some movie pans and sweeps all to be shown as an EPILOGUE to the main FEATURE being THE BALKANS.
Next post will be from CROATIA, the first of the Balkanopoulos countries – see you then !!!
HERE ARE ALL THE PLACES I VISITED:
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