Greece Island hopping

Efie

Hey, im flying to Corfu as part of a group of 6 girls in July. we wanna go to ios and mykonos too. and then we were trying to decide between Zakynthos and Santorini. Which would be better for us? We're 21 so not looking for anything too quiet. Does anyone know the best route we could take, wed probably be flying home out of athens but if theres a better way home to dublin to share. Thanks

Spear

Moved from N&F.

pigeon1

if your a group of girls. prob better off going to zakynthos, ive been the last 3 years i go with my mates ( 5 girls) every year and we love it !! if you go to corfu first dont spend all your cash there and get stuck !!! sounds like a fab holiday .... enjoy

Unshelved

If you're flying to Corfu then you've a very long journey to get to Santorini. As far as I know, there are no direct ferries or flights between Corfu and the Cyclades Islands (Santorini, Paros, Naxos, Mykonos, Ios etc.) and you would have to go via Athens, and even then it would take a big chunk out of your holiday. A better plan would be to island hop around the Ionian Islands - of which Corfu is one.

Corfu town is under-rated but I like it a lot - it's worth spending a bit of time there. There are a lot of good resorts on the island too - Kavos is a real party town for the 18-30 crowd if that's what you're into. If you're looking for nightlife then definitely try Zakynthos. Kefalonia is meant to be nice also. I absolutely love Paxos (sometimes called Paxi) - it's tiny and absolutely beautiful, but it might be too quiet for 21 year olds.

If you're thinking of island hopping it's always a good idea to allow at least 24 hours to get to the airport that you're flying out of. Ferry strikes can happen at the drop of a hat - we got stuck on Paxos for 24 hours and only caught our flight from Corfu by the skin of our teeth.

alancuran

pigeon1 wrote: »

if your a group of girls. prob better off going to zakynthos, ive been the last 3 years i go with my mates ( 5 girls) every year and we love it !! if you go to corfu first dont spend all your cash there and get stuck !!! sounds like a fab holiday .... enjoy

Exactly, i totally agree, Corfu is place where everyone will be trying to make money through You so be aware it.

melimelo

Efie,

Corfu and Zakynthos are part of a complex of islands, called the Eptanisa [it basically means Seven Islands] and are located in the Ionian Pelagus [facing Italy]. On the other hand, Mykonos and Santorini are part of another complex of islands, the Cyclades [all the islands together formulate a circle, hence the name] and are located in the Aegean Pelagus. The two complexes are in totally different places, just opening a map of Greece would help you understand that in a heartbeat. Greece, although a small country, is many many times bigger than Ireland, so as previously mentioned it would require quite a bit of travelling to combine these islands.

I don't think that there are any direct flights between your named destinations as we're talking about small islands, yet all those you mentioned have airports so if you can afford airfares [domestic flights offer relatively competitve fares] you could minimize travel time through connecting flights. The two biggest airlines in Greece are Olympic Air and Aegean Airlines. There are two smaller companies too, but Olympic and Aegean have a very extended network.

My suggestion would be to decide what kind of holidays you're looking for and do the island hopping within the same complex. Mind you that Eptanisa are totally different to Cyclades, so the scenery differs hugely. Eptanisa offer a lot of green scenery - trees and mountains - whereas Cyclades have a desert-like scenery. Most postcards from Greece depict Cyclades [the image of small white houses with blue painted windows built with panoramic view of the sea and fabulous sunset with very small alleys]. Both island complexes offer some of the best water in the world; in Eptanisa, Lefkada has 2 of the best beaches in the world, Zakynthos a world-famous beach too with a world-known shipwreck, Kefalonia [where the movie Captain Corelli's Mandolin, with Nicolas Cage and Penelope Cruz was filmed] amazing water and every island has something different to offer. Corfu itself is very beautiful and is not considered underrated at all and being a bigger island can cater to all wishes and demands. Prices are no different to any other place, though if you are going during high season you will obviously find accommodation and maybe food/drinks to be pricier than during mid or low season. Paxoi [2 little islands] are also gorgeous, yet very quiet and not a ''party'' destination. Note that Lefkada is connected to mainland Greece via a peninsula so you can actually leave that island to go to Athens or Piraias [Pereus, the major port] by car/bus. If you're flying to Athens you could then get a connecting flight to Corfu, but you may be able to find charter flights to Corfu or Zakynthos directly from Dublin during the summer months. Getting the ferry would be a bit tiresome as you would need to go from Athens International Airport to the train/bus station [Athens has a very good transport system - when they're not on strike! - so this part of the journey is the easy one] then the bus/train to the northwest of Greece to get then a short ride ferry to your island. I think flight would be much easier, less tiring and not much more expensive.

Cyclades on the other hand, having more islands in its complex, may offer you a few more options [not that I consider Eptanisa to offer few options in any way]. Mykonos is a very beautiful island whose beauty is underestimated because of the island being well-known for its wild party life, literally day and night. Given that the party life is so wild, most of the people going there during high season visit the island with the partying in mind so the natural beauty is missed somewhere along hangovers, more drinks, sun bathing, shopping [Mykonos has excellent shopping options yet most shops are designer shops so tend to be rather expensive], and flirting. Depending on where you'll chose your accommodation [the island is small so you can go anywhere by taxi, just make sure you keep a few numbers of taxi companies at hand and make sure the driver turns on the taxi meter rather than telling you the fare by heart, maybe even check at the reception desk what would be the expected taxi fare to your destination as taxi drivers in Greece are not that well trained or monitored/supervised and some may try to overcharge], it will determine how close you'll be to the ''madness'' of the partying. Ios is very similar in regards to its partying life to Mykonos and would attract a lot of young people looking for wild nightlife. Again in Ios parties would go 24/7. Both islands have beautiful sea. In whichever island you are in Cyclades is very easy to hop to another as ferries run daily many routes. Santorini is an excellent choice as it is considered a nature miracle being not really an island but a volcano and is definitely different to any other island in Cyclades or Greece as a matter of fact. Santorini has vivid nightlife too but also caters for families and couples. Santorini is world-famous for having the best view of sunset and you'll find people gathering like flocks to watch the sun set and get a picture of it. The sea, although great, is not so appealing in Santorini due to its volcanic soil which gives it a darker colour, but if you've been to the Sea in Ireland or most other places in Europe you probably won't mind it! If you fly to Athens you can take the underground/suburban to the port [about 45 minutes journey] and from there ferry to Mykonos or wherever you're heading. Ferry to Mykonos, depending on what type of ferry you chose [fast or normal] would take you something between 2.30 to 5 hours. Of course, you can fly to most of the islands too. Cyclades are very easy to access from Athens, definitely much easier than accessing Eptanisa.

Whichever complex of islands you chose to do your island hopping you'll surely have a wonderful time. Make sure you have some sunblock for the first days and if you have the option try not to go during the hottest time [end of July 'till mid August]. Even if you do though, you'll find that there's always a breeze to cool you off in the Greek islands not to mention the incredible sea. Also, be prepared for guys to hit on you - nothing too much or too annoying - particularly if you're a group of young girls! Learn how to say no [ohi], yes [nae], thanks [efharisto] and above all cheers/slainte [yia mas] and people will love you! Enjoy!

tatli_lokma

Zakynthos would be more lively for a gang of young girls. Santorini does have night life, but gets a lot of couples / honeymooners/ American Cruises!
Zakynthos is more of a party island, mainly because an earthquake in the 50's (I think) flattened most of the island, so history wise it is slim pickings compared to other Greek islands.

There are also quiet areas of Zakynthos, so for a group of girls I would recommend you stay in Laganas for the best nightlife.

Efie

Thanks so much for all the replies. It was really helpful. I'm probably being stupid, but is there no way we can get from Corfu and/or Zakynthos to Mykonos and Ios? The two main islands we wanna go to are Corfu and Ios so if there was a way we'd do it!

Unshelved

The quickest way to do this is probably to fly from Corfu to Athens and then take a ferry to Ios, or fly from Athens to Santorini, and take a ferry from Santorini to Ios. Check out timetables/flights at aegeanair.com, olympicair.com and greeceferries.com.

Remember that you will be covering large distances so allow yourselves plenty of time. If you're flying into Corfu and out of Athens via Ios then allow at least three days for travelling - to take into account the kilometres and just in case of strikes, which can occur at a moment's notice.

Efie

Cool, so I think we're gonna have to forget about Zakynthos. So far our plan is to fly into Corfu and stay there for 5/6 nights and then we're going to fly from Corfu to Athens. From Athens, we're going to go to Mykonos and Ios. Which would you recommend going to first? We're going to be flying home from Athens too.