Coves & lagoons
Islands for clear water and hidden coves
Every island in the guide where the sea is the reason to go: lagoons, coves you reach on foot, and rooms you can swim from.
15 islands
“Water so clear it looks lit from below”
Turquoise lagoons, wild pebble coves at the end of a dirt road, and a hot spring that runs into the sea.
Κρήτη
Crete
Myth, mountains and the Libyan Sea
Open the guide
Cyclades · Νάξος
Naxos
Ariadne's island, with marble villages and long sandy beaches
Open the guide
Cyclades · Σαντορίνη
Santorini
A ring of cliffs around a drowned volcano, with white villages on the rim
Open the guide
Cyclades · Πάρος
Paros
The marble island, with a fishing harbour that glows at dusk
Open the guide
Cyclades · Σίφνος
Sifnos
The Cycladic island of potters, old footpaths and the best cooking in the Aegean
Open the guide
Cyclades · Μήλος
Milos
The volcanic island of coloured rocks, sea caves and painted boathouses
Open the guide
Dodecanese · Κως
Kos
Island of Hippocrates, hot springs and long sandy beaches
Open the guide
Dodecanese · Ρόδος
Rhodes
Island of the Knights, Lindos and two seas
Open the guide
Dodecanese · Σύμη
Symi
A harbour of painted mansions, sponge divers' stories and coves you reach by boat
Open the guide
Dodecanese · Πάτμος
Patmos
The island of the Apocalypse, quiet and white
Open the guide
North Aegean · Ικαρία
Ikaria
The island where people forget to die
Open the guide
North Aegean · Σάμος
Samos
Island of Hera, Pythagoras and Muscat wine
Open the guide
North Aegean · Χίος
Chios
The mastic island, of medieval villages and citrus mansions
Open the guide
North Aegean · Σαμοθράκη
Samothraki
The wild mountain island of waterfalls, plane forests and the Great Gods
Open the guide
Ionian · Κέρκυρα
Corfu
The green Ionian island of Venetian lanes, olive groves and turquoise bays
Open the guide
Where to stay
Rooms made for this feeling
Our favourite stays on these islands, each one picked for the moment you'll have there.
Chania old town · Crete
Breakfast in a 17th-century Venetian courtyard
Casa Delfino · Boutique hotel · €€€
Armenistis · Ikaria
Step out of your room and onto Livadi beach
Erofili Beach Hotel · Beach hotel · €€
Kokkari · Samos
Wake above Kokkari with the whole north coast at your feet
Arion Hotel · 4-star hotel · €€€
Kos Town · Kos
Wake to the sea, a stroll from the Knights' castle
Kos Aktis Art Hotel · Design hotel · €€€
Rhodes Old Town · Rhodes
Sleep behind a red door in a knight's house from 1340
Kókkini Porta Rossa · Adults-only boutique hotel · €€€
Gialos · Symi
Open the shutters of an 1895 mansion onto the harbour
Hotel Aliki · Neoclassical boutique hotel · €€€
Or maybe
