More than 200 inhabited islands lie beyond the caldera views and the beach clubs. From Hydra's car-free harbor to Sifnos's storied kitchens, these are the Greek isles the critics rank first.
The full ranking
More than 200 inhabited islands lie beyond the caldera views and the beach clubs. From Hydra's car-free harbor to Sifnos's storied kitchens, these are the Greek isles the critics rank first.
Crete (Greece's largest island)
Greece's largest island packs Minoan palaces, Venetian harbors, and the Samaria Gorge into a coastline that runs from Balos lagoon to Elafonisi's pink sand. Cretan cooking, from dakos to graviera, is a destination in itself.
Paros (Cyclades)
Travel + Leisure's best island in the world for 2025. Naoussa's harborside dining and nightlife balance against quiet south-coast fishing villages and the windsurfing waters of Golden Beach.
Hydra (Saronic Islands)
A car-free harbor town ninety minutes from Piraeus, where mules do the hauling and Leonard Cohen's legacy still draws the art crowd. Stone mansions, gallery openings, and sea taxis to pebbled coves.
Sifnos (Cyclades)
The Greek island of gastronomy, where Nikolaos Tselementes wrote the first Greek cookbook in 1910. Chickpea croquettes, wood-oven mastelo lamb, pottery workshops, and the medieval village of Kastro.
Corfu (Ionian Islands)
Venetian, French, and British layers give the UNESCO-listed Old Town a polish no other Greek island has. The lush island of the Durrells, with Paleokastritsa's clifftop monastery and Ionian resort coves.
Milos (Cyclades)
A volcanic coastline carved into the white moonscape of Sarakiniko and some eighty beaches in every color. Conde Nast Traveller's best Greek island to visit for 2025, where the Venus de Milo was unearthed in 1820.
Naxos (Cyclades)
The largest and most fertile of the Cyclades: the Portara gate of Apollo, marble mountain villages, and an endless ribbon of west-coast sand from Plaka to Alyko, with some of the best windsurfing in the Aegean.
Kefalonia (Ionian Islands)
The largest Ionian island pairs the white crescent of Myrtos Beach with the pastel fishing villages of Assos and Fiskardo. Underground caves, Mount Ainos hikes, and a slower, understated brand of luxury.
Syros (Cyclades)
The working capital of the Cyclades, with neoclassical Ermoupoli, the Apollon Theater, and a cultural calendar that does not shut down in October. Island life as a real city rather than a resort.
Rhodes (Dodecanese)
Home of the vanished Colossus and the UNESCO-listed medieval Old Town, where knight-era inns line cobbled lanes below the Palace of the Grand Master. The clifftop acropolis of Lindos and tiny mountain villages round out the Dodecanese flagship.
Ranked across 5 sources: Condé Nast Traveller · 34 Best Greek Islands (2025 edition); Condé Nast Traveller · 15 Best Greek Islands for 2026 (unordered roundup); Time Out Greece · 10 Best Greek Islands 2024; U.S. News Travel · Best Greek Islands Ranking 2026; Travel + Leisure · World's Best Awards 2025 (Islands). Full scoring is on the Methodology tab above.
Related lists
Browse every Top 10 List, see the experts and aggregators behind them, or play the day’s puzzles.