The best Greek islands for a group trip

The best all-rounders

Naxos is the strongest single pick for a group. It is the largest Cycladic island, so it has real towns, mountain villages, and a long stretch of west coast beaches that are among the best in Greece. Prices run roughly 40 percent below Santorini and Mykonos. It has an airport and frequent ferries.

Paros is the second: slightly busier, slightly more polished, with Naoussa as a genuinely beautiful harbour town and a good bar scene without Mykonos prices. It is 45 minutes from Naxos by ferry, which makes the two a natural pair.

Both work for a group of six to twelve because they have enough accommodation stock at every level, enough restaurants that you can book a table for eight, and enough beaches that the group can split.

For nightlife

Mykonos is the international party island and is expensive in a way that surprises people. Beach club sunbeds routinely run EUR 80 to EUR 200 for a pair with a minimum spend, cocktails are EUR 18 to EUR 25, and accommodation in August is at Western European capital prices.

Ios is the younger, cheaper version, with the village nightlife concentrated in a small hilltop maze and Mylopotas beach below. It is genuinely fun and considerably less expensive.

Paros and Naxos both have proper bars and a decent night without the beach club economy. For most groups this is the correct level.

• Mykonos: international, expensive, EUR 80 to EUR 200 for two sunbeds
• Ios: younger, cheaper, concentrated village nightlife
• Paros: good bars, no beach club minimum spends
• Zakynthos and Kos: package-holiday nightlife, cheaper again

For food

Sifnos is the food island of the Cyclades. It has a genuine culinary tradition, a history of producing Greece most influential cookbook author, and a set of tavernas that are the reason Greeks themselves go there. Revithada, slow-cooked chickpeas in a clay pot, is the island dish.

Tinos has become the other serious food island, with a cluster of ambitious restaurants in the villages and a strong local producer scene.

Crete deserves separate mention: it has the most distinctive regional cuisine in Greece, its own wine tradition, and enough size that a group can spend two weeks without repeating.

For beaches

Milos for geology: Sarakiniko is white volcanic rock that looks lunar, Kleftiko is a set of sea caves reachable only by boat, and the island has around 70 beaches that genuinely differ from one another.

Naxos for sand: the west coast from Agios Prokopios through Plaka to Alyko is a long run of wide sandy beaches with shallow water.

Crete for variety and for Elafonissi and Balos, both of which are extraordinary and both of which are extremely crowded in August.

Koufonisia, tiny and between Naxos and Amorgos, has the clearest water in the Cyclades and almost nothing else, which for some groups is the point.

For a villa

A house for eight or ten changes the economics of a Greek island trip completely: you get a pool, a terrace, a kitchen, and a base, usually for less per person than four separate hotel rooms.

Paros, Naxos, and Crete have the deepest villa stock at reasonable prices. Corfu and Lefkada in the Ionian are also strong, and being greener they suit groups who want shade.

Two practical notes. Check how far the villa is from a town, because a beautiful house 25 minutes drive from anywhere means two hire cars and a designated driver every night. And check whether the pool is heated if you are travelling in May or October.

• Villa for eight, one week, June or September: EUR 2,400 to EUR 6,000 total
• Check the distance to the nearest town and taverna
• Two hire cars is normal for a villa group of eight
• Confirm air conditioning in every bedroom, not just the living room

Getting there matters more than you think

Islands with airports: Santorini, Mykonos, Naxos, Paros, Milos, Rhodes, Kos, Crete at Heraklion and Chania, Corfu, Zakynthos, Kefalonia, Samos, Lesvos, Skiathos, and others.

An island with an airport saves you the Athens night and the ferry, which is close to a full day at each end. For a one week trip that is a significant proportion of the holiday.

Islands without airports, including Sifnos, Folegandros, Ios, Amorgos, Koufonisia, and Symi, require a ferry from Athens or from a neighbouring island with an airport. That is fine on a longer trip and expensive in time on a short one.