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Greece, the Mediterranean & the Atlantic islands

Elena Marchetti

Writes the Greek, Mediterranean, Canary and Atlantic island pages and the Greek, Canary, Mediterranean and Europe rankings.

Published work

33 signed pages across 2 collections, biggest section first.

Islands 18

IbizaA small island with a split personality: superclubs and beach bars around Ibiza Town and Sant Antoni, pine-backed coves and farmhouse hotels in the north. Expensive in July, half-shut in January.Read
MallorcaThe most complete island in the Mediterranean for a first European island trip: a walkable capital, a UNESCO mountain range and family bays in the north. Crowded in August, quiet and cheap in January.Read
SantoriniThe caldera view, the Fira to Oia cliff path and a Bronze Age town buried in ash. Beaches are dark volcanic sand, July is crowded, and there is no US nonstop.Read
SardiniaThe beach island of the Mediterranean: white sand and pale water from the Costa Smeralda to Chia, plus 7,000 Bronze Age towers. You need a car, a booking app for some beaches, and a summer date.Read
SicilyThe Mediterranean's biggest island is a culture-and-food trip with beaches attached: Greek temples, Arab-Norman Palermo, baroque towns and an active volcano. Rent a car, and do not try to see it all in a week.Read
TenerifeThe biggest Canary Island: Spain's highest peak, a UNESCO old town, family water parks and cheap winter hotels. The catch for Americans is the connection in Europe and a sea that never gets warm in January.Read
Gran CanariaLong sand beaches at Maspalomas, a city beach in Las Palmas and a UNESCO-listed mountain interior an hour inland. Pricier than Tenerife in January, with the same cool winter sea and a connection in Europe.Read
MykonosGolden sand on a sheltered south coast, the ruins of Delos a 30-minute boat ride away, and the best nightlife in the Cyclades. July rooms start near $200, and the wind is real.Read
CreteGreece's largest island packs Minoan palaces, Venetian harbor towns, gorges and some of the best beaches in the Mediterranean. It is big: pick a base, rent a car, and do not try to see it all.Read
LanzaroteBlack lava fields, white villages and César Manrique's art in the landscape, plus sheltered sand coves in the south. Rooms cost more than on Tenerife, and the trip from the US needs a connection in Europe.Read
FuerteventuraLong white and golden beaches, dunes at Corralejo and some of Europe's best kitesurfing. Rooms are cheap. Wind, a cool winter sea and a thin list of sights make it a beach-and-water-sports island only.Read
NaxosLong sandy beaches with shallow water, a marble mountain interior with real villages, and food grown on the island. July rooms from $122, and no nonstop from the US.Read
MadeiraSteep green mountains, irrigation-channel walks through UNESCO laurel forest and a lively capital in Funchal. Winter is mild and rooms are cheap. Swimmers should look elsewhere: the coast is rock, pebble and sea pools.Read
ParosTwo lived-in towns, Parikia and Naoussa, sandy bays on every coast, and a ferry hub for the central Cyclades. July rooms from $89, but the wind is strong in high summer.Read
CorfuA Venetian-built old town on the UNESCO list, wooded hills, coves on the west coast and day trips to Paxos and Albania. Greener and less windy than the Aegean, with more pebbles than sand.Read
São Miguel (Azores)Green volcanic craters, lakes, tea fields and hot springs, a few hours from the East Coast. Winter rooms are very cheap. Weather changes by the hour, and the beaches are black sand with cool water.Read
RhodesA walled medieval town built by the Knights of St John, the clifftop acropolis at Lindos and a sandy, sheltered east coast. Good value and open all year.Read
MilosA volcanic island of colored cliffs, white rock coves and sea caves you reach by boat. Quiet villages, no big resorts, few rated hotels, and a car is close to essential.Read

Rankings 15

About Elena

Elena covers the islands Americans fly to Europe for: Crete, Santorini, Mykonos, Naxos, Paros, Milos, Rhodes and Corfu in Greece; Sicily, Sardinia, Mallorca and Ibiza in the Mediterranean; Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote and Fuerteventura in the Canaries; and Madeira and São Miguel in the Atlantic. Most of them have no US nonstop, so her pages name the usual connection, the ferry or the second flight, and the summer-only routes that come and go.

Her pages check the charges that change every season: island and cruise levies, nightly tourist taxes, beaches that now cap numbers or charge for entry, and Europe's own entry rules, which her pages date to the day they were read. Prices set in euros lead in dollars, with the euro figure in parentheses and the rate's date in the source note. She also writes the Greek island ranking and its month and traveler lists.

Elena is an editorial persona. The research, the sourcing and the arithmetic behind her pages are real; the privacy page explains how our bylines work.