Covers 18 European islands, from Crete and the Cyclades to Sicily, Sardinia, Mallorca, the Canaries, Madeira and the Azores, with euro prices converted to dollars on a dated rate.
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Crete is the best Greek island to visit for most Americans, and the numbers are not close. It scores 8.2 out of 10, 0.8 points clear of second place. It has the best beaches and the most to do of any island we rank in Greece, and a 3-star room in Chania was $112 on Kayak for July 14, 2027.
The surprise is at the bottom. Santorini, the island on most Greek posters, finishes eighth of eight, and Mykonos seventh. Neither is a bad trip. Both are small islands carrying huge visitor numbers, and both have beaches that score lower than their fame. Our own island pages rate them worth it only for some travelers, in some months. The cards below show every score; the sections after them explain how to choose.
At a glance
Best overall
Crete, 8.2 out of 10: the top beach and things-to-do scores in Greece, and Chania rooms from $59 in January
Best short trip
Naxos, 7.4: sandy, shallow beaches a bus ride from town, ferries daily from Piraeus
Best value
Rhodes: a 3-star room near the Old Town was $36 for January 13, 2027 and $96 for July 14, 2027
Closest to the US
Corfu, 4,686 miles (7,541 km) from New York JFK, though like every Greek island it has no US nonstop
Lowest score
Santorini, 5.9: the caldera is real, but its crowd score is 1.0 and its beaches score 5
The ranking
Score = the weighted average of six factors. How we score
Crete wins on the two factors that carry half the weight: beaches score 9 and things to do 9.5, the best pair in Greece. Elafonisi's shallow lagoon, Balos and Falassarna sit beside Knossos, Chania's Venetian harbor and the gorges. It is cheap for what it is: the Chania floor on Kayak was $59 for January 13, 2027 and $112 for July 14. The catch is size. The best beaches need a car, and Samaria Gorge is closed until further notice, so plan on Imbros instead. Give it a week, or choose one half of the island.
Naxos is second because it does almost everything well. Its beaches score 8.5, the best in the Cyclades: Agios Georgios in town is shallow enough for toddlers, and Agios Prokopios and Plaka run on for miles. Its crowd score, 6.3, nearly matches Crete's, because the largest island in the group spreads its visitors out. Rooms cost more than on Rhodes or Paros, $91 in January and $122 in July. Pick it for a first or family trip of five to seven nights; skip it if you want nightlife or a caldera view.
Rhodes is the value pick. The cheapest 3-star room near the Old Town was $36 for January 13, 2027 and $96 for July 14, which earns a 9.6 value score. Things to do score 8.5: the walled Medieval City, the Palace of the Grand Master, the acropolis at Lindos and a boat day to Symi. Beaches hold it back at 7, because Tsambika and Faliraki are sandy but the west coast is pebbly and windy. Summer brings wildfire risk; fires in July 2023 forced the largest evacuation in Greek history.
Paros lands fourth on balance rather than on any single strength. Its value score of 9.2 comes from $60 in January and $89 in July in Parikia, less than half the Mykonos July floor. Beaches score 7.5: Kolymbithres' boulder coves are calm, but Golden Beach takes the full summer wind. Things to do score 7, with Naoussa's harbor, the Byzantine path from Lefkes and Antiparos. Its real advantage is position: it is the easiest hub for a two- or three-island trip.
Corfu has the second-best things-to-do score here, 8.5: a UNESCO-listed old town, the Achilleion, boat days to Paxos and a ferry to Albania for the ruins of Butrint. Two numbers pull it down. Beaches score 7, because much of the east coast is pebbly. Its weather score of 7.2 is the lowest in Greece, because the Ionian is much wetter than the Aegean from October to March. Pick it for a town-and-villa trip in June or September. A 3-star room near town was $130 for July 14, 2027.
Milos has beaches good enough for a higher place, 8 out of 10: Sarakiniko's white rock, Firiplaka under colored cliffs and the sea caves of Kleftiko, reachable only by boat. Two things sink it. Value scores 4.3, because rated hotels are scarce: the cheapest 3-star-or-better in Adamas was $291 for July 14, 2027. And our island page rates it worth it only from June to September, which costs 0.4 points. Couples happy in an unrated studio will pay much less.
Mykonos is seventh because of crowds and price, not beaches. Its south coast sand at Ornos and Psarou scores 7.5, and Delos is a boat ride away for $28 (€25) return plus $22 (€20) site entry. But 1,222,748 cruise passengers landed in 2025 on an island of 41 square miles, and its crowd score is 2.0. The July floor in town was $198, more than double Paros. Our island page says it works for three or four social days in June or September.
Santorini finishes last on the factors we weigh most, not on its view. Beaches score 5: Perissa and Kamari are black sand that gets hot underfoot. Its crowd score is 1.0, the floor of the scale. Things to do score 8, with the Fira to Oia cliff path, Akrotiri and the wineries. Fira's Kayak floor was cheap, $32 in January and $92 in July, but caldera-view rooms cost several times that. Go for two or three nights in spring or autumn, and pair it with Naxos for the beaches.
Every island gets six scores out of 10. Beaches and things to do are our editors' scores, a quarter of the total each, with the reason written on the island page. Weather (20%) comes from ten years of Open-Meteo data at the gateway airport. Access (10%) measures distance from New York, Chicago, Dallas and Los Angeles and whether any US nonstop exists. Value (10%) is the cheapest 3-star room on Kayak for one night in January and one in July. Crowds (10%) are visitors per square mile.
An island whose own page gives it a conditional verdict loses 0.4 points. That applies to Milos, Mykonos and Santorini here. The full method is on how we score islands.
When to pick another island over Crete
Crete wins on depth, and depth needs time and a car. The island is 162 miles (260 km) long. If your trip is shorter than five nights, or you will not drive, the ranking's own runners-up are the better answer:
Four or five nights, first trip:Naxos. Long sandy beaches by bus, a real mountain interior, and Paros and Santorini under an hour away by fast ferry.
A tight budget: Rhodes. Its value score of 9.6 is the best of the big islands, and the Old Town is walkable without a car.
Ferry hopping: Paros. It sits in the middle of the Cyclades, with Naxos 50 minutes away for about $6 (€5.50) on Blue Star.
Green hills and an old town: Corfu, in the Ionian Sea, which looks nothing like the Aegean islands.
The caldera sunset: Santorini, for two or three nights in spring or autumn, ideally paired with Naxos for the beaches.
Two factors do it. The first is crowds. ELSTAT counted 1,571,709 arrivals in the Thira regional unit in 2025, and cruise ships landed 1,203,052 passengers, on an island of about 31 square miles (79 km2). That gives Santorini a crowd score of 1.0, the floor of our scale. Mykonos, with 741,548 arrivals and 1,222,748 cruise passengers on 41 square miles, scores 2.0.
The second is beaches. Santorini's are dark volcanic sand that gets hot underfoot, and score 5. Add the 0.4-point conditional penalty and Santorini cannot catch islands like Naxos, whose beaches score 8.5. It still has the most famous view in Greece. The ranking says it works best as one stop on a trip, not the whole trip.
Getting there from the US
No US airline flies nonstop to any Greek island. Every trip runs through Athens or a European hub. Athens has nonstops from New York JFK and Newark, and seasonal service from Atlanta, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas/Fort Worth, Philadelphia and Washington Dulles. Delta adds Detroit from June 8, 2027 and Alaska adds Seattle from May 12, 2027. That is why every island here scores between 3.5 and 3.8 on access.
From Athens, short flights serve all eight islands. Ferries from Piraeus are often easier: about 3 to 5.5 hours to Naxos and Paros, about 6 hours to Santorini on Blue Star, and overnight to Crete and Rhodes. Corfu is reached from Igoumenitsa on the mainland in about 1 hour 10 minutes.
You need a passport valid three months beyond the day you leave the Schengen area. No visa is needed for 90 days. The EU Entry/Exit System, fully running since April 10, 2026, takes your fingerprints and photo on first entry. ETIAS is not yet operating. Our passport guide has the detail.
When to go, and what closes
June and September are the best months on almost every island here: warm sea, long days and fewer people than in July and August. The Aegean's meltemi, a strong dry north wind, blows from about mid-May to mid-September and can cancel boat trips and rough up the fast ferries. Greece has no hurricane season, but rare Mediterranean storms such as Storm Daniel in September 2023 can flood. See our September and May rankings.
Winter splits the list. Crete, Rhodes and Corfu have working capitals that stay open. In the Cyclades, many hotels close from November to April. One closure to know for 2027: Samaria Gorge on Crete is shut until further notice, according to the park agency NECCA.
What a Greek island trip costs
The Kayak floors we found for July 14, 2027 ranged from $89 in Parikia on Paros to $291 in Adamas on Milos, where rated hotels are scarce. Mykonos Town was $198. On top, every hotel collects Greece's climate resilience fee per room per night: from April to October, $5.60 (€5) at a 3-star, $11.20 (€10) at a 4-star and $16.80 (€15) at a 5-star. Cruise passengers pay $22 (€20) to land on Santorini or Mykonos from June to September. For the wider region, compare our Mediterranean ranking.
Booking through these links supports this site at no cost to you. Prices move by date, so we do not print them here; the official prices we checked are in the page above.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best Greek island to visit?
On our scores, Crete: 8.2 out of 10, with the highest beach and things-to-do scores in Greece and rooms from $59 in January and $112 in July in Chania. For a shorter trip without a car, Naxos is the better pick.
Which Greek island is best for a first visit?
Naxos, if you want one island that does beaches, villages and history with daily ferries from Piraeus. Santorini suits a first trip only if the caldera view is the goal. Our first-visit ranking compares all eight.
Can you fly direct from the US to a Greek island?
No. There are no US nonstops to any Greek island. Fly to Athens, which has nonstops from JFK and Newark plus seasonal flights from seven other US airports, then take a short flight or ferry.
What is the cheapest Greek island to visit?
Of the eight we priced, Rhodes had the lowest floor: a 3-star room near the Old Town was $36 for January 13, 2027 and $96 for July 14, 2027. Paros was $89 in July. Milos was the most expensive at $291.
Is Santorini or Mykonos better?
Santorini for the caldera, Akrotiri and wine; Mykonos for sandy beaches, nightlife and Delos. On our scores they are close, 5.9 and 6.0, and both are held down by crowds.
Do Americans need ETIAS to visit Greece?
Not yet. ETIAS is not operating, and the EU says it will announce a start date months in advance. You do need a passport valid three months past your departure from the Schengen area, and the Entry/Exit System will take your fingerprints and photo.
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