Tip of the day – Plan your summer 2025 in Greece’s best secret towns and villages | The Times

• August 5, 2025

25 of Greece’s best secret towns and villages for summer

Our expert picks out the country’s most beguiling escapes, far from the throngs of Santorini and Mykonos, that are holiday havens untouched by mass tourism

Greece attracts 35 million visitors a year, about 4.5 million of whom are Brits — enough to make it our most popular overseas destination after Spain, France and Italy. Given that the bulk of these holidaymakers come at the height of summer, you won’t be surprised if the obvious spots are much less serene than they looked in the brochure.

But there’s more to Greece than the mega resorts of Rhodes and Crete or the non-stop buzz of Mykonos and Santorini. Skip the mainstream towns — be that on the islands or the mainland — and you’ll find places where the vibe is authentic and prices aren’t sky-high. Last summer, while spending a glorious few weeks hopping around Greece by ferry, I discovered just such a spot: Prasonisi, down at the bottom of Rhodes. It’s far from the big resorts and it’s mostly die-hard water-sports fans who bother to schlep the full two hours from Rhodes Town to get here, leaving the crowds at the island’s other end. It felt delightfully undiscovered: a place for travellers rather than tourists.

Earlier on that same trip I spent several days exploring Syros, the island next to Mykonos but almost empty of tourists (my meal in its capital, Ermoupoli, cost a fraction of Mykonos’s prices). I had a similar experience in Thirasia, which is effectively part of Santorini but feels like its larger sibling must have done before the age of mass tourism. The same would be true in spots such as Kimolos in the southwest Cyclades and Kastellorizo in the Dodecanese, two small islands served by local ferries instead of the major ferry routes, making them that bit more adventurous as destinations.

On the Greek mainland too are towns and villages where only clued-up travellers go. Spend time in any of them and you’ll feel that those 35 million visitors must be on another planet. So whether you’re looking for a beach break, a villa stay, an active escape or a guided tour that captures Greece’s essence without sticking to the well-worn tourist trail, you’ll find inspiration among these, our pick of the best secret Greek havens.

• Ermoupoli, Syros, Cyclades islands
• Manolas, Thirasia, Cyclades islands
• Macheria, Rhodes, Dodecanese islands
• Loutraki, Corinthia
• Spartochori, Meganisi, Ionian islands
• Old Perithia, Corfu, Ionian islands
• Patmos, Dodecanese islands
• Vradeto, Zagori
• Edessa, Macedonia
• Kalavryta, Peloponnese
• Ierapetra, Crete, Aegean islands
• Agia Galini, Crete, Aegean islands
• Karystos, Evia
• Monemvasia, Peloponnese
• Koroni, Peloponnese
• Olympiada, Halkidiki
• Piraeus, Athens
• Skala, Agistri, Saronic islands
• Assos, Cephalonia, Ionian islands
• Petra, Lesbos, North Aegean islands
• Patitiri, Alonissos, Sporades islands
• Portaria, Pelion peninsula
• Chorio, Kimolos, Cyclades islands
• Kastellorizo, Dodecanese islands
• Aitoliko, Western Greece

Check here the complete article with some suggestion for your stay in those places  and make your summer unforgetable far from overcrowded and overrated places