I've just returned from Athens after a supplier trip that took me around a room of over 30 Greece specialists — from island hoteliers to regional experts covering every corner of the country. And do you know what every single one of them said when I sat down at their table?
"There is so much more to Greece than Mykonos and Santorini."
I found it strange at first. Because from where I was sitting — someone who has been travelling to Greece for 28 years — I already knew that. I've visited Zante (Zakynthos) five times, Kos twice, Rhodes, Mykonos, Crete twice, Halkidiki twice, and now Athens. And still my Greek bucket list keeps growing. But sitting in that room, it became clear: the general public's perception of Greece is still shaped largely by those two islands, and the industry is quietly desperate for travellers to look a little further.
So let's talk about it. Because Greece, in all its variety, is extraordinary.
At 17, I nearly packed up my life and moved to Greece. I often wonder how different everything would have been if I had. That feeling — the warmth, the light, the sense that life slows to exactly the right pace — has never left me. Greece holds a very special place in my heart that no other destination has quite managed to claim.
My relationship with Greece began way back in my younger years — after a few family holidays to Zante I embarked on the rite-of-passage trip to Malia in Crete back in 2001. I'll be honest, the details of that trip are not exactly suitable for a travel blog. We didn't venture much further than the strip, very little sleep was had, and the closest we got to Greek culture was debating which club to visit next. But I loved it, in the way only a young woman does on their first proper holiday abroad with friends and freedom.
What Greece has shown me in the years since is that it contains multitudes. Every island has its own personality. Every region its own rhythm. And the mainland — which so many skip entirely — is something else again.
Let's start with the island everyone knows. Mykonos has earned its reputation as the party island of the Mediterranean — the clubs are legendary, the scene is glamorous, and the whitewashed streets are genuinely beautiful. But here's what nobody tells you: it is tiny. I mean that literally. Landing there for the first time, looking out of the plane window, I could barely believe we were touching down. The island is so small that from the air it looks more like a sandbar than a destination
We visited at the very end of the season, and I'm so glad we did. The beach parties had wound down, the crowds had thinned, and what was left was something much more interesting — a laid-back, golden-hour Mykonos with warm 20-degree evenings, quiet tavernas, and a genuinely chill energy that I imagine gets buried under the high-season chaos. If Mykonos is on your list, consider late September or October. You'll experience something completely different.
Crete is the island that keeps surprising me. It's enormous, for a start — the largest of the Greek islands — which means it can absorb tourism without feeling overrun. The north coast has the party strips and the package holiday towns. But push inland, or head to the south coast, and you find something far more ancient and untouched.
I've been lucky enough to stay at Grecotel's Lux Me White property just outside Rethymno, and it has completely recalibrated my benchmark for luxury all-inclusive in Greece. This is a contemporary five-star resort that manages the rare trick of feeling genuinely sophisticated while also being brilliant for families. Young children are brilliantly catered for — the pool setup means they can splash around while adults actually get to relax nearby without feeling like they've accidentally ended up in a water park. Older kids and teens have watersports, beach activities and a packed programme to keep them entertained.
But what really sets this property apart is the food. Six à la carte restaurants on site is impressive in itself, but the seven-course tasting menu at the Grecotel Farm is something else. You take what feels like a proper excursion — learning the history of the brand, the ethos behind the produce — and you return with a very full stomach and a new appreciation for just how seriously Grecotel takes authentic Greek cuisine. This is about as far from a buffet dinner under fluorescent lights as you can get.
Kos is an island I've visited twice now, and each time through a different lens. Back in 2022, I stayed at the Mitsis Blue Domes — a property that genuinely floored me. It sits on its own stretch of beach on one side of the island, and the all-inclusive offering there set a very high bar. Strong winds can be a feature on that coast, but in high summer, they're welcome — a natural buffer against the intense Greek heat.
Last year, Grecotel invited me to experience their Kos Imperial, recently renovated throughout its public areas and the rooms are also under partial refurbishment due to be completed by 2028. The resort stretches out across a generous footprint with multiple pools and its own beach section, positioned conveniently close to Kos Old Town and the airport. This is a meaningful practical advantage — you can explore the old town without long taxi rides or the need to hire a car. The vibe is different to Blue Domes: more refined, more accessible as a base for exploration rather than a full retreat from the world. Both are excellent. Which suits you depends entirely on the kind of holiday you're after.
I'm embarrassed it took me this long to visit Athens properly. I've always been an island person, and somehow the capital kept getting skipped. That changed this trip, and I am converted.
Athens is not just a place you pass through on the way to a ferry. It is a proper city — layered, textured, surprising — with enough culture, food, street life and history to justify multiple visits without ever seeing the same thing twice.
Grecotel showed me around The Dolli Athens, a signature boutique hotel situated under the ancient Acropolis, and I am still thinking about it. Nestled in the original textile district of the city, the property honours the original building's character in a way I've rarely seen done so well. The original architectural features haven't been stripped out and replaced with generic luxury hotel interiors — they've been worked into the design, respected, elevated. Carefully curated with original pieces of art and history located throughout by the 2nd generation owner of the Grecotel brand herself, you can feel the level of care that has gone thoughtfully into the design here. The result is an elegance that feels entirely specific to this place. Once you've stayed here, you'll be spoiled for other hotels in a way that's slightly inconvenient but entirely worth it.
Our planned cruise around the islands off the Athens Riviera was cancelled due to a severe weather warning — which, somewhat unexpectedly, turned out to be a gift. It gave us the opportunity to drive out to the Attica Peninsula and see the Riviera properly from land.
The destination? Grecotel's Cape Sounio, situated in the shadow of the Temple of Poseidon. If that sentence alone doesn't make you want to book a holiday, I'm not sure what else I can say. The ruins sit on the headland above the resort, the Aegean stretches out in every direction, and the whole area is steeped in the kind of history that makes you feel like you're somewhere genuinely significant.
This is not your typical Greek resort destination. It has a quiet authority about it — immaculate service, beautifully considered spaces, the kind of attention to detail that distinguishes a properly luxury property from one that merely calls itself one. It works brilliantly as a short break from Athens, or as the coastal half of a twin-centre city and coastal itinerary. Combine a few nights in Athens with a few nights at Cape Sounio and you'll have one of the most layered and memorable Greek holidays possible.
Halkidiki is a part of mainland Greece that doesn't get nearly enough attention in mainstream travel conversations, and that baffles me. The region's three peninsulas — known as the prongs of Halkidiki — each have a completely different character, and the area as a whole offers some of the most varied Greek experiences you can find outside of the islands.
Last April I stayed at Sani Resort on the first peninsula, and it is one of those places that genuinely works for everyone. Beach resort, bear grills and tennis for younger guests, fine dining and adult-only sanctuaries for those who need a break from the noise — it has it all under one roof. New features arriving this year include an extended beach club, and the Sani Festival has secured some extraordinary acts — Robert Plant and Soul II Soul among them. This is a self-contained destination that does what it does with exceptional polish.
For those seeking a more authentically Greek experience, the Pallas Athena by Acrotel on the second peninsula strikes a very different note. The setting is boutique, the atmosphere unhurried, and from here you can take boat trips to the third peninsula — which is one of the most extraordinary places I've encountered in Greece. The entire area is owned by a monastery. Women are not permitted ashore. Men must seek formal permission and join a guided tour through a local operator before making land. It is unlike anywhere else in Greece, and the history of the region runs very deep.
Despite all of this, my Greek list keeps growing rather than shrinking. Corfu sits at the very top of my next-visit priorities — I've been promising myself that trip for longer than I care to admit. Paxos and Antipaxos are close behind, renowned for their turquoise waters and relative quiet. And after this trip to Athens, I'm now completely convinced I need to get to Hydra, (thanks to a very interesting conversation on the plane ride out with a original Athenian who was a retired restauranteur on the island) — a car-free island just off the Athenian Riviera that sounds like exactly the kind of antidote to the modern world that I occasionally need.
The suppliers in that Athens room were right. Not because Santorini and Mykonos aren't worth visiting — they absolutely are. But because reducing Greece to those two islands is like going to Italy and only ever seeing Venice and the Amalfi Coast. It's beautiful, but it's incomplete.
Greece is for history enthusiasts who want to stand in the shadow of temples that have been standing for two and a half thousand years. It's for food lovers who want to eat proper Greek food — not tourist menu staples but tasting menus that tell the story of a landscape. It's for families who need a resort that keeps every generation happy simultaneously. It's for those who want nothing more than a remote beach, a good book, a cool breeze, and an afternoon that belongs entirely to them.
Whatever kind of traveller you are, Greece has a version of itself that fits. The only mistake is not going back.