Greek Islands for Families

Greek islands for families lie across the Aegean and Ionian seas, from Crete and Euboea to tiny islets. Trips through Greece with a host take place on large and small islands alike. The larger islands bring Corfu city, Argostoli, Lixouri, Istiaia, Ierapetra, Tylissos, Anogeia, Kalloni and Kardamyla. Smaller ones follow, among them Koufonisia, Kimolos, Antikythera, Kastos, Despotiko and Othonoi. Related pages cover Greece island hopping tours, Naxos tours and Corfu tours. All three sit within the wider range of Greece tours.

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Which are the Greek islands for families?

Greek islands for families begin with Crete, which leads all Greek islands in land area and population. It sits at the southern rim of the Aegean Sea. Euboea, also named Evia, comes second in area. A strait only 60 m wide divides it from the mainland.

Of the Greek islands for families, Euboea is governed as part of the Central Greece region. Greece is split into regions, each a large unit of local government. Crete, together with the islets around it, and Euboea traditionally stand outside the named island clusters. Islets are tiny islands, and a cluster is a close group of islands.

Greek islands for families also take in the North Aegean islands. They form a loose grouping near the western coast of Turkey. Loose here means spread out, with wide gaps of open sea between the islands. Two of the North Aegean islands, Samothrace and Thassos, sit in the Thracian Sea. Thassos is another spelling of Thasos.

Among Greek islands for families, a clear drop in size follows Lesbos and Rhodes. Every island after those two covers two-thirds of the size of Rhodes or less. The Sporades are a compact little group lying off the Euboea coast. Compact here means that the islands of the group lie close to one another.

• Skyros: Skyros holds first place in size among all the islands of the Sporades group.
• Salamis: Salamis ranks as the largest island in the whole Argo-Saronic group.
• Dodecanese: The Dodecanese number 164 islands in total, and 26 of them are inhabited.

In a technical sense, the Peloponnese became an island in 1893, when the Corinth Canal was built. A canal is a deep waterway dug by people. Even so, the Peloponnese is rarely called an island, because that channel has artificial origins.

What does Corfu city add to the Greek islands for families?

Greek islands for families include Corfu, whose main city carries the same name and is also called Kerkyra. Kerkyra acts as a capital for the Ionian Islands region. Its residents number 23,541, while the island as a whole counts 99,134.

Corfu city, among Greek islands for families, came through four sieges: 1537, 1571, 1573 and 1716. In a siege, an army rings a town and presses it until it gives up. Each time, the powerful Venetian fortifications held the city. Fortifications are walls, towers and ditches built to defend a place.

Corfu city sits on a peninsula, meaning a finger of land with sea along three edges. Its Venetian citadel, or fortress, stands at the tip, cut off by a man-made ditch. Salt water fills that ditch, which serves as a marina called Contra-Fossa. A marina is a sheltered dock for yachts and small craft.

Sir Thomas Maitland had a palace named for St. Michael and St. George built in 1815. Its walls are white stone brought from Malta. In 1823, Frederick North, Earl of Guilford, founded a university in Corfu city. He served as its first chancellor in 1824. A chancellor is the head of a university.

• Cathedral: Among Greek islands for families, Corfu city’s cathedral honours the Virgin Mary as Lady of the Cave.
• Oldest church: Saints Jason and Sosipater share a church said to be the oldest on the island.
• Cricket: Corfu hosts the Hellenic Cricket Federation, the only Greek sport federation based outside Athens.

Greek islands for families include Corfu, whose Venetian citadel appeared on the Greek 500 drachmas banknote. The note was in use from 1983 to 2001. A banknote is paper money. The drachma was the money of Greece before the present currency came in.

Which story does Argostoli give the Greek islands for families?

Greek islands for families include Kefalonia, where Argostoli has served as capital and seat of government since 1757. Residents came down to it from the old capital, Agios Georgios or Kastro. Its sheltered bay offered better chances for trade.

Among Greek islands for families, Argostoli became a port among the busiest in Greece. Trade brought the town wealth and growth. Port here means a town whose harbour serves trading ships. In 1813 the Swiss engineer Charles Philip de Bosset laid a wooden bridge over the lagoon. A lagoon is shallow salt water walled off by land.

Stone arches joined the bridge four years later. Around 26 years later, the whole crossing was rebuilt in stone. Among Greek islands for families, Argostoli keeps a stone column almost halfway along the De-Bosset Bridge. The British raised that column to celebrate their presence. An arch is a curved band of stone that carries weight across a gap.

Under Venetian rule, the coastal road running west from Argostoli was called the Piccolo Gyro. Piccolo is the Italian word for small. The Agion Theodoron lighthouse, better known as Fanari, was built in 1829 during the British occupation. Fanari is a Greek word for a lantern. A lighthouse shines a lamp from a tower to warn ships after dark.

• Law courts: The British built the law courts from stone of the Cyclopean, or giant-block, site at Krani.
• Bell Tower: The Bell Tower was rebuilt in 1985 to hold the original clock mechanism.
• Lassi: Lassi, a holiday resort southwest of the town centre, has a string of small beaches.

Greek islands for families include Kefalonia, home of a folk rivalry between Argostoli and Lixouri. The rivalry traditionally began during the carnival season. Carnival is the time of street parties and costumes held before Lent, the Christian fast before Easter.

How does Lixouri fit into the Greek islands for families?

Greek islands for families include Kefalonia, where Lixouri is the main town on the Paliki peninsula. Peninsula means a piece of land almost cut off by the sea. Lixouri began when people from the ancient town of Pale moved to a new site fit for living.

Among Greek islands for families, Lixouri takes its name from Paleas, also called Pileas. He was one of the sons of Kefalos, a king in Greek myth. Myth here means an old tale passed down about gods, heroes and kings. Kefalonia itself carries the name of that same king, Kefalos.

The oldest document that holds the name Lixouri dates from 1534. Local authorities sent it to the Senate of Venice. The Senate was the governing council of the Venetian state. During the 19th century, visitors made Lixouri a popular destination. Richard Strauss was one of the guests who came to the town.

Within the Greek islands for families, Lixouri is the home town of Andreas Laskaratos, a satirical poet. Satire is writing that mocks faults in people or society through humour. Laskaratos wrote about everyday life in his home town. In 1720, Petros Katsaitis, a resident of Lixouri, wrote a play called Iphigenia.

• School: The 1st Primary School still stands from the years before the 1953 earthquake.
• Library: The public library and a museum sit in the Iakovateios building, which also predates the earthquake.
• University: The Ionian University keeps a campus in Lixouri for its department of ethnomusicology, the study of world music.

Among Greek islands for families, Lixouri was struck by two earthquakes. The first came on 23 January 1867, and the second in August 1953. Both quakes destroyed a large number of houses across the town. During an earthquake, rock deep underground slips and the surface shakes hard.

Where does Euboea sit among the Greek islands for families?

Greek islands for families include Euboea, an island of three distinct parts. Its north is fertile and forested, and its mountainous centre is forested as well. Farming in the centre keeps to the coastal valleys, while the south is barren.

Among Greek islands for families, Euboea once went by the names Macris and Doliche. Both names came from the long, stretched shape of the island. Another ancient name was Ocha. Ocha also belongs to one of the tallest mountains on the island. Ancient here means from the far distant past of Greece.

Greek islands for families include Euboea, once thought to have been split from the mainland by an earthquake. Its position near a fault line supports that view. A fault line is a crack in the crust where rock can shift. Thucydides and Strabo, two ancient writers, both reported earthquakes in the north of the island.

Among Greek islands for families, Euboea has a whistled language called sfyria. In 1982, every resident of Antia, a village in the south, knew it. Its name grows out of sfyrizo, the Greek verb for whistling. Sfyria is a whistled form of spoken Greek. Each letter and syllable has its own tone and pitch.

• Mountains: The main peaks include Dirfi at 1,743 m and Ochi, in the south, at 1,394 m.
• Grain: Ancient Athens valued Euboea as a key supplier of grain and cattle.
• Chestnuts: The trees of Euboea include the chestnut, a tree with edible nuts.

On Euboea, Cape Cenaeum faces the Malian Gulf. It is the setting for the death of Heracles in the Trachiniae, a play by Sophocles. Cape here means a headland pushing out into open water. A gulf is a wide bay.

Why does Istiaia matter for the Greek islands for families?

Greek islands for families include Euboea, home of Istiaia at its north-western end. The town sits 5 km from the north coast. It takes its name from ancient Histiaea, a town that the poet Homer named in the Iliad.

Until 1913 the town was called Xirochori. In that year it took the name Istiaia, after the ancient town of Histiaea. Xirochori means dry village in Greek. Today Istiaia serves as seat for the municipality of Istiaia-Aidipsos. A municipality is a district under one elected council, which meets in its seat.

Among Greek islands for families, Euboea holds the old site of Histiaea, 2 km west of today’s town. Finds dated to 2000 BC suggest a settlement there in the Middle Helladic period. Helladic labels the Bronze Age on the Greek mainland, when tools and weapons were cast in bronze. Bronze is a metal of copper and tin.

Greek islands for families include the north of Euboea, once called Histiaeotis after the ancient town. Histiaeotis means the land of Histiaea. One foundation story traces the name to a figure of myth. In that story, Histiaea was a daughter of Hyrieus. A foundation story tells how a town or people began.

• Museum: Istiaia’s sights include the church of Agios Nikolaos and a Museum of Natural History.
• Province: Istiaia served as capital of Istiaia Province until that province was abolished in 2006.
• Drymus: Strabo placed the ancient town on a lofty hill called Drymus.

Among Greek islands for families, the forerunner of Istiaia had two citadels, in the account of Livy. One hung over the sea, while the other stood in the middle of the city. Citadel means a stronghold set up to protect a town.

What links Ierapetra with the Greek islands for families?

Greek islands for families include Crete, where Ierapetra sits on the southeast coast. In the local dialect, people call the town Gerapetro. Olive oil has been made across the area since Minoan times at the latest. Minoan names the Bronze Age civilisation that flourished on Crete.

Among Greek islands for families, Crete holds the old town of Hierapytna, on the site of Ierapetra. In the Classical Age, Hierapytna grew into the leading Dorian city in eastern Crete. The Dorians were a major branch of the ancient Greek people. Its constant rival was Praisos, the final Minoan city on Crete.

Hierapytna fell to Roman conquest in 67 BC. It was then the last free city in Crete. Free here means that the city still governed itself. Remains of the Roman harbour still lie in the shallow bay. Harbour means calm water near the shore where ships lie protected.

Among Greek islands for families, Crete has 15 square kilometres of plastic greenhouses. They fill the stretch from Ierapetra to Neos Myrtos. The lake behind the Bramiana Dam is the biggest wetland on Crete. It is now a nature reserve noted for its birds. Wetland means ground that stays soaked, like a marsh.

• Museum: The Museum of Antiquities in Ierapetra was once a school for Muslim children.
• Persephone: The prize piece of the museum is a statue of Persephone, kept in fine condition.
• Cathedral: The Aghios Georgios metropolitan church rose in the town centre in 1856.

The 1964 film Zorba the Greek has a famous scene of Anthony Quinn dancing the sirtaki. Among Greek islands for families, that scene was shot on Crete, on Ierapetra Beach. The sirtaki is a Greek dance that builds from slow steps to fast ones.

Which past does Tylissos bring to the Greek islands for families?

Greek islands for families take in Crete, where Tylissos is a town in the Heraklion regional unit. It is also known as Pyrgos-Tylissos or Tylisos. Regional unit is the Greek term for a self-run district. Its local district counted 2,252 residents in 2021.

Greek islands for families include Crete, where Tylissos lives from farming, above all grapes and olives. Grapes from the area make up 4.8% of the crop on the island. Farmers also raise sheep, goats and chickens, and beehive farms are plentiful. A beehive is a home for bees kept by people to collect honey.

Remains at Tylissos include houses and a cistern, plus an aqueduct made with clay pipes. A cistern holds stored water, while an aqueduct brings water along a built channel. Diggers also found a pithos with writing in Linear A. A pithos is a large storage jar. Linear A is an early Cretan script not yet read.

Among Greek islands for families, Crete has caves near Tylissos: Kamilari, Hainospilios, Trapeza, Doxa and Arkaliospilio. Two gorges lie nearby as well, the Almiros gorge and the Gonies gorge. Gorge means a slot of a valley, narrow and deep, between rock walls. Caves are natural hollows in rock, big enough for a person to enter.

• Villages: The Municipality of Tylisos, created in 1999, takes in 11 villages.
• Figurines: Finds also include stone horns and clay figurines, or small statues, of people and animals.
• Excavation: The archaeologist A. Kanta led digging at Tylissos in 1971.

Agrotourism is popular with visitors to Tylissos in every season of the year. Agrotourism means holidays built around farms, crops and the wider country life. Greek islands for families include Crete, where the Tylissos district covers 131.064 square kilometres.

What marks out Anogeia among the Greek islands for families?

Greek islands for families take in Crete, home of the mountain town of Anogeia, in Rethymno. The town sits on the northern reaches of Mount Psiloreitis, at 700 to 790 metres. Its municipality counted 2,240 people in 2021.

In legend, a shepherd from Axos found an icon of Saint John the Baptist on Psiloreitis. Icons are sacred images, painted on wooden panels and honoured in Orthodox churches. After an event without explanation, people read the find as an order from heaven. The order was to build a church to Saint John on that spot.

Within the Greek islands for families, Anogeia’s first building seems to have been the church of Saint John. Inside it, wall drawings of Byzantine date survive from the 11th century. The Byzantine state grew from the Roman empire’s eastern lands, and its people spoke Greek. Wall drawings are pictures painted straight onto the plaster of a wall.

By 1593, Anogeia had grown into a sizable settlement with 911 citizens. In the 1981 census it counted 2,449 citizens. Greek islands for families count Crete, whose Anogians of old were mainly shepherds and goatherds. In a census, the state tallies everyone who lives in an area. A goatherd is a person who tends goats.

• Psarantonis: Antonis Xylouris, or Psarantonis, born in 1939, sings and plays the Cretan lyra, a bowed instrument.
• Loudovikos: Giorgis Dramountanis, known as Loudovikos ton Anogeion and born in 1951, plays the Cretan mandolin.
• Area: Anogeia’s municipality spreads over 102.632 square kilometres of land.

Among Greek islands for families, Anogeia appears in the writing of Victor Bérard, a French historian. He wrote briefly about Anogia in 1897, during his journeys in Crete. Anogia is an older spelling of Anogeia. Historians research earlier times and record what happened.

Which facts make Kalloni part of the Greek islands for families?

Greek islands for families include Lesbos, where the West Lesbos municipality has its seat in Kalloni. The town sits amid gulf waters and draws on a plain of 100 square kilometres. Six rivers run through that plain. A plain is wide, flat, open land.

Water never runs short in Kalloni, since underground and spring sources feed its vineyards and gardens. Vineyards are plots planted with grapevines for fruit and wine. Greek islands for families include Kalloni, a village that historic monasteries surround. Monasteries house communities of monks who share prayer and daily work.

On the plain stands the temple of Messa, dedicated to Zeus, Dionysus and Hera. It served as a centre of worship and meeting for all the people of Lesbos. In the early 2nd century BC, it hosted a league of all the cities of Lesbos. A league is a union of cities that act together.

Among Greek islands for families, Lesbos has the Gulf of Kalloni, a shallow, rich wetland. Flamingos, porpoises, dolphins and seals live there. A wetland is land or shallow water where plants and animals of wet ground thrive. Kalloni itself has long been a crossroad, where the main roads of the island meet.

• Sardines: Skala Kalloni holds a festival of sardines in July, with live music and dancing.
• Saint Trinity: The panigyri, or saint’s feast, of Saint Trinity on 7 July brings feasting and horse races.
• Wine: Anemotia, one of the larger towns near Kalloni, holds a wine festival of its own.

Among Greek islands for families, Makara on Lesbos carries the name of the island’s first settler. Makara is one of the important archaeological sites of the area. A settler is a person who makes a home in a new land.

What sets Kardamyla apart among the Greek islands for families?

Greek islands for families include Chios, where Kardamyla lies in the north-eastern corner, facing the island of Oinousses. The village stands on the shore of a small bay. It was once the seat of a former municipality, a local council area.

Greek islands for families take in Kardamyla, which shares with Oinousses a name as a home of ship-owners. A ship-owner is a person who owns ships that carry goods for trade. Marmaron, part of the Kardamyla community, is the biggest town of the municipal unit. Municipal unit is the term for a subdivision within a bigger municipality.

A large white V is painted on the cliffs that face the village. It dates from after World War II and marks the victory of the Allies. The Allies were the group of nations that won that war together. V here stands for victory, meaning a win in war.

Within the Greek islands for families, Kardamyla’s V gets fresh white paint every year. That yearly repainting has gone on ever since the letter first appeared on the rock. Kardamylitians, the people of the village, take pride in it. Pride here means deep pleasure in something that belongs to a group.

• Area: On land, the Kardamyla municipal unit spans 182.480 square kilometres in all.
• Municipality: Kardamyla joined the municipality of Chios under the local government reform of 2011.
• Population: The municipal unit of Kardamyla recorded a population of 1,897 people in 2021.

Among Greek islands for families, Kardamyla has its homes, shops and plateia along one side of the bay. They face Agios Markos and the cliffs on the far side. A plateia is the main square of a Greek village, where local people meet.

What does Koufonisia add to a list of Greek islands for families?

Greek islands for families include Koufonisia, which lies south-southeast of Naxos and west-northwest of Amorgos. It belongs to the archipelago of the Lesser East Cyclades. Such a chain of neighbouring islands is known by the word archipelago.

Keros has no residents and is protected as an archaeological site. Ancient pieces of Cycladic art were dug up there in the 20th century. Cycladic art is the work of the early Cyclades islanders. People on Koufonisi say the outline of empty Keros at night looks like a statuette lying down. A statuette is a small statue.

Among Greek islands for families, Koufonisia has yielded a vessel shaped like a frying pan. A star with nine rays is drawn on it. The vessel is now on show in the museum of Naxos. Digs on the east shore also uncovered remains from Hellenistic and Roman times. Hellenistic refers to the Greek world after Alexander the Great.

In this group of Greek islands for families, Kato Koufonisi is the lower island. Kato means lower in Greek, and Pano means upper. Kato Koufonisi has only a small port. Only fishing boats and tourist boats anchor in it. A port is a sheltered place on a coast where boats stop and tie up.

• Fishermen: On June’s final Saturday, the islanders hold a fisherman’s feast.
• Prophet Elias: A big celebration in the name of Prophet Elias is held on 20 July.
• Good Friday: On Good Friday, the Friday before Easter, the port is lit up by torches.

Chora is the main settlement of Pano Koufonisi and stands on its southwest coast. Across Greek islands for families, Chora is the generic name for an island’s main settlement. Generic means general rather than tied to one single place.

Which rocks and old names does Kimolos bring to Greek islands for families?

Greek islands for families include Kimolos, a battlefield since ancient times between Athens and Sparta. Ancient Athens ruled Kimolos itself, while Sparta ruled the nearby island of Milos. A battlefield is a place where two armies meet and fight one another.

In Latin, the tongue of the Romans, the island bears the name Cimolus. Kimolos, Milos and the small islands around them are made mainly of acidic volcanic rock. Volcanic rock forms when molten rock from below the ground cools and hardens. In geology, acidic means rich in silica. Molten means melted by great heat.

Among Greek islands for families, Kimolos holds Skiadi, a rock shaped by a process called ablation. In ablation, dust carried by the wind keeps scratching at the rock. Soft lower layers wear away faster than hard upper layers. In places, the pre-volcanic bedrock of Kimolos also lies open to sight. Bedrock means firm stone beneath loose soil.

Kimolos holds plenty of silica-group minerals. Silica is a hard natural compound of silicon and oxygen. Ordinary sand and the mineral quartz consist largely of silica. Within Greek islands for families, Kimolos also has important industrial minerals. Industrial minerals are natural materials dug from the ground for use in making goods, not for metal.

• Fuller’s earth: The ancients made fuller’s earth, a clay for cleaning cloth, out of terra Kimolia.
• Building stone: Theodore Bent described a white Kimolos stone, full of tiny holes, that hardens with time.
• Harbour office: The Kimolos Port Authority works as a department of the Milos Coast Guard.

On Kimolos, one of the Greek islands for families, working islanders combine tourism with farming. The farming work happens mainly during the cold winter months. Tourism here means jobs in the hotels and restaurants that serve visitors to the island.

How does Antikythera fit into Greek islands for families?

Greek islands for families include Antikythera. It is the part of the Attica region farthest from its heart around Athens. Attica is the administrative region that holds the Greek capital. An administrative region is an area run by one regional government.

Among Greek islands for families, Antikythera covers 20.43 square kilometres of land. It lies 38 kilometres south-east of Kythira. Land area counts the dry ground only, not the sea around it. The island is lozenge-shaped, measuring 10.5 by 3.4 kilometres. A lozenge is a diamond shape with four equal sides.

Potamos, the main settlement and port, had 34 inhabitants at the 2011 census. A census is a formal headcount carried out by government officials. Only two other settlements exist on the island. Galaniana had 15 people, and Charchaliana had 19. A settlement means a group of homes where people live.

Within Greek islands for families, Antikythera holds the world’s biggest breeding colony of Eleonora’s falcon. A breeding colony is a place where a large group of birds nests together. Eleonora’s falcon is a slim bird of prey. A bird of prey hunts other animals with a hooked beak and sharp claws.

• Old name: In antiquity, meaning the ancient world, the island was known as Aigilia.
• Ottoman rule: Antikythera is one of the rare Aegean islands never ruled by the Ottoman Empire.
• Southern edge: Between 1864 and 1912, Greece had its southern tip at Antikythera.

Antikythera, one of the Greek islands for families, has a large wild goat population. These wild goats roam free across the island, with no herder and no farm. A population is the whole number of one kind of animal living in an area.

Which myths surround the Strofades among Greek islands for families?

Greek islands for families include the Strofades, a pair of islands about 44 kilometres south-southeast of Zakynthos. South-southeast is a compass direction halfway between south and southeast. A compass direction shows where one place lies from another.

On the larger island, Stamfani, stands a monastery dedicated to the Blessed Mother of God. Princess Irene Laskarina asked for it to be built. A shipwreck had left her stranded there, and she survived. The monastery is built in the manner of a fortress. It survived raids by pirates through the centuries. A raid is a sudden attack.

Among Greek islands for families, the Strofades appear in ancient stories as the Strophades. Those stories made them the home of the Harpies. The Harpies were winged monsters in Greek myth. The Roman poet Virgil tells how a Harpy chased the Trojans from the Strophades. The Trojans were the people of ancient Troy.

Bird life on these Greek islands for families includes Cory’s shearwater. Migratory passerines are found there as well. A shearwater is a seabird that glides low over the waves on stiff wings. Passerines are perching birds, the group that includes the songbirds. Migratory birds move between regions as the seasons change.

• Winds: The two main winds carry the names Ziti for the north and Kalai for the south.
• Dante: Dante’s long poem, The Divine Comedy, makes mention of the islands.
• Protection: Hunting is prohibited on the islands, which have a strong bird presence.

On the Strofades, one of the groups of Greek islands for families, the lighthouse became automated in 1985. Automated means that machines run it without a keeper on duty. Lighthouses are towers whose strong lamps mark a coast for ships at night.

Where does Arkoi sit among Greek islands for families?

Greek islands for families include Arkoi, a small Dodecanese island east of Patmos. Leipsoi lies to its south, and Agathonisi lies to its northeast. The Dodecanese is the chain of Greek islands in the south-eastern Aegean Sea. Dodecanese means twelve islands in Greek.

Arkoi has no real capital, because its population is small. The bulk of the islanders live close to the main harbour. A harbour is a stretch of sheltered water where boats moor. On the hill above that harbour lie the remains of an acropolis. An acropolis was the fortified high point of an ancient Greek town.

Among Greek islands for families, Arkoi supports its people through fishing, merchant shipping and goat herding. Others run one of the four tavernas on the island. A taverna is a modest Greek eating house with local dishes. Merchant shipping means carrying goods by sea for trade. The closest inhabited island is Marathi.

On Arkoi, one of the small Greek islands for families, the land is dry and rocky. Little grows there apart from olive trees and hardy shrubs. Hardy means able to survive heat, drought and poor soil. Shrubs are bushy woody plants, lower than trees, with stems branching near the ground.

• Sea life: Grouper and nudibranchs, which are soft sea slugs, live in the bays around Arkoi.
• Tiganakia: Tiganakia, the beach at the end facing Lipsi, is small and somewhat rocky.
• Cave: A cave at the end facing Samos holds stalactites and stalagmites, spikes of rock formed by dripping water.

Among Greek islands for families, Arkoi counted 54 inhabitants at the 2001 census. An inhabitant is someone whose home is on the island all year. Census figures come from a count of every resident, carried out by the state.

What sets Kastos apart among Greek islands for families?

Greek islands for families include Kastos, a former community lying east of the island of Lefkada. A community, in Greek local government, was a small unit run by its own council. Kastos belongs to the Ionian Islands, off the west coast of Greece.

Kastos has only one village, also named Kastos, on its east coast. About 40 people make up its population. They work mainly in tourism services, as well as in fishing. Tourism services are jobs that look after visitors, such as running rooms and serving meals. Fishing means catching fish for food or for sale.

Among Greek islands for families, Kastos is 7 kilometres long from north to south. It is only 800 metres wide. Its area is 5.901 square kilometres. The highest point stands 142 metres above sea level. Heights on land are always measured upward from that mean sea surface.

Within Greek islands for families, Kastos keeps the church of Agios Ioannis. Wall paintings by the noted painter Spyridon Gazis decorate it. Gazis was an Eptanesian painter. Eptanesian means from the Eptanese, the Greek name for the seven Ionian Islands. A wall painting is a picture made directly on the surface of a wall.

• Neighbour: The nearest island is Kalamos, and a deep channel of sea lies between them.
• Mainland: About 5 kilometres to the northeast, the Greek mainland begins in Aetolia-Acarnania.
• Old machines: Two windmills and three olive presses stand on Kastos, though none of them work today.

Kastos, one of the Ionian Greek islands for families, has two harbours where boats can moor. One lies on the front of the island. The other lies at the back, in a bay called Sarakiniko. To moor means to tie a boat in place.

Which name stories does Kalamos give Greek islands for families?

Greek islands for families include Kalamos, a mountainous island known in antiquity as Karnos. Antiquity means the ancient past of Greece and Rome. Kalamos is also a former community of the Ionian Islands. Mountainous means covered with high, steep ground.

In Greek, the word kalamos means reed. One idea links the name to reeds that grew along the coastline in the past. A reed is a tall grass with a hollow stem that grows near water. Another version traces the name to beaches with good sand, Kali Ammos in Greek. Kali Ammos means good sand.

Among Ionian Greek islands for families, Kalamos covers a land area of 24.964 square kilometres. Its highest point rises 754 metres above sea level. Around 500 people live on the island through the winter. The number swells in summer with tourists. A wintering population is the number of people who stay through the cold months.

Within Greek islands for families, the main settlement of Kalamos is a port town of the same name. It stands on the island’s eastern shore. The town has a population of 454. A port town grows up around a harbour, where boats arrive and leave. Population means the number of residents.

• Other villages: Episkopi, with 42 people, and Kastro are the only other inhabited villages.
• Porto Leone: Kefali, which the Venetians called Porto Leone, was left empty after the earthquake of 1953.
• Footpaths: Old dirt footpaths on the island now have a surface of stone or paving.

Among Greek islands for families, Kalamos sits at the heart of the inner Ionian marine protected area. This zone is the biggest marine protected area in Greece. Such an area is a stretch of sea where nature has protection by law.

How does Despotiko connect to Greek islands for families?

Greek islands for families include Despotiko, a small island in the Cyclades. It sits west of Antiparos and east of the smaller island of Strongyli. The Cyclades are a ring of islands in the Aegean Sea, named after the Greek word for circle.

Between the island and Antiparos lies the large Despotiko Bay. In prehistoric and ancient times, it gave ships a sheltered anchorage. An anchorage is a place where ships can drop anchor and stay. A large sandy beach lies on the southern part of Despotiko. Prehistoric describes the ages before people kept written records.

Among Greek islands for families, Despotiko has Early Bronze Age cist graves under the sea off Koimitiri. They lie down to 3 metres below the water. A cist grave is a burial box lined with stone slabs. An isthmus possibly linked Despotiko, Koimitiri and Antiparos until Hellenistic times. An isthmus is a slim land bridge.

Within Greek islands for families, Despotiko has a Classical marble inscription from its sanctuary. Its words, Hestias Isthmias, dedicate it to Hestia of the Isthmus. Hestia was the Greek goddess of the hearth. Inscriptions are words cut by hand into stone. Classical means the age of ancient Greece after the Archaic one.

• Visitor: Theodore Bent, an English explorer, came in early 1884 and found two graveyards.
• Altar: On the west side stood a four-room building with a big stone altar for offerings.
• Museum: Finds from the digs are on show in the archaeological museum in Parikia, on Paros.

On Despotiko, one of the Greek islands for families, phrygana and garrigue cover wide stretches of land. Phrygana is a Greek word for low, spiny shrubs. Garrigue is a French word for open scrub on dry, stony ground. Scrub means land covered with small bushes.

Which legends and beaches link Othonoi to Greek islands for families?

Greek islands for families include Othonoi, northwest of Corfu. It lies about 47 nautical miles from Santa Maria di Leuca cape, Italy. A nautical mile is the unit used to measure distance at sea. A cape is a headland that pushes out into the sea.

One old name for Othonoi is Fidonisi, which means Snake island. The name recalls snakes that are said to have invaded the island. Another name is Fanò, meaning Lamp. International charts and the Italians use it, because of the lighthouse on the island. A chart is a map made for sailing at sea.

Among Greek islands for families, Othonoi has a nickname used by its own people. Othonians living in Corfu sometimes call the island Pera, which means beyond. Seen from Corfu, the island lies beyond it. Homer wrote that Ogygia smelled strongly of cypress, and legend links Ogygia with Othonoi. Cypress trees grow in large numbers on Othonoi.

Within Greek islands for families, Othonoi is almost completely covered by olive trees. These trees bear a small species of olive, known locally as Lianolia. The fruit holds a high share of quality oil. The same olive is common across all the Ionian Islands. A species is one particular kind of living thing.

• Aspri Ammos: Aspri Ammos, meaning White Sand, lies on the west side and is reached only by boat.
• Highest peak: Mount Imerovigli is the highest peak of Othonoi, at a height of 395 metres.
• Turtle doves: Othonoi is the first resting point in south-eastern Europe for birds from Libya, especially turtle doves.

On Othonoi, one of the Greek islands for families, the Port of Ammos has the largest population. The district holds small guesthouses, cafés, a police station and a port authority. A port authority is the office that oversees boats and the harbour.

What do travellers ask about Greek islands for families, and what are the answers?

Greek islands for families lie in both the Ionian and the Aegean seas. The Ionian Sea lies west of mainland Greece, and the Aegean lies to its east. A settlement is a cluster of homes where a community lives.

Among Greek islands for families, where does Ereikoussa get its name?

Ereikoussa takes its name from ereiki, a plant found across the whole island. Ereiki is the Greek word for heather, a low shrub with small flowers. The island has six settlements. The main one is Porto, which holds the only port. Ereikoussa sits almost equally far from Corfu, Mathraki and Othonoi.

Who settled Mathraki, one of the Greek islands for families?

Settlers from neighbouring Paxoi and Othonoi have lived on Mathraki since the 16th century. Nobody knows the true origin of its name. A popular tradition links it to anthrakia, a word tied to burning. The story says the island had once been burnt. Mathraki became part of Greece in 1864.

Which old names does Kyra Panagia carry among Greek islands for families?

In antiquity, Kyra Panagia was known as Ephthyros and also as Polyaigos. Agios Petros is the name of a bay on its south-west side. In 2011, the island had just 2 residents. Panagia, meaning All-Holy, is a Greek title of the Virgin Mary. A resident is someone who lives there.

What stands in the town of Oinousses, among Greek islands for families?

Oinousses lies 8 kilometres west of Turkey. Its town grew around a square and a small harbour. It also holds a naval high school and a maritime museum. A maritime museum shows the history of ships and the sea. Egnoussa, the largest island of the group, covers 14.3 square kilometres.