Least Touristy Greek Islands

Least touristy Greek islands are small island communities of the Aegean and Ionian seas. Trips to them are outings with a host, held across the Cyclades, the Dodecanese and other groups. The page covers Sikinos, Kimolos, Kythnos, Serifos and Anafi in the Cyclades. It also covers Kasos, Tilos, Astypalaia and Nisyros, all in the Dodecanese. Further sections turn to small islands of the North Aegean, Ionian and Saronic seas. Wider choices sit on pages for the best Greek islands, the Best Cyclades islands and Dodecanese islands. All such outings belong to the full range of Greece tours.

Bookings made through the GetYourGuide widgets on this page earn Classical Greece Tours a commission, at no extra cost to the traveller.

Which are the least touristy Greek islands?

Least touristy Greek islands include Sikinos, which sits halfway between Ios and Folegandros, in the Cyclades. Its municipality counted 253 inhabitants at the 2021 census. In Greece, every municipality elects its own local council to run the affairs of the district.

Among the least touristy Greek islands, Sikinos is relatively less developed than nearby islands such as Ios. Development here means the growth of buildings, roads and services. Terraces once built for large-scale farming spread across almost the whole of Sikinos. Each terrace is a level strip of soil, banked up with stones on a slope.

From the 11th century, Schoinoussa was the property of the Hozoviotissa Monastery. That monastery stands on the nearby island of Amorgos, in the Cyclades. Monks are religious men who share daily prayer and work inside such a house. Property, in this sense, means land that an owner holds and works, such as fields, pasture and buildings.

The least touristy Greek islands also include Halki, an island of the Dodecanese group. A sizable number of islanders from Halki settled in Tarpon Springs, Florida. There they founded a Greek-American community. Greek-American describes people of Greek descent who live in the United States. That community in Florida continues to this day.

• Schoinoussa size: Among the Lesser Cyclades, Schoinoussa ranks fourth in size and second in population.
• Halki work: Tourism is the main industry on Halki, while fishing also stays a substantial trade.
• Halki land: Together with its uninhabited offshore islets, the Municipality of Halki covers 37.043 square kilometres of land.

The least touristy Greek islands of the Cyclades sit in a large but dense group. That group takes up the middle of the Aegean Sea. Dense here means the islands sit close together, with short stretches of open sea between them.

Why does Kimolos belong among the least touristy Greek islands?

Least touristy Greek islands include Kimolos, in the southwest of the Cyclades. It lies beside the bigger island of Milos. The 2021 census recorded 810 inhabitants on Kimolos. Inhabitants are the people who have their permanent homes on the island.

On Kimolos, one of the least touristy Greek islands, no more than 600 residents stay through winter. The majority of them are elderly, meaning people in the later years of life. School records count no more than 100 underage people on the whole island. Underage describes anyone younger than the legal age of an adult.

Tuffs cover large areas of Kimolos, and hot springs give clear signs of volcanic activity. Tuff is a light, soft rock formed from volcanic ash that has pressed and hardened. The island also holds a notable geothermal field. Geothermal describes heat rising from deep inside the earth, which warms underground water and rock.

Silver-coloured rocks on the south coast of Kimolos, among the least touristy Greek islands, provided Kimolian Earth. In Greek, it is Kimolia Gi, and gi means earth. It was a valuable trade good, and it turned Kimolos into a major trade hub. A trade hub is a place where merchants gather to buy, sell and ship goods.

• Island size: Kimolos, among the least touristy Greek islands, spreads over 36 square kilometres of land.
• Shape: The island has a round outline, with a radius of about 7 kilometres.
• Municipality: Counting its islets, the municipality spans 53.251 square kilometres in all.

In local tradition, the island of Kimolos takes its name from its very first resident. That first settler is said to have been called Kimolos as well. A tradition is a belief that parents pass on to their children, and they to theirs.

How does Kythnos fit among the least touristy Greek islands?

Least touristy Greek islands include Kythnos, a Western Cyclades island set between its neighbours Kea and Serifos. The island lies 104 kilometres from Piraeus, the main harbour of Athens. A harbour is a bay or basin guarded from waves, where ships moor.

Merichas is the port town of Kythnos, one of the least touristy Greek islands. In recent history, nobody lived in Merichas all year until the 1970s. Manolas Psaras, a fisherman, and Foto, his wife, became the first to stay there year-round. Year-round means through every season of the year, not only in summer.

Until recent years, Kythnos was seen as among the final Cycladic islands that tourism had not yet touched. That situation is now changing steadily. Tourism is the business of hosting people who travel for leisure. Cycladic means of or from the Cyclades, a large cluster of islands in the Aegean.

At Maroulas, on the north-east coast of Kythnos, a dig in 1996 uncovered intact human skeletons. Stone artefacts and a stretch of paved floor also came to light. An artefact is an object shaped by human hands, such as a tool or a blade. Paved means laid with flat, hard stones fitted closely together.

• Area: The municipality of Kythnos spreads across 100.187 square kilometres in all.
• Rooftops: Chora keeps flat Cycladic roofs, while the roofs of Dryopida are slanted and tiled.
• Port town: Merichas, port of one of the least touristy Greek islands, has 369 residents.

Among the least touristy Greek islands, Kythnos keeps a carnival custom built around Lazanis, a straw puppet. At noon on Tyrian Sunday, Lazanis plays the role of King Carnival. Tyrian Sunday is the last Sunday before the Orthodox fast of Lent.

What gives Serifos a place among the least touristy Greek islands?

Least touristy Greek islands include Serifos, which had a population of 1,241 at the 2021 census. Later writers almost always named Serifos with contempt, because of its poverty and insignificance. Contempt is a feeling that someone or something is worthless.

On Serifos, one of the least touristy Greek islands, iron and copper mines were worked in antiquity. Traces that survive today prove that work. Antiquity is the long age of the ancient Greeks and Romans. Even so, ancient writers make no mention of these mines on Serifos. Copper is a reddish metal used to make bronze.

Serifos, among the least touristy Greek islands, saw its 460 miners form a union in summer 1916. They organised a strike over low pay and excessive working hours. A union is a body of workers who bargain together over pay and conditions. Striking means stopping work as a group until demands are met.

The Monastery of the Taxiarchs on Serifos has a sole monk, Archimandrite Makarios. He joined it as a youth in 1958 and still looks after it. An archimandrite is a senior monk who holds a rank of honour in the Orthodox Church. A youth is a young person between childhood and adult life.

• Byzantine rule: Serifos belonged to the Byzantine Empire until 1204, when Venetian rule began.
• Strike leader: Constantinos Speras, who led the strike, was born on Serifos and educated in Egypt.
• Workday: The mine director, Grohmann, regained control after granting better conditions and a workday of 8 hours.

Serifos, among the least touristy Greek islands, opens the 1885 Cyclades travelogue of Theodore Bent. Yet Bent and his wife had visited Syros first. A travelogue is a book that describes a writer’s journeys and the places seen along the way.

Which facts link Anafi to the least touristy Greek islands?

Least touristy Greek islands include Anafi, which lies east of Thira, the island also called Santorini. In 2021, Anafi had a population of 293. Population here is the head count of everyone with a settled home on the island.

Anafi, among the least touristy Greek islands, holds ruins at a site called Kasteli. The majority of finds from the island, such as statues, sit in the Chora’s archaeological museum. The museum fills only an extremely small room. On Greek islands, the word Chora names the main village of the island.

A Russian fleet held Anafi in the Russo-Turkish War, fought from 1768 to 1774. Under Alexei Orlov, it used the island as a base from 1770 to the war’s close. A fleet is a large group of warships under one command. A base here is a place where ships gather, rest and take on supplies.

A Hellenistic statue from Anafi shows a woman holding an incense cup. The statue now stands in the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Hellenistic names the Greek world of the age that followed Alexander the Great. Incense is a tree resin that gives off a sweet-smelling smoke when burned.

• Roman exile: In Roman times, Anafi, among the least touristy Greek islands, served as a place of exile.
• Winter visit: James Theodore Bent and his wife spent time on Anafi in the winter of 1880-81.
• Photo archive: Photographs by Margaret Kenna, taken since 1966, now belong to the Benaki Museum Photographic Archive.

Among the least touristy Greek islands, Anafi has a hydrographic chart from 1859, made under Captain Thomas Spratt. Hydrographic describes the mapping of seas, coasts and the depth of water. A chart is a map drawn for sailors rather than for travellers on land.

Where does Kasos sit among the least touristy Greek islands?

Least touristy Greek islands include Kasos, in the Dodecanese. Karpathos lies to its north-east, and Crete lies to its west. Its municipality covers 69.464 square kilometres of land in total. Dodecanese comes from the Greek words meaning twelve islands.

Winters on Kasos, one of the least touristy Greek islands, are the mildest in Greece. Mildest here means the least cold. The record low there stands at 2.7 °C. Among all areas of Greece, only Schoinoussa has drier conditions than Kasos. Drier here means that less rain falls over a full year.

From the late 19th century, a wave of people left Kasos, among the least touristy Greek islands. About 5,000 of them went first to Egypt. Others later moved to Istanbul, mainland Greece, the United States and South Africa. To emigrate means to leave a home country in order to live in another one.

On Kasos, among the least touristy Greek islands, diggers found a molar from a dwarf elephant. It is of probable Late Pleistocene age. A molar is a broad back tooth used for grinding food. Dwarf means much smaller than the usual size. The Late Pleistocene was the final stage of the last ice age.

• Villages: Fri has 357 residents, Agia Marina 444, Panagia 34, Poli 80 and Arvanitochori 169.
• Venetian era: The Venetian Cornaro family governed Kasos from 1306, after a short period under the Knights.
• Ottoman era: In 1537, Kasos fell to Barbarossa and the forces of the Ottoman Empire.

By the 1920s, Kasos had about 2,300 houses, but only 400 were permanently inhabited. Permanently inhabited describes a home where a family lives through every season. An uninhabited house, by contrast, stands closed and unused for long stretches of time.

What story does Tilos add to the least touristy Greek islands?

Least touristy Greek islands include Tilos, a Dodecanese island. Its length is about 14.5 kilometres, and its greatest width reaches 8 kilometres. Its outline forms an inverted S, covering an area of about 61 square kilometres. Inverted means turned the other way round.

Dwarf elephants once lived on Tilos, one of the least touristy Greek islands. A number of authors suggest these animals survived there until around 1500 BC. Other authors consider that late date unconfirmed. Unconfirmed means not yet proven by firm evidence. BC counts years backwards from the traditional birth year of Christ.

Herodotus, the ancient historian, called the centuries before his own day a golden age for Tilos. In the 5th century BC, Tilos belonged to the First Delian League. Its independence lasted until the Peloponnesian War came to an end. That league was a union of Greek states under the lead of Athens.

Tilos, among the least touristy Greek islands, prospered until the 551 Beirut earthquake, as finds show. Those finds date from Roman and early Christian times on the island. Prospered means grew rich, with busy trade and good harvests. An earthquake happens when rock deep below moves suddenly and the ground shakes.

• Municipality: With the islets of Antitilos and Gaidaros, the Municipality of Tilos covers 64.525 square kilometres.
• Harbour: Livadhia, at the southern end, serves as the chief harbour and the hub of island business.
• Emigration: From 1948 onward, numbers on Tilos fell fast, as Tilians left for the United States or Australia.

Among the least touristy Greek islands, Tilos fell to Roman conquest in 42 BC. Conquest means taking control of a land by force of arms. The Romans came from Rome, the Italian city that grew into a vast Mediterranean empire.

How does Astypalaia stand out among the least touristy Greek islands?

Least touristy Greek islands include Astypalaia, where the 2021 census counted 1,376 residents. The wider island municipality has a total area of 114.077 square kilometres. Residents are people who keep their settled, year-round home in a place.

Astypalaia, one of the least touristy Greek islands, is first mentioned in 1334. That record comes from a raid by Umur of Aydin, a Turkish ruler. A raid is a sudden attack to seize goods or people. Shortly before that raid, the Venetian nobleman Giovanni Querini had bought the island. He then declared himself its lord.

During the 1990s, excavators recovered one tusk from a large species of dwarf elephant on Astypalaia. The animal belonged to the genus Palaeoloxodon. A tusk is an overgrown front tooth that juts from the mouth. It is thought to represent an endemic species. Endemic describes a living thing native to a single place alone.

Researchers from University College London have studied the infant burials at Kylindra since 2000. Kylindra lies on Astypalaia, among the least touristy Greek islands. The team also studies a cemetery of the same age at nearby Katsalos. That second cemetery held adults and older children. Their work is systematic, meaning it follows a fixed and careful method.

• Coastline: Rocky shores ring Astypalaia, and a large number of small pebble beaches break them up.
• Roman province: In the imperial era, Astypalaia first lay in the province of Achaia, then in Insulae.
• Venetian years: During the Cretan War, Venice held Astypalaia from 1648 until 1668.

Astypalaia, among the least touristy Greek islands, belonged to the provisional Greek republic from 1821 to 1828. That period fell within the Greek War of Independence. Provisional means set up for a time, until a lasting form is agreed.

Why is Nisyros counted among the least touristy Greek islands?

Least touristy Greek islands include Nisyros, a volcanic island of the Dodecanese group. Its municipality had 1,048 inhabitants in the year 2021. Its coasts are rocky or pebbled, and its small number of sandy beaches lie mainly in the north-east.

The caldera of Nisyros, one of the least touristy Greek islands, formed in three separate eruptive stages. A caldera is a vast hollow that forms when a volcano’s summit falls in. Small ash eruptions took place in 1871 and 1873. Ash here means fine grains of shattered rock thrown out by the volcano.

Through 1996 and 1997, Nisyros lived with a spell of seismic unrest. In response, an international team of scientists began to monitor the volcano. Seismic describes anything linked to earthquakes and tremors in the ground. To monitor means to watch and measure something closely over time. Unrest here means a run of frequent small quakes.

Beneath Nisyros, among the least touristy Greek islands, geothermal fluid tops 350 °C. Its pressure is high too, at 18 bar. A fluid is any substance that flows freely, such as hot water or steam. Bar is a unit of pressure, roughly the weight of air pressing down at sea level.

• Villages: Outside Mandraki, the villages are Paloi with 239 people, Nikia with 61 and Emporeios with 27.
• Summer wind: Etesian winds, steady northerly summer winds, can reach Nisyros between June and August.
• Rainfall: Average yearly precipitation on Nisyros is around 350 millimetres, meaning rain and other falling water.

Among the least touristy Greek islands, Nisyros belongs to a volcanic complex reaching under the sea to Kos. The complex includes Gyali and a part of Kos itself. A volcanic complex is a cluster of linked craters, vents and old lava flows.

Where does Agios Efstratios sit among the least touristy Greek islands?

Least touristy Greek islands of the northern Aegean include Agios Efstratios, a small island lying southwest of Lemnos. It sits about 80 kilometres northwest of Lesbos. The capital of the island carries the same name, Agios Efstratios, as the island itself.

Among the least touristy Greek islands, Agios Efstratios carries the name of Saint Eustratius. He lived on the island as an exile in the 9th century. He stood against the iconoclast line of Leo the Armenian, a Byzantine emperor. Iconoclasm was a policy of rejecting holy images in churches. The islanders still show his grave.

An Ottoman census of 1831 counted 310 Greek males fit to fight on the island. Such a register records who lives in a place at one time. That register left out women, orphans, children and officials, so the real population was higher. The climate is arid, meaning very dry, with long and hot summers.

From the 1930s, Agios Efstratios held political prisoners sent into internal exile. Internal exile meant being forced to live in a remote part of one’s own country. It grew into the biggest prison island of the Aegean after Makronisos. Exiles on this island, now among the least touristy Greek islands, included Yiannis Ritsos and Mikis Theodorakis.

• Earthquake: An earthquake measuring 7.1 on the Richter scale struck the island on 19 February 1968.
• Rebuilding: Concrete houses built from ready-made parts replaced the old ones, set out like a military camp.
• Energy plan: In 2009 a minister announced a plan to power the whole island by renewable energy.

Agios Efstratios, one of the least touristy Greek islands, keeps a small heliport beside its main village. It serves mostly for emergency airlift and for stops by coast guard and military helicopters. An airlift is the moving of people by aircraft.

What makes Oinousses one of the least touristy Greek islands near Chios?

Least touristy Greek islands near Chios include Oinousses, a cluster of one larger island and eight smaller ones. The group forms a municipality in the Chios regional unit, part of the North Aegean region. Its area totals 17.427 square kilometres.

Among the least touristy Greek islands, Oinousses also goes by the forms Aignousa and Egnousa. Its principal town, the seat of the municipality, shares the name Oinousses. Each Greek municipality elects its own mayor and runs its local affairs. Kastron and Aspalathrokampos are the only other settlements with residents.

Pasas, also called Panagia, ranks second in size within the group, at 2.5 square kilometres. Pasas counts as an islet, a word that means a tiny island. The islet of Vatos ranks third in size. Ship-operating firms from Oinousses have fallen in number since their peak in the 1960s.

Near Oinousses, among the least touristy Greek islands, fleets clashed on 9 and 19 February 1695. A Venetian fleet under Antonio Zeno faced the Algerian fleet of Mezzo Morto Hüseyin. Venice lost the first clash, and the second ended in a draw. Zeno then had to give up Chios, which Venice had taken a short time before.

• Italian name: In Italian the clashes are called Battaglia di Spalmadori, the battle of Spalmadori.
• Turkish name: In Turkish, the same small island group carries the name Koyun Adaları.
• Location: The group lies off Cape Karaburun in western Anatolia, the Asian part of Turkey.

Part of the least touristy Greek islands, Oinousses also holds a monastery built in recent years. A monastery houses monks or nuns who live by religious vows. Islanders who live abroad are known for business success in the industrial transport trade.

How does Psara fit a list of the least touristy Greek islands?

Least touristy Greek islands in the North Aegean count Psara, an island off Chios. It lies 22 kilometres from the north-western tip of Chios. The island sits 150 kilometres east-north-east of Athens. Its only town, also named Psara, is the municipal seat.

Among the least touristy Greek islands, Psara keeps a flag based on its revolutionary banner. On the old banner, a snake wound around an anchor, at times with a bird by its mouth. Today’s flag drops the island’s name and adds a star below the crescent. The crescent on the flag has the shape of a thin new moon.

In the Middle Ages, Psara’s small population moved to Chios after the Fall of Constantinople. Between the 14th and late 15th centuries, a small band of Albanian settlers arrived on the island. They formed an Arvanite community, a group of Albanian origin. That community soon merged into the local Greek population.

Psara, among the least touristy Greek islands today, held about 45 trading ships by the early 19th century. During the War of Independence, its native population of 7,500 grew with 23,000 refugees. Refugees are people who flee their homes from danger. The priest and scholar Theophilos Kairis later cared for a large number of orphaned children.

• Port: A small port links Psara with Chios and with other parts of Greece.
• Area: Psara and Antipsara form a municipality covering 44.511 square kilometres in total.
• Proverb: Another ancient proverb likened Sparta to Psyra, which also marked the island’s poverty.

Psara, one of the least touristy Greek islands, has seen a little tourist development in recent years. George Sirian, a native of the island, became an officer in the United States Navy. The navy is the branch of armed forces that fights at sea.

Which facts set Fournoi Korseon apart among the least touristy Greek islands?

Least touristy Greek islands between Ikaria, Samos and Patmos include Fournoi Korseon, a small cluster. The cluster belongs to the Ikaria regional unit, within the North Aegean region. Its municipality covers 45.247 square kilometres across all of its islands.

Among the least touristy Greek islands, Fournoi carried old names such as Corseae, Corsia and Corassiae. Fournoi town, the largest settlement on the main isle, also serves as the main ferry harbour. A harbour gives ships shelter from wind and waves. Ferries also call at the nearby inhabited island of Thymaina.

In summer, islanders also work in tourism, chiefly in room rentals and catering. Catering means preparing and serving food for paying guests. A ship graveyard of nearly 60 vessels lies in shallow water off Fournoi. The site had been both plundered and damaged. To plunder is to steal goods by force.

Thymaina lies just west of Fournoi Korseon and forms part of its municipality. Tradition ties its name to the thyme that grows all over the island. Thyme is a small herb with fragrant leaves used in cooking. Thymaina, part of the least touristy Greek islands, has only two settlements, Thymaina and Keramidou.

• Chrysomilia: Chrysomilia, in the north of the main isle, is the third largest settlement overall.
• Population: The 2021 census counted 191 people on Thymaina, 179 of them in its main settlement.
• Protection: Thymaina and the whole Fournoi cluster form a protected Natura 2000 site for nature.

Five more shipwrecks were found off Fournoi Korseon, one of the least touristy Greek islands, in 2018. That find raised the known total to 58 wrecks. Shipwrecks are sunken ships or their remains. Keramidou, the second village of Thymaina, had 12 residents in 2021.

What does Samothrace add to the least touristy Greek islands of the north?

Least touristy Greek islands in Thrace include Samothrace, part of the Evros regional unit. Thrace is a historic region of north-eastern Greece. The whole island makes up a single municipality in that unit. The island itself has no commercial airport.

Ancient tradition says that Pelasgians and Carians first lived on Samothrace, later followed by Thracians. Greeks from Samos arrived late in the 8th century BC. They called it Samos of Thrace, a claim that Strabo, an ancient geographer, rejects. Archaeology, however, points to Greek settlement only in the 6th century BC.

Persian forces occupied Samothrace, one of the least touristy Greek islands, in 508 BC. In the 5th century BC, the Delian League, an Athenian-led alliance, took it in as a member. Vespasian, a Roman emperor, made it part of the empire in AD 70. An English Bible, the King James translation, calls the island Samothracia.

Saint Theophanes the Confessor died on the island in 818. The Ottoman Empire took Samothrace in 1457. In Turkish, the island was then called Semadirek. Ottoman records from 1569 list four settlements on the island. Samothrace, among the least touristy Greek islands, came under Greek rule in 1913, after the Balkan Wars.

• Scholar: Aristarchus of Samothrace was an ancient grammarian, an expert on language, and a scholar of Homer.
• Museum: The island’s archaeological museum sits beside the Sanctuary of the Great Gods.
• Province: The province of Samothrace, once part of the Evros Prefecture, was abolished in 2006.

Kamariotissa, a community on one of the least touristy Greek islands, counted 1,069 residents in 2011. Chora, a name that means village, had 653 residents at that count. A community here is a local unit of one or more villages.

Which way of life marks Othonoi among the least touristy Greek islands?

Least touristy Greek islands north-west of Corfu include Othonoi, a small inhabited island in the Ionian Sea. A 2019 reform placed it within Central Corfu and Diapontian Islands, a single municipality. The island is split into two regions, Ano Panta and Kato Panta.

In the 6th century, the Byzantine writer Procopius gave the island’s name as Othone. Among the least touristy Greek islands, Othonoi also carries a second Greek name, Astakonisi. In their local dialect, the islanders call themselves Thoniotes. Dialect here means a local variety of spoken Greek. The Albanian name for the island is Strakëna.

Between 1900 and 1960, a large share of islanders left for Corfu, Athens and abroad. Unemployment and scarce resources drove that move. Their main work had been olive and olive oil production. Vines, beekeeping and livestock were once important too. Beekeeping is the keeping of bees to collect their honey.

On Othonoi, among the least touristy Greek islands, current residents work chiefly in tourism and construction. Fishing and olive production complete the list of main jobs. The olive trees were planted densely under Venetian rule. So the bulk of them are 300 to 400 years old and over 7 metres tall.

• Fruit trees: Tall mulberry, locally Skamnia, and fig, locally Skeria, grow in nearly every district.
• Wildlife: The viper Vipera ammodytes is the commonest reptile species on the island.
• Sea life: Bottlenose dolphins, a kind of marine mammal, have been seen off the coast.

In 1815 the British conquered Othonoi, one of the least touristy Greek islands. About 21 kilometres of asphalt road now reach its settlements. Asphalt is a black, tar-like material used to pave roads. The island also has a heliport for emergencies.

Which details define Ereikoussa among the least touristy Greek islands?

Least touristy Greek islands near Corfu include Ereikoussa, which lies off the north-western coast of Corfu. At the 2021 census, the island had 447 residents. Its municipal unit covers 4.449 square kilometres. Ereikoussa is one of 12 islands and islets in the Diapontian archipelago.

Among the least touristy Greek islands, Ereikoussa ranks second in population within Diapontia, after Othonoi. The Diapontian dialect resembles that of Corfu, with heavy Italian and Epirotic influence. Epirotic means from Epirus, a region of north-western Greece. The island has dense plant cover and three beaches: Porto, Bragini and Fiki.

The beach names come from Italian and date back to Venetian rule. Venetian rule means the era when the Republic of Venice governed the island. Each of the three inhabited islands had an amateur football team, among them A.O Ereikoussa. In the 1970s and 1980s the teams played each other on fields on Othoni.

In 2001, Ereikoussians living in Corfu set up a football team for the Corfiot amateur league. The club was dissolved years later. Ereikoussa, among the least touristy Greek islands, is the subject of a book by journalist Georgios Lekakis. Published in 2014, it calls the island the extra garden of the Diapontian islands.

• Migration: Waves of settlers reached Othoni first, then moved on to Ereikoussa and Mathraki.
• Medieval grant: In 1383 Charles III of Naples granted Ereikoussa and nearby islands to a knight.
• Diaspora: From the early 1960s, a large number of Diapontians moved to the United States, Canada and Germany.

Ereikoussa, one of the least touristy Greek islands, once formed its own community within the Ionian Islands. A community was a small unit of local government in Greece. Its Italian name is Merlera, and its land area is 3.65 square kilometres.

What history does Kythira bring to the least touristy Greek islands?

Least touristy Greek islands in the Attica region include Kythira, part of the Islands regional unit. As a municipality, Kythira also takes in Antikythera, which lies to the south. The 2021 census put the island’s population at around 3,650 people.

Kythira also appears as Cythera, Kythera and Kithira, which are different spellings in Latin letters. In antiquity, people grouped Kythira with the Cyclades, the islands of the central Aegean. Under Spartan rule, a kytherodikes, meaning judge on Kythira, governed the island. Athens seized it three times during its wars with Sparta.

Among the least touristy Greek islands, Kythira was the property of Gaius Julius Eurycles under Augustus. Eurycles was a Spartan magnate who also held Roman citizenship. A magnate is a rich, powerful person. Christianity on the island dates from the fourth century AD. In legend, Saint Elessa travelled from Laconia to bring the faith to Kythira.

Archaeology suggests that Kythira was left empty around 700 AD. When Napoleon ended the Venetian Republic in 1797, the island joined a distant French department. A department is a region of France. The least touristy Greek islands include Kythira, which sits close to a plate boundary called the Hellenic arc. Plates are slabs of the earth’s crust.

• Beaches: Only half of the island’s beaches can be reached by road.
• Honey: Thyme honey, prized across Greece for its rich flavour, brings in minor revenue.
• Coast: Five villages stand on the coast, among them Kapsali, Diakofti and Avlemonas.

Kythira, one of the least touristy Greek islands, holds a wine festival at Mitata in August. It falls on the first Friday and Saturday of that month. Potamos, in the north, has the largest population of any town on the island.

Which features place Agistri among the least touristy Greek islands of the Saronic Gulf?

Least touristy Greek islands beside Aegina include Agistri, a pine-covered island of the Islands regional unit. Agistri lies very close to that larger island of the Saronic group. In Latin letters, its name also appears as Angistri or as Agkistri.

Among the least touristy Greek islands, Agistri has Skala, a village on the coastal road from Milos. Skala holds the bulk of the island’s tourist facilities. Tourist facilities are places built to serve visitors, such as hotels. Members of the Arvanite community still make their home there. Arvanites are a Greek group of Albanian origin.

On Agistri, one of the least touristy Greek islands, pine forest covers the centre. A population of peafowl was brought to the island and has since gone feral. Feral means living wild after being kept by people. A peafowl is a large bird whose male is known as a peacock.

Tourism is the primary industry of Agistri, and farming also plays a part in its economy. Free camping on Agistri, among the least touristy Greek islands, has a long history. Free camping means pitching a tent outside a paid campsite. Fire risk now bars tents from the forest. Farming covers both crops and livestock.

• West coast: Aponissos and Dragonera are beaches along the west side of Agistri.
• East coast: Skliri and Halikiada lie along the eastern shore of Agistri.
• Transport: Local transport on the island includes a bus and taxis.

Agistri, among the least touristy Greek islands, also has beaches at Megalochori and Skala in the north. Mariza beach lies in the south. Skala and Megalochori both hold a good number of hotels and restaurants. Megalochori means big village in Greek.

What sets Gavdos at the southern end of the least touristy Greek islands?

Least touristy Greek islands include Gavdos, the southernmost Greek island and the southernmost island in all of Europe. It sits south of Crete and falls under the Chania regional unit. Its resident population was 142 people in 2021.

Gavdos, the southern outpost of the least touristy Greek islands, has gone by a long list of names. Pliny called it Gaudos, while Ptolemy wrote the name as Claudos. The Venetians named it Gotzo, possibly after the Maltese island of Gozo. Between the 17th and 19th centuries, people knew it as Gondzo.

Gavdos lies 48 km south of the port of Chora Sfakion. Its highest point, Mount Vardia, rises to 345 metres. Including the small island of Gavdopoula, the municipality spans 32.424 square kilometres. The island has a roughly triangular outline. Abandoned terraces mark the hillsides where farmers once grew crops, and a little farming still goes on.

Gavdos has had settled residents since the New Stone Age, called the Neolithic, and through the Bronze Age. In Roman times its plants were overused, starting erosion, a wearing away of soil, that continues today. By 900 AD the island had about 8,000 inhabitants. Under Ottoman rule the number fell sharply, to only 500 by 1882.

• Capital: Kastri serves as the capital of Gavdos, the southernmost of the least touristy Greek islands.
• Lighthouse: A copy of the old lighthouse tower houses a museum on its history, with photos and old equipment.
• Ottoman era: Ottoman rule over the island lasted from 1665 until the year 1895.

Among the least touristy Greek islands, Gavdos serves as an important stop for migrating birds. Among resident birds are the European shag, a seabird, and the Eurasian scops owl. Maquis, a dense evergreen scrub, grows there beside forests of pines and junipers.

Why do the Strofades matter to the least touristy Greek islands?

The least touristy Greek islands take in the Strofades, two small islands of the Ionian Islands. Stamfani is the larger island, while the smaller one is called Arpia. Both islands are rocky, with only sparse plants growing on their surface.

Among the least touristy Greek islands, the Strofades also go by the names Strofadia and Stromphides. A legend links the name, meaning Islands of Turning, to the brothers Zetes and Calais of myth. The goddess Iris stopped their chase of the Harpies, flying monsters of legend, at these islands.

The Strofades, among the least touristy Greek islands, form a recognised Important Bird Area. They hold a breeding population of 2,000 to 3,000 pairs of Scopoli’s shearwaters. Shearwaters are seabirds. Turtle doves also pass through in large numbers each spring. Arpia, the smaller island, is home to the lizard species Podarcis ionicus.

Stamfani holds the monastery of the Blessed Mother of God, built in 1241. Dionysios of Zakynthos, patron saint of that island, was among its monks and died in 1622. Ottoman forces attacked the fortress in 1717, and two of its cannons remain at the gate. Father Grigorios, the last monk, settled on the island in 1976.

• Earthquake: The monastery suffered heavy damage in an earthquake of magnitude 6.6 on 18 November 1997.
• Protection: The National Marine Park of Zakynthos takes in both islands, which are also Natura 2000 sites.
• Literature: Rabelais mentions the islands in passing in Chapter 10 of his Fifth Book of Pantagruel.

Father Grigorios left in 2014 because of ill health and died in 2017. A modern sculpture at the monastery honours the monks killed in raids on these least touristy Greek islands. Earthquake damage has left the buildings in disrepair, and the main tower is unstable.

Where do the Dionysades islets fit in the least touristy Greek islands?

Least touristy Greek islands extend to the Dionysades, an island group off the north coast of Crete. The group trends northward and lies about 17.6 km from Sitia. Nobody lives there, yet the islets fall within the Sitia municipal unit.

Four islands make up this corner of the least touristy Greek islands: Dragonada, Gianysada, Paximadaki and Paximada. Gianysada is the southernmost of them. Paximada, whose Greek name means rusk, is the northernmost. Paximadaki, meaning little Paximada, is a reef that hugs the north coast of Dragonada. Cape Sidero lighthouse stands about 12.61 km to the south-east.

The name Dionysades is ancient, and Diodorus Siculus mentions it in his history work, the Bibliotheca Historica. He wrote of three gods called Dionysus. This one was born on Crete to Zeus and Persephone. In the myth, he invented the plough and was the first to grow vines and make wine.

Today these least touristy Greek islands form part of a protected area with rare plants and animals. Archaeologists have found objects from ancient and early Christian times there. These finds point to possible settlement in the past. The islands also seem to have been a place of worship for Dionysus.

• Seabirds: Scopoli’s and Yelkouan shearwaters breed on these least touristy Greek islands, an Important Bird Area.
• Falcons: Eleonora’s falcons breed here, and lesser kestrels pass through on migration.
• Seabed: The group lies in shallow water, and the sea floor drops away to the north.

The Dionysades sit on a spur of the Hellenic arc, an undersea range curving along the southern Aegean. South of the arc, the Hellenic Trench reaches as deep as 4,000 m. Northward, the Sea of Crete descends to 1,000 m.

What past does Dia carry into the least touristy Greek islands?

Least touristy Greek islands near Heraklion include Dia, an uninhabited island off the north coast of Crete. Its length is 5 km, and its width reaches 3 km. Dia lies about 13 km north of Heraklion, the capital city of Crete.

Among the least touristy Greek islands, Dia also carries the local spelling Ntia. For local government, Dia comes under the community of Elia, part of the Gouves municipal unit in Hersonissos. From west to east, the four southern coves are Agios Georgios, Kapari, Panagia, then Agrielia. A fifth cove, Aginara, lies farther to the east.

For centuries this member of the least touristy Greek islands served as the main port of Crete. Its four southern coves have sheltered anchored ships since the Minoan period, Crete’s Bronze Age civilisation. Jacques Cousteau led an underwater search around the island in 1976. In the waters toward Heraklion, he found traces of an ancient harbour.

Protected wildlife on Dia includes the snail Albinaria retusa and the lizard Podarcis erchardii schiebeli. A wild subspecies, or local form, of the European rabbit also lives there. Eleonora’s falcon, called mavropetritis in Greek, breeds on the island. Between 300 and 380 breeding pairs make Dia an Important Bird Area.

• Natura 2000: Dia, within the least touristy Greek islands, belongs to Natura 2000 as a protected hunting ground.
• Plants: Carlina diae is among the protected plants that grow on the island of Dia.
• Kri-kri: Dia is one of three small islands off Crete where the kri-kri, a wild-living goat, is found.

From Heraklion, the island has the outline of a giant lizard. In Greek myth, Zeus turned a giant lizard that tried to destroy Crete into stone. Theseus, the hero who killed the Minotaur, was sometimes said to have escaped to Dia.

Which pirates and rulers shaped Antikythera within the least touristy Greek islands?

Least touristy Greek islands include Antikythera, at the rim of the Aegean Sea. It lies between Crete and the Peloponnese. The Kythira-Antikythira Strait runs to its north. Through that strait, water from the wider Mediterranean enters the Sea of Crete.

The earliest known people on Antikythera date to the 5th or 4th millennium BC. They appear to have been seasonal hunters who came for migratory birds. Settlers later came and left the island more than once. During the Bronze Age, the culture of Crete had a strong influence on the island.

Cilician pirates held the island as a base from the 4th until the 1st century BC. Pompey the Great, a Roman general, ended their hold by destroying them. The remains of their fort stand on a north-eastern cliff of the island. Among the least touristy Greek islands, Antikythera has a detailed archaeological survey with openly shared data.

The Ottoman Empire marked the island on its maps as Küçük Çuha, a name modern Turkish still uses. In Italian the island was known as Cerigotto. The Venetians ran it as part of the Ionian Islands, though it lay far from that group. They held on until 1800, after the other Ionian Islands fell to Napoleonic France in 1797.

• British rule: The island came under British protection in 1815, as part of a state formed by the Ionian Islands.
• Greek rule: The Treaty of London of 1864 joined Antikythera, now among the least touristy Greek islands, to Greece.
• Birds: The Hellenic Ornithological Society, a bird-study group, set up the Antikythera Bird Observatory.

Antikythera, among the least touristy Greek islands, is a key stop-over for migratory birds on their seasonal journeys. Its position and long north-south shape explain that role. Together with its nearby islets, the island forms a recognised Important Bird Area.

What makes Sapientza, off Methoni, part of the least touristy Greek islands?

Least touristy Greek islands off the Peloponnese include Sapientza, near Methoni on the southern coast. It falls under Pylos-Nestor, a municipality of Messenia. The 2011 census recorded just two people living there. Its name comes from the Italian language and means wisdom.

Among the least touristy Greek islands, Sapientza ranks second in size among the Messenian Oinousses. That small group has three islands: Schiza, Sapientza and Agia Marina. South-west of the island lies the Calypso Deep, the deepest spot in the Mediterranean Sea. It reaches 5,267 metres below the sea surface.

Sapientza, among the least touristy Greek islands, lies on the main Italy to Middle East shipping lane. Its record of shipwrecks follows from that position. One wreck carried granite columns from the peristyle, a columned court, of Herod’s temple in Caesarea Maritima. A lighthouse from 1885, 8 metres tall, stands in the south.

Dense shrubland covers the island, with hollies, arbutus and other Mediterranean plants. Arbutus, a Mediterranean shrub, grows into full trees here and forms a forest known as Kumarodasos. No other place in the world sees arbutus grow into trees in this way. The forest stretches over 240 acres of the island.

• Natura 2000: Sapientza and the other Messenian Oinousses, all among the least touristy Greek islands, belong to Natura 2000.
• Kri-kri: Large numbers of kri-kri, a wild goat, were brought here to save the species from extinction.
• Treaty of Sapienza: In 1209 this treaty between Venice and the Principality of Achaea left Methoni under Venetian rule.

In 1354 the fleets of Venice and Genoa fought each other in the Battle of Sapienza. Once the Greek War of Independence ended, Sapientza joined the Greek state. Britain claimed it for the Ionian Islands state during the Pacifico case, a diplomatic dispute.

Which myth and wrecks link Levitha with the least touristy Greek islands?

Least touristy Greek islands in the Aegean Sea include Levitha, a small island between Kinaros and Kalymnos. In classical antiquity it went by the name Lebinthus, also written Lebinthos. The island covers a total area of 9.2 square kilometres.

The Roman poet Ovid mentions the island in two works, the Ars Amatoria and the Metamorphoses. In the tale Ovid tells, Daedalus and Icarus fly over this patch of the least touristy Greek islands. They were escaping from Crete. Pliny the Elder, Pomponius Mela, Strabo and Stephanus of Byzantium also note the island.

The Stadiasmus Maris Magni, an old Greek record of sea distances, also names the island. As of 2009, Levitha, among the least touristy Greek islands, had a population of five people. The five formed a family that included two children and their grandmother. Its coastline runs for a total of 34 kilometres.

In June 2019, archaeologists from the Greek culture ministry found five shipwrecks on the sea floor near Levitha. The wrecks are about 2000 years old. Their department, the Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities, deals with ancient remains under the sea. A big granite anchor pole from the 6th century BC also came to light.

• Island group: Levitha is counted with the least touristy Greek islands of the Dodecanese, in the eastern Aegean.
• Municipality: Local government for Levitha comes under the municipality of Leros.
• Neighbour: The island of Kinaros lies 5.5 nautical miles, or sea miles, west-southwest of Levitha.

The anchor pole weighed 400 kg. Archaeologists judged it came from a colossal ship. Amphorae, two-handled jars, dating to the 3rd century BC also lay among the finds. In the time of the Ptolemaic Kingdom, a Greek state in Egypt, such jars carried goods like wine.

How do ancient watchtowers tie Ro to the least touristy Greek islands?

Least touristy Greek islands near Kastellorizo include Ro, a small island close to the Anatolian coast of Turkey. Ro belongs to the municipality of Megisti in the South Aegean region. The 2011 census found no permanent residents on Ro.

Among the least touristy Greek islands, Ro sits in the Levantine Sea, a part of the eastern Mediterranean. In antiquity people called the island Rhoge, and a person who lived there was a Rogaeus. In Turkish the islet is named Kara Ada, which in English means Black Island.

Ancient fortifications show that this speck of the least touristy Greek islands held a small garrison post. The post dates from the Hellenistic age, the era after Alexander the Great, and later. Citizens of Rhodes built a dense network of watchtowers in that age. The towers of Kastellorizo, Ro and Strongyli formed its main links.

In the 1920s, Turkey and Italy disputed sovereignty, meaning the right to rule, over Ro and nearby islets. Italy then held Kastellorizo and the islands of the Dodecanese. A treaty of 1932 assigned Ro to the Kingdom of Italy. The island passed to Greece in 1947, with the rest of Italy’s former Aegean possessions.

• Border outpost: A Greek border outpost on the island continues the custom of hoisting the flag every day.
• Population: Ro, among the least touristy Greek islands, has stood empty for the greater part of its modern history.
• Purpose: The Rhodian watchtowers served to watch over the sea routes and the coast.

One theory holds that the rizo in Kastellorizo comes from Rhoge, an ancient name of Ro. On that view, the modern name joins Castello, Italian for castle, and Rhoge. Together with Kastellorizo and Strongyli, Ro forms the easternmost territory of Greece.

What do travellers ask about least touristy Greek islands, and what are the answers?

Least touristy Greek islands include Telendos, a Dodecanese island set in the Aegean’s south-eastern waters. Telendos was once part of Kalymnos. A series of earthquakes separated the two in the 6th century AD. A channel about 800 m wide now divides them.

Before a trip to the least touristy Greek islands, what shape does Telendos have?

Telendos has a roughly semi-circular outline. One steep mountain with a flat top makes up the island. Its sides drop straight down into the sea. The only flat land lies at the southern tip, where the only settlement stands. No cars run there, and the 2021 population stood at 66.

Among the least touristy Greek islands, where does Gavdopoula lie?

Gavdopoula is a Greek islet south of Crete, in the waters of the Libyan Sea. It sits north-west of its larger neighbour, Gavdos. In 1998 the islet was proposed as the site of a huge container storage yard. Environmental campaigners blocked the plan, and the islet now has protection as a nature reserve.

How large is Kalolimnos in the Dodecanese, among the least touristy Greek islands?

Kalolimnos is a small island in the Dodecanese chain of the Aegean Sea. It lies opposite the coast of Turkey. Its highest point stands 80 metres above the sea. Its total area is 1.95 square kilometres. The 2021 census counted fifteen citizens, and a permanent garrison is stationed there.

On a visit to the least touristy Greek islands, what is the village of Mesta?

Mesta is a traditional village on Chios and one of the Mastic Villages of the south. Mastic, the product of those villages, comes from the resin of a tree. Its medieval buildings remain perfectly intact, forming a village-castle. Twisting lanes and a fortified ring with five sides once kept pirate raids out.