Islands from Piraeus · Athens, Greece
The Greek Islands from Piraeus
Most visitors spend a few days in Athens, then take a ferry from Piraeus to the islands. Here are the Cyclades islands you can reach by boat, from famous Santorini and Mykonos to quiet Folegandros and Amorgos: their history, what to see, where to swim, and how to get there by ferry or plane.
Updated October 2026
What's onThis week in Athens
Insiders' picks
Three of our favourites from this list, vetted by people who know and love Athens.
-
How it works
Island hopping from Piraeus
Most visitors spend a few days in Athens, then take a ferry from Piraeus to the islands. Here is how the boats work, how long they take, which islands have airports, and how to combine islands into one trip.
-
The volcano island
Santorini
A ring of cliffs around a flooded volcano, with white villages balanced on the rim, Bronze Age streets buried in ash, black-sand beaches and some of the most famous sunsets in the world.
-
The easy-going all-rounder
Paros
The perfect first island: a harbour capital with a Byzantine church of a hundred doors, the fishing port of Naoussa, marble villages in the hills, windsurfing beaches and ferries to almost everywhere.
The full list: Greek Islands, A–Z
Show all 12 places on a map
Plan your trip 1
How the ferries work, which islands have airports, and classic island-hopping routes.
-
How it works
Island hopping from Piraeus
Most visitors spend a few days in Athens, then take a ferry from Piraeus to the islands. Here is how the boats work, how long they take, which islands have airports, and how to combine islands into one trip.
The Cyclades 11
Eleven islands by ferry from Piraeus, A–Z.
-
Monastery on the cliff
Amorgos
The easternmost of the Cyclades: wild, mountainous and peaceful, with a monastery clinging to a sheer cliff above the sea, a perfect hilltop Chora, deep-blue water and some of the best walking in the islands.
-
The cliff-top escape
Folegandros
A small, rugged island with one of the most beautiful villages in Greece, perched on the edge of a cliff high above the sea, with quiet squares, a church on the hilltop and coves reached by boat or on foot.
-
Beaches, nightlife and Homer
Ios
Famous for its lively nightlife and long golden beaches, Ios also has a lovely hilltop Chora of windmills and chapels, a Bronze Age settlement and the tomb said to be Homer’s.
-
The island of colours
Milos
A volcanic island of extraordinary landscapes: the white moonscape of Sarakiniko, the sea caves of Kleftiko, painted fishermen’s boathouses, early Christian catacombs, and the place where the Venus de Milo was found.
-
The glamorous island
Mykonos
Windmills above the harbour, the captains’ houses of Little Venice, famous beach clubs and nightlife, designer shops in a maze of white lanes, and the sacred island of Delos just across the water.
-
The big, green island
Naxos
The largest of the Cyclades: a Venetian old town crowned by a castle, the great marble Portara by the harbour, long sandy beaches, marble mountain villages and the best cheese and potatoes in the islands.
-
The easy-going all-rounder
Paros
The perfect first island: a harbour capital with a Byzantine church of a hundred doors, the fishing port of Naoussa, marble villages in the hills, windsurfing beaches and ferries to almost everywhere.
-
The volcano island
Santorini
A ring of cliffs around a flooded volcano, with white villages balanced on the rim, Bronze Age streets buried in ash, black-sand beaches and some of the most famous sunsets in the world.
-
The food lover’s island
Sifnos
A green, walkable island of whitewashed villages, potters’ workshops, a chapel on a rock in the sea and some of the best cooking in Greece, famed since antiquity for its gold and silver.
-
The elegant capital of the Cyclades
Syros
A working, lived-in island with a grand neoclassical capital, a marble town hall, a miniature opera house, a medieval Catholic town on the hill, sandy beaches and the sweetest loukoumi in Greece.
-
Pilgrims, marble and dovecotes
Tinos
An island of faith and craftsmanship: Greece’s most important place of pilgrimage, villages of marble carvers, hundreds of decorated dovecotes, wind-sculpted boulders and some of the best food in the Cyclades.
Ferry times are typical and change with the season, the boat and the number of stops. Check current timetables with the ferry companies or Ferryhopper before you travel, and book ahead in July and August.
Explore more of Athens
26 of the best Restaurants
20 of the best Cafés
20 of the best Bars
25 of the best Nightlife
20 of the best Hotels
20 of the best Attractions
21 of the best Art24 of the best Cinema
20 of the best Beach ClubsGlyfada & the Riviera Riviera
25 of the best Fitness + Spa20 of the best Medical & Health
71 of the best ShoppingThe Elite Collection Luxury Lifestyle29 of the best Real EstateGetting around Transport
13 of the best Car Rental & Sales