Explore Greece by region

Fifteen tourism regions and island groups, from the Cyclades and the Dodecanese to the Peloponnese, Epirus and Crete — each one a gateway to its own towns, islands and ancient sites.

Mainland Greece

Regions of the mainland

Athens & Attica

The region around Athens pairs the world's most famous ancient monuments with a warm Saronic coastline and the great port that carries travellers on to the islands.

12 places

The Peloponnese

A vast mainland peninsula layered with ancient theatres, Venetian towns and wild mountain coastlines, where the great myths of Greece feel close enough to touch.

17 places

Central Greece

From the oracle at Delphi to the fir-clad mountains of Evrytania, Central Greece gathers ancient sanctuaries, seafaring towns and high country most visitors drive straight past.

11 places

Evia

Greece's second-largest island runs long and green beside the mainland, an easy escape of thermal spas, wild mountains, ancient cities and empty beaches that foreign visitors still overlook.

9 places

Thessaly & Meteora

A broad plain ringed by mountains and sea, Thessaly holds the soaring monasteries of Meteora, the forested peninsula of Pelion and lakes and gorges wrapped in Greek myth.

9 places

Epirus

Greece's rugged north-western corner of stone villages, the deepest gorges in the world and a proud mountain culture set between the Pindus range and the Ionian Sea.

11 places

Macedonia & Thessaloniki

The broad, mountainous north of Greece, where Alexander's homeland meets waterfalls, wine country, ancient tombs and the great city of Thessaloniki.

14 places

Thrace

Greece's far north-eastern frontier is a land of tobacco-merchant towns, Byzantine fortresses and multicultural bazaars, edged by two of Europe's greatest wildlife wetlands and a wild sacred island.

8 places

Halkidiki

A three-fingered peninsula reaching into the Aegean, Halkidiki pairs pine-backed turquoise coves with buzzing resorts, quiet fishing villages and the monastic peaks of Mount Athos.

3 places

Island Greece

Island groups & Crete

Argosaronic Islands

The islands scattered across the Saronic Gulf are the closest to Athens, close enough to reach in under an hour by ferry, yet each keeps a distinct character, from car-free Hydra to pistachio-scented Aegina.

7 places

The Cyclades

A ring of sun-bleached islands scattered across the central Aegean, the Cyclades are the Greece of the imagination — whitewashed villages, blue domes, bare hills and dazzling light.

24 places

The Dodecanese

Strung along the Turkish coast in the far south-east of the Aegean, the Dodecanese pair sun-soaked beaches with layer upon layer of history — crusader castles, ancient temples, holy caves and a living volcano.

15 places

The Ionian Islands

Green, Venetian and washed by clear blue water, the Ionian Islands string down Greece's western edge from Corfu to Kythira, offering cypress hills, cricket pitches, sea caves and some of the country's most famous beaches.

9 places

The Sporades

A scatter of green, pine-clad islands in the north-west Aegean, the Sporades pair the sandy beaches of Skiathos with the forests of Skopelos, the marine park of Alonnisos and the singular tradition of Skyros.

4 places

North Aegean Islands

Strung along the Turkish coast from Thrace down towards the Dodecanese, the North Aegean islands are large, green and deeply Greek, trading resorts for mastic villages, longevity, wine and heroic history.

10 places

Crete

Greece's largest island is almost a country of its own — Minoan palaces, Venetian harbours, wild gorges and pink-sand lagoons stretched between snow-capped mountains and the warm Libyan Sea.

13 places