Greece Island Hopping Guide for Kiwis

Which Greek islands should you combine?

For a first trip, the Cyclades are the easiest to link because the ferry network is dense and the islands sit close together. A well-trodden loop runs Athens, Paros, Naxos and Santorini; Mykonos works as an add-on if you want nightlife and a day trip to Delos, and Milos suits anyone who'd rather swap crowds for volcanic coastline. Paros and Naxos are short hops from each other, which makes them a good pair for a slower pace.

If you'd prefer green hills, calmer water and a car for the day, the Ionian islands are a different feel: Corfu, Kefalonia and Zakynthos are each big enough to fill a few days, and Lefkada can be reached by road. The Dodecanese, with Rhodes and Kos as hubs, suit travellers who like history and are happy with longer connections. The most common mistake is trying to mix groups: the Cyclades and the Ionian islands are on opposite sides of the mainland, so you'd spend days in transit.

How many islands can you fit into your trip?

As a rule of thumb, a week comfortably covers two or three islands, and ten days to two weeks stretches to four or five. Each ferry day costs you most of a day once you allow for getting to the port, waiting, the crossing and finding your accommodation at the other end, so every extra island eats into beach time.

Give each island at least two nights, and keep Athens to a night or two at the start or end, since flights from New Zealand usually arrive worn out. If you're coming over from further afield, our guide to long-haul flights from New Zealand covers the flight itself.

How do Greek ferries work? Booking and timetables

Greece has two broad types of boat: slower conventional ferries, which take vehicles and are more relaxed with luggage, and fast catamarans or hydrofoils, which are quicker but often have tighter baggage limits and are more affected by rough seas. Timetables are set for each season and are generally published in the months before summer, so don't lock in connections until the current schedule is out.

In July and August, popular crossings such as Athens to Mykonos or Santorini can sell out, so book those early. Outside peak season you can often buy at the port or the same day. Booking the whole trip in one transaction makes refunds and rebooking simpler if a sailing is cancelled. Save every ticket as a PDF or screenshot, because you'll want it available where signal is poor.

What happens when the wind (or a strike) cancels a ferry?

Strong summer winds in the Aegean can delay or cancel sailings, and SafeTravel notes that strikes and demonstrations in Greece happen often and can disrupt travel plans. The practical response is to build slack into your itinerary: don't schedule a ferry on the same day as an international flight, and leave a spare day at the end of the trip so a cancelled boat doesn't cost you your flight home.

Ferry operators typically post disruptions through their own apps and websites, so having data when you're standing at a port with no boat is genuinely useful. Make sure your travel insurance covers delays and cancellations, as well as the medical evacuation and adventure activities SafeTravel recommends being covered for.

When is the best time to go island hopping in Greece?

Late April to June and September to October are the sweet spots: warm enough to swim, thinner crowds, lower prices and fewer wind-related disruptions than the height of summer. July and August bring the biggest crowds, the highest prices and the strongest winds in the Cyclades, and SafeTravel also flags that forest fires often occur in summer, so follow local authorities' instructions if they affect your plans.

Many island businesses shut for winter, and ferry schedules thin out dramatically, so island hopping outside the main season takes more planning. For Kiwis, the European summer lines up with our winter, so consider the shoulder months if you're flexible on dates.

Do Kiwis need a visa for Greece?

New Zealanders can travel to Greece, and the wider Schengen area, without a visa for short stays, but the rules around the border are changing. The EU's Entry/Exit System now registers non-EU travellers digitally at the border, and a separate travel authorisation, ETIAS, is expected to start in the last quarter of 2026 for visa-exempt visitors; the EU says it will announce the start date several months ahead. The length of stay you can have also depends on Schengen rules, so don't assume you can stay as long as you like.

Check the current requirements on SafeTravel's EU and UK entry and exit requirements page and the EU's official Travel to Europe site before you book, and apply for ETIAS only through the official site once it opens.

Will my phone work on Greek ferries and small islands?

Athens, Thessaloniki and the popular islands are well covered, including Santorini, Mykonos, the north coast of Crete and the Ionian resorts. Signal gets patchier on the smaller Cyclades, Crete's south coast, the Dodecanese chain and mountain villages on the mainland. At sea it drops out, especially on fast catamarans that run further from the coast, and it returns as you near the next port.

The simple fix is to download before you board: tickets, offline maps, your accommodation's address and anything you want to watch on the crossing. You'll then use mobile data mostly in ports and towns, which suits a modest plan. Our Greece eSIM plans page has the live line-up, with plans currently starting from $3.99.

How much data do you need for island hopping?

Most island hoppers use maps, messaging, ferry and booking apps, translation and plenty of photo backups, which is a light-to-moderate load. Accommodation Wi-Fi covers some of it, but it can be slow or confined to the lobby, so a data plan of your own saves a lot of faff. Our guide on how much data you actually need overseas breaks it down by trip length and habits.

If Greece is one stop in a longer European trip, our comparison of one eSIM or separate plans across Europe uses live prices, and eSIM versus a physical SIM explains why an eSIM suits a trip with this many moving parts.

Sorting your phone before you fly

Install your eSIM on Wi-Fi at home, check when the plan starts counting, and leave your NZ SIM in with data roaming off so you still get texts to your usual number. The setup guide takes a couple of minutes, and it means your maps and ferry apps work the moment you land in Athens. If you're still building a packing list, our travel packing checklist has a sensible starting point.