Lonely Planet Greek Islands

Greece Book Reviews

The Lonely Planet guide to the Greek Islands is a thorough and helpful guide to all the Greek island groups, with Athens included.

There is a tendency to disparage guidebook writing as being informative but dull, though of course it depends on the writer. I opened this book at the entry for Symi, an island I've been to many times, and was delighted by this little description of its main harbour:

"The first sight of the harbour of the island capital Gialos, framed against an amphitheatre of biscuit- and wine-coloured houses rising on all sides, is unforgettable."

It's absolutely true and the description of the colours is original and perfect.

Symi

Continuing with Symi, here's a typical island entry. It begins with the name in English and Greek, and a note of the population. There's an introductory overview (from which the above quote is taken) and then a paragraph of history.

Next comes the nuts and bolts, the practical info. The Getting There and Away section is particularly detailed. It not only tells you all the islands that connect with Symi, it gives the frequency of the ferries, the length of the journey and the cost. Obviously you have to allow for the fact that prices change, as do timetables, but if you're planning some island-hopping this guide will be very useful indeed.

The Harbour on Symi

Symi Continued

The next section is Getting Around on the island itself. Is there a bus service? Can you hire a car? What are the taxis like, or can you also get about by boat. Again, the thoroughness is impressive, with prices being given for boat and taxi journeys. Why anyone would want to rent a car on Symi, which only has two or three roads, I don't know, but if they want to then there's a car rental place listed.

A detailed map of Symi shows roads, tracks, hills with their heights, beaches, bays, settlements and ferry routes, complete with distances, so you know it's only 20km (12 miles) to Rhodes.

Next comes a guide to the main town, and around the rest of the island. The main sights are listed, followed by listings for accommodation, eating places, drinking and nightlife. It's a few years since I was last on Symi so I was pleased to see that the wonderful Giorgio's is still going strong. And things have definitely changed since I first went to Symi – there were no boutique hotels or gourmet restaurants back in the day!

Cyclades Spreads

Here you can see a typical spread, the first page of the Cyclades section, which shows how useful and practical the book is. You get an island-by-island index, reasons to go, a weather summary and some of the best places to stay and to eat. The following spread gives you a map with ferry routes marked on it, some of the Cyclades highlights, advice on island hopping in the Cyclades and a history of this island group. (These spreads are actually from the previous edition of the book, as they were easier to download, but the current edition looks very similar.)

Greek Islands Guide Intro

Having seen a typical island guide and the intro to an island group, what else does this Lonely Planet Greek Islands guide give you? Well, it begins with some trip planning advice and some special features, such as the Top 16 Greek Islands experiences, including Santorini Sunsets, Cretan Cuisine and the Samaria Gorge. No arguments there!

There's a special section for people making their first visit to the Greek islands, a month-by-month guide to major island festivals and events, and another spread on which islands to consider if you're interested in walking, live music, art, museums or cuisine.

An Itineraries section makes some suggestions depending on how much time you have available. Ten days? How about Athens and touring the Cyclades? Two weeks? You could do Crete and the Dodecanese, flying into Iraklion and back home from Athens. There's another section devoted to cruising in the Greek islands, and several pages with advice on planning an island-hopping trip.

Athens and the Greek Islands

If you're planning to spend some time in Athens as your gateway to the islands then about 70 of the book's almost 600 pages are given over to the city. They include a neat double-page spread showing the Acropolis in 3-D, which shows you what all the different buildings are. There's even a city map of Athens which folds out from inside the back cover.

There are several pages of very useful advice on the ports of Athens. Piraeus is the main one, of course, with a helpful map which you'll need for this busy and sometimes confusing place. Two other nearby ports are also covered, these being Rafina, which serves mainly the Cyclades and Evia, and Lavrio, which also has ferries to the Cyclades.

Lonely Planet Greek Islands

In short, this is a very thorough and useful book for anyone planning to visit any of the Greek islands. It's highly recommended, whether you're planning to visit only one island or several.

Some other Greece book reviews...

  • Greece Book Reviews

    Greece Book Reviews on the Greece Travel Secrets website with reviews of the best guidebooks to Greece, the Greek Islands, Athens, Crete and elsewhere.

  • Books About Greece

    If planning a trip to Greece, what are the best books about Greece to read before you go, or to take with you, to give you a sense of place?

  • Bradt Guide to the Peloponnese

    The Bradt Guide to the Peloponnese is the best book on the Greek region which includes attractions like Mycenae, Epidavros, Olympia, Monemvasia and Nafplion.

  • Northern Greece Guide

    The Bradt Guide to Northern Greece is a detailed guide to Thessaloniki, Halkidiki, Macedonia, Thrace, The Pelion, The Sporades and the rest of Northern Greece.

  • Wild Abandon

    Wild Abandon by Jennifer Barclay and published by Bradt Guides is A Journey to Deserted Places of the Dodecanese islands in Greece, including Rhodes and Kos.

  • Monemvasia Book Review

    Greece Travel Secrets reviews the photography book Monemvasia with extracts from works by Yiannis Ritsos and Nikos Kazantzakis.

  • Lonely Planet Greece

    The latest edition of the Lonely Planet travel guide to Greece is a comprehensive 750-page guidebook to the whole country.

  • Lonely Planet Crete

    Lonely Planet Crete is an excellent and thorough guide of almost 300 pages to the largest of the Greek islands.

  • Great Greek Poets: Cavafy, Sappho, George Seferis, Odysseus Elytis

    There are many great Greek poets, with two authors winning the Nobel Prize for Literature and names include Sappho, Cavafy, George Seferis and Odysseus Elytis.

  • Fire on the Island

    Fire on the Island is a romantic thriller novel by Timothy Jay Smith set on a fictionalised version of the town of Molyvos on the island of Lesbos.

  • Culture Trails

    Greece Travel Secrets reviews the book Culture Trails by Lonely Planet, which has a section on Artistic Athens and 51 other perfect weekends for culture lovers.

Enjoy this page? Please pay it forward. Here's how...

Would you prefer to share this page with others by linking to it?

  1. Click on the HTML link code below.
  2. Copy and paste it, adding a note of your own, into your blog, a Web page, forums, a blog comment, your Facebook account, or anywhere that someone would find this page valuable.

Latest Posts

RSS

  1. Greek Recovery Funds to Go into Acropolis Upgrade Works

    Twelve projects including upgrade works on the Acropolis have been cleared for funding out of “Greece 2.0” – the country’s recovery plan approved earlier this month. Alternate Finance Minister Theodor…

    Read More

  2. US Keeps Covid-19 Travel Restrictions Due to Delta Variant

    The United States will keep all existing Covid-19 travel restrictions in place due to concerns over the spread of the highly transmissible Delta variant, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki announce…

    Read More

  3. Chania, in Western Crete

    Chania is the main city in Western Crete with a lovely setting and a beautiful harbour as well as several museums.

    Read More

  4. Cyprus Obliges Travelers from Greece to Undergo Testing Before Arrival

    Greece has been placed on the Covid-19 orange list of Cyprus’ colour-coded country categorization travel system, based on a new epidemiological risk assessment of countries. The new changes come into…

    Read More

  5. Greece’s Indoor Restaurants, Venues Only for the Vaccinated

    Starting Friday, July 16, indoor venues such as restaurants, bars, and theaters will only be accepting vaccinated and seated-only customers until August 31, Development and Investments Minister Adonis…

    Read More

  6. AEGEAN Begins Operation of Seasonal Base on Mykonos

    Greek carrier AEGEAN has started the operation of its seasonal base on Mykonos, aiming to enhance its flagship quality services and improve the connection of the popular Cycladic island with major int…

    Read More

  7. UK Revises Advisory for Greece, Paves Way for Travel

    The UK’s FCDO revised its travel advisory for Greece after announcing on Thursday that as of July 19 travelers from amber-listed countries would not be required to self-isolate upon return.

    Read More

  8. Greece to Launch ‘Covid Pass’ App that Checks Customer ‘Safe’ Status

    Greece said this week that starting July 15, restaurant and F&B business owners would be able to download an application that will check whether the health/vaccination status information provided by c…

    Read More

  9. Authorities Recommend Self-test for Land Travel in Greece

    Travel by road domestically in Greece will not require a negative rapid test but the presentation of a negative self-test is highly recommended, said Deputy Civil Protection Minister Nikos Hardalias d…

    Read More

  10. Covid-19: Greece Extends Rules for Domestic Flights to the Islands

    The Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority (HCAA) has extended the travel rules for passengers of domestic flights traveling from the mainland to the islands, until 6am, on Thursday, July 15.

    Read More