What Greek islands should you visit?

This summer we're planning to visit Greece, specifically a couple of its islands. I love planning holidays and deciding which places to visit in a country but with Greece and it's tons of islands it gets harder to make a decision which works out well. So I compiled a list to ease my decision.

What do you need to keep in mind when choosing your island/s:

• Do you want to fly directly to the island from your home country? In that case it has to be one of the bigger islands that has an international airport. Many of the islands which do have an airport cater only for internal flights. Remember also that some eastern islands are very close to Turkey and can be reached via ferries from Turkey.

•  If you're visiting only for a week stick to a small amount of islands. Visiting an island every 3 days seems good enough. Island hopping can then be done by very short plane rides, ferries or catamarans (faster than ferries). You could also rent a boat with skippers and sail from one island to another.

• Do you want to party? Then chose one of the party islands in which you can lie on the beach till 5pm and then start partying directly at the beach since the music will be too loud for you to sleep anyway! I think islands like Mykonos, Kos and Crete (quite popular with the Dutch) are great for partying hard.

• Do you want the authentic feel of Greece in the Mediterranean setting? Then visit those islands which are not yet too popular with the tourists and haven't lost their authentic touch due to commercialism and tourism. A few years ago I had visited the island of Ios early in summer and it was such a lovely place with few people on the white sandy beaches. 

•  Do you want some history and archaeology? Then make sure to fly to Athens before heading to your island and try and visit Delos. Remember though that visitors in Delos cannot stay overnight.  

• Do you wish fantastic views? Most islands offer fantastic views however Santorini is a must see with lovely, albeit extremely crowdy sunsets and breath taking views of it's cliffs. I believe I had the best view ever from a restaurant while eating at Santorini. Beaches though were black and even though impressive to see there were horrible to swim at.

Now, after writing this maybe I can make a decision on which islands to visit this summer!

[Image Credits: I Help Greece]