Rivers Travel

The first of the modern Olympic Games was held in Athens in 1896. The Olympics returned ‘home’ in 2004. Greece and the Greek islands has long been a favourite destination for European holidaymakers and is a popular destination for travellers from America and Australia when tracing their roots. Whether you are there for the olympics, or, tracking dowm your ancestors, those Greek Islands holidays are calling.

Greece, the southern most country on the European mainland, delivers beauty, charm and warm hospitality. It enjoys great weather, beautiful and diverse landscapes, many scenic beaches and crystal clear waters. There are hundreds of islands scattered in the Aegean Sea and the Ionian Sea. Some islands like Mykonos, Santorini and Rhodes are popular holiday destinations, but you can easily discover off the beaten track islands and experience Greek tradition and hospitality.

As you would expect from a country that has given so much to the world, you will find art and architecture, mythology, philosophy and culture, or, just a beautiful beach and a friendly village with whitewashed walls cottages.

Here are some great quotes from famous Greek philosophers

“Only the dead have seen the end of the war.” – Plato

“Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world.” – Archimedes

“Friendship is a single soul dwelling in two bodies.” – Aristotle

There are over 160 permanently inhabited Greek islands and hundreds more small uninhabited islands. Many of the islands are hugely popular holiday destinations for tourists throughout Europe, with millions of package deal holidaymakers visiting every year. For the more independent traveller island hopping around the Greek islands is also very popular.

Listed below are the names of some of the major Greek islands, split into island groups, with the name of the capital city, and the population.

Greek Islands

Ionian Islands

A group of 7 main islands found on the western most edge of Greece in the ionian sea

Ithaki (Ithaca): Capital – Vathy: pop 5,000
Kefallonia (Cephalonia): Capital – Argostolia: pop 32,314
Kerkyra (Corfu): Capital – Corfu: pop 105,043
Kythira (Cerigo): Capital – Kythira: pop 2,500
Lefkada (Lefkas): Capital – Lefkada: pop 20,900
Paxi (Paxos): Capital – Gaios: pop 2,000
Zakynthos (Zante ): Capital – Zakynthos Town: pop 38,957

The Cyclades Islands

The Cyclades are a large group of islands located in the Aegean sea off the SE coast of main land greece. There are over 200 islands that make up this group, many of which are very small and uninhabited. The group of islands were named because originally they formed a crude circle around the central island of Delos.

Amorgos: Capital – Amorgos: pop 1,800
Anafi: Capital – Anafi: pop 300
Andros: Capital – Andros: pop 10,500
Antiparos: Capital – Kastro: pop 600
Delos: uninhabited
Folegandros (Pholegandros): Capital – Folegandros: pop 700
Ios (Nios): Capital – Ios: pop 1,100
Kea (Tzia): Capital – Ioulis: pop 2,415
Kimolos: Capital – Hora: pop 700
Kythnos (Thermia): Capital – Kythnos Town: pop 1,500
Milos (Melos): Capital – Plaka: pop 4,500
Mykonos (Mikonos): Capital – Mykonos: pop 6,200
Naxos: Capital – Naxos: pop 18,000
Paros (Paro): Capital – Parikia: pop 7,000
Santorini (Thera): Capital – Fira: pop 10,700
Serifos: Capital – Serifos: pop 1,200
Sifnos: Capital – Apollonia: pop 2,000
Sikinos: Capital – Sikinos: pop 300
Syros (Siros): Capital – Ermoupolis: pop 21,000
Tinos: Capital – Tinos: pop 9,000

The Dodecanese Islands

The most eastern group of Greek Islands just of the SW coast of Turkey in the Aegean sea. Consists of 12 major islands, hence the name.

Astypalaia (Astipalaia): Capital – Astypalaia Town: pop 1,300
Halki (Khalki): Capital – Nimborio: pop 500
Kalimnos (Kalymnos): Capital – Port of Pothia: pop 17,100
Karpathos: Capital – Pigadia: pop 6,700
Kassos: Capital – Fri: pop 1,100
Kastellorizo (Megisti): Capital – Megisti: pop 250
Kos (Cos): Capital – Kos: pop 30,100
Leros: Capital – Platanos: pop 8,000
Lipsi: Capital – Lipsi: pop 600
Nissiros (Nissyros): Capital – Mandraki: pop 1,000
Patmos: Capital – Patmos: pop 3,000
Rhodes (Rodos): Capital – Rhodes Town: pop 130,000
Simi (Symi): Capital – Symi: pop 2,600
Tilos: Capital – Megalo Horio: pop 600

The Istrian peninsula – popular with tourists taking Croatian holidays – is a “very special area,” according to the Croatian National Tourist Board.

Visitors in the Istrian region will find a wealth of culture, heritage and history set amongst a picturesque landscape.

The board states: “Its quite unique qualities are the result of its location – sitting where the Mediterranean Sea insinuates itself deepest into the European mainland and being isolated from the bulk of Croatia by the Ucka massif.”

Rovinj, an ancient town in Istria, is cited as being a particularly special spot.

It offers a range of monuments and buildings, with the St Euphemia church the “most striking symbol” of the region, in the board’s opinion.

Grisia – a traditional meeting place often packed with artists and performers – is another spot potentially worth a visit when on a Croatian holiday in the area.

Taking a spa holiday in the Istrian town of Opatija was recently suggested by the tourist board as one of the most romantic breaks on offer at this time of year.


A team of top explorers, adventurers and award-winning writers put together a list of the greatest travel adventures to get our hearts racing for 2011.

Talking to Adventure Travel Live, travel experts including Lonely Planet founder Tony Wheeler, explorer Benedict Allen and broadcaster Simon Calder share some of the most intense adventures available on the planet which include:

1. Tiger tracking on elephants, Kanha National Park, India
You’ll never get so close to a tiger in the wild.

2. Skiing on Asahidake, Hokkaido, Japan
Asahidake is Hokkaido’s highest mountain and sends out a stream of smoke from its vents. It enjoys eight meters of snow a year, the most consistently excellent in the world.

3. Diving with hammerhead sharks in the Galapagos
With basic scuba skills you can safely dive with these fabulous, iconic sharks – in the company of so many of them that you lose count.

4. Encounter with mountain gorillas in Rwanda
Nothing rivals a close-up with our closest relatives. The trek can take five hours. It is at altitude, in a rainforest, with no paths. Worth it – massively and emotionally.

5. Inca Trail to Machu Picchu in Peru
Popular though this three-day trek is, nothing can prepare you for the awesome first sight of the ‘lost’ city of the Incas as you round the trail on the last day, seeing it perched high above the Urumaba with the mist swirling around it.

6. Larapinta Trail in Australia’s Northern Territory
Classic outback country: dry, dramatic, lots of wildlife … the ‘dry’ component would normally make it unwalkable until the establishment of regular water tanks made it one of Australia’s best hikes.

7. Trans-Siberian Railway, Russia
The greatest rail adventure of them all. I’d suggest the weekly Moscow-Mongolia-Beijing train. It’s six nights and over 5,000 miles across Siberia, the Gobi Desert, and through the Great Wall for as little as GBP410. You can even start your trip at St. Pancras.

8. Hot-air ballooning over the Serengeti, Tanzania
Even if there are no migrating herds, just to pass over the African savannah in silence is something you will never forget.

9. Hiking the Grand Tsingy Circuit, Madagascar
Tsingy are pinnacles and spikes of limestone creating the world’s most exotic rock garden. Rare succulents shelter in the gullies that visitors cross using boardwalks, ladders, and bridges. An extraordinary experience on an extraordinary island.

10. The wildlife of the Pantanal, Brazil
Check out giant otters, caimans, jaguars, green iguanas, and more.