Most visitors to Greece want their trip to include, or even to be devoted to, the islands, but may initially be bewildered by their number and variety. In order to sort out these islands' diverse attractions, here is a high-level overview of them; the characteristics of each group will be summarized on their regional pages with further descriptions on the links to the individual islands. Also below there are some suggestions which may be helpful for travelers in getting an idea of which islands they may find most appealing.
Note that Crete is not included on this page since due to its size and importance it's described as a separate region, and the island of Evvia is so large and so closely associated with the mainland that it's considered together with the mainland areas of Central and Northern Greece rather than being included in the above list. Also, a few small offshore Greek islands are described on the pages of the mainland areas they are close to.
