Ancient history, vine-covered tavernas and breathtaking beaches: there’s nothing quite like a Greek island.
But you’ve been visiting them all the wrong way.
Here Sophie Jansena 31-year-old Greece travel expert from the Netherlands whose TikTok Greece tips now has 78,000 followers, reveals the biggest mistakes beginners make and gives her top tips for making the most of what the Greek islands have to offer.
She explains why ferry timetables are so important for an enjoyable Greek island holiday, the best local dishes to try, how to order Greek coffee, whether it’s OK to drink tap water – and why you’ll probably regret packing a suitcase.
Read on for more…
Sophie Jansen, a 31-year-old Greece travel expert from the Netherlands, whose TikTok Greece tips have earned her 78,000 followers
Choose the right island
Sophie tells MailOnline Travel: ‘Greece is a large and spread out country’ – with 227 inhabited islands – adding that ‘every part’ ‘has something to offer’.
Even though an island may look picture-perfect, it may not be the right destination for you.
Sophie explains: ‘Find out if it’s the right place for the month you’re going, the number of days you want to stay, the mode of transport you want to use, the type of activities you want to do and of course your budget.
‘Not every island is budget or child-friendly and some islands are less suitable if you can’t rent a car.’
Check the ferry timetable
Sophie warns: ‘Don’t book your hotels before checking the ferry timetables and schedules. Not all islands are connected to each other.
‘So make sure you don’t have a non-refundable hotel booking before you start figuring out how to get from A to B.’
She recommends using ferryhopper.com to find the routes and schedules of the ships.
Pack the right size suitcase
Sophie says: ‘Yes, if you are staying in the same hotel for two weeks and you are being taken there from the airport, take your heavy suitcase with you.
However, if you want to island hop or visit towns with car-free centres, cobblestones or lots of steps (like Santorini), then it might be wise to travel light.
As you can see in Sophie’s video, tourists can have difficulty carrying a heavy suitcase on wheels.
You will regret taking a heavy suitcase on holiday to a Greek island, as many of these islands, such as Santorini, require you to walk up and down long flights of stairs.
The Greece expert says her “simple rule” for hard-to-reach places is: “don’t take anything you can’t carry yourself.”
Be careful with tap water
Sophie says you can also use the water on smaller islands to brush your teeth, but it’s not ‘meant for large quantities’.
Tourists can buy water from the supermarket, but Sophie says that on the island you should keep an eye out for wells, which are free, and water filling stations, where you can drink water for a small fee of around 6 cents (5p), as they are better for the environment.
Check the store’s opening hours
Sophie says: ‘Tourist shops are open every day, all day, until late at night. The same goes for supermarkets and mini markets, although larger supermarkets are closed on Sundays.’
Other shops may be closed for siesta from around 2pm to 5pm, so it is best not to plan a shopping trip in the early afternoon.
Sophie adds: ‘In general, it is polite to keep quiet during the “siesta” hours in residential areas, as many Greeks are actually sleeping then. In the evening, they come out again and eat late (around 9-10pm).”
Download an offline map
Sophie warns that travellers should ‘never blindly trust offline maps’ – as they can send you down tricky routes
“You can be in the car and not have a stable internet connection and need GPS. The best thing to do is to download an offline map of the island on your phone,” says Sophie.
However, she adds: ‘Never blindly trust these apps. They barely know the difference between asphalt and dirt roads and sometimes send you down back roads and alleys that you might feel really uncomfortable with. Or down a road that ends in a dead end and leads nowhere.
‘Before you set off, check whether the proposed route is mainly on major roads or not. Some unpaved roads are fine to drive on with any vehicle, others are not. If you have any serious doubts, just turn back and don’t take any risks.’
Try Greek coffee and dishes
Sophie says: ‘Greece is more than gyros and souvlaki. It is traditionally a cuisine that is mainly based on vegetables.’
She recommends going with a group to a ‘mezedopoleio’ or ‘tsipouradiko’ – restaurants that serve smaller mezze-style dishes or the ‘Greek version of tapas’. She adds: ‘This way you can try more dishes and the bill will be cheaper in the end. At the end of the meal they will probably bring you a free sweet or a shot of alcohol, which you should politely accept!’
When it comes to coffee, Sophie recommends trying a frappe (an iced drink made with instant coffee) or a freddo cappuccino (a cold cappuccino with cold milk foam on top).
She adds that there are three levels of sweetness in Greek coffee: ‘Sketo’ – without sugar, ‘metrio’ – semi-sweet – and ‘glyko’ – sweet.
Sophie recommends trying a freddo cappuccino – a cold cappuccino with cold milk foam on top