Start with what you need from the trip.

Some summer trips stay with you because of one spectacular hotel or that one beach you had saved months before. Others are memorable for a different reason. Everything simply works.

If what you need from your holiday is a little more peace and quiet, that does not necessarily mean you are looking for an isolated island with no one around.

There are trips when you want to keep things simple, and others when you want to give yourself something more. A better room, more privacy, a beach where you do not have to organise anything, good food nearby and people who can take care of the small details of the day.

Lesvos is one of those islands where the place you choose to stay can significantly change the nature of your trip. Mytilene offers one kind of experience, with a town, museums, shops and more nightlife. Molyvos and Petra in the north offer another, with beaches and a more classic island atmosphere. Plomari combines the sea with the tradition of ouzo, Skala Kallonis brings you close to the gulf and wetlands, while Skala Eresou has a long beach, tavernas, cafés and a more relaxed pace. This also matters for cost. There is no single area where you absolutely have to stay in order to enjoy the island. Depending on the season, the type of accommodation and how you want to spend your days, you can compare several different bases.

There are islands you discover, and there are islands that arrive in your imagination before you do. Mykonos belongs to the second category. Before you see Chora, Little Venice or the first strip of white sand, you already have an image of it. Yachts in Psarou, white villas above the Aegean, long tables that begin late in the afternoon and nights that may end the following day. Mykonos has achieved something that very few Greek destinations have managed on the same scale: it has turned its own name into an international symbol of a particular kind of summer. And yet, its luxury is not found only in the places where everyone wants to be seen. The same Mykonos that can put you at the centre of the scene can, a few kilometres later, give you a villa behind dry-stone walls, a pool facing nothing but sea, a small cove or a table far from Chora. This alternation between visibility and privacy is perhaps its most distinctive premium quality. It is no coincidence that for decades it has attracted people who live much of their lives in the public eye. The island’s international jet-set history stretches from Aristotle Onassis and Jackie Kennedy to figures from film, music, fashion and design who continue to return. Some come to be where everything is happening. Others choose Mykonos precisely because it knows very well how to offer privacy to people who need it.

Gavdos is one of those places where the pace seems to slow down almost by itself. There are not many villages, large tourist zones or an endless list of things you need to fit in. There are beaches, pines and junipers, walking trails, a handful of tavernas, small settlements and a lot of open horizon. The entire island, together with neighbouring Gavdopoula, belongs to the Natura 2000 network, with important coastal and woodland habitats. That does not mean Gavdos is empty throughout the summer. More visitors arrive in July and August, and well known areas such as Sarakiniko and Agios Ioannis become noticeably livelier. The difference is that even then you can move towards quieter stretches of coast, walk inland or simply stay longer in the same place without feeling that you are missing the island's 'main programme'.

Anafi is small and understated, and it does not take long to settle into its rhythm. Chora is the main settlement, the port is at Agios Nikolaos, and most beaches stretch along the southern and south eastern coast. Roads and footpaths run between them, allowing you to move around without having to plan a long journey every day. The landscape is open and distinctly Cycladic, with low vegetation, dry stone walls, small chapels and Kalamos dominating the island's eastern edge. Chora keeps daily life concentrated on a small scale, while many beaches remain without organised facilities. That is the main advantage of Anafi for a quieter holiday. You do not have to keep chasing the next place. You can choose a beach, stay there for several hours, return to Chora in the afternoon and let the rest of the day unfold without much of a plan.

Thasos has an advantage you notice before you even reach the island: it lies very close to mainland Greece. The main route from Keramoti reaches Limenas in about 40 minutes and runs frequently during the summer season. There is also a Kavala to Skala Prinos connection, which takes longer but may work better depending on where you are travelling from and where you plan to stay. For someone starting from northern Greece, this can make the journey quite simple. You can arrive in your own car, take it across to the island and avoid renting a vehicle for every day of the holiday. But Thasos is not only easy to reach. It has long sandy beaches, smaller coves, seaside settlements, mountain villages and archaeological sites. This means you can organise quite different days without constantly needing to add organised activities to your schedule.

If Mykonos is luxury that often wants to be seen, Elounda is more the kind of luxury that wants to take care of you. Here the setting is not built around a famous street or a beach club. It is built around Mirabello Bay, the small coves of the coastline, the view towards Spinalonga and a collection of resorts and private villas that, for decades, have learned how to host people for whom privacy, space and service are not extra amenities but a fundamental part of the trip. Visit Greece is unusually explicit about the area’s premium identity. It describes Elounda as a destination with an impressive concentration of luxury hotels, resorts and restaurants and notes that the beauty of the sheltered bay and the high level of service have made it a favourite choice of international personalities, members of royal families and political leaders. And that largely explains what high-end means here. Being able to spend an entire day without having to organise anything. Breakfast on the terrace, the sea, spa, lunch by the water, a few hours at your private pool and dinner when the sun goes down. Or deciding that today you want to leave. A boat to Spinalonga and the bay, a day in Lasithi, a long lunch or an evening out in Agios Nikolaos. The difference is that you do not need to do any of those things to feel that the day was worthwhile.

Irakleia is the largest by area of the inhabited Small Cyclades, but everyday life remains very small in scale. It has two main settlements: Agios Georgios around the port, and Panagia about 4.5 kilometres farther south. The main road network connecting Agios Georgios, Livadi, Panagia and Tourkopigado is only around 7 kilometres long. That makes daily life on Irakleia fairly easy. You can stay in Agios Georgios and have the beach, food and port close by, walk about 20 minutes to Livadi, or head towards Panagia when you want to experience the quieter interior. And when you want something more, the island has a second character that is not immediately visible from the port. More than ten marked trails, around 15 kilometres in total, lead towards the summit of Papas, the Cave of Agios Ioannis, old chapels, archaeological remains and more isolated stretches of coast.

Santorini is one of those places where the view does not simply accompany the trip. It is part of the reason you come. The caldera opens hundreds of metres below the villages, the volcano and Thirasia lie opposite and the light keeps changing across the cliffs until the sun disappears into the Aegean. In a place like this, premium does not begin with the size of the room. It begins with where that room is. A cave suite on the caldera, a genuinely private terrace, a plunge pool above the sea, breakfast without having to leave your room and a sunset you do not have to compete for among hundreds of other people. That is perhaps the most characteristic form of luxury in Santorini: having one of the Mediterranean’s most recognisable landscapes in front of you and, for a few hours, making it feel almost private.

Kalymnos is an island with a very distinct character. Rock, sea, sponge divers, a town that continues to live all year round and an entire international climbing community have shaped an experience quite different from the classic image of an island with large resorts. Pothia is the port and the everyday centre of the island. On the western side, Myrties and Massouri bring together the beach, views towards Telendos and access to many of the well-known climbing sectors. Vathy is something different, a fertile valley with citrus trees that ends in a narrow turquoise bay. This is also part of Kalymnos’s value. You do not need to fill your days with organised excursions in order to have things to do. You can combine a beach, Pothia, a walking trail, a short sea escape to Telendos and food, without the trip depending on a paid activity every day.

Chios is a large island and is best approached more as a place for exploration than as a destination where you stay by one beach and move only around it. In southern Chios lie the Mastihohoria, with Pyrgi, Mesta, Olympoi and dozens of other villages linked to the cultivation of mastic. A few kilometres outside Chios Town is Kampos, with its mansions and citrus orchards. On the western and northern sides, the landscape becomes more open and the beaches more secluded, while Chios Town itself remains a lively commercial and social centre throughout the year. This variety also matters when you look at the total cost of a holiday. There is no single tourist area where you have to stay in order to get to know the island. You can choose the town, Karfas, a seaside settlement or a base closer to the Mastihohoria, and organise your days from there.

Schinoussa is a small island where many of the things you need on holiday are within walking distance. Chora, also known as Panagia, lies roughly in the centre of the island. From there, several beaches are between 400 metres and around 2 kilometres away, while Messaria is only 2 kilometres farther north. The terrain has little elevation change, and roads and paths spread towards small coves on almost every side of the island. This gives Schinoussa a very simple daily rhythm. You can set off on foot for a swim, return to Chora for food or a rest, and decide later whether you feel like doing anything else. The calm here comes less from isolation and more from the fact that distances are short and the day does not require much organisation.

There is a particular luxury in waking up by the sea and knowing that the Acropolis, museums, shopping and some of Athens’ best restaurants are all in the same city. That is Vouliagmeni’s great distinction. You do not have to choose between a city break and a summer resort. You can spend the morning on a private beach, the afternoon beside a thermal lake and the evening having dinner by the sea. The next day you can change the setting completely and find yourself at the Acropolis, in Kolonaki or at a performance in Athens. And all of this takes place in a landscape with its own history of luxury. The Astir peninsula, the pines, the small sandy beaches, the marina and the yachts have been part of the image of Vouliagmeni for decades. From the 1960s onwards, the area became a meeting point for shipowners, businesspeople, politicians, actors and international personalities. Vouliagmeni is not trying to become a new luxury destination. It has been one for more than half a century.

Samos is one of the Greek islands where the sea is only one part of the trip. Behind the beaches rise mountains, forests and vineyards. On the slopes are villages such as Manolates, Vourliotes and Pyrgos, while on the southern side Pythagoreio and Heraion connect a summer holiday with a history that reaches back to ancient Samos. On the coast, you can stay beside the sea and have restaurants and evening walks close by. Inland, you can spend the day among villages, trails, waterfalls and vineyards. And on the western side the landscape becomes wilder, with Mount Kerkis, Potami and the Seitani beaches. This variety is one of Samos’s strengths. Not every day of your holiday needs to look the same, and not every different experience has to be an organised excursion.

Donousa is one of those small islands where you can choose just how quiet you want your holiday to be. You can stay in Stavros, with the beach only a few steps from your room, food and cafés around you and people out in the evening. Or you can head towards Messaria, Mersini and Kalotaritissa, walk the old trails and spend a large part of the day on a beach away from the main settlement. The island covers around 13.5 square kilometres. The main road connecting Stavros with Messaria, Mersini and Kalotaritissa is about 13 kilometres long, but Donousa is much better discovered if you leave part of that distance for walking. Five marked trails follow old island routes and lead to beaches, springs, old mines and small settlements. That gives it a good balance. You do not have to isolate yourself to find peace, but you also do not need to stay in the same place all day to keep the pace slow.

There are hotels that belong to a place. And then there are much rarer cases where hospitality itself acquires such a strong identity that its name begins to function as a destination. Costa Navarino is one of them. Within a relatively short period, one part of western Messinia gained four different five-star resorts, private residences, four signature golf courses, major spas and an extensive gastronomic scene. International publications such as Vogue and Condé Nast Traveller no longer treat it simply as another luxury resort in Greece, but as a high-end destination in its own right. What is interesting, however, lies not only in its scale or in the major hospitality brands that have established themselves here. It lies in the way all of this tries to belong to Messinia. Olive groves, low hills, dunes, long sandy beaches, stone, earth and the Ionian Sea do not function merely as background. They enter the architecture, the routes, the materials, the gastronomy and the way you move through the destination. At Mandarin Oriental, earth-sheltered villas disappear into the slope beneath planted roofs. At W, stone, wood and low-rise structures create more the feeling of a contemporary Mediterranean village than a large resort. At Navarino Dunes, building volumes remain low and greenery continues to dominate visually. Luxury here does not try to become more impressive than the landscape. It tries to become part of it. And somewhere there lies the explanation for why today we speak of Costa Navarino as a destination rather than simply a luxury hotel near Pylos. It has created a world of its own, complete enough to be a reason for travel in itself, but without shutting Messinia out of it. Pylos, Gialova, Voidokilia, Nestor, the olive trees, the sea and the villages are still there. And perhaps that is its greatest success.