There are only 2 islands on your list, Kiotari is a resort on Rhodes. For us Naxos is one of our favourite islands. It has everything apart from an airport big enough for large jets but very good ferry connections. No rowdy 'party' resorts, great beaches and scenery and a great main town. Rhodes does of course have the fantastic 'old town' a really great place.

Thanks for that. Silly me.

All of the islands offer something different. Oia (Santorini) is a hard act to follow for views! Of the 30 or so islands we have visited we particularly like Lesvos, Naxos, Antiparos & Tinos. Crete & Rhodes are good for late season weather and historic sites. Some of the islands are a bit too touristy for us in July & August but fine at other times. Dont rule out the Peloponesse, Athensfan might have something to say about that.

Peloponesse! I must admit I have never heard of that one so another one to look at and consider, thank you.

We are looking at going in June next year.

Rhodes

You're right rdv! Everyone forgets about, or has never heard of, the Peloponnese!
From the 2 you've mentioned I love Naxos, has some good beaches, lovely villages & some sites. If you do consider it St George beach is an excellent location, a good sandy beach, though shallow for a long way out, but only a short walk into Naxos town harbour front for a selction of tavernas, cafes & bars. The old town is a great place to wander through the narrow streets & get lost in too!
Rhodes old town is also a favourite, some great sites on the island, but quite a few places that I wouldn't stay as they are too much of a resort feel for me, choose carefully.
So, the Peloponnese! Officially part of the mainland, but if you want to be technical it was turned into an island with the building of the Corinth canal. Look on a map, it's the big 'chunk' south of Athens! It does have everything, a large amount of sites, mountains, some great beaches, gorges, castles, hundreds of traditional villages & plenty of low key resorts. For scenery it's amazing, classed as one of the best scenic drives in Greece is the Langada Pass (Kalamata-Sparta), the stark landscape of the southern Mani, lots of variety. that is also why I love Lesvos, that's like 3 or 4 islands in one because of the different area's scenery & landscapes!

Quite simply, you won't find anywhere that's like Oia to look at, that's unique, but there are so many places that are pretty in other ways. I love the view from my house in the winter, lots of snow on the mountains across the bay 23 miles away, but nice & sunny where we are!
I don't know if you checked all the photos I put on your other thread (I suspect you didn't if you still haven't heard of the peloponnese!), or whether any of them gave you ideas, but I'm happy to go into more detail of any of them you might want to know about.

Athensfan whereabouts is this house of yours,sounds lovely,i want to see more of the mainland myself,i've been up north to ioannina,igoumentisa,into albania etc,done athens a good few times including going to see olympiakos,been to thessaloniki aswell and a good few other places,including the drive from the turkish border via alexandropoulos. really fancy getting over to the pelponnese for a holiday but would have to be a resort,if it was down to me it would be somewhere 100% off the beaten track but i've got my gf to consider,she's not so enthusiastic as me towards backwaters

Hi samba,
I'm in Messinia, the southwest of the Peloponnese.
There are a few places that are small style resorts, but nowhere near as commercial as the main places on Rhodes of course! The only time anywhere gets busy is July/August, mostly Greek holidaymakers here, which to me says it all!
Ok, choices with the GF in mind, but geared a little towards your preferences too,
Tolon, Argolida (northeast Pelops) probably the biggest resort, liked it years ago, a bit too overdone now, although staying in the area would be good for seeing Nafplion (a bit more expensive staying there), Epidavros, Nemea, Corinth Canal, Ancient Corinth, Mycenae, Tyrins, & maybe a hop over to Hydra, Spetses &/or Poros.
Lakonia prefecture: In or around Monemvasia to explore that 'finger' of the Pelops, some lovely small coastal villages (Elia, Plitra, Archagelos, & one of my hidden away favourites, Gerakas Limenas), also possible to go over to Elafonisos & Kythira.
The Mani (the next 'finger' west): Gythio, a good size town, if you stay here make it towards the middle or the south of town. This is the top of the Mani on the east coast, the further south you go the more rugged & barren. The Maniots were/are a very strong race, & a little crazy (ever wondered where the word maniac comes from?), fascinating history. Go right to the south to cape Tenaro, back up the west coast, Gerolimenas, Areopoli, Stoupa (a resort) & neighbouring Agios Nikolaos, Kardamyli (this could suit you both), a small village with some little shops, the ancient village above it, some great tavernas, but not so great for the beach.
The westerly 'finger': Koroni, Finikounda, Methoni, Pylos, Gialova & Chrani might all suit, although the latter 2 have a good choice of a few tavernas each they have little else!
Just go to my photo stream on flickr & look at the collections http://www.flickr.com/photos/yiassas/collections/ for 'lakonian road trip, "Local area' & Peloponnese. Not all of these places above are covered unfortunately, I only got this digital a couple of years ago Well, that's a few places & sites for you to google & I haven't even covered the huge area of Arcadia, Ilea etc to the north & west, which includes Olympia! I have to say though that having a car & staying at a few different places is the way to go, although having a base for a week or so is good if it is in the right location for day trips.

Sorry about taking over your thread Angela, but it might give you & others ideas too!

nice one athensfan,gives me some inspiration,have been told about finikounda before,means rows of palms i think,or sounds very much like it should mean that from my interpretation!

I've been over the bridge at corinth,spectacular,,lovely area that's still very much greek,loved it,we were thinking about halkidiki but there's just too many russians turning up apparently and its meant to be getting swamped with immigrants nowadays,i know that sounds rich coming from a foreign worker but i'm on about africans and the rougher end of eastern europe!

I'll show the missus some of the places you listed and see what she thinks

Thank you so much for your wealth of info! You have been a great help!
We have decided on Naxos! That also means we can travel over to Santorini (which we love) and stay for 4 or 5 days there at the end of the holiday and fly back home.

Could you recommend somewhere to stay?
Maybe even a private villa with a private pool which is in good distance to walk to restaurants and bars or am I asking too much?

On both occasions in Naxos we have stayed in the Hotel Galaxy. Its within easy walking distance of Naxos Town. Most rooms have good sea views and the pool is superb. There is some lovely accommodation at Plaka beach which was not there on our first visit so must be quite new. A car is a must if you want to make the most of this island

Ok thanks.
Just one more quick question.
Where is Kamari in relation to Naxos?

Kamari is the main beach resort on Santorini.

Oh! lol...cant believe I didnt know that.
You guys are fantastic with all your knowledge and help.
Really appreciate it! Thank you so much!

No place is like Santorini On Naxos and Rhodes there are place with a lot of nightlife and place which are more quiet..
Mykonos is always very nice, it can be busy in summer, but not that much children/teenagers.