Greece is located in southeastern Europe, bordering the Aegean Sea, Ionian Sea, and the Mediterranean Sea, between Albania and Turkey. The terrain is mostly mountainous with ranges extending into the sea as peninsulas or chains of islands. Between the mountain peaks are fertile plains, pine covered highlands and dusty foot hills covered in scrub. The highest point in Greece is Mount Olympus at 2,917 meters.

The mainland is divided into seven regions: Central Greece; Peloponnese, the peninsula connected to Central Greece by the Isthmus of Corinth; Thessaly, eastern central; Epirus in the west; Macedonia in the north and northwest; Thrace in the northwest; and Euboea, the country’s second largest island, lying just east of the central region.

One fifth of the land area of Greece is made up of islands. Most of the islands lie in the Aegean Sea between Greece and Turkey, the Ionian islands however are in the Ionian Sea, off the west coast. The Aegean islands include several groups: the Dodecanese islands lie just off the Turkish coast with Rhodes being the most prominent; the Northeast Aegean group includes Lemnos, Lesbos, Chios, Samos and Ikaria; the Sporades are situated off the central mainland; and the 39 islands in the southern Aegean, including Mykonos and Santorini, comprise the Cyclades. The island of Crete is by far the largest of the Greek islands and is not included with any of the groups above.

Most American tourists in Greece split their time between Athens, Classical touring in Central Greece and the Peloponnese, and island hopping, either by cruise, ferry or air. A half-day escorted tour covers the main sites in Athens but many people enjoy a day or two to explore the city on their own. Classical tours can be done by motor coach or with a private escort to visit sites such as Delphi, Corinth, Mycenae, Olympia and Meteora. For island hopping, the choices are practically endless but popular stops are Mykonos, Santorini and Crete. These three islands are among the ports-of-call on 3, 4 and 7 night cruises. In a nutshell - Mykonos is lively, Santorini is romantic and Crete has great hiking and Minoan ruins. Other port stops include Patmos, Rhodes, Kusadasi (Ephesus!) and Istanbul. If you want to island hop by air or ferry, look at our Greece for Lovers program. We will customize that to your liking (and it’s not just for lovers).