Where to stay in Greece: the best islands and regions

Crete is a small country disguised as an island. Its north coast is one long holiday shore, from the Venetian harbours of Chania and Rethymno in the west to the smart resorts around Elounda in the east, with Heraklion and the Minoan palace of Knossos in the middle. Behind it all rise real mountains, cut by gorges and dotted with villages where lunch takes three hours.

It suits almost everybody, which is why families return year after year. Resorts range from beachfront five-stars with their own coves and bungalows in the gardens to hillside villages such as Koutouloufari, where renovated suites look out to sea. For something special, the hotels around Elounda have private beaches, several pools and spas. The season is long too: the island is warm from April well into October.

Santorini is what is left of a volcano that blew itself apart, and the result is pure theatre: a sea-filled crater ringed by cliffs, with white villages spilling over the rim. Fira, the capital, has the shops, restaurants and nightlife; Oia, at the northern tip, has the famous sunset and the prices to match. Suites cut into the cliff, many with a hot tub or plunge pool on the terrace, are the island's signature.

The caldera has the views but no beaches. For those, cross to the east coast, where Kamari and Perissa have long strands of black volcanic sand, resort hotels you can walk straight out of and noticeably gentler rates. Santorini is wonderful for couples and hard work with pushchairs: the cliff villages are all steps.

Mykonos has been the Mediterranean's party island for half a century and shows no sign of going to bed. Mykonos Town is a maze of dazzling white lanes, bougainvillea and boutiques, with a row of windmills on the hill and the waterfront bars of Little Venice below. By day the action moves to the south-coast beaches, where the sunbeds are plush and the music starts at lunchtime.

Hotels are stylish and rarely cheap. You can stay in town in a 1920s mansion set around a turquoise pool, on a hilltop above it in full Cycladic white, or on a quiet bay such as Agios Ioannis with a spa and a private stretch of sand. Come for glamour, people-watching and nights out. If you want a peaceful, good-value family fortnight, pick a bigger island.

Rhodes mixes history and beach holidays better than almost anywhere. Rhodes Town, at the northern tip, has a complete medieval city behind enormous walls, built by the Knights of St John and still lived in. Down the east coast, the sugar-white village of Lindos climbs towards an ancient acropolis above two perfect bays.

Between and around them lie the resorts. The stretch near Rhodes Town has large beachfront hotels, some of them all-inclusive, with several pools and private beaches. Around Lindos the hotels are newer and more luxurious, with gardens, sea views over Vlycha Bay and a ten-minute drive to the village. For somewhere more low-key, little Stegna has a beachfront five-star that is a favourite with families.

Corfu looks different from the Aegean islands, and feels it. It is lush, covered in olive and cypress trees, and its handsome old town is more Venice than Cyclades, with arcades, fortresses and a cricket pitch in the main square. The sea on the east coast is calm, warm and sheltered by the mainland opposite.

The best-known resorts lie north of Corfu Town around Gouvia and Dassia. Here you will find a big seafront family resort with floating water parks and clubs for both children and teenagers, and a five-star on its own private peninsula that once hosted European royalty. Elsewhere, luxury resorts come with private beaches, spas and several pools. Corfu suits families and couples who want scenery and good food more than late nights.

Zante, or Zakynthos to the Greeks, is best known for two things: Navagio, the shipwreck beach hemmed in by white cliffs, and the loggerhead turtles that nest along the sands of Laganas Bay. The island is small, green and easy, with soft sandy beaches along the south and east coasts.

Choose your resort with care. Laganas itself has a famously rowdy strip, though the bay also has calm beachfront family hotels with suites and views. Tsilivi, on the east coast, is the gentler family choice, with villa complexes with private pools in the hills above. There are also adults-only boutique hotels with private-pool rooms, and a five-star with a private beach and its own winery, for those who came for the quiet.

Halkidiki hangs below Thessaloniki like three fingers pointing into the Aegean, and it is where northern Greeks have always gone to the beach, even if most British visitors fly straight past. Kassandra, the first finger, is the liveliest, with the most resorts and bars. Sithonia, the second, is wilder and greener, with coves backed by pines. The third is home to the monasteries of Mount Athos, with a few very smart hotels near its border.

This is resort country in the best sense: large hotels spread across green hillsides that drop to golden beaches. Options include a thermal spa resort fed by natural springs on Kassandra's south-west coast, a grand resort on a pristine Sithonia beach, and an intimate Relais & Châteaux retreat on the Athos peninsula with private pools. Thessaloniki airport is the gateway, an hour or two away by road.

Athens rewards anyone who gives it more than a stopover. The Acropolis floats above the city, visible from half the rooftops in town; below it, the old lanes of Plaka, the flea market at Monastiraki and the grand square of Syntagma are all within a walk of each other. The food is terrific, the bars stay open late and the museums are world class.

Stay in the centre for sightseeing, in a boutique hotel or a big five-star with a rooftop view of the Parthenon. Or do as Athenians do in summer and head for the Riviera, the coast running south from Glyfada to Cape Sounio, where resort hotels sit among pines beside the sea, one of them overlooking the Temple of Poseidon. A few days in each makes a fine holiday.

The Peloponnese is the great hand-shaped peninsula south-west of Athens, and it holds more of ancient Greece than anywhere else: Olympia, Mycenae, the theatre at Epidaurus. It also has long sandy beaches, Byzantine hill towns and olive groves as far as you can see, with a fraction of the visitors the islands get.

On the south-west coast, Costa Navarino has put the region on the luxury map, with five-star resorts sharing golf courses, spas, a water park and a remarkable number of restaurants. Elsewhere, you can stay in a restored Byzantine-era mansion that makes its own wine and olive oil, or by the sea near Kalamata at the foot of the Taygetos Mountains. It is a superb choice for a second or third trip to Greece.