{"id":18959,"date":"2026-08-06T06:54:48","date_gmt":"2026-08-06T06:54:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/06\/mykonos-naxos-paros-ios-and-santorini-remain-top-choices-for-international-travellers-greek-city-times\/"},"modified":"2026-08-06T06:54:48","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T06:54:48","slug":"mykonos-naxos-paros-ios-and-santorini-remain-top-choices-for-international-travellers-greek-city-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/06\/mykonos-naxos-paros-ios-and-santorini-remain-top-choices-for-international-travellers-greek-city-times\/","title":{"rendered":"Mykonos, Naxos, Paros, Ios and Santorini remain top choices for international travellers \u2013 Greek City Times"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-first=\"T\">\n<h4 id=\"h-the-cyclades-continue-to-dominate-greece-s-summer-tourism-season-with-mykonos-naxos-paros-ios-and-santorini-emerging-as-the-most-popular-island-destinations-for-international-visitors-in-2026\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Cyclades continue to dominate Greece\u2019s summer tourism season, with <strong>Mykonos, Naxos, Paros, Ios and Santorini<\/strong> emerging as the most popular island destinations for international visitors in 2026.<\/h4>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">New data from ferry booking platform Ferry scanner shows the five islands attracted the highest number of ferry bookings from overseas travellers for journeys between June and September.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The figures are based on bookings made between 1 January and 28 July 2026, compared with the same period last year, offering fresh insight into how international travel trends to Greece are evolving.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While the five Cycladic islands topped the rankings across Ferryscanner\u2019s key international markets, <strong>Milos<\/strong> also proved highly popular among travellers from Australia, France and the United States.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Meanwhile, <strong>Sifnos<\/strong> and <strong>Skiathos<\/strong> were favourites among British and French visitors, with Skiathos also attracting strong demand from Italian travellers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">American tourists also showed increasing interest in destinations closer to Athens, with ferry bookings to <strong>Aegina<\/strong> rising by <strong>35.4%<\/strong> and <strong>Hydra<\/strong> by <strong>34.1%<\/strong> compared with 2025.<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"h-santorini-sees-softer-demand\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Santorini sees softer demand<\/h3>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Despite remaining one of Greece\u2019s most iconic destinations, <strong>Santorini<\/strong> experienced a decline in bookings across several of Greece\u2019s largest tourism markets.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to the report, bookings from Australia fell by <strong>31.6%<\/strong>, followed by the United Kingdom (<strong>25.8%<\/strong>), Italy (<strong>21.4%<\/strong>), France (<strong>16.6%<\/strong>) and the United States (<strong>14.5%<\/strong>).<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Analysts say the figures suggest changing travel preferences among visitors from Greece\u2019s traditional tourism markets, with many travellers choosing to explore a broader range of islands.<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"h-turkish-tourism-surges\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Turkish tourism surges<\/h3>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One of the strongest growth stories came from neighbouring Turkey.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Bookings from Turkish travellers increased by <strong>53.9%<\/strong>, the highest growth recorded among Greece\u2019s 15 largest international markets.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The increase has been largely attributed to Greece\u2019s fast-track visa scheme, which has made travel to several Greek islands easier for Turkish citizens.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With strong demand continuing across the Cyclades and growing interest in lesser-known destinations, Greece\u2019s islands remain among Europe\u2019s most sought-after summer holiday destinations.<\/p>\n<footer class=\"article-tags entry-footer\">\n<div>\n\t\t<strong>Tags:<\/strong><br \/>\n\t\tAegean Islands, Ferryscanner, Greece 2026, Greece tourism, greek islands, Greek news, Ios, Milos, mykonos, Naxos, Paros, Santorini, Sifnos, Skiathos, summer travel, travel trends\t<\/div>\n<\/footer><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/greekcitytimes.com\/2026\/08\/06\/mykonos-naxos-paros-top-greek-islands-2026\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Cyclades continue to dominate Greece\u2019s summer tourism season, with Mykonos, Naxos, Paros, Ios and Santorini emerging as the most popular island destinations for international visitors in 2026. New data from ferry booking platform Ferry scanner shows the five islands attracted the highest number of ferry bookings from overseas travellers for journeys between June and &#8230; <\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more-container\"><a title=\"Mykonos, Naxos, Paros, Ios and Santorini remain top choices for international travellers \u2013 Greek City Times\" class=\"read-more button\" href=\"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/06\/mykonos-naxos-paros-ios-and-santorini-remain-top-choices-for-international-travellers-greek-city-times\/#more-18959\" aria-label=\"Read more about Mykonos, Naxos, Paros, Ios and Santorini remain top choices for international travellers \u2013 Greek City Times\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18960,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":0,"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/greekcitytimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/tour_upscale.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18959","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","no-featured-image-padding"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18959","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18959"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18959\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18960"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18959"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18959"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18959"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}