The 20 best Mediterranean islands

Best for luxury

Winner: Sardinia
Sardinia has been drawing the wealthiest clients since the Aga Khan stumbled on the island 50 years ago. There was only one small coastal strip that interested Prince Karim, however: the Costa Smeralda, which today has all the essential ingredients of a luxury enclave: fabulous beaches that eschew the regimented and overdeveloped in favour of the natural style; a romantic backdrop of granite peaks; bars and boutiques where the top brands are flaunted, and yachts aplenty. The hotels match up too, most with their own private strands not to mention fairways and helicopter pads – but prices can be eye-watering.
Cala di Volpe hotel (caladivolpe.com) costs from £2,150 in late June. Flights to Olbia cost from £133 with easyJet (easyJet.com).
•The best hotels in Sardinia

^{Porto Cervo, Sardinia (Photo: AP/Fotolia)}
Runner-up: Cavallo
The tiny island of Cavallo, just off Corsica, is made of granite and discretion. Already dubbed the New Mustique, it has no cars, one smart hotel, a marina, two simple restaurants and 10 beaches. Most visitors disappear by golf buggy into lavish villas, camouflaged by rock and maquis, for a life of pizza and chic.
Simpson Travel (020 3642 8595; simpsontravel.com) offers Hôtel & Spa des Pêcheurs, the island’s only hotel, from £2,551 half board departing on June 14.

Best for families

Winner: Mallorca
With dozens of child-friendly beaches, plenty of activities both in and out of the water for kids of all ages – plus parents and grandparents – and resorts of all shapes and sizes, Mallorca is unbeatable for a family holiday. Platja de Muro, on the north-east coast, has a long stretch of golden sand with Blue Flag status, and shallow water where small children can paddle safely.
Just up the coast, the resort of Port de Alcudia offers a huge range of watersports. Cala Mesquida on the east coast, framed by dunes and pine forests, is popular with windsurfers and walkers.
Viva Cala Mesquida Resort (hotelsviva.com) costs €1,018 (£720), with breakfast, departing August 22. Flights from £155 with Ryanair (ryanair.com).
•The best hotels in Mallorca

^{Mallorca (Photo: AP/Fotolia)}
Runner-up: Corfu
Corfu has some great beaches, and plenty to hold children’s interest for a week (or two), with attractions ranging from a water-park to horse riding. Agia Varvára or Marathiá in the south and Agios Stefanos Gyrou in the north-west have more protected or gently shelving beaches than the exposed west coast.
Thomson Holidays (thomson.co.uk) offers the MarBella Corfu Hotel in Agios Ioannis Peristeron on the island’s south-east coast (with a kids’ club for ages four to 12 years) from £855 half board, including flights, departing August 24.
•The best hotels in Corfu

Best for culture

Winner: Sicily
The range of cultural sights in Sicily is extraordinary, from the little island of Motya, with its Phoenician ruins, to the great ancient Greek cities of Agrigento, Selinunte, Syracuse and the Doric temple at Segesta. At Piazza Armerina are some of the most charming and extensive series of Roman mosaics to survive anywhere. But even these barely stand comparison with the amazing 12th-century golden mosaics in the great cathedrals of Monreale and Cefalu, and the Palatine Chapel in Palermo. If you prefer something more recent, there are the magnificent baroque towns of Catania and Noto.
The Thinking Traveller (0207 377 8518; thethinkingtraveller.com) has a selection of villas with pools on the island. Casa Agave, costs from £646 pp (based on six sharing) for a week in June or September. Flights from £154 with Ryanair (ryanair.com).
•The best hotels in Sicily

^{Agrigento in Sicily (Photo: AP/Fotolia)}
Runner-up: Cyprus
Cyprus can’t quite compete with the riches of Sicily, but it does have some treasures of its own. Some of the key sights are in the Turkish north, notably the Roman ruins at Salamis outside Famagusta, and the Byzantine/Venetian castles at Kyrenia and Hilarion. But south of the border are some remarkable Roman mosaics at Paphos, and all over the island some wonderful Byzantine churches, many with ancient wall-paintings.
Sovereign Holidays (sovereign.com) offers the Anassa Hotel near Latchi in south west Cyprus from £1,523 with breakfast departing September 13, including flights.
•The best hotels in Cyprus

Best for romance

Winner: Santorini
The Cycladic island of Santorini is romantic almost to the point of cliché. Views west from its caldera rim, whether at sunrise or sunset, reliably mesmerise younger couples from around the globe. At dusk, especially between Oia and Thirasiá, excursion schooners in full sail glide across the improbably cobalt-blue waters of the caldera, under a frequently orange-streaked sky. Firostefáni and Oia are the classiest bases. Ikies Traditional Houses in Oia or Voreina Gallery Suites in lofty Pyrgos are best for lovers.
Voreina Gallery Suites in Pyrgos (voreinasuites.gr) have great sea views. From Per night prices from £567 b&b in June. Flights from £350 with easyJet (easyJet.com).
•Santorini travel guide

^{Santorini (Photo: AP/Fotolia)}
Runner-up: Patmos
Formerly the austere domain of its famous monastery, quiet Patmos has developed into a popular place for couples. Volcanic crags pointing suggestively skyward, plus thrilling views to surrounding islands, do the trick. Swim naked at Psili Ámmos or Linginou beaches.
Porto Scoutari Romantic Hotel and Suites overlooking Meloi Bay (portoscoutari.com) has a heart-shaped pool. From £339 b&b, departing June 20. Flight to the nearest island Kos from £280 with British Airways (ba.com), regular ferries from there.

Best for partying

Winner: Ibiza
No Mediterranean island can compete with the variety and energy of Ibiza’s nightlife. The harbour in Ibiza Old Town offers a refined start to the evening, with its bars and restaurants. Playa d’en Bossa beach just south of the Old Town is also lively, while Ibiza’s younger crowd head for the strip of cheap bars in San Antonio. Scattered across the island, the choice of clubs is unrivalled, from Pacha to Amnesia, where world-class DJs sell out every night of the week.
Ibiza Gran Hotel (00 34 971 806 806; ibizagranhotel.com) in the Old Town costs from £1,236 from September 19. Flights to Ibiza for these dates from £86 with easyJet (easyJet.com).
•The best hotels in Ibiza

^{Ibiza (Photo: AP/Fotolia)}
Runner-up: Mykonos
Mykonos’s nightlife has become more and more lively over the past decade at the bars and clubs both in town and at particular beaches. Cavo Paradiso above Paradise Beach only works high season, with imported DJs. @54 on the town’s taxi square alternates gay and straight events each Saturday.
Semeli Hotel (semelihotel.gr), in the town centre costs from £1,200 in early September, including breakfast. Flights from £209 for these dates with easyJet (easyJet.com).
•Mykonos travel guide

Best for value

Winner: Malta
With 300 days of sunshine a year, some of the Med’s clearest waters and the greatest density of historic sights of any nation, you’d think Malta might be expensive. Not so. Accommodation is excellent value, hire cars are cheap and eating out is a bargain – a pizza or pasta for a fiver. Buses go almost everywhere and a day pass costs just over £1. Even the ferry to the lovely island of Gozo costs just £3.50 – return! Multiple airlines including low-costs and charters, fly here, keeping air fares competitive too.
A refurbished studio room in the main fishing village of Marsaxlokk is £137 in high season (duncanmalta.com). Full English breakfast is £5 in café downstairs. Flights from £104 with Ryanair (ryanair.com).
•The best hotels in Malta

^{Malta (Photo: AP/Fotolia)}
Runner-up: Chios
Many quieter Greek islands offer excellent value. Chios (Hios), where tourism has never taken off despite a Byzantine monastery, medieval villages and good beaches, is one of the best. Prices are set at local levels – tavernas are mostly excellent and cheap – and accommodation is great value. The only problem is flights, which are pricier because you have to change in Athens.
Medieval Castle Suites is a complex of 14 suites located in the 14th-century village of Mestá (mcsuites.gr). A week in late June costs from £182 b&b.
Flights for these dates from £302, via Athens, with Aegean Airlines (en.aegeanair.com).

Best for watersports and sailing

Winner: Lefkada
Large bays and consistently strong winds lure thousands of windsurfers, kitesurfers and sailors to the Greek island of Lefkada. Vassiliki, on the south-west coast, and Nydri, on the east, are the main bases. Rental firms line the seafront in both resorts. But the island is not just about shooting the breeze. Gorgeous fine shingle beaches backed by sheer white cliffs, typical of the Ionian, are found all along the west coast (Egremni and Porto Katsiki are the most dramatic).
Ionian & Aegean Island Holidays (020 8459 0777; ionianislandholidays.com) offers a good selection of accommodation including Rouda Village Apartments at Mikros Gialos from £639 based on two sharing a studio, including seven days car hire in June.

^{Lefkada (Photo: AP/Fotolia)}
Runner-up: Menorca
Fornells Bay, on the north coast of Menorca, is one of the best and safest places in the Mediterranean to learn dinghy sailing and windsurfing. It forms a vast, sheltered natural harbour, with generally steady winds and flat, clear waters. There are several sailing schools, Minorca Sailing being one of the best.
Minorca Sailing (020 8948 2106; minorcasailing.co.uk) offers seven nights at Hotel Port Fornells on the island’s south coast, from £1,267 in early September including flights and sailing tuition.
•The best hotels in Menorca

Best for peace and quiet

Winner: Vis
For years closed to foreigners, when it served as a Yugoslav naval military base (1944-1989), the Croatian island of Vis remains blissfully unspoilt. Today Vis’s tumbledown stone cottages are gradually being renovated. Locals line up along the quay to greet the ferry twice daily (thrice in July-August), laden with deliveries from the mainland, but many visitors arrive by sailing boat, lured by peaceful turquoise coves, authentic seafood eateries and organic wines. If you want a back-to-nature escape, Vis is for you.
Hotel San Giorgio, a small family-run hotel in Vis town (hotelsangiorgiovis.com) costs from £316 in June. Flights to Split from £143 with Wizz Air (wizzair.com). Jadrolinja ferry (jadrolinija.hr) takes 2 hrs 20 min from Split.

^{Vis (Photo: AP/Fotolia)}
Runner-up: Kefalonia
Technically, there are plenty of quieter and more remote islands in the Mediterranean, but for direct flights and the sheer convenience of getting there, Kefalonia, gets our runner-up prize. Despite the popularity generated by the novel, and film of, Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, the island easily absorbs its visitors, having lots of space to get away from it all including plenty of quiet beaches and villas.
Vintage Travel (vintagetravel.co.uk) offers several villas on the island including Rosepetra, sleeping up to four, with sea views near the small village of Maganos. Seven nights from September 6 costs £1,550 (total price for up to four guests). Flights from £287 with Thomas Cook Airlines (thomascookairlines.com).

Best for walking

Winner: Crete
Crete’s wild west is where to find the island’s top walks which compare with some of the best in Europe. Fly to Chania and explore the hinterland behind Kissamos, following old shepherds’ trails into a gloriously unspoilt region of stunning beaches, snow-capped mountains and dramatic gorges. The most famous trek is the gruelling 10-mile hike down the Samaria Gorge. Two walking seasons avoid the fierce midsummer heat: mid-April to mid-June and September to October.
Inntravel (01653 617000; inntravel.co.uk) offers a couple of self-guided walking itineraries on Crete, including “Crete’s south-west coast” from £735 in June or September. Flights from £167 return with easyJet (easyJet.com).
•The best hotels in Crete

^{Crete (Photo: AP/Fotolia)}
Runner-up: Corsica
One of the great walks of Europe is the spectacular two-week trek along the high mountainous spine of Corsica. It’s not for the faint-hearted. The track, known as the GR20, is rough and remote, and crosses only a handful of roads over its entire length, and you’ll have to camp and carry your own food.
Walks Worldwide (01962 737565; walksworldwide.com) offers eight or 15‑day trekking itineraries on the GR20 (guided or self-guided) from £879. Flights from £180 with easyJet (easyJet.com).
Prices quoted are per person based on two sharing a room for seven nights in June or September, with breakfast, unless stated otherwise. Holidays in the families and beaches section are for dates in the summer school holidays. All air fares are return from London for the accommodation dates specified. Prices and fares are subject to change.
Contributors: Marc Dubin (Naxos, Corfu, Santorini, Patmos, Mykonos and Chios); Nick Trend (Sicily, Cyprus, Kefalonia, Corsica); Annie Bennett (Formentera, Mallorca), Rob Andrews (Sardinia); Peter Hughes (Cavallo); Belinda Maude (Ibiza); Juliet Rix (Malta); Joanna Symons (Menorca); Oliver Smith (Lefkada); Jane Foster (Vis); Brian Jackman (Crete).