Holiday homes from Corfu, Rhodes and Kos to the Peloponnese: the best areas for Greek island hoppers to find holiday homes with sea views

Blue flag beaches, a long summer season and the warmest welcome in the Med: the appeal of Greece is as legendary as its history.

With more than 6,000 islands split between the Ionian and Aegean Seas, no other European country offers quite the same variety and appeal.

Greece’s financial problems were reflected in its property market where prices fell by more than 40 per cent between 2008 and 2017. In an attempt to kick-start the market the Greek government introduced an investment programme in 2013 offering residency to non-EU nationals.

However, the country still faces strong competition from similar programmes in Spain and Portugal.

The ITV series The Durrells put Corfu, in the Ionian Islands, back on the map for four million regular viewers who were dazzled by the brilliant Greek light, clean waters and green hillsides.

“Corfu has a long history in tourism and is one of the best-known Greek islands,” says Fani Dritsa of Savills Greece. “It has vivid year-round life and a wonderful mountainous, green landscape, quite different to the Cyclades for example.”

The Ionian Islands lie off the west coast of Greece and have milder summer temperatures. Mass tourism has overtaken parts of the south but the steep slopes of the quiet and delightfully unshowy north-east hide beautiful villas with only three hotels on the prime eight miles between the fishing villages of Nisaki and Kassiopi.

Typically prices in the north-east are £400 to £540 per square foot. A detached and private three-bedroom villa seven miles north of Corfu Town with mature gardens and a pool is £400,000.

Close to Kassiopi and also with three bedrooms, sea views and a private pool, a property that can be extended is £350,000. Both homes are on the market through Savills.

Rhodes and Kos are the best-known of the especially sunny Dodecanese Islands, hugely popular holiday destinations and a good choice for home buyers with budgets under £800,000 says Savvas Savvaidis, managing partner of Greece Sotheby’s International Realty.

“Rhodes provides great value compared with other areas in the Med, with average prices of £270 to £540 a square foot against £810 on the Spanish island of Ibiza,” says Savvaidis. “Its rich history and strong cultural heritage, vast landscape of mountains, sandy beaches and pine forests, buzzing towns and villages and direct flight access attract visitors year round.”

The south is traditionally in highest demand and especially Lindos, Pefkos, Vliha and the Old Town, while buyers looking for a peaceful escape are increasingly considering the less commercial west coast.

In Lindos, surrounded by the rocks of St Nicolas Bay with sea and mountain views, a five-bedroom villa with a big garden, infinity pool and large terrace is £720,000 through Sotheby’s.

A three-bedroom villa built in 2017 high above the sea and less than a mile from the beach at Vliha is £540,000.

The Peloponnese an hour west of Athens is often overlooked by Britons rushing to the islands but insiders know it captures the very best of Greece. This agricultural peninsula stretching from the Ionian to Aegean Seas is Greece’s largest wine and olive producing region.

Historical sites include the former capital Nafplio, the amphitheatre at Epidaurus and Olympia, birthplace of the Olympics.

Nafplio is an especially beautiful seaside town in the eastern Peloponnese with grand squares and narrow, characterful streets. At the entrance to the delightful Old Town a renovated three-bedroom house of 1,455sq ft over three floors with full air conditioning is £340,000.

Five minutes from the sea and close to Stoupa in the remote Mani region in the centre of the Peloponnese, a charming and peaceful two-bedroom village house fully restored by a local stonemason is £147,000 with Mani Homes.

Or on the west coast close to Kalamata airport, newly released two-bedroom apartments start from £540,000 at the attractive golf, leisure and beach resort Costa Navarino.

New BA summer flights from Gatwick to Kos go three times a week. Kos has had more than its fair share of tourism, but a handful of upmarket hotels should introduce a new clientele to the second-largest Dodecanese Island.

IKOS Aria is the first to bring a stylish new vibe with its 47-acre beachfront resort close to the airport in the south-west.

IKOS has mastered the upmarket all-inclusive holiday and Aria, its fourth resort, continues the IKOS reputation for excellence and wonderful attention to detail.

There are 374 rooms, eight restaurants and nine bars including a nightclub. Guests can easily find peace between five pools and an 850-metre beach, while multigenerational families will love the 24-hour gym, tennis courts, spa and watersports.

Thoughtful décor of elegant white and gold punctuated with sea-breeze turquoise, pale blues and soft greens, make it easy on the eye.

The successful IKOS template of high-quality food, luxurious contemporary accommodation and professional yet always genuine Greek service, is alive and well at IKOS Aria.