If the thought of a queue for a Santorini sunset spot makes you want to stay home, there's good news: Greece's lesser-known islands still deliver the whitewashed villages, clear water and excellent food without the scrum. A new roundup from Suitcase Magazine singles out a handful of islands worth planning a 2026 trip around — here's what each one is actually good for.

**Ikaria** is for slowing down. This wing-shaped island in the Northeast Aegean is a famous Blue Zone, where centenarians are common and the diet runs on vegetables, olive oil and herbal tea. Hikers get rocky mountain trails threaded with gorges, waterfalls and ancient forest, and beginners can catch a wave at Messakti beach with Ikaria Surf School. Time a visit to a summer panegyri — a feast day where eating and traditional dancing run till dawn.

**Kea** (also called Tzia) is the closest Cycladic island to Athens — an hour by ferry from Lavrio — and a weekend habit for Athenians. Hike to ancient Karthea, a city-state founded in the 7th century BCE, where restored temples sit above a snorkel-friendly ancient port. In the capital Ioulida, look for the mysterious stone Lion of Kea, carved somewhere between the 9th and 6th centuries BCE, then settle in for a sunset taverna dinner at Ennea Kores in Vourkari. For a splurge, One&Only Kéa Island has cliffside villas, a beach club, padel courts and a spa.

**Lesvos** is the foodie's pick. Greek gastronomes come for family-run fish tavernas, meze spots and some of the country's best ouzo — the Gulf of Kalloni is famed for its sardines. The island also hides a petrified forest within a UNESCO Global Geopark, where you can walk among fossilised sequoias, and in Plomari you can taste ouzo at Varvayanni, distilling since 1860.

**Karpathos**, an 80-minute flight from Athens, holds onto its traditions harder than most. In the clifftop village of Olymbos, many women still wear traditional dress, including brides in the gold-coin-embroidered sakofoustano. Adventurous travellers can join Ecotourism Karpathos for hikes with wild herb-gathering, bird-watching and cooking classes making makarounes, the island's fresh pasta. The red-domed Kyria Panagia church perched above its beach is the postcard moment.

**Kythnos** — possibly named from the Greek for "to hide" — remains a genuine secret: tamarisk-shaded bays, a handful of beach bars at Martinakia and Episkopi, and the pilgrimage monastery of Panagia Kanala. All five, plus more, feature in the original list.

For travellers who'd rather eat grilled fish in a village square than fight for a lounger, these islands are the argument for going smaller in 2026.