From the June issue of The Sunday Times Travel Magazine

Swooping down on the Greek islands in a plane is an abrupt way of arriving. Hopping between them on a ferry is much more fun – immersed in the azures, indigos and sapphires of the Greek sea and sky.

Order an ouzo, find a deckchair and watch as islands slowly, strip-teasingly reveal their charms: a perfect beach hidden in a craggy cove, a blazing white chapel on a soaring peak, an immodestly pretty village tumbling around a crescent bay.

It’s never dull – islands are great individualists; even close neighbours can be like chalk and cheese (or whitewash and feta, as they say in Greece). You don’t have to go mad and catch the 20-hour ferry to Kastellorizo from Piraeus. Take one of the following mini-cruises, and you will find your inner Odysseus…

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The Cyclades

Everyone knows the superstars, Mykonos and Santorini, but there’s far more to the Cyclades, Greece’s iconic archipelago, laden with sugar-cube villages, blue church domes and sink-your-toes-in sandy beaches, all brilliantly illuminated in the clear Aegean light.

The lesser-known, but no less beautiful, islands in the Western Cyclades are perfect for a mini-cruise: they’re so close together that ferrying between them is like playing hopscotch, and they come with fewer tourists, too.

The route: Milos – Sifnos – Serifos – Kythnos

Start at Milos, made famous by the sublime statue of Venus, now in Paris’s Louvre. In some ways it qualifies as a junior, low-key Santorini – it’s popular among honeymooners, while its coast features cliffs in striking colours, volcanic rock formations shaped like pipe organs, turquoise creeks and mermaid grottoes.

Make the de-rigueur sea tour around the island – or better, paddle your own way (see www.seakayakgreece.com; day trips £55). Beaches are Milos’s other strong suit; there are miles of them, from popular lidos to isolated sandy inlets.

Up in Plaka, explore the ruins of ancient Milos, the archaeology museum and rare early- Christian catacombs. Stay in the bougainvillea-draped Chronis (www.chronis-hotel.gr; doubles from £80, B&B) in the port town of Adamas. Kynigos (00 30 22870 22349), a waterfront taverna, has first-rate cooking.

Next stop is Sifnos, an island so laid-back and sophisticated it almost seems Californian. Split your time between the cosmopolitan port, Kamares, and the green and pretty interior. There are beautiful walks, the old village of Kastro to explore, and some of the archipelago’s best beaches at Vathy and Platys Gialos.

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