The Ionian island of Zakynthos is a popular tourist destination for its white-sand beaches, dramatic cliffs, and Navagio Beach. Known as Shipwreck Beach or Smuggler’s Cove, this secluded beach is featured on many Zakynthos postcards and has become a must-see spot on the island. In 1983, the ​​Panagiotis wrecked along the shores of this cove. Legend says it was smuggling something illegal when it was run aground in bad weather.

The entire island of Delos is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its ancient Greek ruins. In those times, it attracted pilgrims from throughout the Mediterranean to visit Apollo’s sanctuary. It was also home to a busy port. Today, this small, rocky island is now largely uninhabited but still receives many visitors (via ferry from neighboring islands like Mykonos) for its archaeological sites, especially its Terrace of the Lions.

The Ionian Islands are located off the west coast of Greece and are heavily influenced by Italian culture. The group is also called Heptanesos, meaning “seven islands,” which include Corfu, Cephallenia, Zakynthos, Leucas, Ithaca, Cythera, and Paxos. Corfu, the most visited of these islands, is a mainstay in Greek mythology and was the location of Odysseus’ shipwreck in Homer’s epic.

The Venus de Milo is one of the most prized exhibits in the Louvre museum in Paris. It remained among ruins for centuries until its discovery in 1820 on the Cycladic island of Milos, a small, rugged volcanic island in the southwestern Aegean Sea. Experts believe that the statue was created during the Hellenistic period around 150 BCE.

The Colossus of Rhodes was an enormous statue of the Greek sun god, Helios, that once stood in Rhodes, the capital city of the island by the same name. Though it no longer exists, it was said to tower 105 feet over the entrance to Mandraki (Mandrákion) harbor, a bustling port that is now a top destination on the island.

The Greek islands’ famous white-and-blue stucco buildings have a long history. In ancient times, the blue color was thought to keep evil spirits away. In the 1930s, a military general imposed the use of lime to whitewash the buildings because of its antibacterial properties, thought to help fight epidemics. In 1967, whitewashing was instituted as a sign of patriotism, replicating the blue and white of the Greek flag.

The Cyclades are a group of about 30 islands in the southern Aegean Sea. They include some of Greece's most popular tourist destinations, including Mykonos, Santorini, and Delos. The name of the archipelago, which means “encircling islands,” comes from the circular shape that the islands form around Delos, which was once considered a sacred island in ancient Greece.

Released in the summer of 2008, the popular “Mamma Mia!” movie (based on the Broadway musical of the same name) utilized several stunning filming locations around Greece. Among the most famous scenes are the Old Port scene in Skiathos, where the fathers first meet, and the beach scenes in Skopelos, where the outdoor scenes for the fictional island of Kalokairi were filmed.

One-fifth of Greece’s total landmass is made up of islands — and there are more than 2,000 of them. Most of these islands are found in the Aegean Sea, the sea that separates mainland Greece in the west from Turkey in the east. A handful of islands, however, are located in the Ionian Sea, off the west coast of Greece. Of the many Greek islands, only about 170 are inhabited.

The idyllic beaches and coastal towns of Crete have long made it a popular tourist spot, but the history of this Mediterranean island stretches back even further to 6500 BCE, when the island became a trading hub for the Minoans during the Bronze Age. Today, Crete is one of Greece’s leading producers of olives and grapes, but the centerpiece of its economy is its tourism industry.