Move over Mykonos and Santorini, Kythira and Samos are in! New research reveals that interest in Greece’s lesser-known islands is growing.

Greece’s big-name destinations face increasing competition from their under-the-radar neighbours. The Independent and specialist tour operator Sunvil recently analysed search volume for Greek islands – the number of times per month that people in the UK search online for terms including each island’s name – and found that the biggest increases in volume between 2018 and 2019 were for lesser-known islands.

Below are the top 10 Greek islands that increased in search volume:

Kythira +340%

Samos +39%

Lemnos +38%

Kythnos +32%

Halki +30%

Koufonissi +25%

Milos +23%

Meganissi +22%

Tilos +21%

Karpathos +14%

Through analysing search volume data between January and March in 2018 and 2019 respectively, Sunvil also found that searches for some of the more popular islands have decreased, including Zakynthos (-31%), Kefalonia (-21%) and Santorini (-12%).

Although a specific reason for this shifting in holiday destinations isn’t clear, there’s evidently a growing interest in less-frequented islands like Milos and Tilos.

The search data surge for Greece’s lesser-known islands could potentially be driven by Brits wanting a quieter, more traditional, active or outdoorsy Greek experience, or for some, it may simply be down to increased awareness of some of the smaller islands.

Despite some Greek islands experiencing a fall in search volume, Greece is still very much a firm favourite for holidaymakers. Search volume for holiday destinations across the country as a whole increased by 476% from 2018 to 2019 (an average of 7.56% increase per island).