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Kalymnos and Telendos
Best for: Windsurfers and rock climbers seeking adventure, visitors looking for less traveled islands

Besides being a strong draw for adventure travelers -- particularly divers, winsurfers, and rock climbers eager to tackle the island's limestone cliffs -- off-the-grid Kalymnos is relatively unscathed by tourism. Its tooth-shaped sister island, Telendos, which was part of Kalymnos until an earthquake separated the two in the sixth century A.D., is even quieter. The water taxi from Myrties Beach to Telendos costs only a few euros, but the views of the jagged peak rising out of the Aegean are worth 10 times that. Onshore in Telendos, there's a small strip of tavernas and some residences, but the buildings and houses quickly fall away, leaving the hiker with early Christian basilicas, a necropolis, and a secret white-washed church built right into a cliff. Don't wander too far (unless you want to) -- the far end of the island boasts a nudist beach.