Published 9 October 2026 | Updated 9 October 2026 by Kate Acaster
Which are the cheapest Greek islands for a UK summer holiday? We priced seven for the same mid-June 2027 week. Rhodes is the cheapest: a three-star hotel for two starts at £297. On Santorini the same grade starts at £708, a gap of £411. Every hotel price comes from one site, for the same two people.
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How we priced it
- DatesMonday 14 to Monday 21 June 2027, seven nights
- TravellersTwo adults sharing one room
- PricesExpedia UK, with the taxes and fees Expedia shows, island-wide search each time. Greece's climate fee is paid at the property and is not included
- Read on9 October 2026. Flights, food, transfers and activities are not included
The cheapest Greek islands in 2027, ranked by three-star hotel price
Each figure is the lowest price Expedia showed for that star class on that island for the week. We ranked on the three-star column because it is the grade most travellers book. Each figure is one property's price, so read it as a floor, not an average. Rhodes tops the column, with Zakynthos and Kos next.
| # | Island | 3-star from | 4-star from | 5-star from | Cheapest listing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Rhodes | £297 | £464 | £838 | £212 |
2 | Zakynthos | £317 | £676 | £1,036 | £278 |
3 | Kos | £351 | £550 | £821 | £186* |
4 | Corfu | £450 | £696 | £1,185 | £308 |
5 | Crete | £567 | £633 | £1,013 | £273 |
6 | Mykonos | £592 | £774 | £1,141 | £560* |
7 | Santorini | £708 | £599 | £1,116 | £371 |
"Rhodes wins the three-star floor, but the lowest listings tell you little about the room behind them. Crete's cheapest listing, £273, is a 6.0-rated resort. Rhodes's £212 scores 9.8, but that's on only six reviews. Read the score and the review count before you book anything under £300."
Kate Acaster, Chief Editor, Flight Tribe
The cheapest listing is not the cheapest island
The last column shows the single lowest price on each island. It points to a different winner, so treat it with care.
- Kos has the lowest listing at £186. That is a Platinum Price, and Kos is only third on the three-star floor.
- Rhodes is next at £212, then Crete at £273 and Zakynthos at £278.
- Review counts are thin at the bottom. At least four of the seven lowest listings have fewer than 15 reviews, and the Kos one is an apartment property.
- Mykonos has the highest lowest price: £560, more than double the £212 on Rhodes. That is a Platinum Price too, so the standard rate is higher.
Four and five stars change the order
The order changes at four and five stars.
- At four stars Rhodes is still cheapest, from £464, and Mykonos is the dearest, from £774.
- Santorini is the odd one out. Its cheapest four-star, from £599, costs £109 less than its cheapest three-star.
- At five stars Kos is cheapest, from £821, just ahead of Rhodes at £838. Corfu is the dearest, from £1,185, above both Mykonos and Santorini.
- Between the cheapest and dearest five-star there is a gap of £364 for the week.
What the room price leaves out
Each island adds costs on top of the room. These figures come from our island guides, which name the source for each one, and are in euros as quoted locally. Our hotel links search the same June week.
| Island | Costs on top of the room | Check hotel prices |
|---|---|---|
| Rhodes | The Palace of the Grand Master and the Acropolis of Lindos cost €20 each, the Archaeological Museum €10, and there is no combined ticket. | |
| Zakynthos | Bochali Castle is €5 and the Museum of Zakynthos €10. Boat trips have no fixed tariff, and shared Navagio boats are commonly quoted from around €25 a head. | |
| Kos | The Asklepion is €8. | |
| Corfu | The Achilleion grounds cost €7, and the green bus to Paleokastritsa is €2.80 each way. | |
| Crete | Knossos is €20 and the Samaria Gorge €10. A small hire car runs €25 to €40 a day outside peak and about €65 in August. | |
| Mykonos | Delos by ferry and entry is about €45 an adult. A back-row sunbed at Super Paradise starts around €25, a pair of sunbeds at Nammos is €180 to €500, plus a minimum spend. | |
| Santorini | Our guide puts a budget day at €65 to €85 a head on the ground, and a gyros at about €5.50. The Oia sunset costs nothing. |
Greece also charges a climate resilience fee per room per night, banded by star rating: €2 at two stars, €5 at three, €10 at four and €15 at five, in the high season, at the rates we found. Expedia's totals may not include it, since it is collected at the property. On a seven-night three-star stay it adds €35. Check the current rates before you travel.
How to spend less on a Greek island
The first and last tips come from the table above. The middle two come from our island guides.
| Do this | Why it works |
|---|---|
| Start with Rhodes, Zakynthos or Kos | They are the three cheapest on the three-star measure, at £297, £317 and £351 for the week. |
| Avoid August | Our Rhodes guide says August room rates are roughly double May's for the same hotel. June should sit between the two, so expect August to cost more than the prices here. |
| On Corfu, stay outside the town | Our Corfu guide found the same three September nights at £51 a night in Benitses and £148 in Garitsa, for two people. |
| Compare four stars as well as three | On Santorini the cheapest four-star costs £109 less than the cheapest three-star, so check both before you decide. |
Our Greece budget travel guide covers the mainland and islands. Our best time to visit Greece guide helps with the month.
Frequently asked questions
Which Greek island is cheapest for a UK holiday in 2027?
Rhodes, of the seven we priced, on our three-star measure: a week for two starts at £297 in mid-June 2027. Zakynthos is next at £317, then Kos at £351.
Which Greek island has the cheapest place to stay?
Kos, with a listing at £186 for the week, but it is a Platinum Price at an apartment property with 14 reviews. Rhodes is next at £212.
Is Santorini dearer than Mykonos?
At three stars, yes: Santorini starts at £708 against £592 on Mykonos. At four and five stars it is the other way round: £599 against £774, and £1,116 against £1,141.
Does the hotel price include Greece's climate resilience fee?
No. At the rates we found it is charged per room per night, from €2 to €15 by star rating in the high season, and paid at the property. Check the current rates before you travel.
What do these prices leave out?
Flights, food, transfers and activities. Our island guides list the costs we could source.
More Greek island guides
Kate Acaster is Chief Editor at Flight Tribe. She writes about practical travel planning, budget airlines, baggage rules, city breaks, beach holidays and good hotels that do not cost daft money.
Kate has travelled through Europe, South America and beyond, usually with a notebook, a half-formed plan and a strong opinion on airport snacks. At Flight Tribe, her work focuses on helping UK travellers understand what is included, what costs extra, and whether a trip is worth booking at the price shown.
How Kate works
Kate checks the details that can change the value of a trip, including cabin-bag rules, airline fees, hotel location, seasonality, travel dates and booking conditions. She is especially interested in offers that look useful on the surface but need a proper reader-first check before they are worth recommending.
Editorial standards
Flight Tribe covers deals and travel advice for readers first. Affiliate links do not decide whether an offer is worth writing about.
