The Mediterranean’s most family-friendly islands to visit now

Some 3,000 islands sprinkle the Mediterranean like stepping stones to a world where time slows and life moves to the type of beat that makes for relaxing family holidays. Touching Europe, Asia and Africa, this brilliant blue sea has some of the most ravishing beaches on earth, yet it’s the personality of each island that makes them ideal family escapes, allowing kids to dive into new languages and food, alongside history and culture.

Holidays in the Med don’t have to mean mega-resorts and big-ticket attractions. Kids are warmly welcomed everywhere, and you’ll be rewarded for venturing off-piste. Choose your adventure — from medieval castles to canyon trails, myth-steeped ruins to turtle bays, laid-back piazza toddles to farmstays with braying donkeys, flickering campfires and starry night skies. Here are seven all-time favourites.

1. Majorca

Go for: outdoor adventure & street life

Where the limestone mountains of the Serra de Tramuntana crash down like great waves into the Med, Majorca’s north is wild. Families can take exhilarating scenic drives along cliffs to the pine-fringed coves of Cap de Formentor, but mix in chilled days in the hill town of Pollença, where kids can play on the plaza and eat ensaïmadas (sugar-dusted pastries).

Outdoorsy families can book backcountry fincas to spend evenings under starry night skies. And for older kids who crave adventure, there’s hiking and biking on flatter trails in the limestone mountains (suitable for 10 years and over) and short scrambles in the boulder-strewn Torrent de Pareis gorge. For coastal action, join Mon d’Aventura to try coasteering, canyoning and caving — the company’s tours reveal a side to the coast few ever see.

Edging east, the port town of Cala Ratjada is the springboard for a necklace of coves, framed by dunes and pines, with soft sands that slide into limpid waters ideal for paddling, swimming and snorkelling. It’s a 30-minute drive to the Cuevas del Drach (Dragon Cave), a fairyland of stalactites. Tours delve over a mile into its depths and include a boat ride across a surreally lit underground lake.

2. Rhodes

Go for: pretty villages and surfing

Roman, Turkish, Italian and Byzantine rulers have all left their architectural mark on Lindos. Situated on a large bay on the east coast of Rhodes, this pretty village is an ideal base for families who want beach time, but also to be able to dip a toe into authentic Greek village life. On its doorstep is Lindos Beach, a sheltered bay with turquoise waters. To the north of the village, there’s Pallas, well stocked with sunbeds and a watersports centre.

The area is also a good starting point for an easy road trip around southern Rhodes’s mountain villages: Lardos, Agios Isidoros, Siana and Monolithos are all within easy reach. Drive through refreshing pine forests, linger over frappes in taverna courtyards and sample the local honey and olive oil in village produce shops. At the southern tip of the island, there’s also Prasonisi, a vast, family-friendly stretch of sand famous for windsurfing and kitesurfing.

3. Gozo

Go for: rural hideaways & history

A half-hour ferry hop from Malta, Gozo is greener, less crowded and smaller than its big sister. Cliffs plunge into the Med, honey-stone villages are ripe for a medieval fantasy and hills bristle with pine, oak and olive.

Arrive early to explore the UNESCO-listed Ġgantija temples, a 5,500-year-old megalithic marvel older than Egypt’s pyramids. Legend says its honeycomb stones are named after a race of ġganti (giants). Kids also love rambling along the ramparts of hilltop Ċittadella, once the acropolis of the Punic-Roman city of Gaulos, which presides above the town of Victoria in the island’s centre. For lunch, head to Ta’ Rikardu in the backstreets of Ċittadella for homemade pasta and tangy gbejna (sheep’s cheese) in vaulted surrounds.

Beyond lies Gozo’s rugged, wave-bashed coast. For drama, head to Dwejra Bay, with its 60-metre-high limestone pillar Fungus Rock, fossil-speckled shore and boat trips across the cliff-clasped Inland Sea. On the northeast coast, rust-gold Ramla Bay entertains older kids with kayaking, snorkelling and stand-up paddleboarding to caves and secluded coves. Book through Bluewaves watersports centre.

4. Kefalonia

Go for: Greek myths & beach life

The biggest of the Ionian Islands is a knockout with forested mountains dropping to jewel-coloured waters — where loggerhead turtles swim — and cliff-backed beaches such as Myrtos of Captain Corelli’s Mandolin fame. The island has its big resorts, but other interesting bases for families include mellow towns such as picturesque north-coast Fiskardo, with its candy-coloured Venetian harbour, and off-the-beaten-track Trapezaki in the south, where you’ll find a string of sandy bays.

Take a boat out from east-coast Sami and its ancient acropolis to reach Melissani Cave’s underground lake and stalactite-encrusted chambers. Legend has it that a water nymph drowned for the love of half-goat god Pan in these dazzling blue waters. Or head up to fir-shaded Ainos National Park for walks to spot wild ponies by day and distant galaxies in starry skies by night.

5. Corsica

Go for: coastal drama & wilderness

Saying bonjour to Sardinia across the wave-whipped Strait of Bonifacio, Corsica is a refreshingly untouristy isle of jagged mountains, pretty bays, wooded ravines and time-lost villages. Nature takes centre stage at farmstays tucked among olive and orange groves, where quiet pool days give way to starlit nights by the firepit.

On the south coast, families can play on beaches like Plage de Palombaggia, south of Porto-Vecchio, where granite boulders and pines frame aquamarine waters and the softest sands. Or head to the marina of Porto Ota on the west coast for guided boat trips out to the rusty rock formations of UNESCO World Heritage-stamped Calanques de Piana. If you can encourage your kids to walk, pull on boots to hike a leg of the sky-high GR20, topping out at 2,706-metre-high Monte Cinto.

6. Sardinia

Go for: beaches and BCE history

Italy’s second biggest island after Sicily, Sardinia may be best known for its captivating coastline, but beyond lie a plethora of uncrowded archaeological sites, ideal for family field trips. Spend a few days swimming off sunny southerly beaches like Santa Margherita di Pula, Su Giudeu and Tuerredda before heading on to beguiling capital Cagliari — great for old city wandering, bargain meals out and a sustainable, self-drive outing by e-boat. Finish up in the little-visited interior, channelling Indiana Jones as you explore mysterious Bronze Age nuraghe — conical towers, unique to the island — and feast on local pasta at an agriturismo.

7. Cyprus

Go for: ancient history & nature trails

The Med’s third-biggest island delivers a triple hit of culture, history and beaches, ramping up its family appeal. At Cyprus’s southwestern tip, Paphos has all three. From here, you can take pirate ships — with Paphos Sea Cruises — to hidden coves, escapades to ancient Greek and Roman ruins swirling in myth, and self-guided romps on trails through the underground chambers of the UNESCO-listed Tombs of the Kings. The town is also the springboard for the island’s loveliest coastline.

Swing north for gentle but spectacular hikes between the towering rock walls of Avakas Gorge and along nature trails in Akamas National Forest Park. The flour-soft sands of Lara Beach beckon, too, with snorkelling in glassy waters and chances to spot turtle hatchlings from May to August.