Greek holiday islands are the best in Europe, according to rankings based on a staggering 140 million worldwide reviews.

The Canary Islands and Balearics may be the most popular resorts for British sunseekers but they are way down the list for the quality of their accommodation, the study found. Instead it is Greek islands that dominate the list compiled by hotel search site Trivago from the reviews found on more than 200 global booking sites.

At number one is Ios, one of the smaller Greek islands in the Aegean Sea, an extension of the Med familiar to many who have gone island hopping in the region. The Trivago study looked at any Mediterranean island or others on the same latitude, like Madeira and the Canaries in the Atlantic.

To quality, there had to be a minimum of 50 hotels reviewed and with a minimum of 50 reviews from last summer for each of those hotels. It includes islands attached to Greece, Portugal, Spain, Italy and Croatia but it is the Greek ones which account for the top three with Hydra in second and Folegandros in third.

Another four Greek hotspots are in the top ten, including the better known Santorini and Mykonos, Naxos and Paros. Italy’s best ranked islands are Capri, in fourth, and Lipari at nine with Madeira, a Portugese destination popular with older travellers, in tenth.

Denise Bartlett of Trivago said: «It is interesting to note that the more well-known Greek islands of Crete, Corfu and Rhodes have lower-ranked hotels than the smaller islands of Ios, Hydra and Folegandros. The ranking not only highlights the islands with the most highly-rated hotels, but presents the traveller with some attractive alternatives to the typical summer resorts.»

Best-Rated islands

1. Ios (Greece)

2. Hydra (Greece)

3. Folegandros (Greece)

4. Capri (Italy)

5. Santorini (Greece)

6. Mykonos (Greece)

7. Naxos (Greece)

8. Paros (Greece)

9. Lipari (Italy)

10. Madeira (Portugal)

11. Sicily (Italy)

12.Hvar (Croatia)

13. La Gomera (Spain)

14. Spetses (Greece)

15. Ile D’oleron (France)

16. Crete (Greece)

17. Ponza (Italy)

18. Sardinia (Italy)

19. Ischia (Italy)

20. Zakynthos (Greece)

21. Terceira (Portugal)

22. Ile de Re (France)

23. Kos (Greece)

24. Sao Miguel (Portugal)

25. Elba (Italy)

26. Formentera (Spain)

27. Rhodes (Greece)

28. Gran Canaria (Spain)

29. Corfu (Greece)

30. Lanzarote (Spain)