After poking around the more Hellenic corners of the internet for a few years, I've had the pleasure to come across several excellent websites and blogs. 

 

Some are specialized and geared more towards Greek food, or Greek travel, or Greek genealogy. Some are a little more like us here at The Greekish Life, in that they branch out into more than one category. Some are sleek, serious and professional, while others are lighter and have a more informal feel. They're all very good in their own way, and definitely worth your time.

 

In narrowing down my top 8, I wanted to make sure that they were a) at least mostly in English, and b) entertaining and useful. In no particular order, here they are:

 

1.  The Pappas Post - Beautifully laid out and smartly professional, The Pappas Post is a great way to get Greek news, opinion, culture and more. Gregory Pappas is a former contributor for the Huffington Post, and while we also enjoy the light and fun sites, this is a proper, newsy website. They also feature photography, food and wine, history, style and other points of interest beyond the news. Take a look at "The 10 Greekest Places in North America" or this article about an American who saved a quarter of a million Greeks from death during the Smyrna catastrophe. 

 

As their site says, they are the leading source of all things Greek in English. A must for anyone who wants to be well-informed on all things Greek.

 

2. CosmosPhilly - While this website is Philadelphia-based, their Blogs section is entertaining for anyone. They run the gamut from more historical and informative pieces to just funny stories about being Greek in the diaspora. If that describes you, there is absolutely something in here you will relate to! I particularly enjoyed "Socrates and the Red Bandana" by Harry Karapalides.

 

It also has a handy daily update of name days at the very top of every page, if you like to keep track of that sort of thing. 

 

3. Hellenic Genealogy Geek - An amazingly helpful site for anyone interested in Greek genealogy! They also have a public group on Facebook that is always busy and informative. It's incredible the kind of stuff that they turn up - everything from Greek voter lists to articles about Greek immigrants to passenger and crew lists, as well as so much more. 

 

If you are interested in Greek genealogy, there's a better-than-good chance you already know this site well, but just in case you haven't, I wanted to make sure it was on my "best of" list.

 

4. Alpha Beta Greek - This is a website for anyone looking to learn to speak Greek better. The service is paid, but the blog section has lots of great free articles like "How To Spark Up Meaningful Conversations"  

and "7 (More) Funny Greek Idioms (and how to use them)". 

 

An important heads-up - you will need to be able to read at least some Greek for this site to be fully useful. (It is a Greek language-learning site, after all.)

 

5. GreekBoston - One of the premier everything-Greek websites in English. While their events information is geared towards Boston, MA, their general information - of which there are pages and pages! - is for everyone, anywhere. 

 

They feature categories such as Food, Drinks, Music (with a player you can listen to the Greek Top 40 with!), Traditions, history and much more. The articles are short to middle-sized bites of info delivered in a straightforward and fluff-free way. 

 

6. Goats on the Road - This is a huge travel website, but I'm focusing just on their Greece section. Go for the gorgeous photography and the collection of helpful articles like "21 Things to do in Paros, Greece" and "Weather in Greece; When is the Best Time to Visit?"

 

And that name! So evocative of Greece in particular, isn't it?

 

7. Greece Is - This website is glorious. Visually stunning and incredibly informative, it's a beautifully-done travel site that happens to have more than just travel. 

 

Go beyond the front page for excellent articles about culture and lifestyle, wine and gastronomy, health and more. 

 

But it's the luscious travel pages that will keep you coming back, with their gorgeous photography and helpful articles. A great resource for planning or just daydreaming!

 

8. Diane Kochilas - I stumbled across Diane's fabulous cooking show My Greek Table on PBS by accident, and by the end of just one episode I was a raving fan. I bought one of her cookbooks and started following her website and ordering excellent Greek products from her carefully-curated shop.

 

Diane focuses on healthy and authentic Greek recipes but isn't afraid to put her own spin on something if it works well. Many of her recipes are from her ancestral island of Ikaria, the "island where people forget to die" and one of the famous Blue Zone areas around the world where diet seems to play a huge role in longevity. 

 

Her show is wonderful, and it toggles between her visiting Greek farmers, cooks, cheesemakers and others who produce remarkable food, and her kitchen, where she makes the dishes, so it's almost as much a travel show as a cooking show. Check it out if you come across it!

 

There are other sites I enjoy of course, but these are my favorites. 

 

What sites do you frequent? Please tell us about your must-read Greek blogs in the Comments below!