What is the best method and route from athens->ios->milos->zakynthos->corfu

Hi guys. I (22M) am planning a trip in late December with 3-4 friends. The first leg of our trip are the greek islands and although it would be cool to focus on the cyclades it doesnt exactly match our route or our budget haha. Weve fallen in love with the idea of both ios and milos. Were willing to cut out/rearrange the ionian islands. Ultimately the plan is to get to saranade abd work our way up the adriatic coast. Let me know if anyone has any suggestions. Its a pretty barebones itinerary atm as were trying to find out logistics before booking.