When to Visit Greece - The Best Times for Islands, Athens, & More

Hey there fellow travelers, Mark here with Wolters World, and today we're here in Athens, Greece. And today we're going to answer a question from Megan. And Megan wants to know, Wolters World, when is the best time to go to Greece? Now, Megan wrote me and told me that she saw a lot of influencers saying, go to the islands in October because nobody's there. Yeah, the influence was right. There is nobody there in October because October is a horrible time to go to the islands when you're in Greece. What you have to realize is where you're going to go in Greece really impacts when you should go someplace in Greece. If you're going to be an island person, whether it's Santorini or Crete or Naxos or wherever, what you have to realize is islands work on island time. And when the tourists are there is during the summertime. So May, June, July, August, those are the busy months. That's when you want to go. And into September, I'd say, because the ferries are running, the flights are going, all the restaurants are open, the bars are open, the clubs are open. So it's really set up for the tourists to enjoy it. But the thing is, when the tourists stop coming early September, mid-September, all of a sudden the stores start to close up, the restaurants start to close up, the ferries go a bit less, there's less flights that get you there. So you have to kind of consider that because I've traveled to the islands in the summertime and the wintertime with my parents. And I'm going to tell you, if you go to Santorini in February, it will literally be, for us, it was me, my mom, and my dad, and that was it. Which sounds really cool to think, wow, Santorini is so packed all the time, but you could be there by yourself. But the problem is all the restaurants were closed, all the clubs were closed, no bars. I mean, we had to search out places to eat. It was cool to walk around and explore, but honestly, it was hard to get ferries there, it was hard to get flights there because there wasn't as many, and that's one thing you have to really think about if you're looking to go to the islands. Those are very much a summer, late spring, early fall kind of place to go. That's when you want to go. October, no. March, no. February, heck no, there's nobody there, okay? So be aware of that. And the thing is, if you want to come to the islands in the wintertime, probably the best island to go to would be Crete because Crete has cities and like the Palace of Knossos you can go to. So there's things you can visit off-season that aren't dependent on the beach, okay? Now, if you're looking to come to Greece, like we just want to go any time of the year, the best place to go, like in the wintertime, the fall and things, when the islands are closed, is coming to Athens or going to the Peloponnese, you know, going to Nafplio, seeing Mycenae, Epidaurus, going to Delphi, things like that because those are historic sites. Like Mycenae is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It's open all year round. And the thing is, you can enjoy that because they're more city escapes versus island beach escapes. So that's why if you're looking for a weekend destination, Athens is fantastic in the winter because you can still go up the Acropolis and go see the Parthenon and go to the museums that are here and take it all in and eat really, really well. I mean, that's one thing. You'll eat a lot all year round. I mean, come here at Easter time. It's fantastic to experience. And that's why when you're looking to come to Greece, it really depends where you want to go is when you should actually go there. Because honestly, I've come to Greece in February, March, May, June, July and August. And I'm telling you, the best times to come is the summer because even super hot Greece in July and August is still better than empty islands in January and February, okay? So Megan, I hope this answers your question. When are the best time to go to Greece? Honestly, summertime is always a fantastic time, though it's really hot when you are here. But if you want to go to the islands, you're looking May through early September. If you're looking to go to the mainland, Peloponnese, you want to go to Thessaloniki, Athens, those are destinations you can go anytime of the year. But you're not going to be doing the beaches in the winter, obviously, because it does get cold, especially if you go in the north. It gets rather chilly in the wintertime. So be aware of that, okay? So I hope this helps you have a better idea when you should go to Greece. I mean, you can go to Greece anytime. It's a fantastic place. But to get the most out of it, to get all that fantastic food, because what's the point of being in Santorini if you can't eat the fantastic food that Greece has to offer? So have a great time. If you have questions for us about traveling, please put in the comment section below so we can help out other travelers. And I'll say bye from here in Athens, Greece.