Winter in Greece

Off Season Travel to Greece

When I say winter and off-season in Greece I mean pretty much anytime between mid-September to the middle of June, which for me is the best time to be in Greece.

Sometimes I get e-mails from people in a state of panic because they have just booked their tickets to Greece for November and they read somewhere that the islands close for the winter. They imagine themselves huddled in the bitter cold watching the ferry that won't return for a week sail out of the bay and not a hotel or restaurant in sight that has not been boarded up like Charleston, SC before a hurricane.

Let me be the first to dispel the myth that the islands actually close. They don't. People live on these islands and life goes on year round. Some of them it can get pretty quiet and most of the big resorts are closed because it does not make economic sense to keep a 300 room hotel open for the twenty or so tourists who may show up. But there are hotels open on every island and restaurants too. In fact because the restaurants that the locals eat at are the only ones that are open, you are more likely to find good food because all the tourist restaurants are closed for the off-season.

But before you throw your mask, snorkel and sun-screen into a bag and snap up one of those cheap off-season airline tickets to Athens you must be warned that while the weather will be generally pretty nice whenever you go, the months of December through March it can get cold and rainy. It can also be warm and sunny, in fact there is a very good possibility of that. But these months are better for hiking and exploring then for laying out on the beach catching rays. Not to suggest that it won't be warm enough for that, but you can't count on it being sunny and warm every day of your holiday in January unless you are one of those special people who attract good weather wherever you go. For people who want to go to the Greek islands in winter I suggest the island of Kea which has perhaps the best system of walking trails, most of them ancient, that connect the port and the capital to the beaches, settlements, spring fed fountains and ancient cities on the island through some of the most beautiful terrain and some of the most spectacular views in Greece. These trails are marked with numbers so all you have to do is choose a number and follow it. Kea has the feel of a more traditional far away island than one which you can get to from the center of Athens within two hours on a good day with a 45 minute drive to Lavrion and a 55 minute ferry boat ride. Kea has a large winter population so shops, cafes and restaurants are open. There are a number of year round hotels including Red Tractor Farms Guesthouse, a working farm that is right in the port of Korissia which offers hikes and there activities for its guests. For those spending a few days on Kea a car is not essential but it is very useful for exploring the far away places. But there are taxis that run back and forth between the port of Korissia and the capital, Ioulida and you can arrange to have one pick you up at the end of your walk if it does not end in either of these places. The Piatsa is a cozy little restaurant in Ioulida, open year round, and a nice place to warm up while spending a few hours with several glasses of tsipuro and home-style Greek cooking. Kalofagadon is open on weekends and serves some of the best paidaikia and provatina in Greece. There are several nice cafes, fish tavernas and psistarias in the port which make waiting for the boat a pleasure when it is time to go home. Visit my Kea website.

If you stay in the Saronic Islands of Hydra, Spetses, Poros and Aegina which are very close to are open in the winter, have a lot fewer tourists and are much more beautiful than they are in the summer. Plus they have daily ferry connections to each other which you won't find in the Cyclades or going between island groups. You can also cross over to the Argolis Peninsula where you can rent a car, take a bus or hire a cab and visit places like Nafplio, Corinth, Mycenae, Epidavros and the archaeological sites of the Peloponessos which is an exciting area to spend your winter holiday if you want to skip the islands altogether. Older experienced travelers who visit Greece year after year often settle on exploring the mainland in the off-season as the antidote for those summers of eating and drinking and sunning themselves on the islands when they were young.

Islands like Santorini get visitors all year round as does Mykonos, Sifnos, Paros, Naxos, Crete, Rhodes, Syros, Lesvos and just about every island that can be reached by daily ferry or flight. Many of the foreigners who live in Mykonos, Skiathos, Rhodes and Hydra rent their houses in the summer and return in September and stay through May and many of them will insist that it is the winter months that they like the best. If you are an artist, poet or a person who can live on their thoughts a Greek island in winter can be like paradise. The island of Syros (photo)which is not dependant upon tourism has a rich atmosphere in the winter since the town of Hermoupolis is the capital of the Cyclades and people come there to do business. Islands with large cities like Rhodes, Lesvos, and Crete are like cities anywhere. They don't close for the winter. Life just changes. People spend more time indoors, but the restaurants and cafes, bars and clubs are still open and on warm sunny days people still sit outside to eat and drink, at least in the day. The same goes for Athens.

Getting between islands that are not on the same ferry line can be challenging in the winter. Independent travelers who have booked hotels in Crete and Santorini in November through March have been sadly disappointed to discover there was only one boat a week between the two islands and not on the day they needed it. The same for Santorini and Mykonos. So my advice for those who want to visit the islands in the winter is to choose one island. And if possible wait until you get to Athens before you book your hotel and ferry so that you know how the weather will be. One option is to fill out my Create-an-itinerary form and ask the agency to book your hotel in Athens for the beginning and the end of your trip and book the island portion when you are in Athens or close enough to then to know what the weather will be. Hotels and ferries will not be full so booking at the last minute is usually not a problem.

Those who are looking to get away from the tourists on a quiet island between November and May don't need to go to a non-touristy, remote island. You may arrive to find your hotel run by a skeleton staff, restaurants closed and only a few farmers and fishermen around. It may be too quiet and test the boundaries of your own feelings of self sufficiency. In short you may go stir-crazy. Save the remote islands for the summer months when everywhere else is full and you will be a lot happier than sitting in a cafeneon by yourself drinking raki to keep warm and counting the days till the next ferry comes to take you away from what you hoped would be heaven.

Athens in the Winter

Let me not forget to mention the shopping in Athens which is like New York or Paris except everything is within walking distance of your hotel and during the January and February sales you will find stuff you won't find in your local mall (and some things you will) for prices that would make it worth a trip every year. With the prices so cheap these days due to the crisis you could come to Athens and buy your wardrobe for the year and the money you will save will pay for your airfare. If you love to shop you will love Athens in the winter where even in the midst of a financial depression people still go out clothes shopping. And if you have kids and they are tired of shopping, museums, archaeological sites and restaurants you can take them to the roof of the Ledra Marriott Hotel for ice-skating with a view of the acropolis.

Greek Archaeology Sites and Museums in Winter

Nafplion and the Argolis During the Winter

Christmas in Greece

Going to Greece for the holidays has been a wonderful experience every time we have done it. My first impression was that the reason there is so little tourism in Athens over Christmas is because the Greeks are keeping all the fun to themselves. Christmas in Athens is as festive a time as you will find anywhere with the streets full of shoppers, Christmas lights allover the city and Syntagma Square has a giant Christmas tree and throngs of families with children buying balloons and cotton candy and riding on the tiny ponies that dot the square, each one with the most unconvincing Santa you have ever seen. Ermou Street, the main pedestrian shopping street of Athens is full of musicians, clowns, mimes, jugglers and all kinds of entertainment.

The outdoor cafes put out their giant heaters for the colder days and evenings but in Greece cold is a relative term. Your reaction to a Greek winter will most likely be "You call this winter?" You may even look in amusement at how the Athenians are bundled up while you have shed layers until you are down to your t-shirt. If you have spent summer holidays on the islands you are almost certain to run into someone you know from a restaurant or hotel there who has come to Athens for the holidays. Even Christmas Day the cafes and restaurants are open and thriving as are many of the shops in Monastiraki and Plaka. The downtown tavernas, psistarias, bars and clubs do a good business over the holidays when much of the action moves inside and if you are looking to hear live Greek music with your meal you are more likely to find it in the winter in Athens than in the summer. New Years eve is like New Years Eve everywhere with the young people going out to party and the old people staying home and entertaining friends and family. Epiphany is on January 6th. In various harbors they throw a cross into the sea and boys dive for it. You can watch it on TV where they show the ceremony from many different harbors, rivers and lakes around Greece or you can go down to the harbor and see it in person. For more see my Christmas in Greece Photo Essay.

Apokreas: Greece's Carnival Season

One of the best times to be in Greece is during the last two weeks of Apokreas when people are having as much fun as they can before they have to fast the 40 days before Easter. There are carnival parades and festivities all over Greece, particularly in Patra, Rethymnon Crete, the island of Skyros and the Athens neighborhood of Moschaton. But every town and city celebrates carnival by going out to eat and drink and party and the Plaka, Psiri and Gazi areas of Athens are as good a place as any to celebrate. Day and night you will see people in colorful costumes and the bars and clubs do a good business but the biggest night for me is Tsichno Pempti when it seems everyone in Greece goes to their favorite taverna for grilled meat and the last big carnivorous binge before tapering down to the lentin foods. It is the Thursday before the next to last weekend of Apokreas and if you want a day to arrive and make the most of carnival season this would be the day. But you better make reservations or get to your favorite taverna early if you want a seat.

The final two weeks of Apokreas culminate in the last big weekend when it seems all of Athens is dressed up and wandering the parts of the city known for nightlife. Friday and Saturday are crazy and few people get home before dawn so it is no surprise that Sunday is much more laid back as people are recuperating with coffee and frappe at the outdoor cafes if the weather is nice, though this usually leads to ouzo and mezedes and for some hearty souls one final night of Dionysian celebration before heading home exhausted to begin lent. But is is not over yet because on Clean Monday all of Athens is out again to fill the cafes and to fly their kites from the hills around the Acropolis and any open space they can find. For more see my Apokreas Page

Easter in Greece

I have said it many times on my website and to my friends that Easter is my favorite time to be in Greece. In a way it is the cusp of the tourist season and people who own bars and restaurants on the islands leave Athens and go to get ready to open for Easter when it is a tradition to return to your village or if you don't have a village go to a friend's village or your favorite island to celebrate the death and ressurrection of Christ. Usually the best Easters are when it falls late in April rather than early because the chances of warmer weather, and even the possibility of dipping a toe or more in the sea are better. But either way the ceremonies that lead up to Saturday night's Easter Service and the roasting of lamb on Easter Sunday make this a wonderful time to be in Greece. The mountains and hills are green and alive with wildflowers and not just on the islands, even in Athens there is green coming out of every crack and crevice in the archaeological sites and sidewalks. See Easter in Greece

Skiing and Birdwatching in Greece

Perhaps one of the biggest secrets is the skiing in Greece. The fact that few people realize that a land comprised almost entirely of mountains is a great skiing destination is kind of surprising, but the fact is that the popularity of summer tourism has made winter tourism and skiing an afterthought. Places like Kalavrita, Pelion, Delphi, the Peloponessos, Evrytania, Macedonia, and Epirus have ski centers and mountain refuges that look like Swiss Chalets with ski lifts and a variety of downhill and cross-country runs. Skiing has become so popular that there are weekends and even weekdays that you have to make a reservation well in advance to find a room in one of the beautiful ski resorts of Arachova where you can ski all day on Mount Parnassus and then go for an ouzo and meze on the shore of the Corinthian Gulf and on some days even go for a short swim. For more information on skiing see Skiing in Greece

On the other side of the coin few people realize that winter and the off-season is one of the most fun times to go sailing as Stefan Ritscher explains in his article on Winter Sailing in Greece

For bird lovers, you know that the late winter and early spring are the best time to go bird-watching on the island of Lesvos and the marshlands and waterways all over Greece. And of course I don't need to mention that this is when all the wildflowers are in bloom and Greece becomes an explosion of colors. In a way it is interesting that people who come in the summer come back and tell people Greece is the most beautiful place they have ever been. And yet they are there when the sun has been already shining for several months straight and most of the flowers and plants have been turned into a crispy brown, awaiting the winter rains. They have not seen Greece at it's most beautiful. A trip to Greece in the off-season may change their traveling habits forever, once the children grow up and move out.

Summary and Sites for Winter in Greece:

Fantasy Travel has put together several winter programs that take advantage of the low off-season rates to islands like Mykonos, Santorini and Crete which enables you to experience these popular islands without the tourists who normally fill them. See Fantasy Travel's Winter Programs

Easy Greece Travel for Seniors
Fantasy Travel's Seniors Winter Special features Athens, Meteora, Delphi, Myceneae, Epidavros, Nafplion, Olympia and the Saronic Islands in a program designed specially for retirees and senior citizens. If you have mobility issues or you are that age where you just want to take it easy and enjoy Greece without climbing stairs and mountains this is a good choice for you.

Apokreas is one of the most exciting times to be in Greece, particularly Athens, Patras, Rethymnon-Crete and the island of Skyros which hold big celebrations. Apokreas is Carnival Season and usually takes place around the end of February. If you love to eat, drink, meet people and experience Athens at its most fun time, see Apokreas: Carnival in Greece. After that there is 40 days of fasting which not everyone does in case you are worried that you won't be able to find souvlaki. Many Greeks don't really fast until the last few days of lent and then they go wild at Easter which for me is the best time to be in Greece, especially when it falls on the last week of April or the first week of May. See my Easter in Greece pages.

The island of Kea is an hour from nearby Lavrion by ferry and is a good all-season island because of its miles and miles of ancient footpaths. Clearly marked and kept up by the municipality some of them tend to get overgrown in the winter but are still quite passable. The Red Tractor Farms Guesthouse not only has comfortable rooms with fireplaces but they also provide guests with seasonal activities like olive-picking and production, wine-making and traditional crafts of the island. Kostis Marulis leads nature tours around the island and he and his wife Marcie serve as your hosts. The guesthouse is a fie minute walk to the shops, cafes and tavernas of Kea's port. If you want a taste of a real Greek island in the off-season visit the Red Tractor Farms Guesthouse

I love spending Christmas in Greece. The nightlife in Athens is spectacular as usual and the tavernas are full of people, music and great food and of course the Santas and their ponies in Syntagma. The archaeological sites are closed on the 25th and 26th but there are still restaurants and cafes open and when the weather is nice the Athenians wander around the city taking walks, sitting in cafes, eating and enjoying the holidays. New Years there is always something going on in the clubs or live music in the main squares. A Day-trip or overnight to Nafplio and the Argolis can be just as festive and maybe even a degree or two warmer. The Hotel Attalos is a cozy, warm and friendly as you can get and the winter rates are pretty good so there are always fellow winter travelers around. Thats where I stay because you can walk everywhere and they have free wireless for your laptop and free highspeed wireless computers for those who did not bring a laptop. For more see Christmas in Athens, Greece

Booking Hotels in the Winter

The most important thing I can tell you about booking a hotel for the off-season is that if you go to an island make sure it has heat. Most of the hotels on the islands were built for summer tourism and though most air-conditioning units are also heaters, if a room in a concrete hotel or even a traditional stone building has been empty and unheated for a number of days or weeks it takes awhile to get the dampness out. So you want a hotel that stays open every winter, not just this winter because they did not make enough money over the summer. The best way to find them is through a Greek travel agent because they have experience and know which hotels will be cozy and warm. It can also work to your advantage if you have them book your hotel in Athens for the first few days and then book the rest of your holiday when you see how the weather will be during your stay. No sense in going to an island during two days of rain when the sun is shining in Nafplion, Delphi, Meteora or Athens. If you plan to go to places like Arachova, Kalavrita, Pelion or other ski destinations you can use Booking.com's Hotel Search for those areas and pretty much tell which hotels are built for winter tourism. (A fireplace is a good tip-off). For Athens all the hotels are comfortable in the winter and prices are reduced so see my Athens Hotels Page. For the rest of Greece see my Hotels of Greece pages. I also recommend doing one of Fantasy Travel's Winter Programs if you are the type who wants everything set up and well organized before you get there. They can also arrange ski trips as can George the Famous Taxi Driver.

Winter Programs in Greece from Fantasy Travel

Athena

This package is suitable for those who would like to get their feet wet with the Greek experience while avoiding the hot Greek weather and the crowded islands. It includes all the "must" experiences for the first timers and can also serve as a stopover. Begin with Athens, a modern cultural metropolis infused with a high-octane dose of history. Wander between ancient creations, temples, statues, theaters that share the landscape with contemporary buildings and museums. Observe Athenians practicing the art of hanging out on any street corner, at any time of day, sipping their coffees, debating the latest Politics news, or just watching the world go by. Additional to this experience is a short visit to three beautiful traditional Greek islands, Hydra, Poros and Aegina. Get the opportunity to step on three islands in one day, stroll around their traditional alleys, find souvenirs and enjoy even more local delicacies and sightseeing. See Fantasy's Athena Program

Artemis: 8 Days in Athens, Mainland and the Islands

When summer ends, life in Greece ripens towards the fullness and transformation of winter. Birds and animals are on the move and nature wears new colors as we discover Greece with goddess Artemis by our side, the Hellenic goddess of the hunt and wilderness. This package proves that the variety of Greek landscapes is attractive all year round. Start from a sightseeing in the cosmopolitan capital of culture, history and democracy, Athens. Visit ancient monuments that seem to spring from every corner with the most famous of them being the Parthenon and the new Acropolis museum collection. Greeks satirize the abundance of ancient Greek ruins by suggesting not to dig too deep or you might unveil a lost monument and find your house taken over by a museum. Continue your discovery with a mainland excursion and visit sites of great importance to the world heritage, such as Mycenae and Epidaurus, Delphi and majestic Meteora. Finish your journey with a taste of the Greek islanders’ everyday life, by joining a one day cruise to three traditional and beautiful Greek islands, Hydra, Poros and Aegina. Stroll down their beautiful alleys, smell the saltiness of the sea that encircles them and taste local delicacies. See Fantasy's Artemis Winter Program

See More Winter Programs from Fantasy Travel

Links for Winter Travel in Greece:

Overnight Trips
www.greecetravel.com/kalavrita
www.greecetravel.com/delphi
www.greecetravel.com/meteora
www.greecetravel.com/pelion
www.greecetravel.com/nafplio
www.greecetravel.com/edipsos
www.greecetravel.com/peloponessos
www.greecetravel.com/ipiros

Trekking, Rafting, Skiing, Walking, Climbing, Kayaking, Horseback Riding, bike and Jeep Tours through the Wilderness
www.greecetravel.com/trekking
Hiking in Greece
Skiing in Greece
A Guide to ski centers

The Island of Rhodes has the mildest winter climate and the longest tourist season of any of the islands. Lots to see and do as well.

Islands near Athens
www.greektravel.com/greekislands/kea
www.greektravel.com/greekislands/poros
www.greektravel.com/greekislands/hydra
www.greektravel.com/greekislands/angistri
www.greektravel.com/greekislands/aegina
www.greektravel.com/greekislands/mykonos
www.greektravel.com/greekislands/syros
www.greektravel.com/greekislands/salamina

How to Visit a Greek Island
Matt's Greek Island Guide
Easter in Greece
Day-trips from Athens

You can find many hotels on the islands that are open in the winter through Booking.com by clicking on the link and putting in your dates.

Fantasy Travel has winter programs and discounted winter rates for hotels too. See www.fantasytravelofgreece.com

Services and Agencies
Fantasy Travel
Dolphin Hellas Travel
Aegean Thesaurus Travel
George the Famous Taxi Driver
Swift Rent A Car
Other Helpful stuff
Athens Survival Guide
Shopping in Athens
Greece Travel Index Page
www.hotelsofgreece.com

Help Support Matt's Greece Travel Guides
Do you enjoy using my site? Have you found it entertaining as well as useful? If so please show your appreciation by booking hotels through the travel agencies and the links found on my Hotels Page. The small commission I make on the bookings enable me to keep working and in most cases you won't find them any cheaper by searching elsewhere. You can also book at Booking.com and they give me a small percentage on each booking.