3 weeks in Greece in April/May

We had a wonderful three week trip to Greece last summer. We started with three days in Athens, three days in Nafpoli, stopping at Mycennae on the way and then going to the Epidaurus while there (sing at the theater if you can muster the courage...it will be one of those special moments you'll never forget), two nights in Mystras, (folllowed by Momenvasia, which I would tell you to skip, it's less than it's reputed to be). From there we went down to Aeropolis and the caves that you tour on boat. It was a very interesting gave. Spent 3 days near Pylos, in at the Hotel Viva Mare in a very quiet and pleasant town, Foinikounta, stopping at the castle in Korona on the way up from Aeropolis and visiting the castles of Pylos and Methoni as well as the nearby archaelogical site north of Pylos where significant discoveries have been made recently. We headed to Messina where you had a real sense of ancient Greek life as you wandered the ruins and spent the night overlooking the site. The next day we drove through the mountains to the Temple of Apollo Epicurius which is an easy and beautiful drive through rural Greece to a partially reconstructed temple being preserved under a huge tent. The structure is amazing and though it loses some authenticity because it is beneath the tent, it is easy to appreciate the efforts the Greeks have made to protect this beautiful peace of their history. The next night was in Olympia after a delightful afternoon in the ruins; don't let your fear of crowds keep this site off your list. It is impressive, filled with lovely trees, and surprisingly relaxing though it very large. We zoomed to Delphi from Olympia. I would have used the night we spent in Momenvasia to stay somewhere along the Corinthian Gulf. It charmed me. So did the ruins at Delphi, with a mountainside setting that is spectacular. Again, I might have added an additional day in the Delphi area as well, though you might also consider getting to the east coast of northern Greece where there are some interesting sites we missed. We drove from Delphi to Meteora, stopping at the monastery of Osia Loukas on the drive up. Two nights in Meteora were perfect to visit monasteries and soak in the scenic beauty for a couple sunrises and sunsets before heading back to Athens and than taking a ferry to Hydra. As a Leonard Cohen fan, it was nice to stay on his special island, wander the back streets and visit the little village he loved. Again, spend a night or two to wander and get a sense of Greek Island life. The pace of our trip seemed about right for us, we took a few dips in the Aegean, though it was colder than I expected for my aging body, got some naps when we needed to escape the heat, and had a number of wonderful meals along the way. We walked over 11 miles on the day we toured Athens, taking in the Agoura, Socrates prison, and the temple of Zeus, as well as climbing the Acropolis and watching the guard...it was doable even for our post retirement bodies. If we had had more time, I might have headed to the underwater city at the tip of the Pelopennese because just standing on top of a wall of the underwater city near Epidaurus was pretty interesting. If you'd like more details, I can supply.

To answer your question about crowds...we have had to adjust to the increase of travelers over the last few decades, accept it as part of a changing world and take it, as I think Rick Steves would, as a positive sign that we are trying to understand each other and our history. Still, we didn't feel that the crowds were oppressive in the places we visited. There were definitely other people but dozens, not hundreds. And I think we got to Olympia after the crowds had gone home, same thing at Delphi where we arrived about 2 hours before it closed. We found that staying in places that let you get to the sites early or late really gives you a better chance to see them without the crowds.

Thanks for the reply. what month did you travel?

Hi Andrea:

While I haven't gone to Greece in April/May I have gone other times of the year off/low season, October. It will be a lot less touristy, lower prices and still good weather.

Even the Big Name Islands will be relatively quiet but if you want to minimize crowds then islands like Amorgos, Astypalea, Tinos, Chios, Kythira, Ikaria plus numerous others should be what you are looking for.

I can't say what the weather will be like but it should be comfortable enough to have a great time and without the hordes of tourists looking for beach time, partying, shopping and not a whole lot to do with "Greece".

We have friends who were in Santorini in April which was jacket weather. They had a very well priced place because it was off season. We went in late May this year and the crowds were manageable. But if you really want to avoid crowds, I would be careful about where you choose to go as well as the time of the year. I would not go to the more popular islands like Santorini or Mykonos.

We were in Naxos also late May and it wasn't crowded at all. At the beaches outside of the main town, we ate a couple times and were practically the only ones in the restaurant. Naxos is a great place to go and I would highly recommend the hotel Kymata that we stayed in. Lovely helpful people and well located. It has mountain villages, history, and beaches. One day it was too windy and cold to swim and we rented a car and went from beach to beach exploring. You could do that in April or earlier in May as well.

We also went to Nafplio which also was not crowded the first week of June. Mycenae, however, did still have some buses already at 9:15 am on a weekday. The place is big so it really wasn't an issue and I would guess that a month earlier would be much better.

If you want to see the acropolis in Athens, I would suggest going later in the day. We hired a private tour guide who told us the crowds (more than at Mycenae) at 4:30 pm were nothing next to the morning. Apparently, the news that the acropolis is empty at 8 am has gotten out and it no longer is. We were there the first week of June. I did not find other parts of the tourist area of Athens to be unreasonably crowded.

One thing to check with planning is opening and closing hours. Hours are longer during the season and some things don't run at all during off season. We wanted to take an English speaking tour of the castle area in Naxos that was mentioned in the Rick Steves guidebook. It didn't seem to be happening and I would guess it was because it was not yet June which is more tourist ed.

Beth

Thank you everyone. We definitely would/will avoid the more touristy spots but some of the sites are the whole point in going and we often stay over a couple of nights so that we can catch these before or after the crowds.

I was in Greece last year from April 20 for 4 days in Athens and then the 2-week RS tour, mostly in the Peloponnese. The weather was in the low 20's for the first week then mosty high 20's to low 30's. There were tourists in most of our stops, but not very many, even in Athens, no sight was "crowded." My trip was a few days after Easter. It may be more busy during Easter week. Note that Easter Sunday is a pretty "dead" day, with most people celebrating with family and most sights closed. Also note that Greece celebrates Easter by the Orthodox calendar. Another forum member, Wray, took the RS tour in late March and had mild weather, little rain. She wrote a bit about her experiences.

We were in Greece (mostly islands) from May 11 to June 6 in 2016, and there were no crowds and absolutely gorgeous weather — no rain, mild temperatures. The smaller islands were just waking up — we were among the first people in our hotel for the season on both Antiparos & Amorgos.

Edit: Our other stops were Naxos and Milos. They had a few more tourists but still no crowds. If Santorini is on your must-see list, check cruise ship schedules to find less-busy days to visit. Mykonos and nearby Delos can be seen as a day trip from Naxos.

We were in Greece in June, getting there on June 4. The weather was good, sometimes cloudy. We were blessed by a slight drizzle while we were climbing the Acropolis, but generally we had temps in the 70s and 80s with sunshine. Also, we found that many of the tourist services were only open in July and August. I had wanted to rent a sailboard while we were in Pylos but the company said they didn't start renting until July, though they had dozens of boards tucked behind the bar in their restaurant. We had lots of places to ourselves on the Peloppenese though the most historic sites had small groups of tourists. Epidaurus, for example, probably had about 150 other people while we were there.

We were in Greece from April 5th through April 28th, 2018. The weather throughout the trip was beautiful, mid to high 70's. We had some morning showers in Monemvasia one day, other than that the weather was clear. Athens was very quiet our first weekend because it was Eastern Orthodox Easter, we had a wonderful time with no crowds and were able to go into the churches and view the beautifully ornate epitaphs. On Easter evening I enjoyed mass outside of the local church with the locals. We did a Rick Steves tour from April 9th through April 21st, which was fantastic, then we took a two day tour of Meteora with "Visit Meteora" which was wonderful. After Meteora we continued on to Santorini for 3 days, one day there were ships in port and Oia was pretty busy, the following two days with no ships were nice and quiet. As I said the weather in April could not have been better! I recommend it, and especially to be in Athens over Easter when a huge majority of locals are out of the city. When we returned to Athens on April 21st the crowds were 100 times more than during Easter weekend.

Hi,

We are planning similar trip in April/May 2019 for three weeks. We will arrive Athens and go directly to Hydra for about a week and then to Meteora for 4 nights for Eastern Orthodox Easter, back to Athens for 3 nights, then Naxos for a week - then home.

We have heard that it will still be a bit early for crowds but warm (for Canadians maybe not Greeks).

Good luck have fun!

This for RedVespa from BC -- am not sure you are on the same wavelength as Andrea, because it seems they're not interested in beaches at all, in fact prefer jackets & hikes. Are you like that? All the BC Canadians I've met are dying to swim .... and however sturdy they may be, Greek water is really too shivery to bear before about May 12. Believe me I've tried ... and I'v lived in N. England, swum in Maine Mass & CT in mid-may so I know brrrr ... and I'm telling you it's not possible in April, and barely possible in May... best is somewhere like Rhodes. If you are an anti-beach person, OK, but otherwise -- did you check the weather info before booking??? (I assume your flights are locked in by now). If the overseas flights are unchangeable, I would advise you at least to change the sequence.

• Is there something about Hydra that has you fascinated? I know R S promotes it forever, and it's the site of some British novels, but no beaches, just rocks to jump off of (and as I said ice-cold before 5/12)... perhaps you have a booking at one of those luxe villas behind high walls, but a WEEK? unless you're busy writing a novel...
• Instead, I'd recommend to make your Athens visit FIRST... crowds will be slim, room rates will be best, warm enough to lunch outside, lots going on culturally.
• R U Greek Orthodox? if not, perhaps 4 nights a lot in Meteora area. Maybe go to Delphi first for 1 of those nights.
• After Easter, have you considered using those 3 days for NAFPLIO? Plenty to do/see even if it's cold for swims -- and it's super-easy to reach from Athens (2.5 hrs by car or bus) This website shows some of its beauty & highlights - http://www.visitnafplio.com/ and this album http://www.flickr.com/photos/stanbr54/sets/72157632094108982/ by your fellow BC'er - Stanbr - will show how gorgeous... Old City consider the most beautiful town in Greece, and since it's on a peninsula, surrounded by water, can feel like a magic isle. & when u finish there, u could zip to airport to reach Naxos, or seaport for a ferry.

If you hate swimming, then much of the above is irrelevant ... but just thought I'd offer food for thought.

We visited 4 months ago, the week before and after Orthodox Easter. Athens was pretty crowded - especially at The Parthenon, the Ancient Agora, and Mars Hill (lots of people and even more trash there).

We were at Ancient Olympia first thing in the morning, with no one there, but an hour later the site and museum were mobbed. The only other place with a large number of visitors while we were there was the ancient site at Delphi. The town itself is small, but had a loud, partying bunch of students (off for Easter?) out on the street late at night, and it was tough getting a good night's sleep. Next time, we'd stay another night in Galaxidi and visit Delphi from there.

Most other places throughout the Peloponnese did have visitors (seemingly mostly Greeks on vacation), but weren't really overly busy. Some places we were completely on our own, though, like driving the Mani peninsula. But many Greek drivers seem to ignore the center stripe on the road, especially when coming at you around a blind corner -- drive extra defensively, if you rent a car.