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Best time for viewing wildflowers

Posted by (Florida) on

We are hoping to take the RS Greece tour next year, and would like to plan our trip when the wildflowers will be blooming. The tour focuses on Athens and the Peloponnese. We think we would like to avoid being in Greece over the Orthodox Easter because of site closures, although I am sure there are benefits of being there for the celebration too. It looks like that falls on April 8th next year. We would also like to spend 5 days before or after the tour in Istanbul visiting family, and there is a tulip festival there in April we would like to see.

When I look online for the best time to see wildflowers in Greece, most things just say "the spring," which doesn't help me pin it down. Any advice as to the best time? Beginning or end of April or beginning of May, I would guess. I know it depends on the weather too. Thanks in advance for any tips! Any recommendations for whether to visit Istanbul before or after the tour would be appreciated too!

Posted by
3207 posts

I was in Greece March 22nd to April 7th, this year. Throughout the period the wild flowers went from newly emerged to fully emerged. The tour guide told us that in two weeks everything would be brown. However, from reading reviews of the later April tours it sounds as if they had beautiful flowers as well. Also, it is likely the flowers were fully out the entire trips. Depends on the particular year, I guess. I picked the tour I did due to the prior year's reviews. I was not disappointed.

Posted by
3595 posts

We just returned from Greece. We started with Rhodes at the beginning of May, then went to Crete. Wild flowers were splendid in both places. Since they are more southerly than the Peloponnesus, I should think there will be wild flowers there in May.

Posted by
91 posts

It depends on whether you are looking down at sea-level or up in the mountains, where the wildflowers will be a little later. Also, whether you are in Northern or Southern Greece. Here in Crete, early - mid-April is usually the best time, although the weather is more unpredictable then. In April you will need warmer clothes, you'll want lightweight waterproof jacket in both months, just 'in case'. If it is a wildflower specialist holiday, the people organising should be able to find you flowers through to mid-May.

Posted by
156 posts

I was in Greece on the Rick Steve's tour the end of March beginning of April 2016 and saw plenty of wild flowers. At the end of the tour I was in Istanbul April 12th-15th. I saw the tulip display which was located between Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque. I do not know when the tulip festival begins.

Posted by
610 posts

Thank you all for your input! It looks like I can't wrong with most of April, so I think I'll shoot for the middle and hope for the best!

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