We are planning a 2 week trip to Crete and are considering the last week in September and the first week of October. We want to enjoy history, Knossos, Chania, etc but also want to spend some time on the beaches. I have read that the water temp will still be good but will the weather be warm and sunny enough to want to spend time at the beaches? I realize it is getting to the end of the season but believe that things are still open until the end of October. Is this correct? We could adjust our time if preferable.
Posted by
Tunbridge Wells
6113 posts
Some restaurants etc in Greece close at the end of September, so if you want beach time, I would head there the middle or end 2 weeks of September, as you stand a better chance of sunny and drier weather.
Posted by
Windsor, Ontario, Canada
4087 posts
Some European airlines cut back their summer schedules as fall advances. One place to check availability is www.skyscanner.com
I was in Crete late last September and the weather was pleasant and the tourist sites still crowded.
Posted by
NH (USA)
1222 posts
I spent 9 days in mid-October in Chania on the west side of the island. The town is lovely and everything was still open with a large selection of shops, markets and tavernas.
The weather was sunny and mild and the Aegean still warm from summer temperatures. It was a great time to be on Crete. It's large enough to provide all kinds of options from touristy to non-touristy and many areas still holding on to their traditions.
It may depend on where you stay on the island but Chania was perfect as a base but probably other areas would be just as lively without over-the-top crowds.
Posted by
13 posts
September is THE best time to visit Greek islands. The sea is at its best for swimming, the crowds has disappeared but everything is still open, the whole atmosphere is more relaxed but never too quiet. Some tourist enterprises will start closing towards the end of the month, not before. Also I found their website very informative http://aktis.guide/en/
Posted by
Detroit, MI
1036 posts
I spent 3 days in Crete last October. I saw shorlines. I did not go to any of the kind of beaches where people go on the water. I went to Knossos, the archaeology museum in Heraklion (both were crowded. I might have waited no more than 20 minutes to get into both), the Venetian fortress Koules, the Crete History museum; the martime museum has a good description of the battle of Crete. The archaeology museum in Chania has two remains of parts of roman mosaic floors; if you take a good look at everything and read everything, you could spend up to 2 hours there. You could spend 4 to 5 hours in the archaeology museum in Heraklion if you read everything and/or look carefully at everything. The folklore musuem in Chania has a few Greek coins from after Greece became a country in 1830 - before they switched to the Euro. The archaeology museum in Chania has at least one display of ancient coins. Both towns had crowded areas. The Crete history museum, and the museums in Chania, were pleasantly uncrowded. The temperatures will be good for beaches: not dangerously hot, not too cold.
Posted by
Rick Steves' Europe
16895 posts
I have swum quite happily in shallow or protected Mediterranean beaches in Greece, Croatia, Italy, France, and Spain in October.
You shouldn't have any trouble finding accommodation on Crete in October. I've done it on much smaller islands, and my years-ago visit to Crete was before Easter, also with no problem, but fewer buses running.