Greece Dates

Hi Jo,

I haven't been yet - but from what I read on this board people seem to recommend September as a good month to go.

I also wanted to give you a heads up. My boyfriend and I are going in September and we booked our hotels about a month ago. They were already booking up and we had to contact 4 hotels in Mykonos before we found an opening. Santorini seemed to be filling up too. So try to make your decision quickly! Have a lovely time =)

We spent the month of Oct 2007 in Greece visiting Myknonos, Santorini, Crete, Lesvos, the Peloponnese and Athens. The weather was wonderful with only a couple of days of rain. We had lots of good beach weather.

My preference would be September over October. Weather and water temp will obviously be declining over that time, and October probably would offer better hotel availability; but places are also looking to gear down during that time. It may not be an issue for you, but as times passes, the crowds dwindle, some places close, bars/cafes go from being active entertainment venues to just a place to eat, streets start to vacate. Basically, if you just want a quiet time, October is OK, if you want a little nightlife or people watching, September is better. As for hotels, I would not be concerned about availability. First places are still looking for the traveller that is looking to stay a week as opposed to a night or two. They have the rooms, they just don't want to commit for a night vs a week. Even then, most of the places I have stayed in the islands have no website. The small mom and pop places still operate by phone or selling rooms at the dock. Look at some guides, get a good list for each destination, then either call now or even a week or two ahead. If they are "booked" call again closer to your date, chances are they will have a room.

We were in Greece in mid to late September in 2006, and the weather was perfect. It was in the 80s during the day, sunny every day except for our last day in Athens, and we got to spend a lot of time by the hotel pools and at the beach. At night it cooled off to a comfortable temperature. The water was pretty chilly, though (in both the pools and sea), so we didn't spend a lot of time in the water.

We went the first 2 weeks of Sept in 06 and it was hot and sunny pretty much every day..had 10 minutes of rain which we saw from the airport in Crete as we were flying back to Athens to fly home...I highly recommend September...

Thanks so much everyone! That's very helpful :-)