Best time and way to do Greece?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op here. Leaning towards going to Greece for spring break next year.

Will shops on the islands be open in April?

I was thinking about Greece for Spring Break too but have been told by multiple people to check your break week. Ours is the week before Easter and apparently Greeks from the mainland flock to the islands for Easter and it's impossible to find places to stay until after Easter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op here. Leaning towards going to Greece for spring break next year.

Will shops on the islands be open in April?

I was thinking about Greece for Spring Break too but have been told by multiple people to check your break week. Ours is the week before Easter and apparently Greeks from the mainland flock to the islands for Easter and it's impossible to find places to stay until after Easter.

Op here. Our break is the week before Easter.

[Anonymous]

NP. Remember Greek Orthodox Easter is a week later than ours. Still plenty of hotels to book, we are going for Spring Break too!

[Anonymous]

Agree with checking your spring break dates - Orthodox Easter falls on April 16 in 2023. Many shops and restaurants will start shutting down the Thursday before through the Tuesday after. Many people from the cities go their their ancestral islands and villages for the holiday. Ferries, planes, and public transport will be very crowded during this time. That being said, the holy week services at churches are really elaborate and beautiful and if you can find a family willing to host your for Easter, it would be a memorable experience. Greek Easter puts American Thanksgiving to shame.

I personally like Greece in early-mid September. The worst of the summer heat is over, but it is still beach weather. Tourist infrastructure is still in place in resort and island towns. I wouldn't recommend it for winter break - same problems as at Easter, but with cold weather. Also remember that New Years day is the day with the presents in Greece (not Christmas).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Agree with checking your spring break dates - Orthodox Easter falls on April 16 in 2023. Many shops and restaurants will start shutting down the Thursday before through the Tuesday after. Many people from the cities go their their ancestral islands and villages for the holiday. Ferries, planes, and public transport will be very crowded during this time. That being said, the holy week services at churches are really elaborate and beautiful and if you can find a family willing to host your for Easter, it would be a memorable experience. Greek Easter puts American Thanksgiving to shame.

I personally like Greece in early-mid September. The worst of the summer heat is over, but it is still beach weather. Tourist infrastructure is still in place in resort and island towns. I wouldn't recommend it for winter break - same problems as at Easter, but with cold weather. Also remember that New Years day is the day with the presents in Greece (not Christmas).

I have 3 kids in school so can’t do mid September. We are stuck with school breaks - winter, summer or spring.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Agree with checking your spring break dates - Orthodox Easter falls on April 16 in 2023. Many shops and restaurants will start shutting down the Thursday before through the Tuesday after. Many people from the cities go their their ancestral islands and villages for the holiday. Ferries, planes, and public transport will be very crowded during this time. That being said, the holy week services at churches are really elaborate and beautiful and if you can find a family willing to host your for Easter, it would be a memorable experience. Greek Easter puts American Thanksgiving to shame.

I personally like Greece in early-mid September. The worst of the summer heat is over, but it is still beach weather. Tourist infrastructure is still in place in resort and island towns. I wouldn't recommend it for winter break - same problems as at Easter, but with cold weather. Also remember that New Years day is the day with the presents in Greece (not Christmas).

Let me revive this thread. We are going in mid-September for 8 nights. In and out of ATH. Thinking to hop straight to Santorini--is that possible? Anyone know how much time to budget at ATH between international arrival/customs/domestic departure? We'd of course have to cross our fingers for all on time flights. Our flight out of the U.S. to ATH is direct.

Trying to not go crazy overdoing an itinerary, so, thinking of 4 nights in Santorini, with three nights in Athens--and maybe do a day trip to Delphi. Please weigh in and offer suggestion!

[Anonymous]

PP did you already book flights? I found cheap ones in to Santorini and out of athens (about the same price as round trip).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Agree with checking your spring break dates - Orthodox Easter falls on April 16 in 2023. Many shops and restaurants will start shutting down the Thursday before through the Tuesday after. Many people from the cities go their their ancestral islands and villages for the holiday. Ferries, planes, and public transport will be very crowded during this time. That being said, the holy week services at churches are really elaborate and beautiful and if you can find a family willing to host your for Easter, it would be a memorable experience. Greek Easter puts American Thanksgiving to shame.

I personally like Greece in early-mid September. The worst of the summer heat is over, but it is still beach weather. Tourist infrastructure is still in place in resort and island towns. I wouldn't recommend it for winter break - same problems as at Easter, but with cold weather. Also remember that New Years day is the day with the presents in Greece (not Christmas).

I have 3 kids in school so can’t do mid September. We are stuck with school breaks - winter, summer or spring.

I hate being stuck with the school calendar for this reason- b.c travel most places in the Northern Hemisphere is awesome in Mid-September. Sigh.

If our school system didn't tie Spring Break with non-Orthodox Easter that would be better. It's a public school too SMDH

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP did you already book flights? I found cheap ones in to Santorini and out of athens (about the same price as round trip).

PP here—yes. We did. We weren’t sure of what we d be aiming for with our itinerary and just locked in the direct round trip to Athens on miles when we could.

[Anonymous]

We just did a family Greece trip in June with hs & college age kids. Who’s traveling in your group? While I loved Santorini, I wouldn’t stay there for half your nights unless you really want to relax and watch beautiful sunsets (and have a plentiful budget). We booked Aegean Air for island flights — pay a little more for flexible flights and it’s really easy to change online. 3 or 4 flights per day. Athens can easily be 1-2 full days. Delphi is a good day trip but we skipped it mostly because we did Santorini and Crete - and that was plenty and perfect.

[Anonymous]

We just went for two weeks with our 4, 6, and 8 year olds. We did round trip to Paris from IAD and then a direct flight to Mykonos, ferry to Naxos, and then ferry to Athens with a flight from Athens back to Paris. 3-4 days in each place with the exception of Mykonos where we were only there for 2 nights. It was the perfect mix of beaches, history, and Greek mythology. I would keep in mind that the weather in March isn't going to be as warm. The islands get wind and are very enjoyable even in the summer and just stay away from the very touristy beaches.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We just did a family Greece trip in June with hs & college age kids. Who’s traveling in your group? While I loved Santorini, I wouldn’t stay there for half your nights unless you really want to relax and watch beautiful sunsets (and have a plentiful budget). We booked Aegean Air for island flights — pay a little more for flexible flights and it’s really easy to change online. 3 or 4 flights per day. Athens can easily be 1-2 full days. Delphi is a good day trip but we skipped it mostly because we did Santorini and Crete - and that was plenty and perfect.

PP here-- it is JUST the husband and I!!! That is part of why we are leaning towards a slower pace. Our 8 & 5 year old will be at home with grandparents. We did Italy like 7 years ago, and jumped around a lot, which was nice to see so much, but, left us kind of ragged by the end. There is so much to see in Greece, and it does pain me to devote our trip to just Santorini and Athens, but, we are hoping to restore/recharge a bit with this trip.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We just did a family Greece trip in June with hs & college age kids. Who’s traveling in your group? While I loved Santorini, I wouldn’t stay there for half your nights unless you really want to relax and watch beautiful sunsets (and have a plentiful budget). We booked Aegean Air for island flights — pay a little more for flexible flights and it’s really easy to change online. 3 or 4 flights per day. Athens can easily be 1-2 full days. Delphi is a good day trip but we skipped it mostly because we did Santorini and Crete - and that was plenty and perfect.

PP here-- it is JUST the husband and I!!! That is part of why we are leaning towards a slower pace. Our 8 & 5 year old will be at home with grandparents. We did Italy like 7 years ago, and jumped around a lot, which was nice to see so much, but, left us kind of ragged by the end. There is so much to see in Greece, and it does pain me to devote our trip to just Santorini and Athens, but, we are hoping to restore/recharge a bit with this trip.

Then Santorini should be perfect for you to relax. Be sure to do the caldera hike and have lunch in Oia. In Athens, you can spend much of a day doing the Acropolis Tour and New Museum. There are so many cool neighborhoods and great food in Athens, I’d personally skip the full day that Delphi takes (I’m a minority — but so much ruins!). The changing of the guards was unexpectedly fun to see. (Especially if you’ve seen the change at Buckingham Palace).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We just did a family Greece trip in June with hs & college age kids. Who’s traveling in your group? While I loved Santorini, I wouldn’t stay there for half your nights unless you really want to relax and watch beautiful sunsets (and have a plentiful budget). We booked Aegean Air for island flights — pay a little more for flexible flights and it’s really easy to change online. 3 or 4 flights per day. Athens can easily be 1-2 full days. Delphi is a good day trip but we skipped it mostly because we did Santorini and Crete - and that was plenty and perfect.

PP here-- it is JUST the husband and I!!! That is part of why we are leaning towards a slower pace. Our 8 & 5 year old will be at home with grandparents. We did Italy like 7 years ago, and jumped around a lot, which was nice to see so much, but, left us kind of ragged by the end. There is so much to see in Greece, and it does pain me to devote our trip to just Santorini and Athens, but, we are hoping to restore/recharge a bit with this trip.

Then Santorini should be perfect for you to relax. Be sure to do the caldera hike and have lunch in Oia. In Athens, you can spend much of a day doing the Acropolis Tour and New Museum. There are so many cool neighborhoods and great food in Athens, I’d personally skip the full day that Delphi takes (I’m a minority — but so much ruins!). The changing of the guards was unexpectedly fun to see. (Especially if you’ve seen the change at Buckingham Palace).

PP here--thanks. Thoughts on where to stay in Santorini? Torn between securing a place with a view in Imerovigli or Oia, or, a place in Megalochori with no view, but, a rental car included and nice space and just counting on catching the views at dinner, etc.

[Anonymous]

We are looking into a trip to Greece for our family and mil. She cannot go in the summer but with the kids the only other option is spring break which is early April next year. Would anything be open on the islands or would we have to stick with just Athens? Would love to do Athens plus a few islands. Kids are 8, 10 & 13 and obsessed with mythology. They love to travel and are always fascinated exploring new places.