Greece

Contents: Greece; map of Greece; Greece photo gallery; tourism in Greece; weather in Greece; Popular resorts in Greece: Zakynthos, Corfu, Crete, Mykonos; Paros, Rhodes, Santorini, Halkidiki.

Photo Gallery
of Greece

General information about Greece

The roots of modern Greece can be far back to the civilization of ancient Greece, considered as the Cradle of the civilization. Nowadays Greece is very popular touristic destination with numerous summer resorts. Also, 17 protected by UNESCO sites reside within its broders.

Tourism in Greece

Greece and the Greek islands are among the most visited touristic destinations in Europe, popular with its clean beaches and old history. Greece is populated with historical and archeological sites, reminding of glorious past. The country has mostly mountain and rocky terrain. It's surrounded with water by Aegean and Ionian sea and consists of more than 1400 islands, but only around 170 of them are inhabited. These islands form the nature beauty of Greece and are among the most popular touristic destinations during the summer in the country.

The popular touristic destinations include: Mykonos with its cosmopolitan character; Santorini with its most romantic sunsets in the world; Rhodes, the island of the medieval castles, sun and butterflies; Crete with its revolutionary spirit; Corfu with its venetian style; Ithaca the home land of Moses; Samos the most greener of all Greek islands.

Greece isn't cheap destination at all, since at 2002 when they accept the euro as national currency. This is country where you will need more money, especially if you are going in the peak of the season.

Weather in Greece

When to go
The most appropriate months to visit Greece are during autumn and spring - May, June, September and October. Most of the infrastructure of the country goes into hibernation during the winter, mostly on the islands. Some of the smaller islands shut down completely and part of the people there are going into their alternative homes on the continent for few months. Many season cafes and restaurants close their doors from the end of November until April. The transport is very limited or almost stopped. The life begin to revive around Easter and the middle of June, when the first tourists start to flow, the conditions are excellent, the weather is mild and there are no crowds on most of the places, the public transport is working almost at full capacity.
The middle of June until the end of August is the high seasons, when everything is working on full speed, everything is crowded, and everything is fully booked. The high season comes to a end during September and the conditions are ideal again during October.

Weather
Greece can be divided into few climatic regions. North Macedonia and north Epirus has very cold winters and very hot and dry summers. Attica, Cyclades, Crete, central and east Peloponnese has typical Mediterranean climate with hot and dry summers and mild winter.
The high mountains of Peloponnese and Crete are covered with snow during winter, sometimes it rains in Athens and extremely rare in Cyclades. During July and August the temperatures reach 40°С (104F) under shadow in almost all the country. These are the months of the "meltems", strong north winds blowing through the east coast of Greece, including Athens and Aegean islands, especially Cyclades. The wind is lowering the dampness, but also makes the beach umbrellas fly.
The southern parts of Greece have more light winters than the northern part and the winds doesn't exist there, but are the regions with most rainings. The southeastern Aegean islands, Halkidiki and Pelion have climate between the Balkan type and the Mediterranean climate. The weather on Crete is hot the longest time.
Around the middle of October the rains start to pour in most of the regions, the weather is staying cold and dampen until February. November until February are the most wet months and it can be surprisingly cold.