Greece — where to go and when
3 destinations covered
Three Greeces are published here, and mixing them up is the usual planning mistake. Athens is a working capital of several million people where antiquity sits in the middle of concrete apartment blocks, cheap to eat in and easy to walk once you accept the noise. Crete is large enough to be its own country, with gorges, a mountain spine, Minoan sites and beaches at opposite ends of a long drive. Santorini is small, vertical and photographed to exhaustion, a volcanic caldera whose economics have detached entirely from the rest of the nation. Costs across Greece run about a quarter under the French benchmark on our cost index, and that holds well in Athens and inland Crete while collapsing entirely on the caldera rim, where a single view commands its own premium. Plan around ferries and heat rather than around distance, and Greece gives more time on the ground per euro than almost any comparable European choice.
When to go
April to June and September to November are the months our data supports, and the summer gap is deliberate. Athens climbs to 35.3 °C at the height of summer with only 37 rainy days across the year, so July heat, not rain, is the constraint. Crete is gentler at 30.9 °C, though its year counts 49 rainy days against Athens's 37. Santorini reaches 30.4 °C and keeps a usable window from May into November. Winter is mild everywhere but ferries thin out and many island businesses close.
The places we cover, side by side
| Place | Favourable months | Warmest month, avg. high (°C) | Coldest month, avg. high (°C) | Rainy days a year (≥ 1 mm) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Athens | April, May, October | 35.3 | 15.8 | 37 |
| Crete | April, May, June, September, October, November | 30.9 | 16.0 | 49 |
| Santorini | May, June, September, October, November | 30.4 | 13.0 | 46 |
Figures measured at the weather station nearest each place, then averaged over the warmest and the coldest months of the year — not over a fixed calendar season. Each destination page carries its own month-by-month table, its station and its sample size.
Getting around
Ferries define the country. Boats from the Athens ports serve Santorini and Crete on crossings measured in hours rather than minutes, with faster and slower vessels at different prices; domestic flights cut the same journeys to under an hour. Athens has a metro reaching the airport, 20 km out, and long-distance coaches cover the mainland. On Crete a car is close to essential, since the island is long and bus routes follow the north coast.
Budget
Country price level compared with France : −26 %
Price index for restaurants and hotels, France = 1000, from European purchasing power parities. It is a country average: it says nothing about one hotel in particular.
Destinations in Greece
AthensAthens is a dense modern capital wrapped around a limestone rock that has been occupied for millennia. It is also the hottest city in our European set: 35.3…
CreteCrete is the largest Greek island, and its scale is the thing you plan around. A mountain spine runs its whole length, the north coast carries the cities…
SantoriniEverything on Santorini follows from one fact of geology: the island is the rim of a collapsed volcano, so the famous villages sit on a cliff facing a…Frequently asked questions
Is Santorini worth the money?
For a short stay, often yes; for a week, rarely. The caldera view is genuinely unusual and the island is small enough to see in two days. But prices on the rim bear no relation to the Greek average, and the same budget buys far more time on Crete or in the Cyclades. Sleep away from the cliff edge and the arithmetic improves immediately.
Ferry or plane between the islands?
Take the ferry when the crossing is part of the trip and the plane when time is short. Boats leave from the Athens port area, cost less and let you carry luggage without fuss, but a long crossing can consume most of a day. Flights compress the same journey to under an hour, at a price that rises sharply in August.
Updated on 21 September 2026