10 Reasons to Visit Greece in Fall

Greece might be associated with sea & sun adventures and island hopping, but in reality Greece is a year-round destination. Fall is an amazing time to travel to Greece. Tourist crowds are thinning, prices and temperatures are dropping, and the food is fantastic. Let’s reveal the reasons why you should consider a fall-break in Greece with your family.

• Find lower airfares and accommodation prices
• Travel and walk without the heat of summer
• Visit tourist attractions and towns minus the big crowds
• Hike mountains and gorges, relish the stunning nature
• Attend fall festivals and cultural events
• Experience the October 28 national holiday, with school parades around the country & the now world-famous Authentic Marathon
• Enjoy the unique beauty of Greece in the fall
• Be a part of grape harvesting & taste the new wines
• Savour the newly harvested olives & the year’s fresh extra virgin olive oil
• Try Greek mushrooms, truffles & chestnuts (you’ll be amazed at the local varieties!)

Fall Weather 

The fall is amazing in Greece. Sunny warm days, occasionally a few clouds, a nice breeze and cooler evenings. Fall is colder inland, especially in the mountains. October generally brings crisp, cool mornings and evenings but again, many sunny days and often hot enough for swimming until the end of October, especially on the islands of Rhodes and Crete. November is one of Greece’s wetter months, but there are usually still many sunny days. Athens is dry and sunny during the fall with a few cloudy days.

Less Crowded

Athens and Thessaloniki are less busy during fall meaning you get to admire world-famous monuments and landmarks without the crowds and long queues. A stroll around the city centre with kids becomes more pleasant without the thousands of tourists on the pavements in the summer months.

Athens in fall is especially great for visiting the Acropolis, the ancient Agora, and to see the Temple of Zeus. With comfortable temperatures, autumn is the perfect time for families to try an urban adventure in Athens. Choose from a number of walking tours that highlight contemporary cultural aspects of Athens. Although there are fewer sunlight hours, earlier sunsets mean more time to enjoy cities after dark. Athens lights its historic monuments at night so strolling through the city after dark is beautiful and romantic.

Around the 3rd or the 4th week of October, lots of international schools in Europe and especially the UK ones have half-term breaks. During these weeks, Kids Love Greece offer extra dates for our popular Percy Jackson tours in small groups.

Fall is also a great time to visit the world-famous monasteries of Meteora. Without the crowds, you will truly absorb the impressive rocks and stunning nature at this UNESCO world heritage site.

Easier to find accommodation

Although in many Greek islands the tourist season ends in October, there are a few islands where the season carries on in fall. Crete and Santorini are the two best examples! In fall, when the tourist numbers drop, it is a little easier to find family accommodation in Santorini, and the temperatures on this volcanic island are a lot more tolerable. One of the bonuses of visiting in fall is that the waters might still be warm enough to swim in. The seawater temperature in Crete during fall is around 73F. Not bad, right?

Fall festivals and cultural events

Most of Greece’s local festivals tend to be in the fall. These festivals are often related to food because of the harvest months. There are all sorts of festivals around the country dedicated to truffles, chestnuts, cheese, mushrooms, olives, grapes, and wine. In Aegina, an amazing pistachio nuts festival takes place each September including gastronomy events, workshops, live music, theatrical events & creative activities.

In Elassona in the Thessaly region, one of Greece’s most important feta-cheese-producing regions, a Feta Cheese Festival takes place in September. You can also find wine and beer festivals around Greece such as the Corfu Beer Festival in September. Wines of Peloponnese is a fall festival featuring 30 wines from the region.

Finally, Halloween is increasingly popular in Greece over the past years and lots of interesting Halloween parties are being organised in Athens.

October 28 National Holiday & Authentic Marathon in Athens

An important cultural event in Greece is the national holiday of 28 October with parades, marching bands, and folklore dress all over Greece. In November, the Authentic Marathon takes place in Athens. The race is one of the most unique sports events, attended by thousands of runners and spectators from all over the world.

Beautiful nature in the fall

Greece’s colours are magical in fall. Trees foliage takes all shades of light green, red and auburn. The autumn is a wonderful season to visit some parks both in the cities (a must-visit for fall colours in Athens is the National Garden) and the villages. Kids will love the picturesque villages of Pelion with their apple trees and acorns.

Hiking and Biking for active families

Hiking and biking are just a few activities that will allow your family to enjoy Greece’s magnificent mountain landscape. One of our favourite fall activities is hiking. Ideal destinations for hiking are Crete, Meteora, and Pelion because nature is truly at its best at this time of the year. Crete is a paradise destination in fall with lots of organized outdoor activities in its stunning nature and colourful landscape.

Grapes and olives harvesting in fall

Fall is an amazing time for food-loving families. Besides Greece’s year-round delicacies, fall offers products that are not available in other seasons. Wine and olive harvests are a great aspect of fall in Greece. If you want to discover all the delicacies that Greek fall offers, we recommend joining one of our food experiences for families. Have a look at our food tours in Nafplio and Chania, both excellent choices for fall vacations.

Greek Mushrooms in fall

What can be better than fresh truffles? Truffle hunting and mushroom picking are some of the activities organised in fall. Have a look at the Mushroom Museum in Meteora that organises truffle hunts for families. There are lots of fresh mushrooms in fall so many restaurants will feature them in special dishes. You can combine a visit to Meteora with a mushroom hunt with the Meteora Mushroom Museum.

Chestnut time!

Chestnuts grow all over Greece and many communities hold chestnut festivals, such as the one in Crete in the scenic village Elos. You’ll find music, folk dancing, eating and drinking, and of course delicacies featuring the guest of honour, the Cretan chestnut!

The Chestnut Festival of Agios Demetrios near Nafpaktos takes place at the beginning of October. Throughout the festival, roasted chestnuts are served to the visitors along with local traditional dishes and desserts.

If you would like help to plan your fall vacation break in Greece, contact the Kids Love Greece team. We would love to create the perfect vacation itinerary for you and your family!