The mention of Greece brings up images of white arcing beaches and sparkling aqua waters under sun-drenched skies. However, this nation actually offers some of its best features outside the tourist-crazed summer season. Greece in winter is a land of glorious walks with open vistas, uncluttered ancient sites, and bustling city life. To help you bust those hot-weather stereotypes, here are the top things to do in Greece in winter.
Booming Athens and Sleepy Peloponnese
Athens’ cafe culture and zippy late-hours, hard-partying nightlife is at its best in winter when locals are in town, not out on the islands. Athenians love a good, long, ouzo-soaked lunch or a multi-hour chat over coffee as much as they do all-night bar crawls and glittery bouzoukia nightclubs. By day, visitors can take in a much less impeded Acropolis and other ancient sites, as well as uncrowded world-class museums, including the Acropolis Museum and the National Archaeological Museum.
Just a stone’s throw from Athens, the Peloponnese offers some of Greece’s most accessible, beautiful country lanes lined by stone walls and olive groves, alongside ancient sites spanning eons. Make a base in Nafplio, the charming seaside Venetian city topped by a fortress. Its tiny streets are packed with creative craft shops and boutique hotels, while Fougaro cultural center hosts a winter program of arts and musical events.
Island Hopping – Yes, They Are Open!
As the cascade of tourists abates, wintertime island life becomes something quite special. Convivial locals make for interesting, friendly visits. Moody skyscapes and changing light conditions create dramatic and wonderful walks. Larger islands remain the most vibrant, with their substantial local populations.
Corfu boasts a fine old town and rich cultural life, ranging from orchestras to art shows and the Palace of St Michael & St George. Crete sprawls from quaint, eye-dazzling harbor towns of Hania and Rethymno to its myriad mountain villages. Meanwhile, Lesvos (Mytilini) offers ouzeries and an impressive number of olive trees, especially during the olive harvest season in October and November.
Walking Trails
Larger islands such as Crete, Corfu, and Lesvos are blessed with regional walking trails that connect villages to mountain churches and windswept coastlines. You can also visit smaller islands – precious Hydra has no cars at all. Stone stairways radiate from the beautifully preserved old harbor, while earthen trails wind along the unspoiled, dramatic coast, offering views across the Saronic Gulf.
Andros in the Cyclades is a walker’s haven, as is the Zagorohoria with the dramatic Vikos Gorge. Bucolic stone hamlets are scattered about Zagorohoria’s tree-lined valleys, all interconnected by footpaths. Mt Olympus, of mythical fame, is also a top destination for trekkers; it’s located near Litohoro in the mainland’s northwest.
Ancient Sites (Without the Crowds)
Winter is undoubtedly the best time to see Greece’s ancient sites, which are some of the most iconic in the world and the veritable foundations of western civilization. Practically deserted compared to the teeming summer months, the mainland sites include Athens’ Acropolis and Ancient Agora to Delphi (home of the ancient Oracle), Meteora with its pinnacle-topped monasteries, and the awe-inspiring Macedonian tomb treasures of Vergina, located near Thessaloniki.
In winter, the Temple of Poseidon on dramatic Cape Sounion actually resembles its image on local postcards: epic, rising from its deserted seaside bluff. The Peloponnese is also rich with impressive sites, from Olympia (home of the original Olympic Games) to Mycenae, Corinth, and Epidavros with its grand ancient theatre and healing center.
On the islands, the sacred Delos is the birthplace of twins Apollo and Artemis, featuring a hallowed shrine-turned-treasury and commercial center. Naxos boasts a seaside ruin of the Temple of Apollo and a pastoral Temple of Demeter. Aegina’s Temple of Aphaia stands sentinel over the Saronic Gulf, located just a half-hour boat ride from Athens. Crete’s motherload of Minoan sites includes heavily restored Palace of Knossos with its vibrant murals and lesser-visited ruins at Phaestos and Agia Triada.
Winter Festivals
Special festivities add a splash to winter in Greece. The cosmopolitan seafront city of Thessaloniki holds its renowned International Film Festival in early November, focusing on independent cinema. Christmas in Greece means decorations on all the island harbor fronts, with lights glistening in the waters of the Aegean.
New Year’s Day, known as the day of Agios Vasilios (St Basil), is marked by cutting the traditional vasilopita (golden glazed cake for New Year’s Eve, a slice of which contains a good-luck coin). Following that is Epiphany (also known as Theophany) on 6 January, commemorating St John’s baptism of Jesus. Across the country, Orthodox priests throw the holy cross into the waters, with local men and boys diving in to retrieve it; the largest ceremony is held at Piraeus.
The season culminates with the grand Apokreas celebration. This Greek form of Carnival usually occurs in February or March, varying each year just before the 40 days of Lent leading to Greek Orthodox Easter. During Apokreas, even in small villages, people feast, drink, don costumes, and parade through the streets. The best-known celebrations are in Patra in the Peloponnese, Skyros in the Sporades, and Xanthi in northeastern Greece, while Rethymno in Crete celebrates with a touch of Venetian flair.
Article first published in January 2015 and last updated by Vangelis Koronakis in October 2019.
