travellerGreenBay

We are looking to spend our spring break (3/20 - 3/30) at a Greece Island (Crete or Rhodes). My concern is it is not the tourism season yet. Will most of the joints be closed, restauants, museums, ferries, etc? Is that an issue? We plan to stay at a resort, spend a few days at the anchor island, do a day trip to 1 or 2 islands, and on our way out, spend a few days at Athens.

If March is a good time to go, then which island would you recommend that we should anchor? I understand Crete is fairly large, has 4 parts, which part should we pick for Crete?

For March, we are not necessarily looking for pristine beaches. We are more interested in its cultures (castles, museum, mythology related stuff), day trips to one or two islands. How many days are reasonable to spend in Athens?

Franto

My first time in Crete was in early March 2001 and all the good restaurants were open. It was a good time to visit. I have been to Creete 4 mour times in following years and in all seasons. I must say that I liked visiting Crete in March, and October especially. I like Chania, the "Well of the Turk" being a good restaurant. Unfortunately, I have not been to Athens. Enjoy Greece!

travelerjan

Your spring break looks like 10 days, but it takes 24 hours (with clock-tme loss) to get there, and a full day to get home. So you really have 8 days. Keep that in mind.

DAY TRIPS -- From Rhodes you could do a day trip to Symi... which mainly has a harbor to look at, (big merchants houses from its bygone prosperity period) and that's about it. From Crete, no day trips to other islands, to speak of... in Summer there's one to Santorini but tooo long a ferry ride on a catamaran; sick-making.

Fact is, the "anchor island" or "home base" concept doesn't work in greece. Mostly not set up for day trips; ferry schedules are set mainly for people who live there, certainly off-season.. That's why you see the reference to island "hopping"... you stay at one island for awhile, then move on.

I've been gong to Greece for 10 years, and I've only found two islands that are set up for day excursions. ... that is, they have excursion boats designed to take you in the morning and get you back before sunset. Thus you could call them "anchors" but I don't.

One is SAMOS... where you can do a day excursion to Patmos about 90 mins sail each way, leave at 7:30, depart Patmos about 4:30 -- and you can also do one to Ephesus on the Turkey shore (only 45 mns sail).

The other is NAXOS, actually NAXOS/PAROS -- because the excursion boats pick up at both islands. THere are 2 companies but the best one uses a boat called Alexandros (larger boat, smoother ride). There are 2 main day-excursions: one to Delos/Mykonos, the other to santorini. The trip either way is about 2..5 hours. The former allows you to see the "sacred isle" and what remains of its sculptures etc... the latter enables you to see the famous view of the "caldera" cliffside & dwellings.

That being said, n March the weather will be much better in Rhodes, more sun less rain... and there's a lot to see in Old Town, especially if you are big on Crusaders! Lindos (tho restored) has agorgeous view fom the heights. ANd if you rent a car, you can see a lot of ruined castles on the other side of the island.... and lunch in villages where no one over 40 speaks any English.

If you go to Crete, you can't use your "anchor" concept either. Best approach would be to fly in to Chania, a day in Old town, rent car and do exploring, end up in Heraklion. Lots of sites for mythology buffs -- read up beforehand. You can fly back to Athens or take overnight ferry? I would say 4 days crete, 4 days Athens -- SOOO much there, and always plenty to do if you have a day of rain.

about "resorts" -- do you mean a posh hotel wih spas and such? Even in the more luxe resorts there are not indoor swimming pools or heated pools, so that aspect is out. It is not a caribbean climate. If that's what you had in mind, best wait until school is out -- prime time for Greece IMHO, is June.

Heimdall

Museums and archaeological sites are open year-round in Greece, sometimes with reduced winter hours. Ferries run to the Greek Islands throughout the year, mainly to provide transport to/from Piraeus and a few other mainland ports. Crete and Rhodes have sizable permanent populations, so there will be shops, restaurants, and hotels open to serve the locals.

That said, I wonder: what are your expectations for Greece in March? It is still winter, after all! You wrote: "We plan to stay at a resort..." Well, resorts, in my understanding of the term, won't be open that time of year. You will more likely stay somwhere near the port. It won't be beach weather, but perhaps good for trekking and exploring ancient sites. Temperatures will most likely be in the 50s and 60s Fahrenheit, with some cloudy and rainy days. You may be lucky and get some gloriously warm and sunny weather, as sometimes happens in any temperate region.

Personally I would avoid the islands in March, and use the opportunity to explore the mainland. There is far more to do and see in Athens, the Peloponnese, Delphi, etc. than on any island.

yipper

Hi,

I love Greece and the islands, but I do agree with Heimdall, that the Peloponnese is a wonderful area to explore. It has lots of antiquities, hiking areas, vineyards with tasting rooms, and charming seaside towns. You can easily drive from the Peloponnese to Delphi, which is fabulous. If you want to see an island you can get a ferry to an island near Athens. Hydra is charming as is Aegina. You will have so much fun.

Yipper

travellerGreenBay

Thank you all so much for the valuable information. I knew nothing about Greece (as you can tell from my post). My original premise came from the fact that a friend of mine gave us her timeshare use for this year. I did a search for Spring break time period, and decided Greece is a good choice. I decided on Crete or Rhodes completely based on the availability of the timeshare units in Greece. I have included what is available at the end of my post. We get to use the unit (1BR or 2BR) for a whole week for only $165, the exchange fee. I suppose these units are available b/c March is not the high season.

We can stay at any one of them, as long as it makes logistics sense. But free week may not be such a good idea if these locations are too remote, does not make sense for us to visit (after all, we still have to pay for air ~$1000 from US to Athens, and endure 16-18 hrs flight just to Athens). We probably won't stay at the island the whole week (may be 5 or 6 nights), we DO want to explore Athens (~4 days), having come this far.

I would really appreciate your help enlightening me on which place is the good choice. We don't have to do the island hopping, as a matter of fact, logistically, I am open to your experts' opinions. My initial thoughts were totally based on our Carribbean experience, apparently they don't apply to Greece islands. Thank God for those forums.

The following list, I cut/pasted from the timeshare website, I have no clue where they are relative to Athens. Please help.
1) Anezina Village (Drios Parou, Paros Cyclades) is located in Drios Village on the south-eastern side of Paros island (www.anezina.com)

2) Leoniki Residence (Machis Critis 197, Crete) is located in Platanes which is a Rethymnon prefecture, the smallest and most sparsely inhabited one compared to the other three on the island of Crete. (www.leoniki.com)

3) Metropolitan Capsis Holiday Club, Ixia Avenue, Rhodes, located on the west coast of the island of Rhodes (www.capsis.gr )

4) Sun Beach Holiday Club, (Ialyssos Beach, Rhodes) - located on the beach near the historic town of Rhodes. www.clubgreece.net

5) the aptly named Village Heights Golf Resort (Ano Hersonissos, Crete) - Perched on a scenic hillside, is ideally located next to Greece's only PGA golf course
www.clubgreece.net

Heimdall

<i>I decided on Crete or Rhodes completely based on the availability of the timeshare units in Greece.</i>

If that's the case, you are almost certain to be disappointed. You need to be very careful here - make some phone calls and ask some hard questions. Find out which of the amenities advertised in the timeshare websites will actually be available in March - swimming pools and beaches won't be usable. Find out what sort of heating (if any) the apartments will have.

<i>The following list, I cut/pasted from the timeshare website, I have no clue where they are relative to Athens.</i>

Crete and Rhodes are an overnight ferry ride from Athens, while flights take about an hour. You also need to be concerned about the timeshare's location on the island relative to restaurants, shops, sightseeing, etc. You will most likely need to hire a car to get around. Drios on Paros, for example, is a tiny settlement on the windswept SE coast of the island, about an hour by road from the main town. Most everything in Drios will be closed in March.

travelerjan

Almost everything on your list will be "ghost town" in March ... I think it would be a real downer, frankly. Aren't there any timeshares available in some place that is warmer? like Florida, Argentina, Mexico, Caribbean, even Canary islands ... Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Israel ... look at a map, and google for average March temperatures.

I would not advise you to make the major investment in time and airfare to go to a shut-down resort area in a still-rainy month. Sure, athens would be some fun, but you wouldn't be getting free rent there.

travelerjan

PS -- this inquiry is a textbook case of why a lot of us regulars 'burn out' ... from spinning our wheels developing scenarios, all because the inquirer did not divulge key information. I know Green Bay you meant well, and didn't want to clutter things up with lots of facts -- but when you ask on other forums, it's a favor to tell as MUCH as possible, including WHY (i.e., free time-shares and where they are).

Carolina

I suggest you stick to the mainland, combining Athens with the Peloponnese. From Athens, you could go on a ferry to one or more of the nearby islands if that appeals (Aegina, Hydra, Poros). There is a lot to see and do in the Peloponnese. I would suggest using Nafplio as a base as it is near a lot of interesting places and a beautiful town itself. From Nafplio, you can visit Corinth, Mycenae, Tyrins, Epidaurus and several other places of interest.

travellerGreenBay

travelerjan,

THANK you so much for pointing out the need to divulge all details up front. You were right again on me for not wanting to clutter things up too much. I think we need a banner at the top of the forum to tell all posters to do that to save your destination gurus spinning wheels for nothing.

Temps are not an issue here (coming from the frozen tundra, 50-60 is bamly, can't handle anything above 85), but ghost town is.

mr_go

Carolina: <i>I suggest you stick to the mainland, combining Athens with the Peloponnese.</i>

Yeah, that's how we did it in late March last year. We had a great time, too. Everywhere we went, it was wildflowers and more wildflowers.

Here's our full trip report, with pix:
http://www.onelittleworld.com/greece_1.html

Hope this helps.

Heimdall

Hi travellerGreenBay,

I was born and raised in Wisconsin (a colder part than Green Bay). I travel to the Greek Islands twice a year, usually in May-Jun and again in Aug-Sep, but would never consider going in March. It's too cold to go to the beach. All the outdoor cafes are still closed, so you will eat in a smoke-filled cafe (yes, I know about the smoking ban, LOL - tell that to the Greeks). ;-) Most of the tourist infrastructure is closed until May or June.

Greece is a wonderful country, well worth visiting any time of the year. For March, stay on the mainland - there is far more to do!

mes2525

Iayllos and Ixia are suburbs of Rhodes Town. You could take a taxi or bus back and forth. I like Rhodes very much but I think March would be too early to swim there. Rhodes has a lot to offer - with the Old Town (where I always stay) with museums, architecture, ancient sites, shopping, etc. The new town is ok and you can find everything from a casino to an acquarium. Lindos on the south coast is very nice - a Greek red tiled roof town with a Knights of St. John castle at the top. The south coast of Crete would be warmer, but the Crete resorts listed are on the north side. The town of Rhymenon is between Chania and Iraklion and has some nice beaches nearby. Chania is charming and I don't mind Iraklion and you see the part of the archaeological museum that is open anf visit Knossos - the Minoan site a few miles away. As far as museums and archeaological sites, they would be on winter hours which means 8-3p.m. and usually closed Mondays. I have been to Greece five times in Oct/Nov and I like missing the rush.