dgunbug

We will be attending a wedding in Israel on feb 18 and are likely going to visit Greece afterwards. We have already spent 6 weeks there over 2 separate trips, the first to Athens, the Peloponnesus, santorini and Paros; the second to Rhodes, Mykonos and crete.

We are hoping to visit meteora, Thessaloniki,several towns in between, a few days in Athens and possibly Hydra or another island. We realize that we will not be spending time at the beach, but love ancient ruins, beautiful scenery, delicious food and people watching and interactions.

Coming from Florida we are not used to extremely cold weather. For those of you who have traveled to Greece during this time period, what has been your experience and do you recommend going?

kja

Hi, dgunbug --

I'm sure you've looked up the climate data, but just in case:
https://www.timeanddate.com/weather/...loniki/climate

And although my trip was in May / June, you might find some useful information on Meteora, Thessaloniki, and nearby locations in my trip report:
https://www.fodors.com/community/eur...-in-greece.cfm

Hope that helps!

janisj

I assume you read the responses to your other thread (where you were thinking of Sicily). As GordonR an others explained you can't depend on weather on any of the Med islands at that time of year. If it was me, I'd want to be on the mainland (perhaps in Italy, or Spain) and not on an island

kja

@ janisj: With the exception of Hydra, the places dgunbug mentions (Meteora, Thessaloniki, and Athens) ARE on the mainland.

Heimdall

If you are visiting northern Greece (e.g. Meteora) there is a good chance of snow that time of year. The climate is milder in Athens and the more southerly islands such as Crete and Rhodes. Athens is a year-round city, so even when it is cold there will be things to do, and lots of museums and ancient sites. You might consider a couple of nights in http://visitnafplio.com , a beautiful city with several ancient sites nearby.

janisj

kja: I know they are mostly mainland. To clarify - I meant that the OP did mention one island (and AFAIK) didn't see the posts re islands on the other thread

dgunbug

Janisj - From my reading, Hydra has tourists year round and the weather there is more temperate compared to northern parts of Greece. And yes, we also were considering sicily, but we want to spend more time there and have nicer weather. I fear that Greece could also have inclinent weather, but having been there already, we felt that we could do a shorter trip there and deal with whatever life throws at us. It seems a shame to travel all the way to Israel for only a week. Having been there several times, we will use our time in Israel merely to see family. It is only about $100 to fly to Greece and it is quite close so we feel like we might as well take a few weeks.

Heimdal- we spent a day in beautiful Nafplio on our first trip to the Peloponnese, but a return could be a consideration as I don’t recall seeing much other than the waterfront and wandering the city for a short time.

Kja - yes, I have looked at climate charts. I was hoping to find someone here who has actually experienced winter time in the areas we are interested in seeing. Matt Barrett, the Greek guru seems to love Greece this time of year. I had previously enjoyed your trip report on Greece as I have all your other wonderful reports. Thanks for chiming in.

Heimdall

Dgunbug, you could also travel further south in the Peloponnese to Laconia and Messenia, which have milder weather and some interesting seaside towns and archeological sites. Here are some photos I took one year in mid-September:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/heimda...57627739427148

I haven't been to Monemvasia in Laconia, but I understand that would be another interesting place to visit.

dgunbug

We spent a memorable day in Monemvasia - loved it! Will look into other towns in that region. Thanks for suggestions.

kja

Although I can’t offer personal insights into visiting these areas in late Feb./early Mar., I can offer an illustrative story: On a recent thread about visiting Switzerland at a particular time of year, I noted that I had experienced an unexpected cold snap, with freezing temperatures, sleet, and snow; another Fodorite reported being in that same area during an unseasonably hot spell on essentially the same dates in another year. What we experienced was outside the “normal” climate range in each case. Planning based on either of our personal experiences would have proven wildly inaccurate. Planning with an eye to the climate data, with the understanding that conditions could deviate from the historic averages within some reasonable range defined by historic variance data, would have allowed preparation for either extreme reasonably well. Good luck!

dgunbug

Thanks Kja. You are so right. Being off season, we will not make advanced reservations, but will play it by ear, heading north if possible and altering plans if there is snow, which we read is not the norm for that time of year, but certainly a possibility, especially in the north.

kja

Is snow more common in Thessaloniki at that time than in Meteora? I would have thought that the water would exert a moderating effect, but I don't know, and timeanddate doesn't seem to offer snowfall data. You might want to check around a bit more.... I would guess that with it's university, Thessaloniki would be more lively at ANY time of year than Meteora.

clausar

There is a real winter in Greece, which is difficult to believe when one has only been to Greece in the summer..
Areas like Athens, coastal areas of Crete and the Peloponnese and most islands have a mild winter ( with North Aegean islands being the exception here).. while Central and Northern Greece have a cold winter with snow... ( minus 10 C is not uncommon in cities like Florina or Kastoria...)

February is usually a cold month and so is March, and it can snow in both Meteora or Thessaloniki, but that wouldn't create any problems, as both areas are prepared for snow

Meteora with snow, is simply spectacular !!!

dgunbug

Clausar- thanks for info. I remember once awakening at Bryce National Park, Utah to find snow coming down in April. Fortified with socks on our hands, we set out for a hike. We will be more prepared this time. Glad to know that they are prepared for snow at Meteora.

dgunbug

Clausar - What are road conditions between Thessaloniki and Meteora? Would we be better driving from Athens and skipping Thessaloniki on this trip?

julies

Hi from someone else from the Asia forum.

I am just going to throw out some other possibilities even though I admit I know nothing about their weather on March 1 (but from previous research I've done when we were thinking about these places I think it should be okay), nor do I know about airfares from Israel.

Malta, Morocco, Andalucia (we were there in the first half of March once and it was marvelous weather), Portugal, Venice, Cyprus, Madeira. Or, right in the area you will already be in--Egypt and Petra. And, I'd revisit the Sicily idea; this is supposed to be the beautiful wildflower season. We spent three weeks in Sicily, like it a lot, and didn't see it all.

Honestly, since you live in Florida, I would avoid any place with a real possibility of snow and real winter. As one who lives in that type of climate, it is not conducive to good vacationing and sightseeing. One May when we were in Greece, we got a fabulous last minute deal on a room in the Delphi area because it was off season in a ski resort area; you don't want to be in this kind of weather.

thursdaysd

I visited northern Greece towards the end of March in 2006. It was definitely chilly in the evenings, although the day time wasn't too bad. There was still a lot of snow at higher elevations. I would not consider going in February. I did not drive - I took the KTEL buses, which were excellent, and the train from Meteora to Athens.

Since you will be in Israel, why not visit Jordan and Lebanon, if you have not been already? Petra is just stunning and requires at least two full days.

mikeyobay

Hey there! I've been to Greece several times in several seasons. The winters are mild there. I wouldn't worry that much about the weather. The first sign of spring in Athens begins to appear in March, have in mind that the average high temperature this month raises three degrees Celsius (six degrees Fahrenheit) from February. and it is 12°C (54°F), while the average low is 8°C (46°F), and the average high is 16°C (61°F). So, if you are lucky you might get to see sunny days even off season! Hope you have a great time. Sight seeing is much better at that temperatures. Believe me, you wouldn't like it that much during August, too crowded and too hot

dgunbug

Thursday - we loved Petra which we visited on our last trip to Isreal, staying overnight in Jordan. We were lucky to get cool comfortable weather. Don’t think Lebanon is the safest place to travel to, so that and most other Middle East countries are off the table. We were happy to devote 31/2weeks to Turkey year’s ago, when we deemed it safer than now.

It seems the most sensible place, if we go to Greece again, would be to visit the Peloponnese and Athens, but we’ve already spent a good deal of time there. We will use that as a back up though if the weather is very bad and snowy. We are rethinking driving, but perhaps can take a train to Meteora from Thessaloniki
In order to avoid driving on ice or snow.

This will be one trip where we only book our first few nights since I think we will need maximum flexibility. Being off season, we should not have a problem. I have wracked my brain out for a more suitable place to visit, but have not come up with a better plan that suits us.

Julies - We considered Portugal, but the airfare and logistics make it ridiculous. I suggested Morocco to my husband but he does not like the political climate there. Quite frankly, I don’t like the political climate in my own country, but what can I do? Egypt, which I’d love to visit is also out for this reason. Ugh...

Mikyobay - our first trip to Greece was in mid March/early April and the weather was glorious its beautiful wild flowers. My man concern is the northern region, including Meteora which is where I most want to visit on this trip. Hopefully the gods will be good to us!

Than you all for your suggestions and comments.

thursdaysd

Have you considered Cyprus? The weather in Feb this year doesn't look bad.