I realise that this is planning well in advance but we need to fit into school holiday times for our travels. I also know that there are no guarantees as to weather. Nonetheless I am interested in opinions as to the best month to travel to Greece (predominantly the north): April; July; or September.

Best in terms of weather, crowds, transport availability, etc.

We like easy hiking, beaches and sightseeing but will obviously adapt according to the season. On holidays, we tend to spend much more time outdoors than in. We like it to be warm but don't especially like it to be too hot if we are active. I've checked wunderground.com and it appears that July would be the hottest of these three months. I have spent months in Greece before but never at these times and not recently. I remember how beautiful the spring flowers were and would love to see them again.

Your thoughts please?

Well,, Planning is the most important part of any travel

Well Travelling to Greece nowadays is not such a wise option as the tourism is going substantially low due to its financial crisis.

Alistarj80
It is better not to say anything if you are not informed about the current situation.

Please tell me why you are advising the OP not to travel to Greece.
Here is what you should know :

After the Greek elections , bookings are booming again for Greece, there is an increase between 10 and 20% depending on the destination.
Experts are predicting that Greece will reach 16 Million visitors for 2012, which is close to the number of 2011.

Have a look at the following you tube video produced by the Region of Crete, this is what to expect when visiting Greece during the crisis....

A very good answer to all the ignorant posters !!!!!

forgot the link :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oj06RMIo_Cc

Clausar, clever video.

We visited Naxos last year in Sept and it was perfect! It was hot, but the sea was warm for swimming and the days were sunny!

Alistar - that is such a ridiculout comment! We heading to Greece for two weeks next weekend and cannot wait!

I was in Greece in May and I think now is a great time to visit Greece -- just because some people like Alistar are avoiding it. We didn't have any problems; in fact had a great time.

All those months are good for Greece. April for the longer days and the flowers, September for the still warm water for swimming. Both of these are shoulder season so less busy. July is part of the high season, so everything's open. On the islands, the tourist season is shorter. Restaurants and hotels start to open in April and start to close the end of September.

You don't need to take in account the Orthodox Easter (May 5 in 2013) unless you're in Greece at the very end of April.

Hi

September is a good time to go. Fantastic weather. In April ferries are less frequent and more susceptible to cancellations due to the weather.

Go,Greece needs tourism more than ever now!

i love that everyone is agreeing sept is a good time to go..i booked a two week holiday in sept and it will be my first time going in sept, as i usually go in the busier time of june-aug. looking forward to a quieter holiday, still with lots of sun and warm waters

Of the three months you specified, my preference would be September, but does that fit in with school holiday times for you? July is hot, and getting into the peak tourist season, but that may not be such an issue for northern Greece as it would be for southern Greece and the islands. April (Easter vacation?) would be great for hiking, sightseeing, and spring flowers, but too early for beaches.

And yes, Alistarj80, that was indeed an ignorant and ill informed comment. This has been a great year for tourism in Greece, and if anything, the lower € exchange rate has been beneficial to visitors from outside the eurozone.

Thank you everyone for your advice. Looks like September gets the vote but none would be a bad choice. Pity it's such a long way off!

I agree with everyone else that September would be the best of the three choices for a visit.

We had a wonderful - as usual - visit to Greece again in June, and this was right BEFORE the elections. Greece is one of my favorite destinations in Europe.

September-The water is warm-we have been in april/May & Sept .
After Labor Day the crouds are a little less. Need to go back to Greece

Note that BeniciaChris is referring to US Labor Day, the first Monday in September. Greek Labor Day is May 1st. ;-)