Best Time to Visit Athens Greece
Introduction
Best Time to Visit Athens Greece – Most people tend to agree that the best time to visit Athens is during the spring and autumn months. That doesn’t mean that you can’t visit at other times though. There’s always something to see and do in Athens! Athens city has certain rhythms when it comes to tourists visiting. The summer months are by far the busiest, and the winter months much quieter. That doesn’t necessarily make the summer the best time to visit Athens though. It can be insanely hot, especially in August in Athens! That said, because many Athenians leave for the islands in August, it can be a more peaceful month to visit the city. There are a lot of factors involved in choosing when to visit Athens!
Athens in December – January- February
Christmas is thankfully a lot lower key when compared with the UK or USA. The absence of German style Christmas Markets perhaps doesn’t make Athens a prime destination in December. Athens neither doesn’t really go full in to New Year celebration mode on a scale seen in London, but there is a certain majesty in seeing the firework display near the Acropolis. For the rest of the month, you can expect a quieter city with mixed unpredictable weather. This is the best time to visit Athens for accommodation in terms of value for money. Any of the good hotels near the Acropolis will be cheaper at this time of year compared to later. The archaeological spaces of Ancient Athens have shorter opening hours. Don’t bet on the weather being consistently good – anything can happen!
Athens in March – April – May – June
These months would be a perfect period to visit Athens, apart from one period : Easter. Easter is a big thing in Greece, and people often take a week off to spend time with families. As such, airfares may be higher, and businesses may be closed. On the positive side, you would get to experience a Greek Easter! (Read our article Easter in Greece) Our advice gere would be to find out when the Greek Orthodox Easter is for the year you plan to visit, and try to avoid it if you can. (Unless you specifically want to travel to Greece just for that). In terms of weather, this period is the best time to visit Athens. Whilst sometimes it can be occasional chilly (15 degrees) or rainy day, you are most likely to enjoy comfortably warm weather. It is at this time that the cruise ships also start to arrive in Athens, bumping up the number of visitors considerably.
Athens in July – August – September
July is starting to be peak season for Athens and Greece in general. You can expect tourist numbers to be a lot higher at this time of year. Prices for flights and accommodation will also start reaching their peak. Reserving accommodation in Athens ahead of time is strongly recommended. I don’t really consider this to be the best time to visit Athens due to the heat in the city. August is a great month to spend in Athens. Whilst the amount of tourists remains at a reasonably high, most Athenians use this month to take a two week vacation. It feels like the city virtually empties. But it is extremely hot. September is the best for Summer time period. You can expect for many events, a wonderful creative vibe, full moon concerts at the Herodion and great weather.
Athens in October-November
October narrowly misses out on being the best time to visit Athens, because the weather starts to become less predictable. Sure, there can be some lovely warm days, but those rain clouds start to drift in over the mountains from time to time. It is around this time of year, that the archaeological spaces go on to ‘winter opening hours’. Many of them will close at 15.00.
