Traveling to Greece from US in off season (November) – tips and lessons learnt

 

When we planned our trip in November Thanksgiving week, I was looking up the web for advice on what to expect from a trip there during the off season.

Pros:

Lower prices: As found in all search results, the expenses are very low compared to the peak season. Airbnb’s and hotels are much cheaper, so you save a lot.

Weather: Summer is pretty hot and humid, so that distress was not there during this November. To our surprise, weather was in 70s which was unexpected for us. We assumed it will be cold and packed more of the warm clothes.

No crowds: You can enjoy the quiet. Santorini had very few people we would bump into. Mykonos had much lesser than that. Athens will always be busy and crowded.

Cons: When I read about ‘not everything is operational during off season’, I did not understand the impact. But after traveling, I realize the impact now. 

a)      So, this means that there are no excursions available. The catamaran tours and such won’t be operational, so you are on your own in planning your activities. 

b)      Very few options for restaurants – you got to pick and choose from whatever is not closed for the winter. Google does not show the season closures, so we had to sometimes call restaurants directly to check if they are open.

c) There are hardly any taxis or Ubers operating due to off season in Santorini and Mykonos.

Santorini:

 When we were in Santorini, we stayed in a Cave house in the Oia. Oia had some restaurants open and there was some life still prevailing. The beauty of this place can be enjoyed in off season also. But when we went outside in the Santorini Island, you can see many restaurants have been shut down completely. I wonder where the people who own these shops go during off season. The answer I got was they probably are in a holiday or spending these months in Athens.

 

Should I rent a car in Santorini

If you are planning to stay in one place and move about closer to it by walk, you are good. If you want to explore the island, you MUST have a rental car – especially in off season. We were able to drive around and stop at different spots and enjoy the scenery only because we had a car at our disposal.

 

Pros of traveling in off season was that we had no trouble finding parking, which I am told will NEVER happen in peak season.

 

How many days is enough in Santorini

I felt 3 days was more than enough to explore Santorini and I was ready to go to the next place.

 

Attractions we visited: Sunset at Caldera, Órmos Ammoúdi , Akrotiri Prehistoric City (we drove there, but did not care step out to see the ruins), the Red Beach, The Black Beach.

 

We did the Oia to Fira hike which is super a long hike but lets you see the whole island from up above.

Mykonos:

 

This is such a small place to explore and in off season, there isn’t much to it at all. Had we seen a clear advice online, we would have totally skipped the trip to Mykonos. I believe in summer, it is beaming with all the people and lively – it is known to be the place to party, but all we got was a harbor front with 4 or 5 restaurants open.

 

We rented a car only to find out that we cannot drive into many small roads and so cannot park next to where we lived. We had to park in a public parking and wheel our luggage for 10 min to get to our Airbnb.

 

How many days is enough in Mykonos?

 

We spent 2 days in November and since there was not much happening there, we felt this was enough. I am curious how the experience will be in spring or summer.

 

Attractions we visited: Windmills Little Venice, Chora neighborhood, Paraportiani Church. We drove to Ano Mera village and roamed, but there is not much to it.

 

Athens:

We stayed in the city in a hotel – a change from the Airbnb’s in Santorini and Mykonos. The best part was the proximity to all attractions and a million restaurant options around us. There is no need to rent a car if you are only concentrating on the historic monuments (Acropolis, Temple of Zeus etc.). Parking and driving in Athens will be a pain, so you are better off walking around or making Ubering or getting a taxi. It reminded me of New York City overall.

 

How many days is enough in Athens?

 

2 nights is probably enough to explore the main attractions in the city. Of course, if you have longer, you can explore more and I feel you can keep finding places to visit around here because it is rich in history and heritage.

Attractions we visited in Athens: Parthenon, Acropolis, Acropolis Museum,  Philopappos Monument on the Philopappos Hill,

 

Hope this helps overall if you are planning a Greece trip in off season.