Greek Islands in Jan

If you want to experience REAL island life then you'll find it in January for sure. The locals will be going about their daily business, only a few hotels and restaurants will have remained open, most shops selling Greek art and souveniers will have been closed since November. There will be little if any nightlife since it mostly targets the tourist population and there won't be many tourists there. It will be very quiet. Archaeological sites and museums will be closed. The water will be too cold for swimming and the sun will be low in the sky. It will still be sunny a lot of the time but expect cold winds and perhaps some rain, or at least some overcast skies. It's impossible to predict.

With these kinds of questions: think about your home town. Does it close in the winter? Greece isn't a tourist resort. People live there. If you do go to a 'resort', yes it will be closed. Other than that, life as usual. Just pick a destination with a decent-sized permanent local population. What is open for business depends on how much business there is. And Greeks like to eat out so there are always restaurants open -- again, how many depends on the demand.

Just be clear about where you want to go and why. For most tourists, visiting an island means sun and sea and nightlife, and none of these activities are really 'on' for the smaller islands, which does not leave you with much to do ... except hike, admire the scenery, visit local attractions (if any), or just get into the very slow and quiet island life. Anyway, don't go to a smaller Greek island if what you're fantasizing about is a summer vacation scenario. Better to go to a larger island such as Crete.

Temperatures are not likely to get above 15 celcius as an average, and you should be prepared for days with temperatures below 10 celcius.

Sorry, #1, but you're wrong (or perhaps forgetful?) when you say that archaeological sites and museums will be closed. Most if not all will be open except for special holidays. However, opening times will be reduced. Even Santorini, where I covered all the sites one week in January.

Thanks for the clarification about archaeological sites. I stand corrected.

Why the Greek Islands when there is so much to see on the mainland? From reading many of his posts I know oldpro loves the islands off-season when all the tourists are gone, but most people go there for warm sunshine and beaches. Because of its hot summers many people think of Greece as a tropical destination, but that isn't the case. It is even possible to experience snow on the islands in January and February, as happened in the Cyclades and Crete a few years ago.

Suggest you either concentrate on the mainland, where there is more to do in winter, or wait until spring to visit the islands.

Word of warning. My friend's husband who is Cretan but had lived in London for the last 10-15 years or so, visiting his home, on average, every couple of years to see his mother/sisters, etc, decided they should go back there to live. He went on a "research trip" one March to see if he could find a house/place to live. The weather, when he arrived, was overcast and grey and he became so very depressed that after 2 or 3 weeks he gave up their long-held plan to move back to Crete and said he couldn't contemplate it so they moved to the countryside in the UK instead.

I think I agree with Thrym. I've been to islands off season and I would prefer the mainland.

#4 and #5 The mainland weather will never be better on average than the southern islands (and, statistically, weather IS better ie warmer & dryer, the more south and east you move). There is no logic to preferring the mainland to the islands based on weather criteria, and certainly no logic to basing arguments on isolated episodes. A person can 'prove' any point of view with that sort of reasoning.

#5 ... a single story about one's person's decision-making process at a certain period of time just does not make any sense as a warning. Again, where is the logic to it if some cloudy weather on Crete is used as a reason for preferring England and English weather?

I think the OP should worry less about the weather in general, because anything that the weather will permit on the mainland is most likely also be true for anywhere else -- so the weather issue essentially cancels out.

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<hr>Why the Greek Islands when there is so much to see on the mainland?<hr></blockquote>
...perhaps because someone wants to visit?

Things to do -- or, more accurately, the things that a person wants to do -- is quite a different matter, as I thought I had stated clearly enough in #2. (As you should have noticed by now, I do not make recommendations based on personal preferences, but based on information about places -- I can easily suggest Ios high season partying to someone if I know that's what they want, irrespective of the fact that I personally do not prefer such a place, time, and activity).

Care should be taken in making generalizations. There may be more to do on the mainland than some randomly selected cycladic island, but not more than a larger island such as Crete (subject to duration of trip and 2-3 other variables I can think of). And it still comes down to the trip a person has in mind, what sorts of activities they contemplate, etc etc. The OP's focus ought to be on that...and I'll wait until the OP makes a provisional choice of destinations and activities, and then the suggestions can start flowing in...

#2 many islands are "resort islands' that are desolate during winter - most of the Cyclades with the exception of Naxos and Syros [possibly Santorini..some hotels do remain open].
I would suggest certain islands, for example Crete, Rhodes, Naxos, Syros and Corfu.

These islands do have stable ferry connections with large vessels to the mainland links via air.

Regarding temperatures, the smaller islands may have the same degree of temperature, but the level of humidity is increased, which does make it exceptionally cold, regardless of specific temps-

Another factor to consider are the constant weather bans during winter. Again if you travel to a an island with air connections via larger more stable planes, then this is not an issue. However, many islands during the winter season can experience periods of isolation because of rare or difficult connections which are hampered by bad weather conditions,.

Oldpro, I never said one should choose the mainland on weather criteria, and I do agree with what you said in #6. My point was that there is more to do and see on the mainland that doesn't depend upon weather.

"Why the Greek Islands when there is so much to see on the mainland?" Perhaps the OP would like to answer that question - that's why I asked.

I disagree that the 'weather criteria' - is not an issue with regard to mainland versus islands for one basic reason - an island stay [with exceptions to very few islands] is weather permitting - weather bans for ferries are common in winter, and sometimes even flights are affected.
On the other hand, due to rural tourist developments in the last 10 yrs as a result of govt subsidies, mainland rural tourism has escalated, upgrading many parts of the Greek countryside and incorporating many forms of tourism such as agrotourism, ecotourism, alternative tourism etc., offering many interesting options for tourism in addition to those already prevalant.