Winter in Athens is also a great time to check out lesser-known museums, tune up your Instagram or warm up in a luxe Turkish bath. In the peak summer season, major attractions in Athens such as the Acropolis Museum are more crowded than in wintertime, when on many days you'll have even iconic places like the Acropolis largely to yourself. Both are destinations in their own right and for culture vultures there is really no bad time to go. The two biggest cities in Greece are the capital, Athens, and Thessaloniki. In Crete, the southernmost Greek island, you can go swimming well into October. September has lots of advantages (namely: fewer tourists), but the days are still long and warm and better yet, it's less humid than in July and August.

August, naturally, means great beach weather, and if you like your big cities to yourself then it's also a fine time for Athens, as most Athenians ditch the capital. July is when things get toasty and sometimes uncomfortably humid in Athens, and the city is crowded with tourists then, too. By June, the beaches of the Aegean islands are warm enough for swimming and popular islands like Mykonos aren't crowded yet. Plenty of sunny days that aren't too hot make May an ideal time for long, leisurely walks in Athens. Generally, the best weather in Greece is what you'll experience in May, June and September.

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