Greece for HM?

[janinegirly]

for those who chose Greece for their honeymoon, I have a few questions since this is one of our top contenders:

-what''s the weather like in traditional colder months (Sept, Oct, Nov)?

-is there good value for $? is the currency euro?

-what made you choose greece over the more exotic locations (Tahiti,carribbean,etc)?

-are you combining the islands with any other major cities etc?

thanks girls!!

 

[eleguin]

We are going to Greece this september for our honeymoon (9/9 to 9/23), flying from NY. I hear the weather is warm that time of the year, not too hot and not cold. For our HM, we were looking for a place that had lots of ocean and beautiful scenery, but not "beachy." While we love the water, we are not sit-on-the-beach-and-lounge type of people. We didn''t want a popular HM place (such as Hawaii or Tahiti), although I think Greece is becoming more and more popular nowadays. Also, we didn''t want to spend a full two weeks in one place, so seeing as Greece has so many islands, we thought it was perfect for us! We are going to 3 islands (Santorini, Mykonos and Crete) with two days in Athens.

 

[bee*]

Hey janine, I havent been there on my honeymoon, but Ive been there a couple of times. The weather is lovely around that time of year. I wasnt out on the islands, but Ive travelled around the whole country. Its a beautiful place, with lots to see and do. The currency is euro so it will be reasonably pricey there is you are changing from the dollar. I found it reasonbly priced compared to Ireland, where I live.

 

[janinegirly]

thanks bee..what would you say are the temps for fall (sept / oct)..

 

[TravelingGal]

Janinegirly, you can search the web for temp averages that time of year. I think the crazy winds pick up during summer and should be OK by then. One thing to keep in mind a lot on the islands shutter up a bit in the offseason. The season is usually around easter to sometime in October. So if you are thinking Oct/Nov for any reason, just make sure to double check some things and do your research.

Personally I liked Greece (the limited places I''ve been), but I would not choose it for my honeymoon.

 

[firebirdgold]

We'll be going to Greece for our delayed honeymoon, probably a year and a half after our marriage. (finances and time off issues).
We went to Rhodes last year for a conference in April and just fell in love with it! We can't wait to go back to greece! We'll start at athens for the museums and the acropolis and then move on to the islands. I personally think it's the islands that make Greece so special. They're beautiful, relaxed, friendly, and just generally very special.

We found that food, travel, and souvenir expenses were reasonable even with the exchange rate. Gas is very expensive, but we rented such a tiny car that it barely used any gas at all!

The most expensive part was the hotel, partic in light of the different standards of room quality between USA and Greece. It was a swanky hotel with good frommer reviews, but the rooms were like motel 6... worse than motel 6 actually, and over $200 a night! The nearby hilton was apparently not as bad, so you'll need to be careful when picking hotels. I'd go for either international americanized hotels or with b&b's with good reviews. Check out tripadvisor.com
Oh, and speaking of being careful when booking a hotel.... apparently a double literally means a double... we had two single beds pushed together. Not terribly romantic. Americans are just so used to queens being the smallest size in a hotel room.

ETA: oh, and the currency is Euro. Apparently each country has their own euro coins just to make them feel better, so it was fun to see how many countries we could collect.

 

[bee*]

Yeah we all got our own euro coins-some are cooler than others-the irish one just has a harp on it. I cant remember what the exact temp was but it was a good bit warmer than Ireland-which isnt saying much. It was sunny every day-warm enough to wear shorts and skirts.

 

[Pandora II]

Most places in Europe outside the UK and Ireland seem to go for the 2 beds pushed together. It drove me mad when I lived in Italy till Ikea got there - you couldn''t easily get double beds for your house!

Weather in late Sept/October can be very variable - my prediction would be warm enough to wear a t-shirt during the day, but you''ll want a warm jumper in the evenings. Bring rainwear too.

Personally, I''m not fussed on Greece I''m afraid - certainly wouldn''t go back and neither would FI (we weren''t there together). Italy and Croatia are so much nicer.

 

[Independent Gal]

This may sound odd, but if you''re thinking Greece... have you considered Turkey instead? It''s right next door (only a few miles from some of the Greek Islands...so you can actually do both). You''ll get MUCH BETTER value for money, and there are almost no tourists if you step outside of the resorts. But at the resorts there are gorgeous beaches, the same warm water in teh same sea as you''d get in Greece etc. Turkey''s got incredible ruins which are often deserted (imagine wandering through ancient Pergamon or Troy just you and your honey!), wild landscapes, all the history, culture, and gorgeous architecture you could desire, one of the best cuisines in the world, and it''s not something that ''everyone does''.

Turkey is so amazing. Highly recommended.

 

[Pandora II]

Oooooh yes, Turkey is amazing. I spent New Year in Instanbul in 2001 and it was magical. There are some fabulous hotels, loads of really good museum and food was great. The beach resorts are also beautiful and the people really friendly.

I know some people are worried about terrorism in some places, but really it isn''t that big a worry. London has been bombed by various groups over the last 15 years - we still live here, work here etc. I spent many years living in Belfast at the height of the troubles and still had a social life and lots of fun. Obviously you don''t take unnecessary risks and I wouldn''t advise Baghdad as a destination right now, but lots of places are safe depending on where you go. FI and I are planning on going to Sri Lanka for our honeymoon - I have lots of friends from there and I''m not worried at all - although I don''t think I''ll be visiting the NE of the island unless I have to!

 

[Independent Gal]

Yes, so long as you''re not going to the far east of Turkey, it''s actually WAY safer than say, going to London or Paris. I don''t think terrorism is a particular concern, and violent crime is almost non-existent. And I agree with Pandora that people were incredibly friendly. Everywhere I went I was shown tremendous kindness and hospitality. I''ve been to dozens of countries, and Turkey sticks out as a particularly special place.