This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t go to Greece. But travelling off-season and venturing deep into the highlands or the mainland will take you to a very different country than a summer trip to a popular spot. You’ll find pretty stone villages where innkeepers double as mountain guides, where what’s on the plate comes straight from the earth and you never have to make restaurant reservations. Mild weather makes for perfect walking or cycling conditions, and it’s still (just) warm enough to go wild swimming in the waterfalls of Zagori or the rivers of Arcadia. In Crete in the south, the sea is still warm, the sunbeds have been cleared from the beaches and you can pull up a chair at the village kafenio and drink raki with the locals.

Hotel prices drop significantly in October, though direct flights from the UK to islands such as Crete, Santorini and Corfu are less frequent. You may have to stay overnight in Athens (better make that two so you can dive into the city’s ever-evolving cultural and culinary scene). In any case, the lumbering old ferries are the best way to travel to the islands, especially in the quiet season — think of the journey as a slow cruise where you can hop off on a whim without having to plan ahead.

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1. Join the olive harvest at Corfu’s cool farm stay

Enjoy one of the communal meals at Dr Kavvadia’s farm stay

If you like your farm stays with designer credentials, then consider Dr Kavvadia — a rare find. Apostolos Porsanidis-Kavvadias swapped an international career as an industrial designer to become an organic olive farmer. His wife, Christina Martini, is the creative director and co-founder of the shoe brand Ancient Greek Sandals. They share their regenerative farm (a 20-minute drive from Corfu’s handsome Venetian capital) with their two kids, two dogs, dozens of cats and a coop of chickens. Occasionally guests also take up residence in two outhouses decorated with a deliciously offbeat mix of upcycled heirlooms and handmade objects. From early October to late November you can help harvest, press and bottle Dr Kavvadia’s extra virgin olive oil. It’s named after Apostolos’s grandfather, a surgeon who was obsessed with the healing powers of Greece’s “green gold”. After a few days among the olive groves, you will be too.

• Explore our full guide to Corfu

Time your stay to mingle with a cool local crowd at one of the communal dinners on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Chef Kostas Soueref works wonders with an outdoor wood-fired oven and whatever farm produce is at its peak. If you’re keen to dig deeper into Corfu’s culinary scene, Apostolos will direct you to offbeat tavernas such as Elizabeth’s in Doukades — renowned for its rooster pastitsada, the island’s slow-cooked stew with pasta, dished up in a delightfully retro dining room — and Botigis Grill House Taverna, a no-frills spot in Sinarades village, where the kontosouvli (spit-roast pork) has a cult following.
Details Five nights’ self-catering for four from £600 (drkavvadia.com). Fly to Corfu

2. Explore the modern culture of Athens

Athens is full of modern culture

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For the culturally curious, Athens is no longer a one-night stand — it’s a full-blown love affair. With its edgy performances, site-specific exhibitions and music festivals, the Onassis Foundation, a public benefit foundation that promotes Greek culture, has heavily influenced this transformation. In October, Onassis Ready — an arts venue in an old plastics factory in the scrappy industrial zone of Agios Ioannis Rentis — welcomes a retrospective of Juergen Teller’s intimate, unfiltered photography (onassis.org). Elsewhere, the Benaki Museum celebrates Dimitris Pikionis, whose inspired landscaping redefined the city’s relationship with the Acropolis, and the Museum of Cycladic Arts celebrates its 40th birthday with a new ancient-meets-modern space. Art Explora, the world’s first museum boat, will dock in the port of Piraeus for ten days, transforming the smoggy grit of Gate E8 into an unlikely platform for contemporary dance, sound installations, screenings and virtual reality exhibitions (October 3-12; artexplora.org/en).

• Read our full guide to Athens

The Athenian hotel scene is hotting up too. Ergon Bakehouse has opened with 29 deeply calming rooms in the 100-year-old mansion above its café and bakery, called 72h (B&B doubles from £220; houses.ergonfoods.com/rooms-bake-house). Queues for flaky feta pastries and gianduja babkas snake around the block at street level, but those in the know are on the rooftop tucking into sourdough flatbreads and schnitzel. The historic Athens Hilton will reopen in January 2026 as a Conrad. It will be the heart of the Ilisian, an ambitious multi-venue destination that has just launched an exclusive membership club, House of NYNN. Coming soon: hand-pulled soba and Japanese cocktails at Onuki, the first of nine restaurants opening on site.
Details B&B doubles from £220 (houses.ergonfoods.com/rooms-bake-house). Fly to Athens

Details Room-only doubles at Hilton Athens from £1,260 (hilton.com). Fly to Athens

3. Cycle around Spetses

Cars are banned on Spetses so explore by bike

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You literally have to slow down on Spetses: cars are banned. The best way to explore this lush, low-slung island is by bicycle. That doesn’t mean you have to don Lycra sportswear though — come for A Weekend in Tweed, an annual cycle ride on Spetses that takes place in mid-October. Inspired by London’s Tweed Run, the three-day event attracts vintage enthusiasts on classic bicycles, dressed to the nines in plus-fours, capes, cravats and flat caps. There are prizes for the most dashing outfits, so pack your well-pressed best. Fittingly, this retro affair is hosted by the Poseidonion, the only truly grand hotel on the Greek islands, which has dominated Spetses’s smart social scene since 1914. It was founded by Sotirios Anargyros, a tobacco tycoon who devoted the latter part of his life, and most of his fortune, to cultural revival and natural conservation: he bought and reforested about half of the island and left it to a charitable trust.

• Discover our full guide to Greece

Whatever the season, you can bike around the whole thing in a leisurely half-day, following a 16-mile coastal road flanked by fragrant pine forests and the shimmering Argosaronic Gulf. More challenging mountain bike trails take you into the rarely visited heartland. From the saddle, you can peer over the walls of magnificent 19th-century mansions built by local shipping magnates. Stop for a coffee in the enchanting gardens of Anargyrios College, a former boarding school modelled on Eton, where John Fowles found inspiration for The Magus. Cool off at Zogeria or Agioi Anargiri, two of many pine-fringed pebble beaches en route. The taverna and beach bar will probably be closed in October, but the Poseidonion will deliver a gourmet picnic basket to your favourite beach. The island is two hours by ferry from Athens.
Details Two nights’ B&B from £380, including bike rental, picnic and 20 per cent discount at the hotel spa (poseidonion.com) Fly to Athens, then take the ferry to Spetses

4. Leave a light footprint in Zagori

Vikos Gorge is one of Europe’s deepest

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Although it was designated a Unesco world heritage site in 2023 for its outstanding natural beauty — the first Greek cultural landscape to receive this accolade — Zagori remains curiously, delightfully under the radar. Way up in the Epirus mountains of northwest Greece, bisected by towering canyons and ice-cold rivers connected by arched stone bridges, Zagori offers respite from Greece’s crowded beaches and searing temperatures in summer. But autumn is the optimum time to hit the 200-year-old stone-paved trails, as the oak and beech leaves turn, wild mushrooms for pies and pilafs appear after the first rains, and fireplaces are lit in snug stone lodges scattered among the region’s 26 villages. Construction is not permitted anywhere between those villages — apart from the occasional monastery carved into a cliff face — leaving nature to reign supreme.

If you plan to tackle the Vikos Gorge, one of Europe’s deepest, base yourself at Aristi Mountain Resort, an eco-lodge with sustainability built into every aspect of its operations. It’s more like a self-contained village, with 26 rooms, suites and villas made of stone and wood tucked into the slopes. All have balconies with canyon and mountain views, but the huge flagstone terrace at Salvia restaurant redefines the notion of “elevated dining”. There’s a fire pit for chillier evenings and ingredients are locally sourced or grown in Aristi’s greenhouse and organic gardens. Hilopites (local tagliatelle) tossed with goat in lemon sauce and custardy, syrupy galaktoboureko pie are just the ticket after an exhilarating day of trekking, river rafting or canyoneering.
Details B&B doubles from £118 (aristi.eu/en). Fly to Preveza (until October) or Thessaloniki

• 25 of Greece’s best secret towns and villages for summer

5. Go off-grid on Crete

Arosmari is in the village of Vamos

In the early 1980s two Cretan friends took it upon themselves to transform Milia, an abandoned 16th-century hamlet in the foothills of the island’s White Mountains, into Greece’s first eco-lodge. It took 12 years to fulfil their dream. Using nothing but local materials and stacks of grit, they restored the sturdy shepherd’s huts and decorated them with hand-carved furniture and hand-woven textiles. Surrounded by dense chestnut forests, which are criss-crossed by six waymarked walking trails, the lodge is powered by solar panels and heated with wood-burning stoves. Natural spring water is pumped in and wastewater is filtered with zero energy consumption. Times have changed — there’s wi-fi now, and the locavore restaurant is more refined — but Milia has preserved its rustic authenticity. In late October the chestnut festival takes place in nearby Elos village. It’s also the season of raki distillation, when locals open their doors to share this fiery Cretan spirit with strangers. There are plenty of activities to keep kids off screens too, from botanical walks to bread-making and milking the goats.

If you can’t live without air con or a TV (and can’t stand holidaying with other people’s children), check into adults-only Arosmari instead. In the village of Vamos, where shepherds still herd their sheep along the flagstone lanes and goats occasionally amble between the olive groves, this cluster of ten cottages comes with a large communal pool, hammam and treatment room. Vamos, another early pioneer of sustainable and alternative tourism, is a lively village full of excellent tavernas (try Manolis and Sterna of Bloumosifis), farm shops selling artisan cheese, olive oil and honey, and hospitable year-round residents.
Details B&B doubles at Milia from £91 (milia.gr). Fly to Chania

Details Seven nights’ B&B at Arosmari from £1,229pp, including flights and car hire (simpsontravel.com)

6. Off-season Santorini for less

Vedema Resort is an elegant base from which to explore Santorini

After an unsettling earthquake swarm last winter, Santorini had a rocky summer season: in the first half of 2025, visitor numbers fell by 19 per cent compared with last year (the Greek Tourism Confederation predicts the year-end decline will be 10-15 per cent). That could be good news for an island that has been grappling with the consequences of overtourism. Notoriously expensive, Santorini’s pin-up resorts are more affordable in shoulder season and, unlike on most Greek islands, most hotels stay open until the end of October or into November. At the Perivolas hotel — usually reserved for a once-in-a-lifetime honeymoon splurge — the domed, sexy yposkafa (“cave houses”) are 25 per cent cheaper in October than in August. Cascading down the cliffside on the edge of Oia, Perivolas is far removed from the throngs of sunset-seekers who descend on the other end of the village.

Occasional cloudy autumn days only make those world-famous sunsets more dramatic. You don’t go to Santorini for the beaches anyway. You go for the views, the villages and the volcanic wine. For winery tours and tastings as well as lovely rooms, Vedema makes an elegant base in the medieval village of Megalochori (closing October 22). Built around a 400-year-old winery, most of the 74 suites and villas overlook the surrounding vineyards. Another excellent reason to go to Santorini now is the exhibition Kykladitisses, Untold Stories of Women in the Cyclades, featuring 180 masterpieces from across the Cyclades, on show until October 31 at the newly restored Archaeological Museum of Thera. Figurines, frescoes, engravings and icons shed new light on the role of women in these insular societies from prehistory until the 19th century (£8.70; archaeologicalmuseums.gr).
Details B&B doubles at Perivolas from £361, including transfers (perivolas.gr). Fly to Santorini

Details B&B doubles at Vedema from £224 (vedema.gr). Fly to Santorini

• Read our full guide to Santorini

7. Discover the pastoral pleasures of Arcadia

The village of Arcadia in the Peloponnese

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Arcadia is not just an ideal — it’s an actual place in the Peloponnese, an hour’s drive from Kalamata (about two hours from Athens); an unspoilt wilderness of fir forests, mountain villages and racing rivers that has been considered an earthly paradise since antiquity. The hotel Manna, a former sanatorium deep in the woods, is an opportunity to put the Arcadian pursuit of living in harmony with nature into practice. There’s morning yoga by the lily pond, horseback meditation, forest bathing and a sauna hidden among the trees. Mountain rangers will take you foraging for truffles and mushrooms (and make sure that you don’t run into any wild boar), then you can cook your harvest over an open fire. At night the silence is immense and the stars are infinite.

If you’d rather immerse yourself in the healing properties of nature from the comfort of the spa, there are grounding treatments, herbal tea ceremonies and restorative facials. But it would be foolish to miss the amazing opportunities for outdoor adventure: an invigorating hike along the 45-mile Menalon Trail; a soulful pilgrimage to the remote Byzantine monasteries of Prodromos and Philosophos; or a baptismal plunge in the Lousios River, where baby Zeus was said to have been bathed by nymphs. Nature’s bounty is also good for sustenance: free-range lamb chops, grilled peppers and spicy baked feta all come from the family farm at Iosif Tavern, a “butcher-tavern” in Magouliana. Wild boar comes with fresh pasta with burnt butter and sides of foraged greens and mushrooms at Zerzova in Panagia, a humble farm-to-table taverna that attracts Greek gourmets from hundreds of miles away.
Details B&B doubles from £260 (mannaarcadia.gr). Fly to Athens or Kalamata

8. Take a grand tour of classical Greece

The ruins of the Temple of Athena Pronaia in Delphi

ALAMY

Fancy a road trip around Greece but not sure where to start (or stop)? Back to the Routes is a brilliant tour operator and travel app that takes you on a personalised journey to both the greatest hits and least travelled corners of the country. Co-founders Danae Kousouri, a tour guide, and Tina Kyriaki, who also dreamt up the excellent city tour service Alternative Athens, were inspired by family road trips as kids to create a digital “treasure map of Greece” loaded with wonderful stories, people and places. Their service also takes the hassle out of trip-planning: Kousouri and Kyriaki will sort out car hire, book accommodation at independent inns, provide expert audio guides at every attraction and detailed navigation to avoid backseat squabbles. You can customise your itinerary with optional stops at locals-only tavernas, artisans’ workshops and offbeat activities.

Start with the Grand Road Trip of Classical Greece, a five-day itinerary covering about 800 miles and thousands of years of history — a cross-country journey from Athens, heading south to the Peloponnese then looping back up to Thessaly in central Greece.

Explore one awe-inspiring landmark after another at your own pace: ancient Olympia, Epidaurus, Delphi and the cliff-hanging monasteries of Meteora. Pause at pretty seaside towns such as Nafpaktos and Galaxidi or veer well off the beaten path into the Koziakas and Pindos mountain ranges. Stay in a converted wine silo or a 200-year-old family house, swim at the delta of three rivers and hike to a hidden monastery with 13 domes. This truly is classical Greece, but you won’t find it in any standard guidebooks.
Details Four nights’ B&B for two from £1,026, including five days’ car hire, audio guide, activities (alternativeathens.com). Fly to Athens