Want to be Adventurous and Surprise Your Friends? Consider Athens and Crete, Greece for that Winter Break!

Mention Greece and the Greek Islands and most will think of hot summer days basking on a sun bed by the pool or on a beach by a sparkling turquoise sea, few would imagine such a destination for the winter traveller who would think Canary Islands or North Africa at least! So how many people do you know who can say they have been to Crete in the middle of winter?
Crete, however, is one of the Greek Islands that still receives visitors during the winter months, from cruise ships that stop for the day in Heraklion, and from visitors arriving by air or ferry to stay at one of the time-share hotels, or who just like to come to Crete during the winter months. And with a permanent population in excess of 500,000 people, (and several million olive trees!), Crete has more places open to eat, drink, and be merry, than other Greek island during the winter months.
So what does Crete have to offer during this off peak period particularly for the gay or lesbian traveller?
As you will have read elsewhere no doubt, there is not a large gay scene on Crete, but of course there are some of us that live here all year round, both Greek and foreign, but for many gay travellers their visit to Crete is not centred around gay nightlife, but around visiting the island itself and to explore the archaeology on the island. Yes, Eros Bar in Malia is open during the winter at weekends and also Villa Ralfa, the only proclaimed gay accommodation on Crete, is open for most of the winter (we do like to go on holidays ourselves sometimes!).
One ‘barrier’ to visitors during the winter months is getting here, but this is not as difficult as it sounds as transport links with Athens are available all year round not only by air, but by ferry as well, and Athens is well served by air links around Europe and indeed, worldwide, all year round, so why not a winter break in Athens with a side trip to Crete for a weekend. Time enough to see Knossos, the museums, (which stay open all year round), drive around the island at leisure, view some of the sights, enjoy some famous Cretan hospitality, and some Cretan food!
So where to start?
A good place to start is at the Athens International Airport web site. From here you can see which destinations/air lines fly in and out of Greece. Then you can visit the relevant air line web site and book your ticket on line. Yes, it really is that simple! No more queuing in travel agents and being sent somewhere that THEY want you to go rather than where YOU want to go, no more fruitless searching on travel web sites looking for dates that don’t exist!
On the link at the end of this article you will find the links to some of the relevant web sites.
But for instance, did you know that there are three Greek airlines that fly in and out of the UK everyday with scheduled flights from various airports? And then there is Easyjet as well from Luton and Gatwick. As an example Aegean Airlines are offering flights from London Heathrow through to Crete via Athens from €120 plus taxes, and Easyjet have return flights to Athens in December and January for around €120 return including taxes. Even Birmingham and Manchester are served with flights to Athens in winter and one thing is virtually guaranteed – Even if it rains, Athens and Crete will be warmer than Northern Europe!
Even if you are not in the UK you can find airlines that fly to Athens during the winter months!
And if you fancy a bit of cruising, fly to Athens, and then take the overnight ferry from Piraeus to Heraklion, about €70 return plus a cabin if you want one.
So what will the weather be like? Well from experience as I live on Crete, I can tell you that very often up until Christmas you can get day time temperatures up in the mid 20’s. After then it can be cooler and often in February we can have three or four days when it is only 8C day and night. Yes, we get rain and very heavy rain at that, but in return you get to see Crete when it is green, and even on the shortest days the clarity of light is a delight for photographers and painters, none of the grey overcast light when at 3pm it cannot decide if it is day or night! You can check the weather for yourself through the link at the end of the article. And it is not an unusual sight to see snow on the mountains a few kilometres from the beach, a source of wonder for many winter visitors who thought we bathed in eternal sunshine. To put this into a little more perspective Crete is slightly south of the state of Colorado in the USA! Even in Athens which is to the north can be gloriously sunny in mid-January; I stay there for a few days every year and have only experienced heavy rain for half a day two years ago.
So what can we do when it rains? Summer visitors will know that activities on Crete revolve around the beach and the pool, but of course, at Villa Ralfa we are here all year round so we have books, games, and other indoor entertainment, TV and DVD players, and you are welcome to sit in front of the big log fire that we have most days and sip a glass of sherry before you head off out for something to eat.
And what can you do on Crete? Well we are talking a relatively short stay, although we do get visitors who come for all of the winter. So you can visit the main archaeological site at Knossos, the museums are also open (ideal for the rainy days), and with the aid of a rental car you can get away from it all up into the hills and watch for the vultures, and stop for lunch (sometimes only €14 for two) at many of the small tavernas that are open for us locals. If you are here at the right time you can watch the olives being picked, but forget romantic notions as this is highly mechanised process these days. Evenings you can find bars and restaurants that are open, mostly serving good Greek food, but forget about moussaka, you rarely see it on the menu in a ‘meze house’! Above all you can RELAX.
So be the intrepid traveller and think about Athens and Crete as a winter destination, you friends will be surprised when you tell them where you have been.
For more information and links to relevant web sites visit http://www.villaralfa.com/winter.html where you will also find details of our winter special weekend which includes breakfast and one evening meal.