Best time of the year for Europe (Eastern Med.) ?

[dv71617]

We're planning our first trip to Europe (eastern med) and wonder what is the best time to get there. We're looking at late august or early september. Is it a good choice ? We liked hot temperature, good for beach tour and also for sigthseeing.

Any other suggestions/time of the year ?

[Essiesmom]

Hot for a Canadian may not be quite as hot as you will find in the eastern Med. in late August (or July). Think 90's and very humid. Best times for the Med. are late Spring, and fall.

Beaches in the Med. are not the nice sandy ones you find in the Caribbean. Unless you are traveling with children or are 'ruinsed out', a beach day is a waste of a Med. port. But that is just my opinion. I would not pay all that money and fly that distance to go to a beach. EM

[dv71617]

Hot for a Canadian may not be quite as hot as you will find in the eastern Med. in late August (or July). Think 90's and very humid. Best times for the Med. are late Spring, and fall.

Beaches in the Med. are not the nice sandy ones you find in the Caribbean. Unless you are traveling with children or are 'ruinsed out', a beach day is a waste of a Med. port. But that is just my opinion. I would not pay all that money and fly that distance to go to a beach. EM

 

Any Hurricane seasons or heavy rain period ?

[hillsprint]

The main holiday period in the Med is July and August and the resorts and beaches get quite crowded, as the rest of Europe heads to the holiday resorts.

 

As such popular places, Rome, Athens, Venice and the Greek Islands can all get crowded

 

The Eastern Med is still hot in June and September, and things will be a bit quieter.

 

There is no hurricane or storm season in the Med. Obviously over the winter period there are the chances of storms and heavy rain, but not usually for protracted periods.

[karenbeanpole]

Eastern Med I presume you mean Venice and to the east - greek islands?

 

The Med has BEAUTIFUL BEACHES!! September is a good month to go, October is risky. August might be a bit crowded (european school hols) and also too hot. June is another good month. Warm but not overcrowded.

 

There is a lot of culture and history in the Med. But there is no reason why you can't combine both culture and the beach into your holiday. It doesn't mean you're going to lie on the beach all day while at port. We are beach bums, but when we are in port, we usually go sightseeing/walk around the town, then maybe visit the beach and have a walk around. Maybe a dip if brave.

 

Depends a lot on which ports you are visiting. The islands will have good beaches, the cities will not.

[shoreham01]

I agree, June and September are lovely months. If you are not taking children then check up the dates of the school holidays so that the ship will not be over-run with kids.

[Denny01]

I'm about to recommend a bit of an non-common approach- we cruised the E Med in mid-Nov and had a great a great time it can get tricky on the weather but we had balmy wx through the cruise, low numbers of tourists, lower prices and we were the only shipin some of the ports. Picture Santorini trying to go up the tram with 3 or 4 ships in port.

 

We also got cheaper airfares off season.

 

You do take a chance of rain but we loved it. Our guide in Ephesis said this was the perfect time.

 

Den

[cruisemom42]

I've been in the Eastern Med on a cruise several times (and several more on various land trips).

 

September can still be brutally hot. It was 99 or 100 degrees for 4 ports in a row in Greece and Turkey (including Athens and Ephesus) late last September/early October 2010.

 

I would choose later in October or November. I've been twice in November and had great weather (a bit cooler in the mornings in some of the more northerly ports such as Istanbul) and -- more importantly -- very few other tourists. However, I'm not a beach person.

 

Spring is nice, but again it gets hot pretty quickly. Even though I'm from Georgia, I found it warm in Turkey in March when you're out tromping around hot stony ruins with little shade.

[tactic]

we did celebrity constellation from Barcelona last october. The weather in Genoa and Villefranche was very wet, further south Rome and Naples the weather was about 75 deg. The weather for Pompeii was fantastic - not too hot, would have been a challenge in July/August, As someone else has said europrean weather is very changeable - no guarantee at any time of the year, my preference would depend on ports of call. West coast Italy did not provide any 'nice' beach locations.

[caripoo]

I would do late Sept or late spring. Not only are the crowds less, but so will the cruises, and airfare.....and you can still enjoy the beaches in Sept.:D:D

[Dorset Cruiser]

October is very good for Eastern Med and, in fact, we have done Spanish Med in October and had super weather.

 

There are lovely beaches in the Med, especially around the Greek islands - don't know where the idea that the only nice sandy beaches are in the Caribbean comes from:confused: Try beaches in Majorca, Menorca, Formentera, Cephalonia etc. etc. and then say they are not as good as Caribbean beaches.

[karenbeanpole]

Med beaches and sea are one of the safest to swim in the world. You don't get hurricanes and such strong winds and surfs, not nasty deadly things in the sea. Kefalonnia is one of the most beautiful greek islands with turquoise waters and sandy beaches, Cyprus has in my opinion the best sea to swim in the world, and the water is warm!

[ISABELLA]

May or September. I would go when kids are not in school.

[seatraveler24]

We visited the Eastern Med in September/October 2009. The weather was wonderful -- not too hot. However, I would choose September over October. All of our tour directors had said that October begins their rainy season.

 

Happy Cruising,

Tracy

[FortyNinerLiz]

I've been in the Eastern Med on a cruise several times (and several more on various land trips).

 

September can still be brutally hot. It was 99 or 100 degrees for 4 ports in a row in Greece and Turkey (including Athens and Ephesus) late last September/early October 2010.

 

I would choose later in October or November. I've been twice in November and had great weather (a bit cooler in the mornings in some of the more northerly ports such as Istanbul) and -- more importantly -- very few other tourists. However, I'm not a beach person.

 

Spring is nice, but again it gets hot pretty quickly. Even though I'm from Georgia, I found it warm in Turkey in March when you're out tromping around hot stony ruins with little shade.

 

Absolutely agree!! We did a very long BtoB in October and November and the weather, on most days, was wonderful (and not too hot). November is "iffy" for some shops being open and for other services, but we had a great time!

[Denny01]

Not to bd a killjoy but the Med does have sharks and storms. Nothing like what we have in Florida but both are around. The last reported unprovoked shark attack was 1984, but sharks are pretty much in every ocean or sea.

Love the beaches - they are in many cases very different than our Fla beaches.

 

Den

[RVfromAZ]

We did a 12 night Med. cruise out of Barcelona last year mid September, weather was perfect!:cool:

[bluestocking88]

Both my Med cruises were in mid-May and the weather was perfect--it did get into the 80's a few times, but was generally lovely. It's before the official tourist season, so the shopkeepers were still fresh and cheerful. The flowers and trees were fresh and pretty, children were still in school, there were no crowds, Venice didn't have any odor, and everything seemed more affordable as it was the off season.

 

Ephesus and Istanbul were lovely and warm, I can't image how hot and crowded they must be in August! I will say Mykonos was a little cool for me to want to spend the day lounging on the beach though.

[bellarosa]

We've been to Europe a few times and we can honestly say that sept seems to be best. Weather is great and not too hot. In august however stores and some attractions seen to close down for vacation, so not a good time. July is okay but bery hot , other then this i would day June would be next in line.:D

[Atwell]

We're planning our first trip to Europe (eastern med) and wonder what is the best time to get there. We're looking at late august or early september. Is it a good choice ? We liked hot temperature, good for beach tour and also for sigthseeing.

Any other suggestions/time of the year ?

 

We were in the Eastern Med during the second half of September 2010. The weather was almost perfect. The only place that was uncomfortable was Ephesus (Kusadasi, Turkey) in the upper 80's. There was a heavy storm in the Sorrento/Amalfi/Positano area in Italy on one day but nowhere else we visited.

[4774Papa]

Our last Med (about half the cruise was in the Med) cruise from Barcelona was in late March and Barcelona was a bit chilly. I had to wear a jacket until mid-day, but removed it when the temp warmed up. It was perfect in Malaga, Morocco and the Canaries.