I visited Greece in October & in May. I enjoyed the "off- season" time. Weather was great, about 70 degrees & no crowds. I agree with Donna's assessment of Mykonos & Santorini. I thought Mykonos was very touristy & Santorini has the most spectacular scenery of the islands I visited.

Here's a copy of the email I posted in January in response to Paul's inquiry...... I spent a week on Crete one May & it was wonderful. Crete is very large & I was glad to have a car which I easily rented at the Heraklion airport. I drove about 2 1/2 hours on the narrow, winding mountainous roads, through the flocks of sheep & the olive trees to get to Sitia which is on the east side of the island & far away from tourists. http://www.crete.tournet.gr has some good websites to peruse. There are many layers of sights & activities on Crete from sunbathing to museums to archaeological sites of the many & varied peoples who have lived in Crete over history. One of my favorite drives was going to Kato Zakros which has a wonderful Minoan ruins to visit. You drive along the mountain roads until you wind down a steep hill & catch a breathtaking view of the sea & the ruins & the little shoreside tavernas in this very isolated little village about an hour's drive from Sitia. After visiting the deserted but fascinating ruins of the Palace of Zakros I had lunch of fresh & crisply-fried little-bitty octopi, washed down with local Greek wine while I sat under the thatched roof of the open air taverna a few feet from the softly lapping sea. Since it was a very slow time of year & I was the only patron in the taverna I had a lovely discussion with the waiters about their beautiful village & the fact that they had snow the winter before! Wow! What great memories.

Carol in Central Oregon