January and February aren’t terrible times of year to visit Greece and you’ll find much more space in and around the popular ancient ruins and archaeological sites of Athens, Crete and the Peloponnese.

Some of the local haunts really come alive in the winter and there’s many a good night out to be had on the mainland or even on the islands, if you’re brave enough to make the often choppy ferry journey.

March and April promise more of the same with some excellent conditions for walking across country tracks or heading to the sites and temples famed the world over.

However, be aware that Easter in Greece is big business and a great many towns and villages will either shut up shop or hike up prices in readiness for the religious hordes descending for family festivities.

May has been coined the best time to go to Greece thanks to the abundance of wildflowers to be found in the countryside and the warmth of the sun making it simply stunning for hikers and cyclists, although sea swimmers may want to wait just one more month before taking the plunge.

June, July and especially August can be really oppressive temperature wise and the searing heat makes walking and cycling pretty much off limits as do some of the Brits, Russians and Germans flocking to the well-publicised Greek party islands.

September and October are both the best time to go to Greece with warm conditions both at land and at sea promising a much more authentic representation of a Mediterranean island paradise as well as every chance of watching whales or sailing competitions.

November and December return the people of Greece to something resembling normality with the traditions of Christmas much less about materialism and much more about spiritualism than certain other European countries that we’ll leave unmentioned.