hi, wheres best to visit in September? me and my partner are thinking of going to Greece for our holidays, have been to Athens before but this time we want something more rural. any ideas guys??

cheers

Right then…

The island of Samos, just my favorite place in the whole world. We stayed in Kokkari, Samos town is nice. Loads of walking, sight seeing, relaxing etc. 1 hour by boat from Turkey (kusadassi sp?) so you can get in a day trip if you want.

Parga, on the mainland. Really nice town, loads of great tavernas/bars. Great atmosphere, everyone goes down to the harbour at night and just sort of hangs out..!

went to karadamilli this year, about an hour from Kalamata on the Mani.
It was REALLY quiet, The chaps in our hotel said that it had been really quiet last year as well. Tiny village, not a massive ammount of tavernas/bars but the ones there were really nice. There are loads of really good, waymarked walks, and there was a bike hire shop in the village!

We went to Crete in september 2002 and the weather wsn't unbroken sunshine.. we actually had an afternoon of monsoon like rain, so check the weather if you can.

paxos

Second vote for Paxos here……… although off to Skopelos on Friday to give that a try, how will I cope without endless days of rain for the next two weeks?… ;0)

Another recommendation here for Kardamili – it's not really that "tiny" a village (just small enough to be nice) and, as was mentioned above, there is some really excellent walking (and if you know where to go, riding)in the area.
If you're going with the intention of getting some riding in, then I would suggest that you seek out Lela's Taverna. Lela (who's about 90)used to be Patrick Leigh-Fermor's housekeeper and her grandson has a lot of local trail knowledge.
I can't say whether the hire bikes are any good or not though, as we have our own out there so have never used them.

+1 for Paxos.. mrs. and I were there last year ( year before? ) nice place, three small villages.. each smaller than the last.. nice beaches.

we spent a couple of days on Corfu first and caught the flying dolphin over.

Crete.
Just had 2 weeks there and it was brilliant if you like a real mixture – hills, beach, history, food, people.
We avoided the main resorts and had a fantastic time.
There are bike hire shops and some organised trips up the mountains.

September is a good month in Greece. I used to get a cheap flight to Athens with the bike, ride down to the port for the first ferry out and then spend a few days on various islands exploring by bike. Plenty of cheap accommodation available if you avoid the islands without airports.

Really any of the islands are beautiful in their own right – to suggest one over the other could only come down to preference of beaches and, to a lesser extent in September, the nightlife.

Paxos, Paros, Naxos, Santorini, Lesvos, Rhodes – any of them have beauty in their own right.

In fact, you could even try Corfu and go and visit the Samari Gorge – a fantastic place. But take proper walking shoes!

MF – the Samari Gorge is in Crete not Corfu!

Scopolos, Skiathos, Crete, Pothos, Kos… Cant go wrong really. Beautiful place's every one.

MF – the Samari Gorge is in Crete not Corfu!

LOL you are right – getting my childhood memories mixed up (it was 24 and 25 years ago since I went to those two islands LOL!

So Corfu is the one with the ancient ruins and stuff then?….

all I saw on Corfu was a bunch of old rocks, all jumbled up like.

😕

or was that Crete.

Kefalonia.

I've often gone to the Halkidiki peninsula in September. Great weather, but the odd chance of a crazy storm. Water's lovely and warm, flat calm and buttery smooth in the mornings for a session on a wakeboard, picking up to a F4-5 in the afternoon for a blast in a boat, follwoed by calming down in time for an ice cold Mythos in the evening. Lovely.

Skiathos – I wouldn't go peak season as I can imagine it gets a bit busy and as its a small place so thats why for the last two years we've gone in May and September. Skiathos town is nice to stroll around and the monestry is nice to visit – after you've done that there isnt an awful lot to do apart from follow the signed walking routes along the coast or find one of the many beautiful deserted beaches.

mmm.. mythos

Martyn, even better when it's in a frozen glass and you've just come off the water after an hour or two of blasting a cat around on one hull…..

So ruddy cold there's a sort of ew on the outside of the glass

I second ScottChegg with Kefalonia – and Amstel in a frozen glass is even better (than Mythos I mean, not Kefalonia).

Thanks guys, this is a Big help.