Originally Posted by
Timfid
I didn't post that advice, but I understand it. Many smaller Greek islands now days live off tourism. Much of the Greek population are only there in the summer months to manage their hotels, shops, and tavernas, and spend the rest of the year working in Athens or other big cities. During the winter, such islands may have only a couple of ferry boats a week stopping, most or all restaurants and hotels, and even many shops, will be closed, and the population can drop to a small fraction of what it is in winter. Add that the weather can be mostly cold and damp, and you can see that it wouldn't make a very good vacation.
Exactly. Example: My dad works for the Greek Ministry of Public Works. Couple of years ago he got posted to the island of Andros for 6 months to supervise a road maintenance project. He was staying in Batsi, which is the island's main tourist resort and second biggest town. As late as the beginning of May, there was just one restaurant open out of the 15 or so in town, most shops were closed and connections to Rafina were like 4 ferries a week. When I went to visit him in July, the ferries were 2 per day, all restaurants were open, in the local supermarket you could buy some Belgian beers that are hard to come by in Athens, a couple of internet cafes had opened and there were 2 nightclubs open as well! Oh, and the road by the sea connecting the town with the island's capital often slowed to a crawl, giving me an excuse to use the "snakepass" on the mountain.
It really was a different place!