frenchft

Hi,
We know very well Anafi, Santorini and Milos where we are use to go in june and september for week ends of longer periods but would like to spend 4 days in march and those are not an option because of the lake of open places, restaurants, etc. Santorini could be, but we know very well the place and would like to change.
Any proposal from local greek for island with enought local in order to get restaurants, bars, etc off season (not a crazy night life, but at least places for dinner and a last drink). Of course should be great to reach the place by plane with aegean (we want to avoid even short connection by boat because of the possible weather problems).
Any ideas?

SiberianTiger

We stayed at Paros for a week, very nice.

KLouis

Crete (Heraklion or Chania), Rhodes, Corfou, Mytilini, Chios: all of them big enough so that you'll certainly find open places. Then, there are all the smaller islands that OA mostly flies to. Again, you're bound to find open places there as well.

If Greece has something where the choice is (almost) indefinite, it's islands.

frenchft

thanks for the info Will forget corfu and rhodes (already know) and have a close look at crete. Sounds a good option and enough south to get a good weather (let's hope so)

Romanianflyer

It is indeed an impossible choice what KLouis wrote!

I'm myself obviously biased in favour of Chania (which for sure has enough year-round restaurants, bars to keep you happy), but also on other islands like Kefalonia, Zakynthos or Chios I really enjoyed myself. It's a bit impossible to advice as all islands do have something that make them special and have their pros and cons, it depends really what exactly you are looking for.

frenchft

Agree with you if we talk about summer or june/september but in march, the choice is limited (condition: airport + local life). In crete you would choose chania for a long week end in march?

blackball

I vote for Naxos.

It's the biggest island in the Cyclades, and has lots of interesting/beautiful places to explore, including surprisingly lush areas, plenty of archaeological POIs, and some very beautiful villages higher up in the mountains (Apiranthos is a must). The Old Town is absolutely wonderful to walk through at night. You won't cover everything in 4 days, so it's more than enough.

I guess you're not interested in beaches, since it's still cold this time of year... In any case, they are also great- Not as nice as Milos (for me, the gold standard in Greek beaches!), but better than most other Cycladic islands.

The main advantage of an island like Naxos is that it is generally not as dependent on tourism as other smaller islands, and as such, has plenty of restaurants open year-round. The standard for food is quite high (gotta try the potatoes that Naxos is famous for!).

Chania is also a good option- it's a proper town, and Crete is obviously a happening place year-round.

Are you only interested in islands? March could also be a good time to go to a place like Zagorochoria, which aren't too far from Ioannina airport (a couple of hours by car). Check out google images: https://www.google.gr/search?q=zagor...w=1311&bih=732

frenchft

Thanks will checks
For beaches agree with you milos is amazing but we are in love with Anafi, our very best keept secret island.