Every couple of months in the rec.travel.europe newsgroup somebody says they're going on vacation in Greece in the winter, and will it be warm enough to swim? The newsgroup regulars grit their teeth and try to explain: Greece is not a tropical country. It gets cold and rainy in the winter, nothing to impress someone from Norway, but too cold for the beach.

April is too cold for beach setting.

I've compared weather information from a number of sources, tried to resolve the contradictions that I found to give you a consensus opinion - see at right.

There is a ski industry in Greece, at elevation in the winter it is very cold. And there is some evidence that global warming is leading to more instability.

For those of you who don't like numbers, here are two points to keep in mind:

(i). Greek temperatures vary more by altitude and exposure than by north to south. There are only slight climatic differences from the islands to the far north. Height above sea level and exposure to ocean breezes make more difference.

(ii). Winter is winter. Greece is not a tropical country, its too far north. In winter it is dark, cold, rainy and windy. That can have a stark beauty, but you aren't going to sit on the beach all day in that weather

Data comes from "Athens: A Knopf Guide," "Greece: Travel Agent's Manual for 1995"; "Cadogan Greek Island Guide," 5th ed, 1993; "Thomas Cook Greek Island Hopping, 1995", "Greece: the Rough Guide," 1993; Rick Steves' "Europe through the Back door, 1995; and last, but definitely not least, The National Technical University of Athens