Greece in May - Corfu, Kos, or Halkidiki?

[Puppalicious]

Hi, we want to take a family trip in early May for 9 days and want the best chance of good weather we can get! Thinking 2/3 days in Athens and then combining with one of the above. Struggling to get the flight home from Crete to work with our dates so it’s probably out. Is it likely Corfu will see rain? Is Kos very windy?
Any other European suggestions welcome!

The recent Mamma Mia show that was on ITV was filmed in Corfu in May, and you can see the producers were aiming for beautiful sun soaked shots, but it was windy, cloudy and even a bit rainy (so probably cold too).

I went to Rhodes in mid May and the weather was gorgeous, and not too hot (there was one morning of heavy rain but it cleared by breakfast) but the week after it was nothing but rain! So it could go either way I think.

Yeah, weather statistics show corfu as being much rainier in May than Kos so that rings true. Although I saw a comment on a website about Kos being very windy so that slightly worried me. Halkidiki is lovely (and very impressed by Thessaloniki as a city) but the flights back are extortionate (clearly a lot of people have the idea of Greece over the May bank holiday….). Need to plan a lot of sightseeing so it’s not just a beach holiday!

Halkidiki was a wonderful holiday with children but a good few years ago - Thassiloniki (sp?) worth a visit.

Halkidiki can be unreliable weather wise in May. Went there for my 40th many years ago and we ended up going home early as the weather was rubbish. (We hadn’t flown - had driven from Bulgaria where we were living at the time so easy decision to make.)

We went to Kos last year, May half term and the weather wasn’t great - apparently that was unusual though as by end of May it’s usually picking up

Beginning of May would be risky, I’d try Cyprus

Hmmm, never thought of Cyprus, will have a look. When you mean not great - cold or rainy?
Thanks for all input!

Generally I would have said Kos… but last year over Mediterranean Europe was horrendous. They had mad heatwaves early spring and May was a wash out. We went to Majorca very early June and they had such a miserable May, we were concerned about the weather. It turned out quite nice but not as hot and sunny as normally would have been but perfectly passable. It was hotter in uk I believe.

Anyhow what I’m trying to say is although you’d expect Kos to best weather wise at this time of year, with the way the Earths weather systems are going, it’s really hard to tell off years gone by statistics.

I’d book Kos and hope for the best. Xx

Skopolos is beautiful in May. Its a beautiful island and its where the wedding chapel from Mamma Mia is. Theres enough to do for a relaxing holiday, fly to Skiathos and then Ferry

Just re read your post - honestly if there’s another option (later in year, somewhere else in the world) then I’d probably change it up if weather is your major goal. If your stuck on dates and deffo want Athens, Then Kos Rhodes Crete Cyprus or even Turkey (dalaman /Antalya) would be where I’d be looking

Not Corfu in May unless you don't mind rainy. Kos will be better usually but this year was a washout.

Cyprus is glorious in May.

I travelled to Greece in May for last 10 years.
Late May has mostly been fine.
Early May has never worked, the weather has been reliably poor.

Many hotels only open mid to very late May for this reason - if this helps.

Hmmm, thanks for all input. I do love sun, beach and beautiful clear sea but want we’re looking for in a holiday is culture/history (one child is a huge history fan, we’ve shown him Pompei and Rome, Greece is the only other place I think can really compare), and then great food and wine & a bit of luxury ideally. We were going to go away in August but the heat would impede the sightseeing and the cost impedes the luxury….we’re not uk and our May half term is start of May. October half term I think the only option is the canaries which I’m not interested in. Sounds like the weather could be dodgy wherever we are so we’ll have to bare that in mind. Is there much to do in Kos other than beaches?

Rain in Corfu is very heavy but quite short lived Also spectacular thunder storms.
May is also the time for fire flies which are lovely to see.
I love Corfu in spring.

What about doing the Athens thing and then Turkey? Is that an option?

Athens and then Turkey/cyprus could be an option, thanks for suggestions! The flight time is very long back home though which put me off slightly

Actually the flight time from Cyprus is only 1hr 20 mins longer than Kos. And there’s cheap flights there from Athens. I’ve also never been, so new place. Great! Time to research hotels! Thanks for the suggestions.

Have you thought about Malta? Lots of history.

Jumping on the back of the OP's question, does anyone know if Crete would be OK usually in early May?

Pass on the weather but I would expect it may be unsettled. My other concern for Crete being the parent of a kid that loves the beach and sea is that Northern Crete … the seas pretty hairy so not really kid friendly for swimming so have avoided really.

I’ve been to Malta so not really feeling it for this trip. Still feeling a bit undecided - we had wanted to go to ikos or Sani hotel and not really seeing an equivalent in Cyprus - and unsurprisingly as the weather is better, the hotels are actually more expensive than the ones we had been looking at in Greece. Hmmm, hotel or weather - another hard choice!

Thanks for the advice @Pssspsss. I have a baby and we're not really big sea swimmers but helpful re: the weather!