To go on holiday knowing the weather might be chilly?

[soitgoeson]

Looking at a lovely resort in Greece at the end of April, travelling with a 5mo. The resort is fantastic but obviously the weather is not guaranteed. There are people on the resort FB page who have said some years it rains and others it’s beautiful sunshine and 25 degrees.

There would be things to do locally rather than sitting round the pool all day. It’s £1k cheaper overall than going in May, which makes a big difference when you’re on maternity pay. Maybe that’s for a reason though- the weather gamble!

AIBU to book it or is it a waste? If we waited for the next cheap month our baby would be one, which I have heard is a much more challenging time to go abroad.

If you are going for the beach or sun, its a waste.

If you just need a change of scene, someone to cook for you, relatively warm... it could be quite nice.

I lived in Cyprus for a bit, April was quite pleasant. Sort of like England in August really.

Thank you. We wouldn’t want it to be scorching hot with a baby anyway I don’t think

I'd just check how much locally will be open due to the early season, but we did lots of holidays late April/early May in Spain as our youngest never coped with heat! We nearly always had mainly warm T shirt days but it does still get quite cold at night. I'd go for it.

If you have a good enough deal, don't want it to be too warm anyway and have things to do that don't depend on the weather then I would take the chance on the colder month.

Have you checked that everything in the resort will be available though? Sometimes another reason the shoulder seasons are cheaper is restaurants, bars, pools etc. will be closed until May/June.

I'd also double check whether the pools are heated or not - that would be the clincher for me! If there is plenty to do and a good choice of restaurants open, I'd be inclined to go.

I've been to Greece in April before and it was not warm - jackets all the way and didn't have to crack out the suncream once!

I lived in Greece (Peloponnese) for a few years and it's very hit and miss in April. I've also been to Kefalonia in early May and it pissed down for several days, there were no buses running so we had to take expensive taxis everywhere and no trips to places of interest running, either. We did Cyprus at the beginning of April in 2022 and it was unseasonably cold - coats all the time in the day and very cold at night!

As other pp have said - you need to check that the other things to do are actually running at that time of year. Where is it?

As a general rule - before Easter - bars, restaurants and quite a few other things you might not expect - might very well be shut. Very shut. Dead as a shed. During and after Easter, things will have sprung into life but service might be having teething troubles with new seasonal staff, suppliers and so forth.

I just looked it up and Easter Sunday falls on 20th April this year if that is any help to you.

We stayed in Fira, Santorini in April and it was amazing, fantastically uncrowded. But it wasn't beach weather and some restaurants and hotels hadn't opened yet. We took the bus up to Kamari (beach) and it was dead, no sun beds or umbrellas out. We were hiking up to Thera so it didn't bother us but it would have been miserable if we were staying there. The weather was perfect for hiking, but not good for a beach hol.

If you just want to get away, see stuff, enjoy it being quite quiet then it's a good time to go, if you want to be enjoying the sun and playing on the beach then probably not.

Whwre abouts is it? People might be able to suggest non-beach related things to do

I've been in April and it was lovely hot beach weather but we did get lucky as its hit and miss

There might be some nice Greek Easter celebrations going on at that time of year depending on dates

Oh, I double checked and Greek Orthodox Easter is on the same date this year.

Bit of a gamble.
Conversely I went abroad early May whilst on maternity. Delighted as a teacher, as it was the first time in my career we had been able to buy cheap flights in term time.

It rained..loads! Like lots of hot holiday places we realised how little there is to do without the sun! No indoor pools, no leisure centres. Wandering a hypermarket for something to do was my idea of hell!

Would you feel better if….
You save £1000 and chance the weather
You spend an extra £1000 and chance the weather…

I would be more upset if I'd spent the extra and the weather was still poor.

Perhaps check local facilities and seasonal opening.

Indeed. Many resorts in Greece are extremely quiet out of season and very much so if it rains.