Would you travel any of the Greek islands at the moment?

[Maddogsand]

Would you travel to any of the Greek Islands at the moment, with the current situation in Rhodes & Corfu, and another heatwave coming in from Tuesday?

Eldest (18) has a holiday booked with her friends, flying out August 1st . . . not sure if I'm just being an overly cautious parent in thinking they'd be better rescheduling . . . or if that's the sensible and safe option given the current wildfires and heatwaves?

Also feels like emergency services out there are stretched already . . . and given no let up in the heat more wildfires could break out?

Would welcome thoughts on this one please, ultimately they'll decide themselves, but it's difficult to know what to advise when asked.

Yes, we go regularly and the wild fires are not new. We were in Skiathos in 2016 in the midst of a heatwave, it was getting up to 47°C, and the hills were on fire. We watched the planes dumping water on it. No one was concerned.
Last week a chemical factory was on fire a ten minute walk from my house. It houses batteries amongst other things that blow up easily. Risk is everywhere.

I think the media has worked people up about it sadly, with sensationalist headlines. Awful if you are actually caught up in it, but for someone going to Santorini or Mykonos then they’ll be fine.

Yes, I’d travel to any of them except maybe Rhodes at the moment. Though if my accommodation was at the other end of the island I may still risk it if my holiday wasn’t cancelled.

What about near where the fires are? DS is supposed to be going to Kalathos near there in a couple of weeks. We're not sure if the locals will be too busy cleaning up to want others around.

I’m in Kos at the moment. It was 39 on Sunday and v high humidity so felt more like 40+. A bit cooler today at 37. It’s completely fine. If you take things easy, drink plenty of water and stay out of the sun for a few hours during the afternoon. I wouldn’t go hiking and cycling in it, but then I dont come here in July to do that sort of thing anyway.

I agree. The Rhodes government have been very clear that they still want tourists to come. They need the income.

I think it very patronising when people keep saying it’s tourists is the last think the Greece needs.

If I'd already booked, I would be carefully monitoring weather forecasts for the specific place being visited, and googling for any news stories about the local area. I would also think about whether it would be possible to escape if a wildfire was heading my way, eg there's no way I'd want to be staying in accommodation surrounded by forest! But if the accommodation is practically next to the beach, there's an obvious escape route.

@whiteroseredrose - yes. If their hotel is not affected & it’s deemed safe then they desperately don’t want people to cancel.

We've had two wild fires already this year in the forest near us. Normally have at least one each year....though not as big thankfully as Rhodes. We live in England on the south coast. They think its people having BBQ's, discarded cigarettes or discarded glass.

I guess I'm saying, just because there is a fire risk you cant write a place off. It depends how big and how near.

The Greeks themselves flock to their islands every year. I have good friend who is an Athenian currently holidaying in Crete. I would have no hesitation in visiting a Greek island (probably not Rhodes) right now.

I have friends who live on a small island just to.the right, I think that's to the east of Rhodes (well, it's nearer Turkey than Rhodes). They say the temps there are fairly normal for July, no air pollution from the fires. They've been to Rhodes town in the last couple of days and reported that it's fairly normal there too.

Rhodes is a relatively large island, and where the fires are seems dependant on the wind direction.

Deciding to go I think would depend on your view point. I'd defiantly go to friends island, it seems the worst that could happen is Diagorus would close, but I'm pretty sure I could sit that out.

Rhodes itself? I'm not so sure.

Of course I'd go, as long as the area wasn't at immediate risk. Do we tell people not to go to Canada? This is British Columbia today.

We're booked to go to Crete in 4 weeks. I'm going to try and find out what the terrain is like where we're staying, on the coast about 30mins drive west of Chania. I think it'll be fine by then anyway though.

Im in the Greek islands at the moment in Kefalonia so about 100 miles from the nearest fires in corfu. The weather has been hot but there is much more of a breeze now and the locals are saying that the hot weather has passed.

We've had a lovely holiday and wouldn't hesitate for a minute to come back.

Yes off to cephalonia on Sunday. It's 28 degrees so hardly volcanic inferno!

Make sure she checks that travel insurance will cover her for any wildfire-related claims if she goes ahead. Some companies are saying they won't cover for any holidays booked after the wildfires began, but if she booked before then she should be covered.

There have been wildfires before, but these are on a bigger scale and the heat has broken records. Yes, it's always hot but it is getting hotter and more unpredictable.

Also lol at the poster thinking only unworldly travellers on package holidays get evacuated! If your hotel is on fire, it doesn't matter how worldly you are, you still have to get out!

@user1471453601

They say the temps there are fairly normal for July,

Not surprised by that.

I think some sources have enjoyed painting the whole of the Med as being on fire but if have had time to kill and been able to look at many of the actual middle of the day temperatures being reported by reliable observers/at reliable observing sites in that part of the world there been a fair scatter of readings.

Yes there have been a handful of places in Greece and the Greek islands that on odd days, that have hit the much vaunted 45' degrees 'ish but many places more typically have maxed out in the mid->high thirties.

Ditto. I was in Kefalonia during the 2003 heatwave when it was 40 degrees on early June. I stayed in Lindos in august 2010 and the heat was something else. Even the pool felt like getting in a hot tub.

I’ve also been in Greece when there’s been wildfires - it’s scary but it’s usually only a couple of areas affected.

My friend owns a bar in Faliraki and it’s BAU for him.

I would get on a plane tomorrow

We're booked to go to Kos in September. There's no way I'm not getting on that plane. I'd go tomorrow if I could.
40° heat isn't unusual in the Greek Islands.

Totally this! The Greek Islands are very dependent on tourism and it’s a relatively short season so every day counts to people with tourist businesses. The Greeks will not appreciate people staying away except in areas very directly affected by the fires.

Generally I wouldn’t book to go to Greece in August due to the heat and crowds but if I had booked I’d still be going. Also a lot of areas are not affected at all by the fires eg the Cyclades don’t have much vegetation so rarely get fires.

We are booked to go to Crete on Monday and will be going unless the situation worsens and are advised by gov not to.

Yes the hospitality industry on the Greek islands really suffered during the pandemic and it's an industry where people working in it only make money for half of the year anyway.

There's the more complex problem of flight's contributing to climate change which is not helping matters, but on balance forest fires happen every year and I don't think decimating the tourist industry for another year will help the Greek people.

I would go. The main reason it has made headlines this year is that the fires affected a small number of large tourist hotels and the British media whipped up a frenzy.

Media in other countries was much less hyperbolic.

we weren’t going to go to Greece again this year but are now planning to go back to Rhodes to help support the economy.

The hospitality of the Greeks is second to none, and they deserve all the support we can give them.

More unworldly?? Did you really just say that 😲

Yep. Booked for corfu in august and really excited about it