Greek island recommendations for Oct? (Not Crete)

[Ilikeyoursleeves]

We are thinking of booking Greece for Oct holidays (2 adults and 3 teens) but DH has been to Crete already so would like to try a different island.

We would love some sun and heat, a nice sandy beach nearby, trees and greenery, little towns with tavernas and yummy Greek food, places to see and explore that are interesting and beautiful as we don't really just like lying at the pool all week.

We don't want loud nightlife / clubs / overly touristy and busy places.

Any ideas? Thank you!

We've enjoyed both Kefalonia and Zante in Oct.

Locals rocking about in jeans and jumpers looking at us like we were mad for sunbathing but it was perfect for us!

lol @ChocoChocoLatte what sort of temperature was that?

Trouble is that in October a lot of places will be closing down. We were in Kefalonia last year, at the end of September, and even then this was happening.

True it was end of season but we still have plenty to do. Had shipwrecked beach to ourselves, boat trips where the kids were allowed to drive the boat etc

Everyone was lovely

And hot enough to get tanned lol

Kefalonia in October was half ok and half torrential rain and lightning storms. I think it's a wee bit late in the season tbh.

I personally wouldn’t go in October again. Last time we did weather was ok in the daytime (shorts and r-shirts but too cold to swim) but it was freeeezing at night and everything was closing down and felt depressing

We only had one lightning storm and it was amazing!

Oh yeah the lightning storms were absolutely awesome, but they also took out the power on the entire island for whole days and nights. Walking back to our hotel along a coast road on a pitch black island was interesting!

Skiathos and stay in Skiathos Town.

I'd say Karpathos 100%, but I wouldn't recommend Greece in October.

Oh that's interesting re weather etc. We are also thinking Turkey, would that be better weather wise etc?

We went to Turkey in Oct for 10days. Chucked it down with torrential rain for 7 of them.

We were still in the pool

If not Crete, then Rhodes. Wouldn’t suggest any other Greek islands in Oct tbh. You need somewhere far south for warmth and which has enough sightseeing/big towns/non beach activities to make it a year round destination.

Cyprus is a much safer bet weather wise in Oct, or Turkey.

Ha, just saw pp message about Turkey!!