The best time to get married in Greece: month by month, region by region

Greece’s wedding season follows its dry summer: May to October almost everywhere, longest in the south and shortest in the wetter Ionian west. Within it, heat, wind, crowds and the church calendar matter as much as rain. Below: the official numbers, the dates of 2027 and a choice for each region.

Where do the numbers come from?

• Temperature and rain are the Hellenic National Meteorological Service’s (HNMS) normals, one station per region, as on the region pages: Athens-Hellinikon, Milos, Corfu, Rhodes and Kalamata for 1961–1990, as sent to the World Meteorological Organization; Naxos for Santorini and Mykonos (no period stated); Chania airport for 1971–2000.
• The periods differ: Greece sent the WMO no 1991–2020 normals, and the HNMS’s portal has none for Milos, Naxos or Corfu.
• Rain is the monthly total; rainy days, counted differently by station, appear only in the text.

How warm are the days, and the nights?

Average daily high/low, °C. Naxos stands in for Santorini and Mykonos, Milos for Paros, Naxos and Milos.

The mainland is hottest by day — 31.2–31.6 °C at Hellinikon and Kalamata in July — and the Cyclades mildest (27.0–28.1 °C). The islands keep the warmest nights; Corfu and Kalamata cool to 9.0–9.3 °C in April, so bring a layer in spring and October. Summers are warmer now: the HNMS’s 1991–2020 normals put July–August highs at 33.2–33.4 °C at Hellinikon, 31.9–32.3 °C at Kalamata and 31.1–31.4 °C at Chania; at Rhodes the highs hardly moved, but summer nights are about 2 °C warmer. Heatwaves, the HNMS’s forecasters’ handbook notes, usually come when the meltemi stops.

How much does it rain?

Average monthly rain, mm.

From June to August the islands are almost rainless — 0.1 mm in July and August at Rhodes — and Athens nearly so: 5.6 mm in July, on half a day with 1 mm or more. Rain returns in October, most of all in the west: Corfu averages 74.9 mm in September and 148.1 mm in October, on 4.2 and 8.1 days of 1 mm or more, and 1,087 mm a year, 2.6 times Milos’s.

When does the meltemi blow?

The meltemi, or etesians, is the dry north wind of the Aegean summer: about mid-May to mid-September, most often in July and August (the HNMS’s forecasters’ handbook says early May to mid-October). It brings clear, rainless days, is strongest in the afternoon and often drops at night, but can blow for days. Squeezed between islands — Paros and Tinos, Crete and Karpathos — it strengthens, and at force 7–8 most inter-island ferries cannot sail. Choose a sheltered spot, pin the veil, and leave a spare day between the last ferry and your flight.

The best months, region by region

The months the region pages recommend:

Athens and the Riviera

24.0–28.5 °C in May, June and September, with little rain; 31.4–31.6 °C in July and August, hotter in the city than on the coast. In August many Athenians leave for the islands.

Santorini

Warm and dry in May, June and September (22.1–25.9 °C on Naxos). In July and August cruise ships fill Fira and Oia by day; from November many hotels close.

Mykonos

Open but not yet, or no longer, full in May, June and September; busiest and windiest in July and August. Most hotels open from late April or May to October.

Paros, Naxos and Milos

22.8 °C in May and 25.2 °C in September on Milos, almost rainless from June to September. The summer meltemi can keep ferries in port; many hotels close at the end of October.

Crete

The longest season: 24.5 °C in May and still 23.4 °C in October at Chania, the sea warm into October. July and August are hottest and busiest; from November many seaside hotels close.

Corfu and the Ionian Islands

Warm, mostly dry May, June and September (23.8–27.9 °C), but storms start in late September and October averages 148.1 mm: here the season ends soonest.

Rhodes and the Dodecanese

Warm into October (24.4 °C), almost rainless from June to September. The summer meltemi blows hardest on the west coast, less on the sheltered east; from November many seaside hotels close.

The Peloponnese

24.4 °C in May, 28.8 °C in September and 31.2 °C in July and August at Kalamata, hotter inland. The coast fills in August; October is warm but wet (99.8 mm).

What time does the sun set?

Sunset on the 15th of each month of 2027, local time. Greece keeps Eastern European Time, an hour ahead of Italy and France, so its sun sets earlier by the clock; in mid-June Corfu sees it 43 minutes after Rhodes.

• The latest sunsets of 2027, in late June and early July: 21:12 in Corfu, 20:52 in Athens, 20:40 on Santorini, 20:29 in Rhodes. The earliest, in early December: 16:52 in Rhodes to 17:16 in Corfu.
• On 21 June Santorini’s sunset is 20:39 (20:39:29 by our computation; the US Naval Observatory agrees); 20:40 holds from 22 June to 6 July.

When is golden hour?

Golden hour, as we use it, is when the sun’s centre is between 6° above and 4° below the horizon — the warm, low light of portraits. From April to October it starts 34 to 40 minutes before sunset and ends 16 to 20 minutes after. Evening golden hour on the 15th, 2027:

Sunrise, for elopements

Famous places are quietest at dawn. On 15 June 2027 the sun rises between 05:49 in Rhodes and 06:12 in Corfu, on 15 September between 06:49 and 07:21; morning golden hour starts 16 to 20 minutes earlier.

How these times were worked out

We computed them with NOAA’s solar equations for the 15th of each month of 2027 at the Acropolis, Fira, Mykonos town, Parikia, Chania, Corfu town, Rhodes town and Nafplio, on the Greek clock; sunrise and sunset are when the sun’s top edge meets a flat sea-level horizon. The US Naval Observatory gives the same minute for 189 of 192 sunrises and sunsets, one minute off for three (rounding), and the sun within 0.01° of +6° and −4° at 24 golden-hour limits.

What changes with the clocks in 2027?

Greece changes its clocks with the rest of the EU (Directive 2000/84/EC): forward on Sunday 28 March 2027 and back on Sunday 31 October. Sunset in Athens jumps from 18:43 to 19:44, and from 18:29 to 17:28.

Public holidays and church dates in 2027

Greek law names nine compulsory public holidays (Law 4808/2021, art. 60). Those in or near the season:

The other four fall in winter. The 2027 May Day date was not yet set on 15 October 2026; in 2024 the Ministry of Labour moved it to Tuesday 7 May. Near a holiday, ask the town hall whether it marries that day.

When can’t you marry in an Orthodox church?

Each diocese sets the details. The Metropolis of Monemvasia and Sparta allows no weddings:

• in Great Lent, from the Sunday before Clean Monday to Holy Saturday: 14 March to 1 May 2027;
• on Easter (2 May), Pentecost (20 June), Christmas and Theophany (6 January);
• from 1 to 15 August, and on 29 August;
• from 18 to 24 December.

A news site’s list (iefimerida, 2020) adds 14 September, 5 January, Whit Monday and the Apostles’ fast (27–28 June 2027), so ask the parish. Civil and symbolic ceremonies are not affected; a church wedding needs one of you Orthodox and, as a rule, a parish church — see getting married in Greece. In 2025, 20,868 of Greece’s 36,810 marriages were religious (ELSTAT).

How crowded is each month?

Greek tourism is packed into high summer: 41.6% of 2025’s nights in tourist accommodation fell in July and August, 21.7% in August alone (Eurostat), and the islands are fullest around 15 August. From November to March many island and seaside hotels close; Athens and the mainland stay open. For a summer island wedding, book rooms and ferries as soon as you have a date.

Planning the day around the light

• June: with sunset at 20:38 on Santorini, a ceremony at 18:00 leaves drinks in daylight and the portraits for golden hour, from 19:59.
• July and August: start late, in shade, out of the wind; golden hour begins at 19:48–20:28 in mid-July.
• September and October: sunset at 19:34 in Athens on 15 September, 18:48 on 15 October and 17:28 from 31 October — start earlier, or take the portraits before dinner.

Next: the paperwork, in getting married in Greece; the place, in wedding venues in Greece or where to elope in Greece. Then find a photographer free on your date.