Sparse crowds, sweater weather, good food: Greece checks all the boxes

IT’S that time of the year again. You’re trawling tourism websites and flipping through copies of Lonely Planet, figuring out where to go as the holidays approach. If you’re still undecided, perhaps Greece can offer an unexpected solution to your travel conundrum.

While the country has been hailed as the ideal summer getaway location – just the mention of its name conjures up images of sunny beaches and balmy islands – there’s lots to do in the cooler months, especially if you’re into food and drink. Great restaurants and bars are seemingly everywhere in Greece; the foodscape is sophisticated and surprisingly diverse, so cast aside any thoughts you might have about a week’s worth of just moussaka, gyros and ouzo.

For the sweaty Singaporean looking to escape the hustle and bustle – not to mention the heat – of densely populated city life, Greece offers a cool respite in the later months of the year. Don’t get too worried about getting cold, either; temperatures drop to around 10 degrees Celsius at night in the dead of winter, but they go up to a comfortable 20 deg C in the day.