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Best time to visit Crete

Greece · 35.34°N 25.13°E · monthly climate normals, judged against the Warm preset (mean 14–24 °C57–75 °F, dry or showers)

The best time to visit Crete is April to June and September to November, when mean temperatures run from 16 °C61 °F to 24 °C75 °F and rainfall runs 8–72 mm0.3–2.8 in a month.

Rain comes in the winter half of the year — January averages 104 mm4.1 in — while April to October is dry, with July down to under 8 mm0.3 in. July is the hottest month at 26 °C79 °F and January the coldest at 12 °C54 °F.

Figures are 30-year monthly averages (WorldClim 2.1 monthly normals 1970–2000) for the 0.25° grid cell at 35.34, 25.13 — a climate guide, not a forecast.

Crete weather by month

Pick the weather you like and every month is judged against it — temperature above the month names, rain below.

Weather you like

mean 14–24 °C57–75 °F, dry or showers

Good time to go for a Warm holiday: April to June and September to November.

Open Crete on the interactive map ↗ the same verdict for every place on Earth, any month

▲ Temperature mean , coldest to warmest month
12°53°JAN1044.112°53°FEB803.113°55°MAR722.816°61°APR321.320°67°MAY160.624°74°JUN80.326°78°JUL0025°77°AUG0023°73°SEP160.620°67°OCT562.216°61°NOV722.813°55°DEC963.8
▼ Rainfall per month, driest to wettest

Reading the chart. Gold is good: the month fits what you picked. Any other colour names the reason it doesn't — the temperature bar can be too cold or too hot, the rain bar too dry, too rainy or monsoon. A faded gold bar is a half that fits while the other half fails; a gold month name means both fit.

What the verdicts mean. Temperature is the monthly mean, judged against the preset's band (mean 14–24 °C57–75 °F for Warm). Rain is judged by each month's class within Crete's own year rather than raw millimetres: dry under 60 mm2.4 in, showers 60–100 mm2.4–3.9 in, rainy from 100 mm3.9 in and 35 % of the wettest month. Too rainy is a rainy-season month the preset doesn't allow. Monsoon is the heaviest kind of rainy season — 180 mm7.1 in or more (120 mm4.7 in near the yearly peak) in a climate whose wettest month is at least three times its driest — so every monsoon month is rainy season too; the label says which kind. Full rules on the method page.

MonthRain Mean SeasonWarm verdict
January1044.11253rainytoo cold
February803.11253showerstoo cold
March722.81355showerstoo cold
April321.31661drygood
May160.62067drygood
June80.32474drygood
July002678drytoo hot
August002577drytoo hot
September160.62373drygood
October562.22067drygood
November722.81661showersgood
December963.81355showerstoo cold

When to go to Crete, by holiday type

Looking forRuleMonths that fit
Warmmean 14–24 °C57–75 °F, dry or showersApril to June and September to November
Tropicalmean 24–33 °C75–91 °F, anything but the monsoonJuly to August
Beachmean 24–33 °C75–91 °F, dry or showersJuly to August
Coolmean 0–14 °C32–57 °F, anything but the monsoonDecember to March
Snowmean below 0 °C32 °F, any rainno month

Is there a rainy season in Crete?

Yes. Rain comes in the winter half of the year — January averages 104 mm4.1 in — while April to October is dry, with July down to under 8 mm0.3 in.

July is the hottest month at 26 °C79 °F and January the coldest at 12 °C54 °F. Annual rainfall totals about 552 mm22 in.

Where to go instead when Crete doesn't fit

The nearest destinations that do fit the Warm preset in the months Crete doesn't:

Nearby destinations

distances in — tap a unit to switch.

The interactive map colours the whole world by how it fits your picks in any month, and shows this chart for any place you tap.