The Solstice is an astronomical event that happens twice a year, once in summer and once in winter, when the Sun reaches its highest position in the sky as seen from the North or South Pole. During Solstices the tilt of the axis of the Earth (with respect to the Sun) is the maximum at 23° […]
Meteorologists have forecast that the Christmas period is expected to be marked by extremely unstable weather conditions, which will continue until New Year’s Day. The absence of rain across Greece over the last few days will continue until Friday, December 19. However, over the weekend, rain will dominate the weather pattern, and from Christmas Eve, […]
We are pleased to confirm that our fully revised 2026 travel guides will be available in paperback form from most international book retailers in January. However, for 2026, we are also launching our travel guides for the first time on Amazon Kindle* for those who would prefer our books in a digital format. We continue […]
The Spanish government has fined the short-term property rental giant Airbnb €64m (£56m) for advertising and renting out unlicensed apartments. It was also confirmed that some of the properties advertised within Spain were prohibited from being rented. The fine cannot be appealed and means Airbnb has to pay the penalty, as well as removing all […]
Wishing You a Very Merry Christmas… …and a happy and prosperous 2026!
The Copernicus Observatory, the Earth observation component of the European Union’s Space programme, is expected to report that 2025 will be the second-warmest year on record globally. The observatory also notes that November 2025 was “the third warmest globally” on record. 2025 presents a temperature level identical to that of 2023, pending the statistics for […]
The tradition of giving gifts in mid-winter is an ancient one, but it has grown rapidly since the late 1900s due to its association with the Christian feast of Christmas and an increase in consumer prosperity. In ancient Rome, gift-giving occurred near the winter solstice, which in the northern hemisphere occurs in late December. This […]
Although the modern approach to Christmas is celebrated across Greece, there are also many old traditions that are still followed in many parts of the country. Below are a few of the best-known. Kallikantzaroi According to the Greek version of the universal myth of evil spirits, our world connects to the underworld through a tree. […]
In Greece, although you will see many Christmas trees, both erected by municipalities and in private homes, the more traditional symbol in town centres will be a model of a boat decorated with lights. Saint Nicholas (Agios Nikolaos), other than being directly connected with Christmas worldwide, is also the Greek patron saint of sailors. This […]
The widespread culling of sheep and goats in Greece due to the increasing number of cases of the highly contagious sheep and goat pox has raised fears that it will have a knock-on effect regarding the production of Feta cheese, one of the country’s famous culinary exports. Small Greek Feta manufacturers say they are already […]
