Greece school holidays vs UK
Greek state schools close for summer around 15 June 2026 and reopen in mid-September. English schools do not break up until late July. Greece also has no October half-term. Those facts shape when the islands are crowded, and when they're not.
Find your quietest window
School holiday data from 218 UK councils · 4 nations · 18 EU countries
UK holidays vs Greek school holidays
Clash = significant overlap with Greek holidays: busy islands and higher prices. Clear = UK schools off, Greek schools in: quieter resorts, often much cheaper.
Greek school holiday dates
Greece operates a single national calendar. All public schools follow the same dates. Easter follows the Orthodox calendar, which differs from Western Easter.
- Summer 2026
- Christmas 2026/27
- Easter (Orthodox) 2027
- Summer 2027
- Christmas 2027/28
- Easter (Orthodox) 2028
- Summer 2028
Orthodox Easter dates
- Orthodox Easter Sunday 2026
- , school break approx. 5–19 Apr
- Orthodox Easter Sunday 2027
- , school break approx. 22 Apr – 6 May (three weeks after Western Easter)
- Orthodox Easter Sunday 2028
- , coincides with Western Easter; school break approx. 5–18 Apr
The June window
Greek schools close around 15 June. English schools don't break up until late July, a six-week window when Greece is operating at full summer capacity without the peak British family crowd. Santorini, Mykonos, Rhodes, Crete and Corfu are all open and fully staffed. June temperatures average 27–30°C on the islands. Accommodation in June is typically 25–40% below August.
October half-term: genuinely clear
UK October half-term (25–29 October 2027) is entirely Greek term time. October temperatures average 22–25°C, the sea stays swimmable at around 22°C, and there's no Greek domestic school-holiday traffic. Athens, Meteora and the Peloponnese are particularly good in late October.
Orthodox Easter: three weeks after UK Easter in 2027
In 2027, Orthodox Easter falls on 2 May, three weeks after Western Easter (28 March). Greek schools break approximately 22 April – 6 May. By then, UK schools have been back in session for four weeks. Late April in Greece, including the Epitaphios processions and the midnight resurrection services, coincides with UK term time. In 2028, Orthodox and Western Easter coincide (both 14 April), so the breaks fully overlap that year.
Christmas: near-identical
Greek schools close 24 December and reopen around 7 January (after Epiphany on 6 January). UK schools close in the third or fourth week of December. The overlap is near-complete.
Greek school holiday dates sourced from the Ministry of Education, Research and Religious Affairs via beevago.com and expats-greece.com. Orthodox Easter dates calculated from the Julian calendar. Exact term end dates vary slightly by year and school type.