Doc Holiday: This is the worst time to visit the Greek Islands

While March is the cheapest time to visit the Greek Islands it isn't the best, with many restaurants, bars and hotels closed during the colder months.

In March, ferries aren’t as regular, plus many hotels, restaurants, bars and attractions remain closed on the smaller islands.

Escape's Doc Holiday, Dilvin Yasa, answers your travel-related questions.

Are the Greek islands too cold in March? I’d like to treat my mum to a Greek holiday next March. Am I too ambitious hoping to find an island warm enough to swim?

Everyone has their own definition of “warm enough to swim” (mine is mid-to-high 30s) so provided you’re okay with going for a dip on 16-degree days, you’ll be fine.

There are some benefits to heading to the Greek islands in March – fewer people and much cheaper prices among them – but you’ll need to consider whether there will be enough for you and your mum to do. At this time of year, ferries aren’t as regular, plus many hotels, restaurants, bars and attractions remain closed on the smaller islands. Once you’ve decided on your island, you’ll need to call/email around to see what will be open during your desired dates.

Rhodes, Crete (particularly the south coast, which sees at least eight hours of full sunshine a day) and Corfu are the warmest islands at this time of year, while Santorini and/or Karpathos could work well also, but if you can, I would recommend delaying travel until later in the month (or early April) and opting for a resort or villa with a heated pool, just in case. Even if you’re happy to swim on a 16-degree day, the ocean will still be pretty chilly. And remember also to pack jumpers and jeans for when the temperature drops come sundown.

In the US, you’re going to need fistfuls of cash (particularly $1 and $5 notes, as well as some loose change) for tipping.

We’re planning a holiday in America later this year. For most of our spending, we’ll be using a credit card, but will we need cash for tipping?

There’s no easy way of telling you this, but you’re going to need fistfuls of cash – particularly $1 and $5 notes, as well as some loose change – everywhere you go during your travels. In the US, minimum wage for service workers who also earn tips is depressingly low (just $US2.13 an hour, which is a little over $3) so although it’s a pain for Australians who are unaccustomed to tipping every time so much as someone looks at you, we need to pick up the slack where employers fall short.

Generally speaking, you’ll need to tip 20 to 25 per cent in restaurants, for taxi and Uber drivers and if you’re visiting a hairdresser or manicurist. In many restaurants, the gratuity (generally 20 per cent) is already added to the bill, so keep an eye out for that and rest assured that you can pay both your bill and the added gratuity with your card. Unwilling to pay for bad service? You can speak to the restaurant manager about it.

When you’re ordering a drink at a bar, expect to tip $1 per drink, and to part with 10 per cent of whatever you’re purchasing from a takeaway, be it coffee or a quick meal. In self-service places where you’re grabbing your own bottle of water or packaged salad, you’ll still be prompted to tip but it isn’t really necessary. I like to use these opportunities to get rid of any shrapnel weighing down my purse.

During the Christmas season, you can fly return to Bangkok from Sydney for $1112.

At your hotel, factor in at least $1-2 for every bag (more for larger cases) the hotel bellman carries – and the same for airport shuttle drivers. Give $3-5 to valets and be sure to leave between $3-5 for the housekeeping staff for every night of your stay. Rather than leaving the total at the end, I leave $5 on the bed each evening (along with a thankyou note) to ensure continued good service.

Use the airport ATM as soon as you arrive and then head to the nearest store or cafe to change your $20 notes into neat piles of ones and fives. Just don’t forget to tip the service provider for helping you with this request.

We would like to catch up with our son in the UK for Christmas but the airfares are brutal. Is there somewhere halfway where flights might be a little less expensive?

While it’s unlikely you’re going to find any great bargains at Christmas, one of my favourite search functions in the world of travel is Skyscanner’s “Search everywhere”. I entered Sydney return, departing December 22, 2023 and returning January 5, 2024, for example, and it came back with $1050 return to Kuala Lumpur, $1112 return to Bangkok and $1267 return to Singapore. Have a play with dates and destinations until you find something you can work with.

Originally published as Doc Holiday: This is the worst time to visit the Greek Islands