Everything You Need to Know to Travel to Greece
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What Time of Year Should I Visit Greece?
If you are on a budget and want to avoid crowds: If you are trying to save money, visiting outside of the peak season will be much cheaper. If you are wanting fairly warm weather still, visit during the shoulder seasons from mid September-October or mid April-May. We went mid October and it was around 70 degrees and sunny about half of the time. It was warm enough to wade in the shallow waters of Balos Beach, but not quite warm enough to swim at the majority of the beaches we visited. It also rained much more than we expected during our trip.
If you mainly want to swim and sunbathe: Many people visit Greece to boat, swim, or sunbathe on the beaches. This is best done during the warmer months (June-August). Of course this is peak season in Greece and hotels and car rentals cost more. It will also be much more crowded, especially in islands such as Santorini and Mykonos, as they are popular cruise ship stops and smaller islands.
If you are hoping to visit the less touristy islands: If crowds are not for you, you may want to consider visiting less popular islands, however it would be best to plan your trip not too far out from the peak season. When we visited Santorini and Crete in October, we did not have any issues with finding buses, ferries, or shops open. Visiting Milos in October was a different story. Although becoming more popular, Milos did not have nearly as many visitors when we arrived in October, as Santorini or Crete. The bus had stopped running already for the year, many shops were already closed, and our hotel host reported that they would be closing for the season at the end of the month. We also noticed less ferries going in and out of this island, so we had less options of when we would be arriving and leaving.
How Much Should I Budget For Greece?
Greece is much more affordable than visiting some countries, such as Norway or Switzerland. Eating out here is not expensive, and you can find fast food options for only a few dollars. You could easily eat street food, visit bakeries for breakfast, and pick up snacks at the grocery store and spend only $15-$20 per day on food. For an example, one day I bought a spinach pie at a bakery for $2 USD, purchased a falafel wrap for lunch for around $5, and had fresh pasta for dinner for around $7. The customary tip in Greece is anywhere from 5-10%.
Hotels in Greece are much cheaper during the shoulder season and off season than during peak season, and in some cases they are half of the price. Our hotels in Athens, Milos, and Crete were $50-$60 a night, while comparable hotels in Oia were around $150-$200 during the shoulder season.
The more you plan on island hopping, the more money you will need to factor in for ferries or flights. Ferries are the cheaper option and our tickets were typically around $75 USD for the fast ferries to each destination, but depending on which islands you are visiting, you may be able to find a slower ferry for around $40 per person. Check FerryHopper or FerryScanner to compare prices.
Car hire, buses and taxis: Hiring a car is pretty affordable in Greece and we found cars for about $50/$60 a day. However, fuel is not cheap in Greece, and is currently around $7.50 a gallon. We never rented a car in Greece - instead we took the bus, which was typically only $2-$3 per trip in Santorini and Crete, unless we were going on longer excursions, in which case we paid anywhere from $5-$8 each way. Taxis are the most expensive option. From the port in Santorini to our hotel we paid $60. We really only had to taxi when we were in Athens, as the bus system there is more set up for commuters, and not tourists.
Most of the destinations we visited did not cost us anything. If you are into historical sites or museums, we found these pretty affordable. You can purchase excursions if you like tour guides or enjoy having someone do all of the planning for you, but these do cost more. We only booked two excursions during our trip - one to Balos Beach via a 4x4 bus, and one to Samaria Gorge.
How Do I Pay in Greece?
Greece’s currency is the Euro, like many other countries in Europe. It is easy to exchange some cash before you arrive, although you can withdraw Euros from ATMs in Greece. You cannot pay with any other currency besides the Euro.
Many of the blogs that we read before traveling to Greece really emphasized using cash over card in Greece. While we did find this true in Athens, we rarely encountered any issues using a card on the islands. However, taxi drivers preferred to take cash and I am not sure if all of them even had card as an option. If you are traveling by bus in Santorini, you will also need cash. The same goes if you are planning on eating cheap street food from a lot of the small businesses. We also noticed you cannot leave a tip in Greece on your card like you can in the states, so we had cash for tipping at restaurants, hotels (for the housekeepers and concierge), and excursions.
Most places do not take American Express as payment. We mainly planned on using our AMEX card during our trip (for the airline miles), but it was rare if a business took it. We did find we could use it if we booked our ferries and flights online. We brought our bank cards and a Mastercard, just in case.
Do I Need to Learn Greek?
Most Greek people do speak some English, and we did not have any real issues while we were visiting. We encountered the biggest struggles with not knowing the language in Athens, where many people only speak the basics, especially if they are not mainly working in the tourism industry. I think it is very much appreciated if you know any of the language, such as hello, please, and thank you.
How Do I Get Around Greece?
Car Hire: If you are wanting to get off the beaten path, a car hire would be the best bet to get around large islands such as Crete and Corfu or mainland Greece (if you are traveling outside of Athens). If you are visiting the island of Milos, you most likely will be renting an ATV. You must have an international driver’s license to rent a car or ATV in Greece. You can obtain this from your local AAA if you are in the states or Canada.
Walking: This was the best way to get around in Athens if you are staying in the city. Most of the historical sites such as the Acropolis Museum or the Parthenon are in close proximity to each other. Several of the islands are small enough that you do not need a car, and in the island of Hydra, vehicles are not allowed.
Bus: All of the island we visited in Greece had an extensive bus system, and often times, aimed at tourism. Santorini’s central bus depot is in the capital of Fira and will take you to any of the popular destinations for just around $2 a trip. Crete also had a good bus system that goes across the entire island, to all of the major cities. Chania (a city in Crete) has a central bus station that has buses that also take you to popular destinations such as Elafonisi Beach or Kissamos (to get to Balos Beach).
Taxi: Ride share does not currently exist in Greece. There is an app, Taxibeat, but it for regular taxi cabs. We ended up using taxis when we were in Athens to get from the airport to our hotel and then from our hotel to the port to take the ferry.
Ferry or Plane: You have two options to island hopping: flying or ferrying. We booked everything last minute, so ferrying was much cheaper, but depending on the distance between islands, flying might save you a lot of time. We flew back from Crete to Athens, rather than ferry, due to the distance.
Excursion: You can get to a lot of the popular destinations in Greece by booking excursions, which takes out all of the work of figuring out bus schedules and having to get to the bus stations. We were considering this in Athens to see historical sites outside of the city center, as we did not have a vehicle, and booked excursions in Crete, to get to Samaria Gorge and Balos Beach.
