Do you have the tickets to fly to Greece and after the rush of joy you are nervous because you do not know where to start organizing your trip? Don't worry, boy. Here we are to give you a few Tips for traveling to Greece (and not screw it up).
* At the end of the article we give you some tips to save on your trip to Greece
The most normal thing is that you arrive in Athens on an international flight. The first thing you will have to do is understand how to get to the center of Athens from the airport. You have 3 options: metro, bus and taxi:
→ Metro. You will only have to buy a subway ticket and get on the blue line to the Plaza Sintagma stop (it takes about 30-40 minutes). Once there you can change the line (with the same ticket) to the stop you want. Although it is not super cheap, it costs € 10 and is a ticket worth 90 minutes. The normal metro ticket is worth € 1.40.
→ Bus. It is cheaper (costs € 6) but once you arrive at Plaza Sintagma, unless you do not live there, you must buy a subway ticket to get to your accommodation. At rush hour it has a very big disadvantage: you can get “stuck” in traffic.
→ Taxi. The most comfortable, and of course, the most expensive. The race from the airport to the center costs € 38 (cheaper in Uber). If you are 3 or 4 people you may find it more profitable. And if you are very comfortable, you can opt for the private transfer option, they will be waiting for you and take you to the hotel you want.
Reserve at least two days of time to visit Athens: It is impossible for us to cover all its attractions in a single day. Here we tell you 30 things to see and do in Athens.
If you want to explore the part of the Continental Greece, the best is rent a car. Transport in Greece is not the best in Europe and with your own vehicle you will have full freedom of movement. We usually make reservations with Auto Europe, we never had a problem and we think it has the best prices. But compare!
The only negative point of renting a car is that the gasoline is more expensive than in Spain (in June 2018 the liter of gasoline in Greece is around € 1.65). Keep this in mind when organizing your budget. Still, a roadtrip through Greece sounds great.
A good one 10-day route for those traveling to Greece for the first time could be:
- Athens (2 days)
- Excursion to Delphi and Meteora (2 days)
- Santorini (2 days)
- Paros (1 day)
- Mykonos (2 days)
- Return to Athens (1 day)
You also have the possibility of hire a travel package that suits your preferences and your budget. A specialized agency in Greece isBorder, which offers travel packages to Greece at the best prices and you can modify them to your needs.
If you can add 5 days and make a 2 week handsome trip Whole, we recommend the following:
- Add an excursion to Corinth and Epidaurus (2 days)
- A day to the island of Santorini
- Another day at Paros
- Visit also Naxos (1 day)
Would you rather make a full immersion in the Greek islands, but you don't know which to start with? In this post we have told you which are the 7 most beautiful islands in Greece.
The idea of moving around Greece by ferry is very beautiful and romantic, but in honor of the truth it must be said that sometimes it is better (cheaper and faster) to make flight journeys. Ryanar in Greece is a great option, especially in low season. So sorry Ryanair-haters, but we are very fans!
There but routes that can only be done by ferry. If you want to browse prices and routes we recommend the Direct Feries website where companies, schedules and prices compare.
Did you know that there is a interrail for the greek islands? With this pass you can take an island hopping trip through the best islands of Greece. Included are the routes operated by the two large companies: Blue Star Ferries and Hellenic Seaways, to a total of 53 islands! Here you have more information. There are two types of passes:
- 5 trips in 1 month: € 90
- 6 trips in 1 month, which includes round-trip ferry to a port in Italy. € 176.
If you get a flight from Athens to Mykonos and another of Heraklion to Athens at a good price ... you will get the round vacation 🙂
One of the things you will enjoy most on your trip to Greece is its gastronomy. Our friend Eva wrote this post with the typical dishes that you cannot miss in Greece.
If you go to travel to Meteora, which we strongly recommend, keep in mind that there is only one direct train from Athens: at 08.20 in the morning. You can check schedules and prices on the official train website in Greece.
For those who have few days in Greece, it's not a bad idea take Athens as a base and take excursions from there. In this post we have told you what are the best excursions from Athens, and how to do them both for free, and with an organized tour.
The best time to travel to Greece is in spring and autumn. In summer, as you imagine, it gets up to tourists. Of course, Greece has so many islands that surely until mid-August you can find half-unknown corners (obviously not valid in the most tourist islands XD).
In high season the best is book buses in advance, especially if they are tourist sections like the one in Athens-Delphi. You can do it on this website.
One of the things we liked most on our last visit to Greece is to check that in most restaurants it is not necessary to order a drink. They usually bring you a jug of free cold water. Hopefully it is a custom that gradually extends to other countries.
¿Greece is a safe country? We never had any problems, although it is clear that you have to take the usual precautions. Put common sense in motion and, for example, do not walk at night through chunguillos neighborhoods with a reflex camera hanging on your shoulder. But this also applies to Madrid or Rome, right?
Greeks in general are open and welcoming people, in tourist sites almost all speak good english (We love the accent, by the way). But we always recommend learn some words in the local language, more than anything to gain his complicity. Here we leave you a little word that you should learn:
Good morning → Kaliméra
Good afternoon → Kalispéra
Good evening → Kaliníjta
Hello / goodbye → Yásas
Please → Parakaló
Thanks → Efjaristó
I don't speak Greek → Den miláo eliniká
How are you? → You can?
How much? → How Kani?
I like it → Me arési
Greece can be a cheap or very expensive destination, it depends a lot on how you ride it. If you go backpacking there are a couple of tricks to make the trip cheaper: eat street food (God save the gyro), travel in low season, sleep in hostels (or if you travel with friends rent tourist apartments), book flights and ferries well in advance and bet on destinations that are “off the beaten path” ( Mykonos, for example, is quite expensive).
Less is more, if you have limited time, it is best not to want to see too many things or you will spend the trip moving from one side to another.
Carry money or use card? We always recommend using a card when traveling. Both for payments and to get money. It is not very cool to carry large amounts of cash on top, let alone having to change it in destinations whose currency is not €. But watch out for commissions! Here we tell you the solutions to have money abroad. Our solution was to carry a Bnext card each, which we complemented with an N26 card each. They are free and in this way we travel quietly in case of any failure, and save money in commissions.
Do you have more tips for traveling to Greece? We would love to continue adding help tips for future travelers so don't be shy and leave us a comment 🙂
| Save on your trip |
| Compare and get flights cheap here |
| Find accommodation at the best prices here |
| Sign in Airbnb and get up € 34 discount here |
| Reservation activities and excursions in Spanish here |
| Hire the travel insurance IATI with a5% discount here |
| Reserve the airport transfers here |
| Find out how to take money out abroad without commissions here |
| Rent a car with the best offers here |
| The best books and travel guides here |
| All our articles about Greece |
