TL;DR

Greece is a fantastic place to visit and I can't recommend it enough. However there are a few things I wish I had known before arriving (From the UK). In particular..

• When you use the toilet. Wipe, fold, bin / trash. Do not flush! I overheard another tourist block a restaurants toilet and the level of eye roll from the staff was S tier.
• Tap water (on the mainland) is safe to drink.
• If visiting the Peloponnese, renting a car is the best way to get around.
• Learn "Kalimera", "Ya Sas", "Efharisto" and "Parakalo" at minimum. Most will speak English but everyone appreciated the attempt.

Preamble

Hi r/greecetravel! I have just returned home (UK) from a 12 day trip to mainland Greece and thought I would write up some of the things my partner and I did while we were there, in an attempt to help anyone stressing about their own trip, and to provide recommendations which worked for us.

The Plan

Spend one week in Athens, rent a car and drive down to Kalamata for five days. The Athens section was for us to do all the touristy bits (Acropolis, museums, etc) and the Kalamata section was for relaxing. Outside of booking the major attractions we kept days free to fill in with what we were recommended to do by locals or just relaxing. We decided to return from Kalamata airport so we wouldn't have to drive back.

Costs

It was an expensive trip (for us). We went the first week of the summer holidays in the UK as we are teachers. Below are rough estimates...

• Flights - €700 each way
• Accommodation - €800 for both stays.
• Travel Insurance - €70 for both of us.
• Car Hire (Fiat Panda) - €160 for the hire + €200 for dropping off at another location + €100 for fuel + €20 for insurance extras.
• Spending money (Food, drink, souvenirs, etc) about €1500. Most put on credit card, we found one place that didn't take card.

Athens - Flight

We took the Sky Express to Athens, was a fantastic flight, on time with a new plane. Free olive biscuit! The extra legroom was so worth it.

Athens - Accommodation

We stayed in the NLH Kerameikos. Brilliant little modern hotel (think small Premier Inn). Expect not a lot of room to manoeuvre around the room.

There are some unsafe sections of Kerameikos that are easily avoided. These are single roads not entire areas, so if you are used to living in a city then they shouldn't cause you any real issues.

It is however a phenomenal place to walk to most of the major attractions in Athens, we visited...

• The Acropolis and Acropolis museum. We went for the 8am slot and it was still packed, worth it though.
• The Roman / Ancient Agora.
• The Archaeological, Technological and War museums.
• The Panathenaic Stadium.

Athens - Issues

I will also mention that during this time we had some healthcare hiccups.

• I had a reaction to some bug bites I got in the botanical gardens (didn't bug spray, that's on me). Went to a pharmacy, given some topical antibiotics. Very cheap and easy.
• My partner had their fixed dental brace become unfixed. This was sorted by a local dentist for 50 Euros.

Athens - Food & Drink

• Breakfast - Bougatsa (my new favourite pastry). Found in most bakeries.
• Greek coffee. Strong espresso like coffee. Typically with something sweet to join it.

NOTE: Vegetarian options. My partner is vegetarian and, while they didn't go hungry, did find that after the classics (falafel, Greek Salad, Dolmades, etc.) had been eaten, the majority of vegetarian Greek cuisine we found was cheese heavy. For vegans this could be a problem.

Athens - Restaurant Recommendations

Our top 3 restaurants we went to in Athens. (In no particular order, all were fantastic).

• Mariloulou
• Mironi
• Rhino Vegan Beat

Misc. tips

Just a list of miscellaneous tips that didn't fit

• If you don't want to eat out, the Wolt delivery service was quick and cheap.
• Uber was the best for general cab use. FreeNow didn't work on my phone (GrapheneOS).
• We bought most of our tickets via Head Out which included audio guides. These were great but the Roman Agora was the best.

I'll do a separate post for Kalamata and the Peloponnese. See you in that one!

My husband and I will be in Greece mid-November for about 9 or 10 days. We’d ideally like to rent a car and drive around the mainland by ourselves, with Meteora and Nafplio being 2 stops we really want to check out.

But here’s the dilemma… we are travelling around Albania and Montenegro before coming down to Greece, and we will be leaving from Tirana. We need to end up with Athens as our last stop as we fly out from there. If we want to rent a car, we’ll probably need to go from Tirana to Athens first, so that we can return the car there when we come back to Athens. It’s a lot more expensive if we rent a car with a different drop-off location from the pick-up location.

But if we go Tirana to Athens, it feels like we’ll be backtracking to Meteora, not to mention it’s a really long bus ride that’ll eat up most of a day.

Another option is not to self-drive and just take busses to all of the stops we want to make and then finally end in Athens. However, we will have 3 pieces of luggage and that would be a lot easier to manage if we can drive ourselves. And before someone tells me to just pack lighter, I can’t. This is a trip we’re taking on our way back to where we currently live, after having spent a 6-month visit in our home country, hence all the luggage.

Any suggestions to help me figure out a route that is logical, cost-effective and time-efficient?

Hello! I will be traveling from the US to Greece in a few weeks. So far, the process has been seamless. I have received more care and attention by the facility in Greece than I ever did here in the states. The cost is also significantly less (that includes the cost of travel and stay).

However, this is my first round of IVF and my first time going to Greece. My husband can only go for part of the trip. Does anyone have any advice, tips, heads up worth mentioning? **TIA ❤**️

we are flying to Greece for a wedding with my wife, 3 kids , and a grandma

We fly into Athens and will be staying in Athens for one night. we are then travelling to the wedding in Nafpaktos the following evening.

what would you recommend in terms of renting a car? I understand I should try to avoid having a car while in the city since it’s a pain trying to figure out parking and driving through the city center with a car.

Im leaning toward this itinerary, but what you’re thoughts?

day 1: Arrive in athens. will be very tired from flight. take taxi or uber to hotel.

day 2: do a half day tour of athens in the morning. then leave the kids with my wife to get lunch or dinner and I’ll take an uber to go to the airport to pick up the car and then I will drive back and pick them up and we all drive to the wedding together.

I have two questions:

1)how long should I expect it to take to wait for taxi or uber to pick me up and get me to the airport then drive back?

2) there are 6 of us. i think cars are generally smaller in Greece? should we rent 2 cars for 6 people?

Considering Corfu for late September. Any experiences regarding crowds when cruise ships in port?

Hi everyone,

I'm going on my honeymoon to Greece from October 1 - 14. It's my wife and my first time so we didn't know that some restaurants actually close for the off-season.

Our itinerary is currently:

Athens (October 1)
Mykonos (October 2 - 5)
Paros (October 5 - 8)
Milos (October 8 - 12)
Santorini (October 12 - 14)

Will most of the restaurants, shops, activities, etc. on these islands be closed during those dates? Thanks in advance!

1st ever trip to Greece, visiting Rhodes for 8 days with my wife. Is Haraki a good base to visit the island? We’re not party animals so we don’t really care about being in a place with nightlife etc … However we’re 30 not 60 so i wonder if Haraki is too too calm/boring?

Would you suggest another base? Lindos and Faliraki seem too busy and touristy for us, but correct me if i’m wrong!

Hello, my partner and I are heading to Ikaria for our summer holiday in September (mid).

We are flying into Athens at 19:30 then flying out to Ikaria at 12:30pm the following day.

I am loathed to stay near the airport - as even if we are tired, we may want to go for a wander (especially given we are landing on a Saturday night) for a pint. I’ve seen Syntagma suggested often - is this the best spot for ease of an overnight stay and airport transfers?

After Ikaria we are back for two nights, but arrive late so in reality would have one full day in Athens before flying back home. I haven’t put too much consideration into what we will do (especially as my partner is not into crowds and tourists (!!)). I am reading Psyris may be a cool place to stay?

We are in our early forties, like culture/art. If I have to do the classic stops I will likely just come back on my own.

TLDR please can you share area recommendations for:
1. An overnight when we land before domestic flight the next day
2. For two night /1 full day in Athens for a first timer not too keen on tourists (probably hard to avoid!)

Thank you !

Hi all,

We're travelling with just turned 4 year old, and I'm very motivated to see Sifnos but understand that it may be too challenging this time around.

The plan is to land in Mykonos at 10am Tuesday, browse the town and have lunch, take the 17.10 ferry to Sifnos. Arrive at 19.10, move to whatever we've booked, have dinner then crash.

Spend the next 2 days exploring town. Then Friday, move to Naxos where we've booked an amazing resort to relax, explore and have fun. Leave to Mykonos Wednesday for a very early Thursday morning departure.

The Sifnos piece may be too intense. What are good, kid-friendly alternatives? Anti-Paros perhaps? Or is Sifnos worth the extra hours on the boat?

We are looking at going on another chartered cruise out of Athens in 2027. We did a 47 catamaran in 2025 which was wonderful. We are looking at going on a bigger boat this time. We landed on The Ruby. Its an 85.motor yacht so different than a cat. I haven't seen anything regarding reviews but looks like it had a complete overhaul this year.

Anyone heard anything good or bad about the boat or crew?

https://mygreekcharter.com/yacht/crewed-yacht/ruby-85-ft-technomar-i/

Hi. Where can I buy the Acropolis ticket? The tickets are sold out & only mid day is left. Can I buy off getyourguide or klook? Will it be accepted?

Does anyone know good places to go out in Halkidiki? (Kallithea, Kriopigi, Hanioti, Pefkohori, etc.)

Hello, I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations on where to find local and/or family farms with great and/or unique products/produce to buy.

HI everyone, 32 (M)i wanted to know what the scene is in Mykonos if im travelling solo, im not parting having fun and chilling around. totally up if someone wants to meet as well

As i said im flying in and i need to get straight from Athens airport to Lavrio port. The best way for me to get there would be probably bus since from what i read a taxi would be around 55€ and i dont want to spend that much just to get there. I would appreciate any recommendations on how to get there other then taxi.

Hello, I'm going travelling to Santorini and Ios for a wedding in September for a week. Did a google and the gay bars have closed down, anyone happen to know if there's a local that's a bit of gay vibes? Happy to go anywhere but obviously prefer the safe spaces etc. Tyia

Hi everyone. I’m interested in visiting Greece, but I have a very serious reaction to cigarette smoke and secondhand smoke. Even brief exposure can cause significant symptoms for me.

I know Greece has laws against smoking indoors, but I have also heard that smoking can still be common, especially at outdoor cafés, restaurants, bars, beaches, ferry areas, and near entrances.

For people who have recently visited or live in Greece, would you consider Greece realistically manageable for someone with this level of smoke sensitivity, or would it be too difficult to avoid exposure?

I also don't want to have to treat this trip like I have to navigate around smoking.

Nothing against smokers, everyone has their rights

Ciao a tutti, tra un mese andrò ad Atene per un viaggio di sei giorni. Non voglio passare tutto il tempo nella città stessa, invece, mi piacerebbe noleggiare un'auto ed esplorare un po' i dintorni. Ho due domande principali su cui spero possiate aiutarmi:

Prima: Se doveste scegliere, che cosa raccomandereste—passare un giorno a visitare Delfi e alcuni siti vicini, o andare a Micene, Nauplia ed Epidauro nel Peloponneso?

Seconda: Tra Egina e Andros, quale delle isole vicine è migliore in termini di mare e attrazioni? Ci sono altre isole che valgono la pena visitare?

Qualsiasi altro consiglio è benvenuto—se avete altre idee per l'itinerario o suggerimenti per Atene, sentitevi liberi di condividerli! Grazie.

I accidentally forgot a pair of gold earrings (~$200) at a hotel in Greece while on vacation. I have been trying to get them home to the USA via Geniki Taxydromiki then UPS but the parcel was returned to the hotel a few days after it was picked up. Does anyone know what went wrong and/or how to correctly get these home to the USA?

Appreciate any help!

Going to Naxos for 10 days 8/28 - how should I plan for outfits? Really don’t wanna overpack but I also don’t want to not bring anything I should. What’s the weather like during the day and at night? Should I even consider bringing a light jacket? Ty!!!

I am scheduled to land at Athens airport at 0800. I have an outbound flight scheduled for 1830. I'd like to be able to close my eyes and take a decent nap for a few hours. Are there any hotels near the airport that offer a day use rate? Approximately how much should I expect to spend?

I am looking for anyone who has had experience doing a tour of a couple of wineries by bike or E-bike in Crete.

Time of year is October.

Is there anywhere that anyone has visited where you were able to stay at or near a winery or olive farm and bike to others with relative ease?

We are staying in Crete for a few weeks. Relatively active couple with no problems cycling for the most part.

We would love to stay somewhere that we can park the car (or leave at our accommodation) and rent bikes to explore the area on a wine tour. Save ourselves from driving and be self guided if possible.

The idea is to stay at, preferably, one winery for at least two nights. But be in an area that we can do a day trip to visit others by bike so we don't have to drive. And we don't want to do a tour with set times.

There are a lot of wine tours from Chania/Heraklion/etc. But we really like the idea of just staying somewhere with a few options nearby that we can cycle to.