Greece - Travelouge (Europe travelouge)

That being said, there are dozens of Cyclades Islands, each with something wonderful to offer. If you want dramatic coastlines and out of this world beaches, head to Milos. If you are after mystical castles head to Naxos. Folegandros is one of my favorite islands because its so laid-back and charming. If you want to party on a backpacker budget, and still get a great Greek experience, check out Ios. This is an area on mainland Greece where a handful of monasteries stand on top of soaring rock pillars.

It truly looks like a fairy tale, and is well worth visiting! There are several monasteries that cost EUR 3 to enter. There are also ample hiking and rock climbing opportunities here! Crete is a big enough island to be its own country. It definitely merits an entire vacation on its own with so much to do and see.

Jennifer S. Alderson

No modern building in Athens is allowed to be taller than the Acropolis because of its significance to the Greeks. If so, I highly recommend visiting the Acropolis right when it opens to avoid the crowds. You can also walk around the area at night, and see it lit up. There are several spots you can watch the sunset on Santorini, but the most popular is from the cliff-top town of Oia. The city is packed with tourists leading up to sunset, so I recommend getting their early with a bottle of wine and some snacks.

If you want to splurge, you can make dinner reservations at one of the several restaurants with sunset views.

Backpacking Greece Travel Guide What to See, Costs, & More!!

Delphi is most famous for the Sanctuary of Apollo site, but there are a few other impressive sites as well as the Delphi Museum that can take a full day to explore. Visiting Delphi is a great combination with Meteora, and many tourism companies arrange day tours to see both. Hydra is just 90 minutes by sea from Athens, which makes this a great weekend trip. Hydra will transport you back in time with its lack of motorized vehicles and stunningly preserved stone village. Corfu is located in the Ionian Islands near Albania and Croatia.

You can stroll through Byzantine fortresses and the streets of the Venetian Old Town. This area of Greece is heavily influenced by Venetia, so you can experience Italian-influenced food as well! The site of the first Olympics, and source of so many Ancient Greek stories. This is a great addition if you are a history buff backpacking Greece!

The Dodecanese Island group is a perfect itinerary if you are backpacking Greece and Turkey. The island of Rhodes is famous for its medieval town. It also boasts a buzzing nightlife in the summertime. Below we have provided essential information and Greece travel tips for your backpacking adventure including the best time to travel to Greece, how much to budget for Greece, and a guide to Greek cuisine.

Not picked the perfect travel backpack yet? The Broke Backpacker team has tried out over thirty backpacks this year! Just use the code: Check out this post to read our full review! These are some of my favourite travel reads and books set in Greece which you should consider picking up before you begin your backpacking adventure…. Gage writes here about his mother, Eleni, who was murdered by communist partisans during the Greek civil war.

The book is an account of the way a life that was destroyed by war. Ashes is a suspenseful story of revenge, corruption, and conspiracy in Greek society. A collection of short stories about the working-class in the port town Piraeus. The stories focus on families, seniors, and young couples, who struggle to make ends meet. These stories give readers an insight into Greek life with the economic crisis. This is a compilation of 24 stories and essays based on the ancient Greek myths and modern tales.

This is a crime novel about an Albanian couple and journalist murdered in Athens. The story is both a mystery and reflection of political and social realities in Greek society. Lonely Planet Greece Travel Guide: Relevant, up-to-date advice and tips for backpacking Greece. I have written the pronunciations for a few helpful Greek travel phrases below with english translations.

One should always have common sense when travelling in a new country, but I think backpacking Greece is very safe. Much of Greece and the sleepy villages feel safe enough to leave the doors unlocked, not that I would recommend this. In my opinion, most bad things happen to travelers after 2AM. Watch out for strangers coming up to you with petitions and signs; this is usually just a distraction to steal your stuff.

If you are renting a car, keep valuables out of sight! Greeks are known for their wine, and with good reason. I noticed that many families make their own wine, not to sell, but to consume with family. Ouzo is a popular liquor in Greece made by the by products from which they make wine. Raki is their spirit of choice. There are definitely some cities and islands best known for all day and night parties: Many of the houses and restaurants on Ios have a relaxed vibe, but the bars, nightclubs, and summer festivities get pretty crazy.

Athens also has some great bars and clubs. As always, where there are all night parties, there is a lively drinking and drug scene…. Even if you are only going on a short trip, you should always travel with insurance. Greece is all about fun in the sun, so pack a few swim suits, and your trendiest beachwear! Ladies, this is the time to break out your favorite maxi dresses. There are some nice hiking opportunities, so bring a good pair of shoes and some active wear too.

I also suggest bringing a couple layers as nights can be cooler. Security Belt with Hidden Pocket: I never hit the road without my security belt. This is a regular looking belt with a concealed pocket on the inside — you can hide up to twenty notes inside and wear it through airport scanners without it setting them off. This is hands down the best way to hide your cash.

Backpacking Greece Travel Guide 2018

AR bottle are tough, lightweight and maintain the temperature of your beverage — so you can enjoy a cold red bull, or a hot coffee, no matter where you are. Hostel towels are scummy and take forever to dry. Microfibre towels dry quickly, are compact, lightweight and can be used as a blanket or yoga mat if need be. I would never travel without a headtorch. Even if you only end up using it once, a decent head torch could save your life. If you want to explore caves, unlit temples or simply find your way to the bathroom during a blackout, a headtorch is a must.

Taking a tent backpacking is not always practical but hammocks are lightweight, cheap, strong, sexy chicks dig hammocks and allow you to pitch up for the night pretty much anywhere. In my experience the best time to visit Greece is during tourist shoulder season — May, June, September and October.

The weather is great and the ferries are running consistently, but you can still escape the crowds. Moreover, you can book ferry tickets and hotels last minute. High season August and July is most crowded and expensive time for backpacking Greece. Unless you have money to blow, or solely want to visit Greece for the parties, I suggest avoiding August. On the other hand, travelling off-season could be a lovely time to visit mainland Greece or popular islands like Santorini. Many of the luxury hotels will be selling rooms for a fraction of the cost, and popular places, like Oia, are already incredibly crowded in the summer.

This app is definitely for you. It is a great help while calculating expenses. This particular VPN allows for up to five connections which is handy for keeping all your devices connected without having to purchase multiple VPN packages. Bla Bla Car — This is a great ride sharing app that is popular in Europe. Use it to score cheap rides, and meet some awesome locals! This is a great way to save time while island hopping in Greece.

There are trains, but the buses are going to be faster and cheaper. EU citizens will only need their passport to enter Greece. Other nationalities will need to apply for a Schengen Visa beforehand to visit all Schengen zoned countries. As a non-European traveller, you can only stay in Greece and other Schengen zone countries for 3 months out of every 6 months.

Once 6 months have passed from your original arrival date, the visa resets. The Schengen visa can be a bit confusing because not all European countries are part of Schengen zone. A few other countries — namely Switzerland, Iceland, and Norway — are not technically associated with the EU, but they are part of the Schengen zone. Theoretically, you can visit Greece for 3 months, and then hop over to a non-Schengen country — like Croatia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina — for 3 months, and then travel back to Greece with a fresh 3 month visa.

A lot of long-term travellers plan their travels around the Schengen visa accordingly. While backpacking Greece and the rest of Europe, I have found budget airline flights are quite affordable, but only if you buy your plane ticket at least one month in advance. While island hopping, taking slow ferries is going to be the most affordable way of getting around Greece. If you are sticking to one route like the backpacking Greece itinerary routes above , you should be able to catch a ferry almost any day of the week, which will give you more flexibility.

When you start skipping around ex: Outside of these months you can buy a ticket the day before without an issue. If you are ferrying from Piraeus near Athens , you can buy ferry tickets from any of the travel agents in Athens. Cars also give you the freedom to explore the Greek islands and beaches.

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Renting a car is truly a great way to experience Greece at your own pace. You can sort your car rental here in just a few minutes. Booking in advance is the best way to ensure you score the lowest price and your choice of vehicle. Often, you can find the best car rental prices when you pick up the rental from the airport. For getting around Greece, especially main land Greece, traveling in Greece by campervan is one sweet option.

Renting a campervan in Greece is pretty easy too. Certainly, having access to a campervan will open many doors to you. I highly recommend vanlife if you can swing it. Hitchiking around the Greek Islands can be tough depending where you are, but locals are friendly and can probably help out. Wild camping in Greece is forbidden by law. If you camp next to hotels or other tourist accommodations, police may you fine you, but there are still a lot of remote beaches, far from touristy areas where you can camp without police problems.

If you are flying internationally, you will more than likely fly from Athens. Other European cities and the Greek Islands are connected by air as well. If you are backpacking Greece and Turkey, you can fly, cross by land or sea. There is a land crossing via Kipi into Istanbul, and there are ferries to Turkey from the Dedocanese. I recommend booking an international ferry in advance, especially in the summertime. If you are backapacking Greece and Italy, flying might be the fastest way to reach Italy, but there are also ferries that leave from the Ionian Islands!

There are multiple overland crossings into Albania, Bulgaria, and Macedonia. Buses are going to be the cheapest public transportation. The Greek railways run daily trains from Thessaloniki to Sofia and Belgrade. You can continue to Budapest via Belgrade. You can still backpack Greece on a budget.

The tavernas and local eateries are affordable — around EUR 8. Gyros are the cheapest way to eat out and will run you about EUR My friends and I cooked most of our meals to save money. The popular islands, like Mykonos and Santorini, can be more expensive near the touristy areas. If you want to splurge on a fancy meal, consider doing so on the smaller islands. ATMs are widely available everywhere, but you can expect a withdrawal fee for international bank cards, which is why I travel with a debit card that refunds me for transaction fees.

Americans, I recommend checking out Charles Schwab! Visa and Mastercard are widely accepted in Greece. Always have cash on you when backpacking Greece and visiting smaller, family -run places! Many large stores in Greece accept cards, but a lot of out-of-the-way locations will only accept cash. If you want to carry a fair bit of cash safely on your body, your best bet is to get hold of a backpacker belt with a hidden security pocket.

This will be the cheapest way to visit Greece. June and September are also affordable, but stay away during July and August if you are backpacking Greece on a budget. I recommend splitting costs with other travellers. Renting an apartment with a few people is cheaper than separate dorm beds, and a lot of islands do not have a hostel scene. The best way to save money on accommodation is to stay away from the touristy towns, although this means you may have to rent a vehicle.

Couch Surfing is the best way to meet locals and stay for free, but snagging a spot can be tough. If all else fails, most of the Greek Islands have cheap camping! I grew up buying Greece calendars, and my eyes could not believe what I was finally seeing right in front of me.

It was everything I've ever dreamed of. We started our journey on the island of Santorini and rented an AirBnB and car to see as much as we could.

• santorini + athens | greece travelogue — colleen amelia.
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Santorini is known for their show-stopping sunsets, and they did not disappoint! We made sure to plan ahead and catch the views from some incredible restaurants, listed below each picture. Though we stayed in Pyrgos with the house towards one end of the island, we enjoyed spending our time in Fira and Oia.

We ended our trip in Athens and I'm so glad we saved some time to spend here. What are you letting yourself in for? Discover the length of the shoreline of England, estimate the amount of time it will take you to cover the entire route, and decide exactly what type of walker you intend to be. Using practical examples based on the experiences of other coastal walkers, this book guides you through your various options. Take your time getting there and you might meet people whose stories are as gripping as those of any famous name.

A tour guide in Glastonbury who is having a real-life romance with a character from Arthurian legend. A unit on a suburban business park where people are preparing to deep-freeze each other when they die. But even low-key travel has its hazards, and Roz nearly runs down several gentlemen from Porlock when her brakes give up on her. Wry, romantic, amused and wonder-struck, Not Quite Lost is an ode to the quiet places you never realised might tell you a tale.

A twist of fate sends this American artist to Greece on a painting workshop in Her mission is to learn from her past and resurrect faith in her intuition and her love of art. Yearly art workshops abroad give unparalleled inspiration for her painting for seven more years, ending with a devastating loss.

The dark curtain lowers when her mentor leaves the earth. Can living there allow the serenity she seeks? Will the enchantment last? If you love travel books, this is the one you need to read next. Accompany two senior travelers on their tenth trip to Italy. Enjoying a full two months on this trip, they visit famous sites and lesser known ones with abundant curiosity and enthusiasm. Using blog and journal entries written while traveling, Jeane and Larry Rhodes bring the reality of traveling in Italy to life, including both the challenges and the rewards. This book will also appeal to those who must travel on a budget, but are far past the age of enjoying hostels and sleeping in train stations.

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In these pages you will learn the importance of planning and the importance of being open to unplanned surprises; the advantages and challenges of traveling off-season; the individuality of the travel experience how two people can experience the same thing differently. You will find bonus pages at the end of the book, providing travel tips, and details on Airbnb rentals, hotels, restaurants. Will having smoke repeatedly blown in his face deter a foreigner from breaking in to French culture?

And, through exposure to the life of artist Marc Chagall, Shore reflects on the challenges that all newcomers face to gain acceptance in a foreign land. Be sure to stop back next month to learn more about Travel By Book titles set in Mesoamerica and the Caribbean!