How Much Money Should You Bring On Holiday to Greece

If you plan to arrive in Athens, the Eleftherios Venizelos Airport is connected to the city via bus and metro systems. A single bus ticket costs €6.00 ($7.50) (half price tickets available for students and seniors). A single metro ticket costs €10.00 ($12.30) and €18.00 ($22.30) for a return ticket. If you are planning on staying within the city center, you should know that it is easily walkable, so you may not have to rely on public transport. In any other case, for a trip the beach or to any direction, single ticket costs €1.40 ($1.80).

A hostel room with breakfast in the center of Athens costs between €10-20 ($12.30-25 ) per night, while a double room in a three-star hotel can get around €50-70 ($62-86). For those who prefer Airbnb, plan on spending between €20-€60 ($25-77) per night depending on the accommodation’s location. Prices are cheaper in other cities and islands, except for the more touristy destinations such as Mykonos or Santorini, where booking in advance and opting for less-frequented areas may be best.

Eating out is fairly expensive in Greece, for example, a meal for two at a taverna costs around €15 ($18.50) , though you can definitely find more expensive in touristy and higher-range restaurants. A good rule of thumb is to include a few street food meals, such as sandwiches, gyros, souvlakis or falafel wraps, all costing under €5 ($6) . When it comes to drinks in bars, in average, a pint of beer is roughly €4 ($5.50) while cocktail prices vary between €9 ($12) and €11 ($13) .

For the beach bums out there, note that Greece is filled with free beaches easily accessible and that won’t cost you a cent. All you might have to do is bring an umbrella to protect yourself from the sun. Sightseeing is of course a must when in Greece, and those usually include an entrance fee, usually minimal, besides the major attractions such as the Acropolis. If you can, take advantage of free entrance days, mostly outside peak seasons. Otherwise, you might have to budget around €30-40 ($37-49) to ensure that you can visit a few monuments and museums without worry.

Depending on where you are vacationing, day trips and escapades outside the cities are readily available. Public transport such as buses and trains are ideally cheap for getting there. For islands, ferry trips start around €5 ($6) to more depending on the destination. You may have to book in advance on peak season. For short stays, flights might be more interesting as it saves time though it might be more expensive than relying on ferries.

If you are doing a city trip in Athens for a long weekend (3 to 4 days), plan around €300-400 ($370-495) with a bit of extra for souvenirs and extras. Plan cheaper if you are visiting Thessaloniki, Patras or Volos, which are cheaper than the Greek capital. A week-long beach holiday in Crete or any smaller island might certainly cost less, although you may have to take into account car rent fees for any day trip. Fair warning for touristy destinations such as Mykonos or Santorini, as they tend to get pricier due to their increasing popularity.