Greece Travel Guide: Things to Do

• Currency: what currency does Greece use? The euro (€, EUR). Cards work almost everywhere in Athens; on the islands small tavernas, beach bars and some taxis may still want cash.
• Time zone: Eastern European Time, UTC+2, and UTC+3 from the last Sunday of March to the last Sunday of October. Greece is one hour ahead of Rome, Vienna and Paris. Ferry and flight times are always local time.
• Schengen and the EU: is Greece in Schengen? Yes, and in the EU. US, UK, Canadian, Australian and Singapore passports are visa free for up to 90 days in any 180; many other passports need a Schengen visa before the trip. Since 10 April 2026 the EES records entries at the border instead of passport stamps. By passport: Greece visa guide .
• Language: Greek; English works at the sights, in hotels and in restaurants.
• Plugs: type C and F, 230 V, the standard European two-pin plug. Coming from the US or the UK, pack a travel adapter for Greece.
• Phone and emergencies: the country code is +30; the emergency number is 112.

Before you go, read the Greece travel advisory from your own government, for example the US State Department  or the UK Foreign Office .

The islands and the mainland run on different calendars. Outside the season many island hotels and restaurants close, while Athens and Thessaloniki stay open all year.

• April and May: fewer people, lower hotel prices, the sea still cool; the best months for the ancient sites. Athens is about 11 to 25°C. Some island hotels and ferry routes only start in May.
• June and September: warm enough to swim, without the July and August crowds. For most people the best balance.
• July and August: everything is open and everything is full; Athens reaches 34°C. The meltemi wind in the Cyclades can cancel ferries, so leave a spare day before a flight home.
• October to March: most islands go quiet and some ferry routes stop. This is the season for Athens; our winter trip was five nights in Monastiraki.

The best Greek islands to visit depend on how you get there. The groups are far apart, and a ferry from one group to another can take most of a day.

• Saronic islands (Hydra, Poros, Aegina): the closest to Athens. A one day cruise covers all three, and that is how we saw them.
• Cyclades (Santorini, Mykonos, Milos, Paros, Naxos): the white and blue islands, by ferry from Piraeus or by flight from Athens. Our cruise stopped at Santorini, Mykonos and Milos; in Santorini the ship anchors and small boats take you ashore.
• Crete: the largest island. We had a day in Heraklion: the Archaeological Museum, the Lion Fountain and the Venetian fortress at the harbour.
• Dodecanese and North Aegean (Rhodes, Kos, Symi, Lesbos): right off the Turkish coast. Kos is about 15 minutes by ferry from Bodrum and Rhodes about an hour from Marmaris, so a Turkey and Greece trip is easy to put together.
• Ionian islands (Corfu, Paxos, Kefalonia, Zakynthos): on the west side, greener and less windy than the Aegean; reached by flight or by ferry from Italy.

Which gate your ferry leaves from at Piraeus, and the metro from the airport to the port, are in our Athens transportation guide .

For 1 week in Greece, the Greece itinerary one week we would plan is three days in Athens, one day trip (Delphi, or the Saronic islands by cruise) and three nights on a single Cycladic island by ferry from Piraeus. That 7 day Greece itinerary keeps ferry time low; a Greece itinerary of 7 days with two islands means losing most of a day at sea.

A 10 day Greece itinerary adds a second island in the same group, Santorini with Milos or Naxos, so the 10 days Greece itinerary still has only short hops. For a 2 weeks Greece itinerary, add Crete, or end in the Dodecanese: Kos is about 15 minutes by ferry from Bodrum, which makes a Turkey and Greece itinerary simple.

When is the best time to visit Greece for a plan like this? June or September, when the islands are warm and the ferries run but July and August crowds are gone.

For Greece travel cost, start from Athens: a day in Athens costs about €30 to 40 per person on a budget and €85 to 110 for a classic day with the Acropolis and a taverna dinner, food included and the hotel not (official fares and our own bills, October 2026).

Street food is the cheapest way to eat well in Greece. Gyros is meat carved from a vertical spit and wrapped in pita; souvlaki is grilled meat on a skewer; loukoumades are small fried dough balls with honey.

In Athens we paid €3.50 for a beef souvlaki at Kostas near Syntagma and €2.50 at Lefteris o Politis by Omonia, and we keep going back to Hoocut in Monastiraki for gyros. The places we ate and what we paid: where to eat in Athens .

In Athens, first visits work best in Plaka, Monastiraki, Syntagma or Koukaki: all close to the Acropolis and the metro. Our own stays: Hotel Byron in Plaka for a night, and M18 Studios Monastiraki Gems for five nights in winter.

On the islands, staying near the main town (the chora) makes dinners and buses easier; beach hotels are quieter but need a car or the bus. In July and August island hotels fill up months ahead; in April, May and October it is easy to find a room. Area by area, with hotels: where to stay in Athens .