Cost of Greece Vacation: Here are ALL our numbers!

In this post I discuss how we spend our money abroad and then break down the cost of our Greece vacation. From a cost perspective, I’ll dive into how we got around, what type of restaurant we dined at and which hotels we chose.

Overview of how we spend money and our style

When discussing money and travel abroad, it always seems like such a mystery as to how much things cost. I’m not sure if this is a result of the travel agent industry, or because culturally we don’t like to talk about money…but it’s an issue. (It also could simply be because it’s difficult to budget a trip until you plan it and the average person isn’t going to spend time on the entire planning process).

The truth of the matter is that we all travel differently depending on our style, financial situation, families etc.. For example, the person who has no kids and wants to travel frugally, can grab a backpack full of clothes, get the cheapest plane ticket they can find to Portugal and stay in hostels. On the other hand, a full family of four, who wants to be comfortable visiting Iceland, has a larger budget and wants to travel comfortably, might spend a LOT more money. Those two trips are dramatically different in cost.

Watching the sunset in Imerovigli (Santorini) with a bottle of local white wine!

For Kailah and I, we approach our time abroad “somewhere in the middle” when it comes to money. Below are the factors we consider relevant to a traveling budget and the route we took for our Greece trip:

1. Location: We targeted the “hot” locations (like Athens, Mykonos and Santorini), which obvious came with a larger price tag than others.

2. Duration: We limited our trip to 7 nights - flying out on Friday night and back home on the following Saturday. We have kids, so we didn’t want to leave them for much longer than that.

3. Family travel: This was a couples trip, so we were much more flexible this time around and could book smaller accommodations.

4. Accommodations: Lets just say…our appetite for international travel was “high” when we planned this trip. While we didn’t spend for luxury (as we rarely do), we definitely didn’t look to save money on accommodations.

5. Restaurants: We went “all-in” on food and drinks (that’s our style). Again, we didn’t look for luxury, but easily spent $150-$200 a night on some dinners.

6. Logistics: We moved around a lot during this trip, driving up cost a bit (4 different locations in the first 4 days). Planes are generally the largest cost in this category, but ferries and car transfers definitely crept up on us.

Mid-ferry beers on our way from Mykonos to Paros (yes, things like this wound up in our “food and drink” cost)

Summary of expenses

The moment we’ve all been waiting for. Drum roll please…the Greece cost for our 7 nights was…

$5,863.92 (all in, including flights)

The official break down by category is as follows:

• Accommodations: $1,293.85

• Food and drink: 2,255.91

• Parking: $323.00

• Transportation: 1,991.17

I’ll break down each category a little…

Our Santorini balcony and hot tub at Zenith Blue Villas (respect the “farmers tan” ;) )

Accommodations: Since we stayed 7 nights, our average cost ran at a rate of $185 a night. Which is extremely reasonable in my mind. Especially including that we stayed ON the caldera in Santorini for three nights. That was our most expensive rate at ~$230 a night. Our most inexpensive was $105 for our VERY well located boutique hotel room in Mykonos (Hotel Carbonaki).

Food and drink: Yea…we know. This sounds like A LOT to spend in a week. And it probably is. But if you read our restaurant travel style above, you can easily see how we spent that much (and it was worth it!). A few examples of where we ate…

Our Mykonos dinner at Karavaki overlooking the beautiful town and harbor at sunset summed $185

Dinner at Karavaki overlooking Mykonos

Our first dinner overlooking the caldera in Santorini at the Aegeon Restaurant summed $159

Our final dinner in Santorini cost us $194 at Oia Gefsis in Oia (Santorini)

Parking: $323 is unnecessary here. The economy garage was closed during covid, so we chose to park in central parking at Boston Logan. We easily could have parked at a “park-and-fly” for a much better rate.

Transportation: We saved on flights by using points and only spent $681 to get to Greece. We tacked on another $302 for our flight getting us from Santorini back to Athens. The remaining dollars spent went to ferries and car transport, with the majority being allocated to Ubers and hotel transfers.

To sum it all up…

Exploring Mykonos and found this spot in front of the windmills!

Before I let you go, I want to make sure to drive one point home. I’m sure I sound like a broken record by now, but…cost is relative. This trip fit our style for THIS adventure (styles can change, even between trips!). We could have done it cheaper and we could have done it MUCH more expensive. And with that being said, if we had more flexibility with our time, we probably would have looked to save cash by eating in more and finding longer term accommodations.

If you are interested in all of the details of our Greece 2021 trip, check out our itinerary located here. (you can also see our 2017 Greece details here!).

I hope this helps with future planning and gives transparency into the cost of travel to Greece!

Kyle

Want alerts for when new blogs are posted? Scroll down and subscribe to our email list!

***If you haven’t seen our YouTube videos on our October 2021 trip, check them out below!

Greece by Ferry: How do we book?

One of the Blue Star “Slow Ferries” in port

Traveling by ferry seems like a right of passage for visiting the Greek islands. Who hasn’t seen those beautiful landscapes dotted with white washed buildings and blue capped churches? Well, that view can only be seen from one vantage point…the water!

Similar to our 2017 trip, we chose ferries as our primary form of transportation from Athens to the Greek isles and then inter-island during our recent adventure. We slept on a different island three nights in a row and used ferries the entire time. As I was sitting on the boat from Mykonos to Paros, I couldn’t help but think “man, this process is really stress free”. Maybe it was my third Mythos (Greek lager) of the day talking, but I’m pretty sure it was the process I followed to plan and book our ferry logistics.

So what worked for us?

Stop along the way through the Greek Islands

1. Leverage third party sites: I start with a third party ferry search flight like “Lets Ferry”. It allows you to search dates for the timeframe you are traveling and then gives the travel times across multiple ferry companies (Yes, like air travel, there are multiple companies that compete in the Aegean Sea!). Once you find the date and time that works best, take note of the company and move to step two.

2. Navigate directly to ferry company site: This one is self explanatory, but once you find your ferry in step one, you want to go directly to the website of that company. This saves you the admin fee of the third party site (and who doesn’t like savings?!).

3. Select your seat: This one can be a bit situational.

   1. Fast Ferries: On the “fast ferries” (generally any boat except Blue Star), there are two classes; economy and business. Honestly, business class isn’t all that special, but it generally comes with smaller crowds and a dedicated bar. If the extra cost is worth it to you, then by all means, splurge (we did during COVID and loved having almost NOBODY in our compartment and enjoyed a few Mythos).

   2. Slow Ferries: The “slow ferries” are a different animal. In my mind, there are really four options; private room/compartment, business class, airline seats and economy class. Let me break them down in order of general cost (most expensive to least):

      1. Private room/compartment: We actually did this on our first trip to the Greek islands because Kailah was pregnant. It allowed her a traditional private “cruise room” with beds to lie down in throughout the duration of our journey (Athens to Santorini is 7 hours on the slow ferry!). Since we had so many travelers, it wasn’t that expensive and we still had access to the business class restaurant/bar service.

      2. Business class: We went this route on our recent trip as it cut down on the crowds (for COVID) and it gave a relaxing full service restaurant/bar for the duration of the journey. The seating isn’t as comfortable however, as it is mostly chairs around a table. However, if the cost is worth it to you, we recommend this option.

      3. Airline seats: These seats are better than airplane seats as they provide a more reclined seating option for the longer duration ferries. If you are going to sleep on the trip and don’t want a compartment, this probably your best bet. They share the restaurants and bar with the economy seats.

      4. Economy: These are the “plain jane” table seats with a shared restaurant and bar. Cheapest, but the ship is so large you’ll have plenty of space to get up and walk around.

4. Buy through the ferry company site: Once you choose your seat, continue and purchase your tickets directly through the ferry company site. One important note that we found useful was that most ferry companies have a pretty flexible cancellation policy, in case something happens (or you need to cancel due to a global pandemic).

Our business class seats aboard superjets

That’s it! I hope this simplifies the Greek ferry process and inspires you to book with confidence. Oh, and in case you are struggling to find out the name of the Athens port, its called “Piraeus”. Yep, this one took me forever to find too!

Keep maximizing those experiences!

Kyle

Travel to Greece: Our First Experience Abroad Since 2020

Afternoon beverage by the sea in Mykonos

In October of 2021, we made a return trip to Athen’s and the Greek Isles, during what appears to be the end of year two of the COVID-19 pandemic. As passionate (some might say obsessive) international travelers, we couldn’t wait to get back over “the big pond” and Greece’s travel regulations and guidelines gave us the perfect opportunity to do so. The trip wasn’t all rainbows and butterflies however, so I wanted to write up this post to give insight into how we decided to go, how we actually managed to make it work and finally, how it went…

Our formula for making the go / no go decision:

First and foremost, traveling to Greece wasn’t an easy decision for us to make. There were so many thoughts creeping into our heads about going…What if we got stuck there? What if we got COVID and brought it back to our girls? Were restaurants and shops open? Was it even socially responsible to go?

So we did our research on the questions that gave us the most concern:

Rooftop of La Plaka hotel (Athens)

1. Could we get stuck in Greece? This was the toughest risk to take because technically the answer was yes. If we tested positive before returning home, Air France would not allow us on our flight. We would need to test negative before returning home. The girls would need child care…

2. Was everything open? Yep, sure was. (And as it turns out, it was a booming year for American tourists in Greece.)

3. Was it risky to bring home COVID? We decided to address this one from a couple directions. First and foremost, we watched COVID numbers in Greece and decided that a significant downward trend in cases would give us the green light. We also directionally followed Greek vaccination rates (71% at the time).

4. Was it socially responsible to go? Well, I guess it depends on which way you want to look at it. We are fully vaccinated travelers, obeying the rules set forth by governing bodies on both sides of the ocean (including mask wearing). So we decided that we could either set a great example of how we could socially responsibly travel (if this is truly the new way of life), or we could not go and leave it up to someone else.

And obviously, if I’m writing this, we decided to green light the trip. Throughout our trip, we wore our CDC approved N95s (on flights and in airports), ate primarily outside, upgraded tickets where possible to reduce crowds and obeyed the rules set forth by Greece. While I completely respect anyone else that wouldn’t have made the same decision, we are extremely grateful that we went.

Travel abroad is stressful enough right? (How we navigated this new travel experience).

Making the decision to travel was one thing, but actually executing on it was another. We’re used to the unpredictability and obsessive planning that international travel requires … outside of pandemic requirements. But this new age of travel brought on a whole new wave of hoops, jumps and side-skips to navigate. Here’s the detailed version of what we needed and researched to get to Greece, travel within Greece and then get back to the United States:

Kailah dockside in the old port of Mykonos

1. To get into Greece (and board the flight in the US): Vax card (fully dosed) or proof of negative viral COVID test 72 hours prior to departure, or a doctors note showing full recovery from COVID in the previous 90 days. (Please note that we traveled through Paris, as French requirements accepted vaccination to transit through their country at the time of our travel). Also, Greece randomly tests arrivals into the country with rapid COVID tests. If you test positive, you will be expected to quarantine. We did not get tested, but saw several travelers diverted to temporary testing booths.

2. Passenger Locator Form (PLF): this document is also required by Greece for entry into the country. IMPORTANT: you need to fill this our 48 hours before your departing flight (It might actually be 48 hours before arrival, but just play it safe). If you do not do this, you will not be allowed on your flight. Link to the form here.

3. Passport and surgical mask: Ah, yes the passport is still required. A surgical mask is also required during the flight. We chose the PurDefense N95 masks, as they are approved by the CDC for effectiveness.

4. Internal Greek travel: When traveling to the islands by air or boat, we had to comply with the same rules as in #1 and #3 above AND needed to fill out a passenger health questionnaire before boarding this boat. This was sent via email before departure from the booking company. An electronic version of this document was acceptable.

5. Indoor restaurant seating: On our first night on the island of Santorini we had planned to eat at our favorite Imerovigli restaurant called the Aegeon Restaurant. We had reservations to sit on the side of the caldera, in the open air. The October weather had other plans for us, so we were forced to be inside. The restaurant required a fully dosed vaccination certificate in order to sit down and be served.

6. Return trip to the United States: to board our flight back into the US, we had to fulfill #3, show a negative viral test within three days of our departing flight (specifically three days instead of 72 hours, as the US gives this flexibility in our policy) and fill out a passenger attestation regarding COVID. The attestation paperwork is handed out at the gate before the flight. Please note that a vaccination card is not sufficient to board your flight for the US. However, we found it EXTREMELY easy to find viral testing stations all over Greece. The process took a total of 30 minutes from test taking to results being received and cost us 15 euros a test (~$17). This is a European approved test and meets the requirements of the US.

Phew…that’s it? ;)

The famous windmills of Mykonos

Lastly, was it worth it?

If you are still reading, you must be wondering “Sooo was it all worth it?!”. The short answer from Kailah and I is that it was absolutely worth jumping through all of the hoops to be able to spend time together doing what we love. With that being said, I can easily see why this would be an incredibly stressful experience for some people and far from the relaxing vacation that they desire. After all, we LOVE planning, booking and experiencing. Not everyone loves all three.

So what went as expected and what didn’t?

What worked:

• All of our planning and research relating to COVID travel to Greece paid off big time. The transportation side of the trip went very smoothly (we had all of our documentation / requirements).

• Everything was OPEN. We didn’t experience any issues with businesses not being open while in Greece.

• Time of year. October was the perfect time to visit Greece. We loved the low crowds, slightly cheaper cost and still very pleasant temperatures (65-75 F the entire trip).

• It’s freaking Greece…it’s just a beautiful country, with incredible food and people. We can’t wait to be back and explore more of the islands.

What didn’t:

Naousa, Paros from our drone’s view

• Boston Logan economy parking is still completely closed (we had to spend significantly more to park in Central Parking last minute).

• Airport restaurants haven’t fully recovered / adjusted to the ever changing pandemic. For example, there was only one restaurant open at Boston Logan when we arrived for our 5:30 PM flight (we wanted to grab dinner before the 7 hour trip to Paris). Another restaurant finally opened up right before our flight, but they hadn’t even renewed their liquor license yet.

• We had a ferry cancel on us right before the trip (we assume due to the lack of passengers). It ended up being one of two ferries from Mykonos to Paros that day, so we ended up needing to take a late ferry to Paros and didn’t get to spend much time on the island.

Sunset from Imerovigli (Near our hotel)

All in all, this was another incredible adventure for us. The only problem is that it “scratched an itch” that only further fed our passion for international travel. It left us remembering how amazing the world still is (after being so isolated for so long) and finding ourselves constantly thinking about getting back out there and helping others do the same.

For those thinking about any COVID-era trip, I hope this helps provide a lens into the challenges, but benefits of getting back out into the world.

Cheers!

Kyle