Going to Greece last year was a very last minute decision for me so there wasn’t a ton of time to plan. For someone like me who likes to make a very detailed itinerary, doing the required research (right during finals too) ended up being pretty difficult, although this made things a learning experience too! Here are some of the things I learned that I think you should know when planning your trip to Greece!

Choose an area or cluster of islands you want to go to

If you’re planning on taking a ferry and island hopping, I highly recommend looking at your time frame as well as which islands you’re close to. We started our trip in Athens and I really wanted to go to Santorini. I thought Zykanthos, Corfu, and Rhodes would be really cool to visit, however they ended up being too far from each other (very long ferry rides and the prices can get pretty high too) So I went from Athens to Santorini to Crete, and then flew back to Athens. Choose a cluster of islands that most interests you and start planning from there.

Figure out your method of transportation

If you’re able to,  I’d compare flight and ferry prices as early as possible because in some cases the flight prices may actually be better than a ferry but the later in advance the higher they are. Also the ferries take a lot longer and tend to get delayed, sometimes even for hours. We heard a lot of good things about ferry island hopping, but from a 4 hour delay where we missed the last bus to our hotel (thankfully we spoke with the staff on board and they agreed to get us a taxi) to numerous children throwing up on board we much prefer a short flight.  

Moreover, once you’re at the location you will need to figure out how to get from place to place as well. I used Uber a lot when I went to Portugal because it was super affordable, but in Greece it was completely the opposite. First and foremost, especially in Santorini, avoid the taxi services at the ports. They had some of the most insane prices I’ve ever heard of. (even the Uber was less than half the price of a taxi). If you can avoid taking a taxi, avoid it. 

It really all depends where you go but in Athens we paid around eight dollars to take a train from the airport to the main city and from there we could walk everywhere. Santorini also has a really great bus system which we didn’t know about at first. Ranging from around 2-6 dollars each way and with frequent departures, the KETL buses take you all over the island and make travel super easy and affordable. And finally in Crete they offer KETL buses as well but with more limited stops so we rented a car through a local service (always read reviews first!) for some day trips and took a bus from city to city. 

Figure out your budget

I travel often so I try to find a balance between keeping a low budget but also having fun! Some of the more popular islands are a lot more pricey than others. Santorini for example was beautiful, however excursions, hotel stays in the main areas (Oia and Fira) and food can be very expensive. I felt like I only needed two days there, one to hike across the island and hang out on the beach, and another to explore the towns and shop. I like exploring when traveling but there isn’t much exploring to be done there on a low budget. However, let me tell you, I completely underestimated Crete and honestly easily could have stayed there for a week and been happy. Food is affordable, the Island is huge, and there are so many things to do that won’t make you feel broke in a day. There’s historic cities to explore, stunning hikes and beaches and so much more. Keeping your budget in mind can help you to figure out how long to stay in each location. Oh and no hate to Santorini, if you plan to have a higher budget, a longer stay there will be much more worthwhile. 

This is just an overview! Later this month, I will be posting my itinerary and what I would add, remove or do more of now that I experienced it all! 🙂