The mistake almost everyone makes in Greece is treating the islands like cities on a map. They are not connected by roads, the ferries are slow, and two islands in a week means one full day spent on boats. Pick fewer islands than you want to. That single decision improves the trip more than any amount of budget.
Visas and the border
Greece is in Schengen.
| Passport | What you need | | --- | --- | | Armenia | Schengen visa, applied for in advance. | | Georgia | Nothing. 90 days within any 180 across all of Schengen. | | Russia | Schengen visa, applied for in advance. | | EU and Schengen | Nothing. | | United States | Nothing for 90 days in 180. |
Armenian citizens apply in advance in Yerevan. The appointment slot is the constraint, so start two to three months out for a summer trip. Standard pack: 30,000 euros of insurance, accommodation for every night, statements covering roughly 100 euros a day, return ticket. Apply to the country where you will sleep the most nights.
Since 10 April 2026, the Entry/Exit System has replaced passport stamps across Schengen. Fingerprints and a facial image are taken on your first entry, and every crossing after that is recorded. Athens airport queues at the biometric kiosks are long in July and August, and the island airports, which are small and were never built for this, are worse.
ETIAS for visa-free nationalities including Georgians is expected in the last quarter of 2026 and is not required yet.
When to go
Late May, June, September and the first half of October. That is the answer and it is not close.
July and August are hot, full and expensive all at once. Athens regularly passes 40 degrees, and in recent summers the Acropolis has closed during the hottest hours of heatwave days for safety. Ferries sell out, island accommodation triples, and Santorini at sunset is a queue.
May and October are cheaper by a wide margin, but two warnings. Sea temperature in May is genuinely cold, and by mid October many island businesses have closed for the winter, ferry frequency drops, and some of the smaller islands become impractical to reach.
Winter is Athens only, and Athens in winter is an excellent and almost empty city.
Ferries, which are the whole plan
Book ferries before you book anything else in summer. Popular routes sell out weeks ahead and the cheap conventional sailings go first.
There are two kinds. Conventional ferries, run by companies such as Blue Star, are slower, steadier, cheaper by 40 to 50 percent, and carry cars. High-speed catamarans, mainly Seajets, halve the journey and cost roughly double. In rough weather high-speed services are cancelled first while conventional ones keep sailing, which is why booking the fast boat for your flight home day is a bad idea.
Athens to Santorini costs around 71 to 108 euros a person and takes five to eight hours depending on the boat. Shorter hops between neighbouring Cyclades are 20 to 40 euros.
Ferries leave from Piraeus, Rafina and Lavrio. These are three different ports and they are not close to each other. Rafina is nearer the airport and serves Mykonos, Andros and Tinos. Check which one your ticket says before you book a taxi.
Never plan a ferry on the same day as an international flight. Cancellations for wind are common and there is no compensation and no alternative.
What things cost
- Acropolis ticket: 30 euros, the same price all year
- Athens metro single: 1.40 euros, valid 90 minutes with transfers
- Athens day pass: 4.50 euros
- Airport metro or bus: a separate, higher fare of around 9 euros
- Hostel bed: 25 euros
- Taverna dinner: 12 to 20 euros a person
- Street food, souvlaki or gyros: 4 to 6 euros
- Ferry, Athens to Santorini: 71 to 108 euros
Islands cost 20 to 40 percent more than the mainland for the same thing, because everything arrives by boat and there is little competition. Mykonos and Santorini are a further step above that and are the two most expensive places in the country by a distance.
The combined archaeological ticket in Athens covers the Acropolis and six other sites and is worth it if you will see three or more. Buy tickets online for the Acropolis regardless, since the ticket booth queue in summer is an hour in direct sun.
Tipping is rounding up or five to ten percent. Not more.
Eating and etiquette
Greek meal times run late but not as late as Spain. Lunch is 14:00 to 16:00, dinner from 21:00.
The taverna in a tourist square with a laminated photo menu and someone outside inviting you in is the one to walk past. The rule holds almost everywhere in Greece: if a restaurant needs someone on the street to fill it, the food is not doing that job.
Ordering is communal. Several plates in the middle rather than a course each. Ordering a starter and a main each will produce more food than you can eat and will mark you out.
Churches and monasteries have dress codes, and the monasteries enforce them strictly. Meteora requires long skirts for women and long trousers for men, and they lend wraps at the entrance.
The bill will not be brought until you ask. This is politeness, not neglect.
Safety
Greece is safe. Crime against tourists is mostly pickpocketing in Athens, concentrated around Omonia, Monastiraki, the metro line to Piraeus and the crowds under the Acropolis.
The real risks in summer are heat and water. Heatstroke sends visitors to hospital every year, and the archaeological sites have no shade at all. Go at opening time or in the last two hours. Wildfires are a genuine seasonal hazard on the mainland and on some islands, with evacuations most summers.
Renting a quad or scooter on an island is the most common way tourists get hurt in Greece. Roads are gravel-strewn, insurance is often void without the right licence, and hospitals on small islands are small.
Swimming: many beaches have no lifeguard and the meltemi wind creates real currents in the Cyclades.
Tap water is fine in Athens and on Crete. On most small islands it is not for drinking, and everyone buys bottled.
Staying connected
Coverage is good on the mainland and on the larger islands, patchy in mountain areas and on the smallest islands, and unreliable on ferries once you are properly out to sea.
That last point matters more than it sounds. Ferry tickets, changed departure gates and hotel addresses all live on your phone, and Piraeus port has poor signal in the terminal at peak times.
Coming from Armenia, Georgia or Russia, roaming charges apply at your carrier's rate. A Greek SIM from Cosmote, Vodafone or Nova needs your passport and a shop visit, and the island shops keep short hours.
An eSIM installed before you fly is working when you land, which is exactly when you need to pull up the ferry ticket and find the right port.
Where to go
Athens is three days and better than people expect. The Acropolis Museum, one hill for sunset, and the neighbourhoods of Koukaki, Exarchia or Psyri for eating.
Crete is the one island that works as a whole trip. It has mountains, a gorge you can walk, Minoan sites and its own food culture. A week minimum, and a car.
The Cyclades are the postcard: Naxos and Paros for actual life alongside the beaches, Milos for the coastline, Santorini for the view and the crowds, Mykonos for nightlife and prices.
The Dodecanese, Rhodes and Symi, are closer to Turkey than to Athens and can be combined with the Turkish coast by short ferry.
Meteora on the mainland is the single most spectacular thing in the country that is not a beach, and it is reachable by train from Athens.
If Greece is one leg of a bigger route, the Turkey guide covers the coast a short ferry away from the eastern islands, and the Italy guide is the other Mediterranean half of the same 90 day Schengen allowance.
Questions people actually ask
How much is the Acropolis now? 30 euros, the same all year. Buy online, the queue in summer is brutal.
How many islands in a week? One, or two if they are neighbours. Every additional island costs most of a day.
Fast ferry or slow ferry? Slow for cost and reliability, fast when the schedule requires it. Never book the fast boat for the day you fly home.
Is my passport stamped? No. Since 10 April 2026 the Entry/Exit System takes fingerprints and a facial image instead.
Is August that bad? Hot, crowded and roughly double the price. If the dates are fixed, go to a bigger island where the crowd disperses rather than to Santorini.
Can I drink the tap water? In Athens and on Crete yes. On most small islands no.
