Greece travel tips

The City of Athens in Greece witnessed massive refurbishment in the lead-up to the 2004 Olympic Games but it still has some of the cluttered concrete buildings captured in the 1986 photograph below overlooking Athens.

The tin roof dwellings have disappeared but still Athens can surprise newcomers with its dilapidated appearance and perennial smog.

Nevertheless, don't hesitate to book your airlines and hotel travel deals because Greece holidays provide a memorable Mediterranean adventure full of interesting tourist attractions. Tourist reservations have been in high demand in the wake of the 2004 Olympics.

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Greece travel

Note: Massive areas of the Greek countryside were consumed by bushfires in late August 2007. Dozens of people were killed and huge areas destroyed or damaged by smoke. The worst of the fires were concentrated in the mountains of the Peloponnese, the southern peninsula, around the town of Zaharo, and on the island of Evia north of Athens.

The Hellenic Republic of Greece covers 131,944 square kilometres and has a population around 10.5 million.

Tourists from most western countries don't need a visa for up to three months of holiday travel in Greece, although two months is the maximum for some nationalities who arrive without a visa.

Take note that if your passport shows you've visited North Cyprus since November 1983, they won't let you in.

Some rural parts of Greece still have typhus and even rabies, but the biggest health risk during your holiday travel in Greece is sunburn.

The best time to book your airline for a holiday in Greece is from Easter to mid-June, when the weather is warm but not too hot and the tourist crowds are yet to swell, as they mostly do between June and September.

Note: An emergency was declared in parts of northeastern Greece on November 18 2007 after torrential rain caused flooding near Greece's border with Turkey. Several villages and farms were evacuated near the Ardas River in the border Evros region. Flooding blocked roads throughout Evros and caused power outages. Hundreds of homes and businesses were flooded in the area and floods also affected areas in the southern Peloponnese region.

The weather around August/September is very hot. The climate is balmy, the beaches and monuments less crowded and accommodation is cheaper than during the peak holiday season from June to August.

Essentially, Greece has mild wet winters and hot dry summers, although winter can get bitterly cold in the mountains and even in Athens sometimes.

Hotels offer cheap rates discounted up to 30% during winter, which is also a lovely time for cheap holidays in Greece because both locals and tourists are scarce and the rain is only occasional.

Cheap travel is possible in Greece for less than US$50 a day, but you'll risk having a miserable time.

If you want a pleasant and comfortable holiday in Greece with your own hotel room, restaurant meals and travel through historic sites, expect to budget at least US$60 a day.

Greece travel spots are numerous, including dozens of Mediterranean islands (in fact 1,400 with 169 inhabited) and mountainous trekking regions boasting a few Alpine areas with some of the cheapest skiing in Europe.

Take note that for several decades recreational scuba diving was banned in most Greek waters to protect the sea bed for archaeologists. However, the restrictions have been eased in recent years and diving has become a huge tourist drawcard for adventure travel as the Greek seas can now be explored in most areas.

If you like to wet your toes, Greek beaches can be either white sand and comfortable or coloured pebbles and uncomfortable. Travel by boat or air to the island of Skiathos near Athens and you'll find what are probably the best beaches in Greece.

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Mykonos holiday travel tips

Rhodes travel tips

Samos island holiday tips

Santorini island travel tips

To book cheap airlines, hotels, car rentals, etc. in Athens and Greece, visit our Travel Shop.

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