Greece Travel Guide

Greece has long been a favorite holiday destination for people from around the world to visit. In fact, over 15 million people go on holiday to Greece every single year. Greece has many different things to offer the vacationer, from wonderful villages, to fantastic shopping and pristine beaches; Greece has it all. Usually, the Greek islands are where most people frequent, but the mainland of Greece is also a great place to visit too. You could visit Athens, Crete, Corfu, Rhodes and Thessaloniki.

One reason that makes Greece an ideal holiday destination is its climate. Greece has very long summers and short winters. Between the months of April and November, you will find Greece to be hot and dry, but not so much that you can not enjoy the outdoors. Greece does see rain during this season, but it comes and goes so quickly that you will enjoy the chance to cool down. From the middle of July to the middle of August, you might find Greece a little unbearable since this is the typically the warmest time of the year. During the months of May and June, as well as, September and October you will find Greece at its finest. It is not too hot and not too humid. These are the best months to visit.

The peak of the holiday season is from July until August, the vast majority of those taking a holiday arrive in Greece between April and October. Most of the country’s tourist infrastructure goes into hibernation outside of these months, especially on the islands. The bulk of scheduled international flights are handled in Athens and Thessaloniki. Several charter and planned low-budget flights arrive everyday from several of Europe’s cities to many of the islands and smaller cities on the mainland during tourist season.

Expect your hotel accommodations to be simple in Greece. You will be staying in a diminutive air-conditioned room with a balcony. The room will be clean and acceptable. In the larger cities, the hotels will be more luxurious, but you likely will not feel that you got what you paid for. You can also find luxury hotel accommodations on the islands that are populated with tourists, but again the value just is not there. Even the simple hotels have an online presence and you can likely arrange your reservations over the internet or email. You can also send a fax. You can also use a hotel booking service or travel agent.

Greece is not known for its major cosmopolitan flair. You usually will not be able to do major shopping while on the islands. What you can expect is specialty products from local artisans which can not be beat. These things include hand-made lace and jewelry, leather goods, pottery, local wines, hand woven rugs and much more. When you are in Greece, expect to eat very well since eating out is a major way of life. Most restaurants are called “Taverna” or “Estiatorio” and they are easily found in any area you visit. And if you speak English, then you will not have any issues with a language barrier since most people speak the language.