EUROPE WEEK 2: 8 WAYS TO TRAVEL IN GREECE ON A BUDGET

 

Since we are in Europe for two months, we can’t afford to spend lavishly on lodging and food every day, so here’s how we have been able to travel on a shoestring budget in Greece!

1. TRAVEL DURING LOW SEASON. Visit Greece in late spring or early fall when the weather is mild and balmy, lodging is half the price, and you don’t have to deal with hordes of other tourists. Just don’t go past mid-October when the weather turns cold and windy, half the hotels and businesses are boarded up, and many inter-island ferries stop running or get canceled at the last minute.
2. RENT AN APARTMENT OR HOTEL WITH A KITCHENETTE.  While eating the local cuisine is a big part of the cultural experience, when you have the option to cook, you can save a lot of money by not eating out at every meal. On Santorini, we rented a studio apartment at Hotel Antonia that comes with unlimited free wine and coffee. On Mykonos, we stayed at Marietta’s Apartments which has a roof deck for unobstructed sunset views. Both are only 35€ a night (half the regular rate), very clean and excellent places close to town with free wi-fi, great customer service, free pick-up/drop-off, and most importantly, allowed us to cook.
3. LET THE HOARDING BEGIN. If you can’t find an apartment to stay in or are only there for a couple nights and don’t feel like cooking, try to book a hotel that offers free breakfast.  In Athens, we stayed at the Novotel for 59€ a night with free breakfast (offer through Trip Advisor); even though it is in a bad neighborhood with hookers and heroin addicts, it is a nice and modern hotel only 10 minutes away from the Omonia metro station. We wisely invested in a set of Tupperware for 3€ and the ROI has been more than ten-fold. While eating our free buffet breakfast, we stuffed our Tupperware with bread, cheese, eggs, tomatoes, cucumbers, pastries, and fruits to save for lunch. We were able to make two meals out of our breakfast for four days (I know – so Chinese!)
4. SKIP THE LONELY PLANET. Why lug around those heavy Rough Guides or Lonely Planet books when wi-fi is so accessible these days? While they do provide a lot of information and Lonely Planet does offer a smaller pocket guide and an iPhone app, everything you need to know about every country is available online for FREE. Trip Advisor has been a tremendous resource for finding hotels, restaurants, and things to do on every budget.
5. EXPLORE ON YOUR OWN. Don’t waste your money on bus tours, sunset cruises, and other sh*tty tourist traps. We hired an ATV for 20€ a day (plus 5€ for gas) and had a fantastic time exploring the entire Santorini island and getting lost.  We also did a moderate three-hour hike from the town of Fira to Oia to enjoy the famous postcard sunset there and rode the bus back for only 2€.
6. CHECK OUT FREE OR CHEAP EXCURSIONS. Some museums and historical sites like the Acropolis in Athens offer free or discounted visitor days. Other sites like Ancient Thera on Santorini only costs 2€ a person. Doing a little research ahead of time to schedule your sightseeing accordingly can save you some mullah for happy hour!
7. DRINK MORE WINE. Believe it or not, it is actually cheaper to drink the house wine than coffee or juice or beer at most bars and cafes (e.g., 3€ for wine vs. 4.50€ for hot chocolate). Tap water on the islands is not safe to drink, so stock up on bottled water as it is very cheap to buy at grocery and convenient stores but three times the price at restaurants.  Opa!!! 
8. SAVE YOUR LAUNDRY. We made a colossal mistake of having our laundry done on Santorini as it turns out there are no self-serving laundromats. Unlike New York City Chinatown where laundry is cleaned, dried, and folded for 5 bucks a pound, it cost us a whopping 12€ per load. We painfully squandered 24€ for two very small loads of laundry. Good god! Well, at least our underwear were rolled and tucked into very neat squares, but who the hell needs that?!?

Whatever your budget is, definitely make Greece a part of your European itinerary. Santorini is absolutely stunning and perfectly romantic for honeymooners. Just about everything is painted in white with blue accents adorned with overgrown pink blossoms - Greeks must use a lot of white paint! We also had the best Greek food there. (You must try the baked eggplant, saganaki, fava beans, and grilled octopus at Mama's House, felafel pita sandwich at Lucky's Souvlaki, and baklava and hot chocolate at any cafe.) Mykonos is a wondrous labyrinth of alleyways to get lost in by day and ideal for party goers by night. And even though we were stuck in Athens for a few days due to the austerity strikes, it was an adventure we wouldn't trade for all the ouzo in Greece.

Next stop: Barcelona