How to organize independent holiday in Greece - a note for tourists. Useful articles on “Subtleties of Tourism”.
A trip to Greece is the dream of every person planning their vacation. Today this dream is easily achievable. To do this, you don’t even need to use the services of tour operators, because you can buy air tickets to Greece and go there yourself. There are several questions that, by solving them, you can be sure of a successful planned vacation:
Choosing a place to stay. In Greece there will certainly be no problems with this, since here every corner can rightfully be called “paradise”. And every tourist who has been there at least once can confirm this. Studying the country and the peculiarities of staying on its territory. Any little thing can help you if unexpected situations arise during your vacation. For example, the country's cultural and religious traditions deserve special attention. It also wouldn’t hurt to familiarize yourself with the national cuisine so that you know in advance what you’ll have to eat. Although in Greece, except national dishes You can always order any European delicacies.
It is important to first calculate your financial capabilities and draw up an approximate vacation budget. If you are exclusively interested beach holiday, then you won’t have any additional expenses for entertainment. Find out on the Internet the approximate prices for food, hotel accommodation, taxis and other services that you may need during your stay in a foreign country.
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Purchasing air tickets. It is quite possible to save money on this item. To begin with, you should choose a good site, for example, Yestickets.com, where you can book air tickets online without additional overpayments. Next, you need to do everything according to the portal’s instructions, choosing flights that suit all the parameters, booking and purchasing a ticket.
Finding suitable housing. Most often, vacationers prefer to rent hotel rooms. But no less popular are rented apartments. Having studied the real estate segment in Greece, you can easily find a small studio apartment, one- or two-room apartment at the best price, not much different from the cost of a hotel room. You can also choose housing using the Internet, just like renting it.
Decor necessary documents, in particular health insurance and visas. Medical policy will help Chams feel more confident in a foreign country, since unforeseen situations can happen to anyone. Availability of a visa - required condition to enter the country. Greece is currently going through far from its best moments. economic situation, therefore, the authorities facilitate the rapid processing of documents for almost every tourist.
And the last, but no less important step on the path to an unforgettable vacation is checking the availability of documents, air tickets, food and water, as well as many seemingly little things, the absence of which can significantly complicate the flight to Greece.
Which airline should you choose?
As mentioned above, on specialized websites you can buy an air ticket to St. Petersburg, Athens, Barcelona, etc. But when buying tickets, it is important not only the direction of the flight, but also the airline whose services we are going to use. In Russia, popular companies operating regular flights to Greece are Aegean Airlines, Aeroflot, S7 Airlines and many others. In the summer, the number of flights increases noticeably, and direct flights begin to operate from many cities from where it was impossible to reach Greece throughout the year. Flights to Athens, the capital of Greece, operate daily from Moscow.
And so, you are ready to go to Greece on your own! Have you already decided which one? , or maybe you want to combine several types at once - for example, swimming in the sea and sightseeing. Also, let's assume that you have already planned which places to visit and know how many days you will spend there. ancient land Hellas.
- Buy air tickets
- Book hotels or apartments at at least one point on the route. (This will make obtaining a visa much easier).
- Apply for a Schengen visa
You can book tickets to Greece for almost any date, since airlines offer many options - direct flights and with transfers (they, by the way, are usually cheaper than direct ones), regular and charter. The starting point for many direct flights is Moscow, but during the summer months some airlines operate additional direct flights from major cities such as St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg.
In case you are planning a trip to beach season(from the beginning of May to the end of September), during the Christmas or Easter holidays it is better to buy tickets in advance, at least three weeks in advance, since then there may simply not be enough of them.
As for Greece, there are airports in many regions of this wonderful country and even on fairly small islands such as Kos and Santorini.
Living in Greece
To rent an apartment
In summer you can rent an apartment or a room in the private sector. In high season (July-August) an apartment on the first or second line with two bedrooms, a shower and a small kitchen will cost 30-40 euros per day.
This apartment can accommodate up to four people. Don't look for spacious apartments, since most apartments in Greece (even those in which the Greeks themselves live all year round) are quite compact. The peculiarities of the Greek mentality are such that a large bedroom is considered a waste of living space. In a normal Greek bedroom there is only room for a double bed, a couple of bedside tables, a small wardrobe and a chest of drawers, with narrow passages between the furniture. Greeks spend most of their free time in the living room and dining room, so houses are built in such a way that these rooms are as spacious as possible.
Of course, few tourists would think of spending precious vacation days sitting in a Greek living room, therefore, apartments for rent in resort areas consist of several bedrooms connected by a kitchen with one or two verandas or balconies. If you do not want to settle for apartments of this type, you can find more spacious apartments, but the price will be much higher.
Good option for summer holiday― this is to rent an apartment or house in a resort location for one or several months. In this case it will cost you from 300 to 1000 euros per month depending on the size and quality of housing.
Private hotels (xenonas)
This type of private hotel called “xenonas” is very popular in Greece. It is a large two-three-story house in a traditional Greek style (walls made of huge uncut stones, wooden trim, wooden windows, stairs, doors, floor and ceiling, wooden awnings on the balconies).
On the ground floor there is usually a dining room, a kitchen, a hall with a fireplace, an administration desk, on the upper floors there are guest rooms, each room has all the necessary amenities. The price of your stay usually includes breakfast, prepared by one of the caring housewives and therefore usually more tasty and nutritious than in ordinary hotels.
Living in xenonas, you feel less like a tourist and more like a guest in a large Greek family. A special feature of this type of hotel is the atmosphere of home comfort and hospitality. The owners of xenos are always ready to listen, help, advise on nearby attractions and entertainment, and even just have a friendly conversation. Xenonases are open all year round, they are especially popular in mountain villages, near ski centers and hiking trails. A day in xenonas (double room) will cost: 40-50 euros.
How to find a private hotel
There are two ways to find a suitable xenon. You can, being directly in Greece, see a lot of xenos in resort and mountain villages (it’s easy to distinguish them by the traditional, somewhat old-fashioned type of construction and, of course, a bright sign) and try to rent a room for required deadline. But in this case there is always a risk that free seats will not be.
The best way is to reserve a room in xenonas in advance. To do this, you need to type into Google (preferably in Latin letters) the region where you want to go and the word “ xenonas" or " xenonas", then select the one you like best and book.
Hotels
And of course, in Greece there are a lot of familiar hotels for every taste and budget. Hotels in resort areas are open from Easter until the first half of October. Hotels in other regions of the country are open all year round. A double room in a hotel with breakfast will cost on average from 40-50 euros per night. It is better not to consider hotels with a rating below 3 stars in Greece.
Visa to Greece on your own
If you have neither one nor the other, then you will have to go through a simple procedure for obtaining a Greek visa at a Greek visa center in one of the major cities of Russia.
You can apply for a visa to Greece yourself by contacting a visa center or through a travel agency. It usually takes two working days to obtain a Greek visa.
It should be noted that providing documents confirming a reservation at a Greek hotel or xenonas is largely make it easier to obtain a visa compared to simply providing a written description to the consulate. And although in the latter case problems with obtaining a visa arise extremely rarely, it is still better to book accommodation in advance at at least one point on the route and, when submitting documents to the visa center, attach a printout of the reservation to the package of documents.
Also, if you have an old passport with Schengen visas, it must be provided along with copies of all completed pages. It will be returned immediately after comparison with copies.
When submitting documents to the visa center, you need to pay a consular fee. For a short-term visa (up to 90 days) it is 35 euros for each applicant. It will also be necessary to pay a service fee of 820 rubles for each applicant, except for children under six years of age and children included in the parents’ passport.
If you decide to travel to Greece in your own car, then you must also provide the following documents to the visa center: driver’s license, registration document, technical inspection, car insurance document, travel plan.
If children are included in the parent's passport, the parent must have two blank pages in the passport for each applicant.
You can take your pet. To do this, you need to provide the visa center with a veterinary certificate of health and vaccinations of the animal.
If you receive a technical refusal for a visa (which happens extremely rarely), you can reapply for a visa the very next day.
These are the main tasks that need to be solved before going on vacation to Greece.
There are also a number organizational issues, which relate to direct presence in Greece. them we
Greece is part of the European Union, its visa is Schengen. If you already have a Schengen visa from any country, this issue is closed for you. If you don’t have a visa, you need to get one. The requirements for Schengen visas are standard, these are an application form, financial documents, booking tickets and hotels. IN last years One can note a positive trend in the issuance of visas by Greece: it has become much more willing to issue multiple visas to Russians, whereas previously it gave mainly single-entry visas.
Buying air tickets and booking hotels
Quite a lot of planes fly to Greece from Russia; you can find a suitable option no matter where you fly from. The offers of some companies are quite budget-friendly. In general, if you buy tickets no later than a month before departure, you can confidently expect a price of about 100-130 euros for a one-way ticket from Moscow. Airlines often run promotions that allow you to find cheaper options. It is convenient to search for tickets on sites such as skyscanner.com.
If you are flying to the islands in Greece, then pay attention to flights with transfers, usually in Athens. This option is often much cheaper.
With hotels in Greece, not everything is so simple. During the high season, summer, room rates become quite high. This is a reason to book in advance. The sooner you start planning your trip, the cheaper it will cost you. An excellent time to travel to Greece will be the time early autumn: September or early October. Prices are already low, and the sea is still warm. It is convenient to search for hotels on services such as booking.com.
Where and when to go
If you have the opportunity to travel during the low season, this is the most profitable and enjoyable option. The high season lasts from late spring to early autumn. On the other hand, holidays in Greece are good warm sea and good weather on the islands, so in the off-season you will not experience such pleasure.
The nature of Greece is very diverse, everyone can find something to their liking. In addition, wherever you go, you will not be bored: many excursions and interesting places can be found anywhere in Greece. The most well-equipped holiday destinations in Greece are: Crete, Rhodes, Corfu, Peloponnese. Halkidiki, Kos. Santorini and Mykonos are places that deserve a separate discussion. Incredibly beautiful, they are also associated with many legends. But the prices for holidays here are higher. If you want to relax in solitude and feel more peace, it is recommended to choose other islands.
The sea and beaches are good anywhere in Greece, and healthy Mediterranean food will delight you wherever you are.
Many travel companies offer a trip to Greece, but sometimes it is much more correct, cheaper and more interesting to organize your trip yourself. Let's find out how to do this and where to even start.
Getting ready for the trip
You need to start planning your independent trip to Greece in advance. This country is part of the Schengen zone, so you will need a visa to visit it. You can receive the document at the consulate by first preparing a package of documents and filling out a form. To simplify the procedure, it is better to use the help of the visa center vizaweek.ru, where you will be relieved of all formalities.
Next, you need to decide on the travel route and tickets. The optimal solution for independent travel There will be a fly&drive format, when you get to a designated point by plane, and then just rent a car. This will allow you to be as mobile and free as possible, as well as visit many interesting places in Greece.
When packing for the country, do not forget to take a first aid kit with you (usual medicines are sometimes difficult to find in Europe) and leave room in your suitcase for souvenirs and gifts that you will take home.
Traveling around Greece opens up many opportunities for tourists. By planning your route yourself, you can relax on the beach, stroll through museums, see the sights and generally discover your Greece. Here are some tips to help you choose a direction.
Green corners
Halkidiki is considered the most cozy and green area of Greece. It's great to walk, swim and enjoy life here. Also for such a holiday you can consider the western part of Crete (the regions of Chania and Rethymno) and the island of Corfu. These places are perfect for families with children.
Historical places
In fact, Greece is an amazing country with something to see everywhere. But it’s hard to imagine traveling through the historical places of Greece without Athens. If you are a fan of wandering around the city, be sure to leave yourself 2-3 days for walking around the capital and stock up on comfortable shoes.
Night life
If you are sick of a sleepy holiday by the sea and want a hot party, think about the town of Malia (Crete). Here you will find huge sandy beaches and non-stop night discos. IN Northern Greece Come to Paralia Katerina - the amount of entertainment and nightlife restaurants will pleasantly surprise you. And not far from Athens there is the resort of Loutraki, which will also be remembered for its fun parties.
Romantic getaway
You can also plan a trip to Greece on your own in such a way that this trip will be remembered as the most romantic event of your life together with your loved one. Corfu is considered one of the most picturesque islands for romance. Here you can walk endlessly, enjoy delicious food and be just the two of you. What could be better to strengthen relationships?
Why choose Greece
Planning a trip to Greece on your own is not a difficult task. This is a small, comfortable country, very loyal to tourists and visitors. It will be easy for you here even with minimal knowledge of English.
There are also a lot of hotels and inns in Greece, both large chain hotels and small family hotels. So you can easily find a room for the night in any city and for any budget, even without prior reservation. By the way, hotels generally offer a system of serving breakfast or breakfast and dinner, since gastronomic pleasures in local restaurants are one of the obligatory parts of a trip to Greece.
In addition, holidays in Greece can be very versatile. Here you will find resorts and entertainment to suit your tastes, both young and active people, as well as families with children and elderly couples. If you want to please your parents with a trip to Europe, Greece will be the best choice, and they will definitely be satisfied.
Organizing a trip to Greece on your own is not at all difficult - if you have the desire. Of course, the simplest and, often, budget option is to buy a tour from an agency and shift all the worries to the managers. Another alternative is to organize everything yourself. This raises a lot of questions, which we will try to answer in this post.
In fact, over the past 2 years, enough information has accumulated on Grekoblog to find answers, if not to all questions related to organizing an independent trip to Greece, then to most of them. Therefore, now we are more likely to try to systematize the information rather than “discover America” in a new way.
Visa application
Despite all the vicissitudes associated with rumors about the country’s possible exit from Schengen, it continues to remain one of the members of the European Union. At the same time, as Greek officials assure, exit from the EU is not expected. Thus, you must obtain a Schengen visa to travel. If you already have it, then you can safely skip this section and move on.
All countries that have signed the Schengen Agreement impose fairly standardized requirements for tourists regarding the package of necessary documents for a visa. Greece in this case is no exception to the rule. In order not to repeat ourselves, we recommend our posts and, which describe in great detail where and how to obtain visas to Hellas.
Among the nuances of the process, it is worth noting that with the onset of the crisis, the diplomatic missions of Hellas became much more loyal to visa applicants. This was especially evident in the case of Russian tourists, on whose attraction significant emphasis is placed. In particular, the number of visa centers has expanded, the process of processing applications has been accelerated, and, what is especially interesting, many Russians are given a multiple visa instead of a single visa by default. Consular offices in Ukraine cannot yet boast of such loyalty, but there are positive changes in Independence.
During the crisis years, it became easier to get a visa to Hellas
Flights
In recent years, air traffic with Greece has become much more intense. A number of airlines have entered both the Russian and Ukrainian markets, offering air tickets at very affordable prices and posing significant competition to air carriers that previously served these routes.
If we talk about specific figures, then air tickets can be purchased at a price of 115 Euro one way from Russia and from 134 Euro one way from Ukraine, respectively. And these are regular flights, not to mention promotional offers. It is clear that Russia and Ukraine are rather large countries, and Greece also has its own characteristics. Therefore, the most profitable approach may be to search and purchase air tickets through the website aviasales.ru, which allows you to search through more than 700 airlines and several booking systems simultaneously.
For budget travelers, we would recommend paying attention to options with transfers. Often the cost of such air tickets is much more favorable than direct flights, especially if you are not traveling from capital to capital, but are heading to the islands.
Hotels
As we said above, the price of hotels largely depends on the month of travel. Reaching peak values in the summer, room rates are very affordable in the off-season and winter months (with the exception of ski resorts).
The hotel infrastructure of Greece is in many ways inferior to other popular destinations in the Mediterranean. Many experts see the reason for this in the absence of significant competition between local hoteliers and international chains. However, in Hellas there are a number of chains with local roots that delight you with full-fledged five-star service, and the owners compensate for the shortcomings of service in numerous private hotels with such hospitality and responsiveness that you will not find even in the most fashionable hotels in Western Europe.
Some Greek hotel chains offer service no worse than famous international ones
A decent three-star room in the off-season will cost a tourist from 30 euros per day. The cost of the same room, but in the summer months, can easily soar to 60-80, or even 100 euros per day, depending on the region and the attractiveness of the tourist area in which the hotel is located.
There are a huge number of possibilities to book a hotel both through a travel agency and via the Internet. When we travel from Hellas, we most often use the booking.com service, which provides a good choice hotels in every tourist area and pleasant prices. By the way, at one time a review about Booking was written on Grekoblog, so if you have not yet encountered this booking system, you can read the details.
But when booking a hotel, you can start not only from the price, but also from the purpose of the trip. This could be, for example, a romantic trip or a vacation with children. With this in mind, Grekoblog has started a series of articles: The most romantic hotels in Greece. And to date, articles about and have already been published. Highly recommended.
When to go
Greece is a country with a pronounced seasonality of tourism. From late autumn to early spring there is a low season here, and prices for flights and hotels are pleasantly pleasing. On the other hand, the main charm of the country is its summer weather, sea and islands, so you won’t be able to fully enjoy them during the off-season months.
At the same time, of the 17-18 million tourists visiting Hellas annually, most of them come in the summer. Therefore, from mid-June to mid-September, prices for everything related to tourism and recreation are at their zenith. If budget is not a problem for you, you don’t have to bother, but if the cost of a vacation is a sensitive issue, it makes sense to pay attention to the off-season.
The period from the end of April to the beginning of June, as well as from the second half of September to the end of October, many, including the author of this blog, believe the best months to plan your trip. At the same time, each of these periods has its advantages.
Rhodes has become increasingly popular among Russians in recent years.
Late spring is the flowering time in Greece. The weather pleases with pleasant temperatures from 18 to 28C, and a huge amount of greenery and flowers that have not yet experienced the scorching summer sun, make this time ideal for lovers of auto tours. The downside of the end of spring is the unpredictable temperature of the sea, which may still be quite cold to open swimming season. Prices for hotels, air tickets and car rentals during this period are also still far from peak.
Mid-autumn, along with good weather and still summer temperatures by our standards, on the contrary, pleases with the still warm sea, warmed up during the summer months. You can swim in Greece in September and October without any restrictions. In some southern regions of the mainland and on Crete, sometimes the air and water temperatures allow swimming even until the beginning of December. Autumn prices are also more affordable than summer prices.
Where to go
Greece is a very diverse country and allows for something for everyone. By and large, you are safe regarding the choice of your final destination. In all significant tourist areas of the country there are many opportunities to combine a beach holiday with an excursion. The most developed tourist destinations include Crete, Chalkidiki, Peloponnese, Rhodes, Kos and Corfu. Details about each of them can be easily found in abundance on Grekoblog.
A separate line is worth highlighting the islands of Santorini and Mykonos. Located relatively close to each other, each of them is a legend of Greek tourism in its own niche. Santorini, which some scientists associate with the legend of Atlantis, is known for its breathtaking views and is the only island in Hellas with a year-round high season. Mykonos is an island whose development was given an artificial impetus. Today it is considered the most “party” island in the country and one of the most attractive destinations for young people in the entire Mediterranean, fully competing with Ibiza.
However, if you want more peace and solitude, you can easily switch your attention to less popular islands - fortunately, there are a great many of them in Greece. At the same time, you probably won’t lose in terms of service or experience. The sea and beaches in Hellas are magnificent everywhere, the food is healthy and nutritious, and Greek hospitality is famous throughout Europe.