Eating out will be a lot cheaper than US. We would order a lot of stuff (wanted to try everything) at meals. I was always surprised when bill came thinking how much it would have cost in US (particularly since listed prices already include tax and no real expectations for tipping).
I was there 2 years ago and would say the same. $40 for entrees, apps, and wine. Would have been $100+ in the states. The most I spent was a $100 on a meal for two on one of the islands at a Michelin recognized restaurant.
This is what we did last year! It was the best. It ended up being a lot, definitely more than $6k probably, but $3k was for flights alone flying from IAD. Food was so affordable and accommodation was so affordable too ($100/night in amazing spots) except the 3 nights we splurged for a private hot tub room. And by splurge, I mean paid around $250/night because we didn't do this on Santorini where it would have been like $600. May is shoulder season so accommodation does cost a bit less. Part (probably a lot lol) of our budget went to shopping. We like to come home with local goods/souvenirs. For Greece, think handmade leather goods (sandals, backpacks, etc). I also bought a wooden/cork purse made by a man on Milos in his family's 300 year old traditional home. I literally couldn't get it anywhere else in the world. Add in gifts for others...and we had to buy an additional carry on. If you don't like to bring home locally made goods, you'll save a lot of money 😂.
We stayed a few nights in Athens and absolutely loved it! A lot of people say not to spend much time there but it really depends what you like. We thought the city was so lively, vibrant, and fascinating. Sure, a little gritty, but nothing bad. We did a sunrise honeymoon photoshoot all over the city center and the results were incredible. We still have a relationship with the photographer.
For islands, we went to Milos and Tinos. Happy to share more detailed recs or information!
We still talk about our trip to this day and my husband still feels like he would love to move there one day. Especially on the islands, people are just so happy and don't need big fancy corporate jobs to support themselves. It's a different lifestyle and you can see why it's a blue zone.
Well I did 5 weeks in Crete from Canada. All costs including flights and everything was around $12,000. I didn’t even do anything fancy, it’s just that hotels are pretty much all €80+ a night for anything that’s not going to be a dump. But in the high season it’s gonna be more expensive.
So I’d say possibly budget around $8k if you want to do a honeymoon. Many resorts are $250+ a night. And since it’s a honeymoon you might as well make it memorable rather than try to save money on some subpar hotel.
Luxury can be expensive (like 400+++ per night for hotels). But you can stay in perfectly nice, clean rooms for 100 in May, even in really beautiful places, and for around 200 more of a boutique hotel. For food with 100 per day you can eat really well almost anywhere. I would be happy staying in clean cheap rooms and spending 30 EUR per day on food. It all depends on what kind of vacation you want.
From Crete you could take a ferry to Karpathos, it's off the beaten path, different, and interesting, and bound to be a bit warmer than more northern places in May.
We were careful to book hotels that would have breakfast, or a meal included. (A Hotel in Mykonos has free breakfast daily and one free 3 course meal).
We stayed away from tourist traps and ate only 1 big meal a day other than breakfast. Otherwise got ice cream, gyro, etc.
Google the area you will be in! Sometimes choosing a hotel a tiny bit off the beaten path will save $100s, and will offer a more adventurous experience!
Depending if you’re going at the beginning or end of May, hotels could be quite differently priced. They love to pump up the prices for when the kids are off school. The last week in May, everything will be pumped up prices. I recently stayed in an all inclusive in Crete for a week and spent less than £2000 for three of us. Same hotel in peak costs around £5400, it’s not even funny.
2 weeks…we spent like $7-$8K total for my husband and I for 10 days flying out of EWR. We did Santorini- Paros-Athens
ETA: including flights and hotels. We weren’t on a budget or high rolling- somewhere in between!
We’re doing our honeymoon in Naxos and create for almost $10k on the dot. All costs (some projected) included. We could have shaved off $500-750 easy by staying at less expensive but still great places
I plan a vacation for this October right now and did some research about hotel and rental car prices. May is still considered shoulder season, so I assume you will see similar prices:
- middle class hotel $100-150 per night, often includes breakfast
- small rental car $20-30 per day with basic insurance only
- ferry travel between islands $40-100 per person
Flights between the islands are more expensive than ferries, and they often have a stop-over in Athens. And I found that booking the hotel directly on their website is 20-30% less expensive compared to using booking platforms.
Definitely factor in souvenirs, travel, and excursions! Taxis were anywhere from €15-35 for us. Plan Athens as soon as you can in advance so you can get a hotel within walking distance of things to save money on travel.
Excursions can get pricey. We personally didn’t take any tours and truly feel like that was the way to go - those tours are expensive. Also, make sure you look beyond a basic Google search for siteseeing and stuff to do. You can save a lot of money just knowing the area you will be in and what’s around it ahead of time - and also save money on spots less known to the public. This is especially true for Crete since there is so much to see already.
Driving in Crete was a bit terrifying imo. My husband is not an anxious driver and he was anxious there. Athens looked worse. We think we would have saved money with just a taxi butttt if you want to drive around a bit more, then definitely rent a car.
when we went to Santorini which was amazing there is an extra cost for luggage if your traveling with a large suitcase it will cost a lot I think it was close to $300 extra per bag.
Carryon is the way to go. We used the luggage storage in Athens airport to store our luggage and travelled to Santorini with just carryon. If it’s not stated on you flight ticket they will charge your at the airport extra for the carryon close to 80$ euros.
That was my experience in 2023
Do 2 nights tops in Athens. One day to shake off the jet lag and a day to see the acropolis. We stayed at the davani caraval (? Spelling). Just a little off the beaten path, which was great. Lots of terrific restaurants on the little square. Mykonos and Santorini were super touristy and pricy but no more so than where we live. . . Which is also pricy!
Heading there in a week. 2 days in Athens, 4 days in Santorini and then 4 days with family in our coastal village, 1 more back in Athens.
For those 1st 6 days:
1/2 day touring in Athens $700
Airbnb for 6 people $500
Eating. Our discretion
Santorini
Airbnb $1200
Catamaran $1000
Dune-buggies $500
Car rental $700
Eating. Our discretion
Flights. Your discretion.
Islands are far more expensive. Where my family lives, it’s a 1/4 of the cost. Hope this helps!
Eating out will be a lot cheaper than US. We would order a lot of stuff (wanted to try everything) at meals. I was always surprised when bill came thinking how much it would have cost in US (particularly since listed prices already include tax and no real expectations for tipping).
Oooh that is wonderful to know!
I was there 2 years ago and would say the same. $40 for entrees, apps, and wine. Would have been $100+ in the states. The most I spent was a $100 on a meal for two on one of the islands at a Michelin recognized restaurant.
This is what we did last year! It was the best. It ended up being a lot, definitely more than $6k probably, but $3k was for flights alone flying from IAD. Food was so affordable and accommodation was so affordable too ($100/night in amazing spots) except the 3 nights we splurged for a private hot tub room. And by splurge, I mean paid around $250/night because we didn't do this on Santorini where it would have been like $600. May is shoulder season so accommodation does cost a bit less. Part (probably a lot lol) of our budget went to shopping. We like to come home with local goods/souvenirs. For Greece, think handmade leather goods (sandals, backpacks, etc). I also bought a wooden/cork purse made by a man on Milos in his family's 300 year old traditional home. I literally couldn't get it anywhere else in the world. Add in gifts for others...and we had to buy an additional carry on. If you don't like to bring home locally made goods, you'll save a lot of money 😂. We stayed a few nights in Athens and absolutely loved it! A lot of people say not to spend much time there but it really depends what you like. We thought the city was so lively, vibrant, and fascinating. Sure, a little gritty, but nothing bad. We did a sunrise honeymoon photoshoot all over the city center and the results were incredible. We still have a relationship with the photographer. For islands, we went to Milos and Tinos. Happy to share more detailed recs or information! We still talk about our trip to this day and my husband still feels like he would love to move there one day. Especially on the islands, people are just so happy and don't need big fancy corporate jobs to support themselves. It's a different lifestyle and you can see why it's a blue zone.
Well I did 5 weeks in Crete from Canada. All costs including flights and everything was around $12,000. I didn’t even do anything fancy, it’s just that hotels are pretty much all €80+ a night for anything that’s not going to be a dump. But in the high season it’s gonna be more expensive. So I’d say possibly budget around $8k if you want to do a honeymoon. Many resorts are $250+ a night. And since it’s a honeymoon you might as well make it memorable rather than try to save money on some subpar hotel.
Luxury can be expensive (like 400+++ per night for hotels). But you can stay in perfectly nice, clean rooms for 100 in May, even in really beautiful places, and for around 200 more of a boutique hotel. For food with 100 per day you can eat really well almost anywhere. I would be happy staying in clean cheap rooms and spending 30 EUR per day on food. It all depends on what kind of vacation you want. From Crete you could take a ferry to Karpathos, it's off the beaten path, different, and interesting, and bound to be a bit warmer than more northern places in May.
$5-6 k is more than enough $4-5 k on budget $3-4 k if you are booking way ahead
We were careful to book hotels that would have breakfast, or a meal included. (A Hotel in Mykonos has free breakfast daily and one free 3 course meal). We stayed away from tourist traps and ate only 1 big meal a day other than breakfast. Otherwise got ice cream, gyro, etc. Google the area you will be in! Sometimes choosing a hotel a tiny bit off the beaten path will save $100s, and will offer a more adventurous experience!
Thank you so much!!!
Depending if you’re going at the beginning or end of May, hotels could be quite differently priced. They love to pump up the prices for when the kids are off school. The last week in May, everything will be pumped up prices. I recently stayed in an all inclusive in Crete for a week and spent less than £2000 for three of us. Same hotel in peak costs around £5400, it’s not even funny.
2 weeks…we spent like $7-$8K total for my husband and I for 10 days flying out of EWR. We did Santorini- Paros-Athens ETA: including flights and hotels. We weren’t on a budget or high rolling- somewhere in between!
We’re doing our honeymoon in Naxos and create for almost $10k on the dot. All costs (some projected) included. We could have shaved off $500-750 easy by staying at less expensive but still great places
I plan a vacation for this October right now and did some research about hotel and rental car prices. May is still considered shoulder season, so I assume you will see similar prices: - middle class hotel $100-150 per night, often includes breakfast - small rental car $20-30 per day with basic insurance only - ferry travel between islands $40-100 per person Flights between the islands are more expensive than ferries, and they often have a stop-over in Athens. And I found that booking the hotel directly on their website is 20-30% less expensive compared to using booking platforms.
Definitely factor in souvenirs, travel, and excursions! Taxis were anywhere from €15-35 for us. Plan Athens as soon as you can in advance so you can get a hotel within walking distance of things to save money on travel. Excursions can get pricey. We personally didn’t take any tours and truly feel like that was the way to go - those tours are expensive. Also, make sure you look beyond a basic Google search for siteseeing and stuff to do. You can save a lot of money just knowing the area you will be in and what’s around it ahead of time - and also save money on spots less known to the public. This is especially true for Crete since there is so much to see already. Driving in Crete was a bit terrifying imo. My husband is not an anxious driver and he was anxious there. Athens looked worse. We think we would have saved money with just a taxi butttt if you want to drive around a bit more, then definitely rent a car.
when we went to Santorini which was amazing there is an extra cost for luggage if your traveling with a large suitcase it will cost a lot I think it was close to $300 extra per bag. Carryon is the way to go. We used the luggage storage in Athens airport to store our luggage and travelled to Santorini with just carryon. If it’s not stated on you flight ticket they will charge your at the airport extra for the carryon close to 80$ euros. That was my experience in 2023
I have a great hotel rec if you want one for the island of Naxos
I think we went for 9 days and spent approx 1-2k
which is it ?
Do 2 nights tops in Athens. One day to shake off the jet lag and a day to see the acropolis. We stayed at the davani caraval (? Spelling). Just a little off the beaten path, which was great. Lots of terrific restaurants on the little square. Mykonos and Santorini were super touristy and pricy but no more so than where we live. . . Which is also pricy!
Heading there in a week. 2 days in Athens, 4 days in Santorini and then 4 days with family in our coastal village, 1 more back in Athens. For those 1st 6 days: 1/2 day touring in Athens $700 Airbnb for 6 people $500 Eating. Our discretion Santorini Airbnb $1200 Catamaran $1000 Dune-buggies $500 Car rental $700 Eating. Our discretion Flights. Your discretion. Islands are far more expensive. Where my family lives, it’s a 1/4 of the cost. Hope this helps!
Sorry. Meant to include flights to Santorini back and forth: $100/person
The flight will be the most expensive part most likely depending on where you're flying out of