Areas of Budget Travel to Greece
I did Greece in 1.0 lakh and that it how you can do it too. We all have this thought that a trip to Europe might be too expensive and may cross our budget. I covered Athens and Santorini in 7 days.
That’s true that traveling to Greece or any other country abroad may burn your pockets but not even that much if you follow certain pointers
Basically we will focus on 5 main areas of expenses-
Traveling off season,Flights,Hotels,Food and Transport
Expense Summary
Flights- 49111
Hotels -37028
Food -10k
Transport & Tickets-4679
Total=1,00836 INR
Date of Travel 11th November 2019
Why travel off-season to Greece?
Always try to travel in off season. This way flights and hotel prices are way lesser as compared to prices in peak seasons. Santorini has off season starting from November.
During November Maximum temperature is 18 and min 14 so its best time to visit if you don’t prefer summers.Entire city is barely crowded during this season and that's the best part.
Flights cost
Delhi->Athens->Santorini
Major share of expense of your trip to abroad is of flights.I booked flights for Greece ,for November in the month of May.
But the catch is in the month of September when we tracked the flight again prices drooped even lower. So Before booking flights check the price trend at least for one month. Sometimes flights will long layover may cost you lower compared to direct flights. This is the flight I booked and found cheapest in all
Flights taken
Delhi -> Athens via Istanbul
Delhi-IST( Istanbul layover 4 hrs)[by Indigo Airlines]
IST -Athens
Athens-IST [Turkish Airlines]
IST-Delhi
39111 return
Athens -> Santorini
Athens–Santorini (Aegean Airlines)
Santorini-Athens
10k return
So total I spend on flights to and fro was 49111k and this was the lowest for Santorini via Athens from India
Hotels cost
During my trips I always preferred hostels because they fit in budget always. However during my trip to Santorini,I wanted stay over caldera. During peak seasons most of the hotels right over caldera are overly priced.
Santorini has some of the most luxurious hotels , the most famous are cave hotels.
If you are looking for cave hotels right over the caldera, it will be over 15k for one night. The most exotic ones are even 50k per night.
You can check this article.
Stay cost breakup
I chose to stay in Sunset hotel Firostefani, it was right in the middle of caldera and view was totally breathtaking from the patio. I stayed here for 3 nights 4 days .
Complementary breakfast was included for all 4 days. This was best deal in this range due to its perfect location .
Also it was exactly in the middle of the city with easy access to transport. Owner was really helpful. Check below video to get complete view of the hotel here
Santorini
Sunset hotel -3 nights 1 room =342 Euro
Athens
First Day :
Hotel Name: Urban luxury resort for 2 [Located in middle of city]
Cost 2 nights= 95 Euro
Last Day
Hotel Name: Thanos Apartment[Chose to stay near to airport as we had to catch the flight]
Cost 1 night= 36Euro
Food expense
Food is bit expensive in Santorini and its hard to find vegetarian food. Only food which vegetarian people can eat there is pizza or sandwich.Veg sandwich will cost you min 4 Euro.
How I saved over the food
1. In my hotel, breakfast used to be really heavy. I used to keep fruits or cake packets with me for later time of the day since I could not not finish entire breakfast at once.
2. For second meal of afternoon, I used to rely on pizza or sandwich. It used to costs me max 4 or 5 euro per person. Finding veg food is really difficult in santorini and Athens.
3. Also I carried Maggi packets and some ready to cook food packets of items as Poha,daal rice with me. You just need hot water and its readily available since all hotels provide electric kettle. Dinner was sorted with this.
In Athens I stayed in Airbnb both at start and end of the trip. Only decision to stay in airbnb is you have entire apartment with kitchen for yourself. Its a good way to save on food expenses.
In entire one week trip,I spent approx 10k on food.
Transport?
Athens: I booked city sight seeing ho ho bus for entire day. It costed me 20 Euro enitre day paas to cover places under Green and Athens line.
At iconic Acropolis there is huge queue at ticket window so alternatively you can buy its entrance pass along with ho ho bus ticket for 10Euro.
Santorini - Here its better to hire car or 2 wheeler, its best way to explore Island. Here are some of the options-
ATVs
Buggy (costliest)
Scooty
How much renting 2 wheeler costs in Santorini?
20 Euro Rent and
10 Euro Insurance
Greece is an amazing country with rich cultural heritage. Its once in a life time to be visited country.
You can check some interesting videos on my youtube channel and can also find some more itineraries on my travel website.
**Don't listen to what they say, go and see it **
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