Greece Travel Tips for 2025

Everyone wants to go to Greece in the summer. The blue Mediterranean Sea, the massive rocky cliffs, the delicious food. Greece has it all. We spent over a month traveling through the Greek islands, Athens, and Northern Greece, and have compiled a list of traveling to Greece tips to help you with your upcoming trip.

Traveling to Greece Tips ⬇️

Here are our TOP tips for traveling to Greece this summer!

➡️ Read: The Best Greece Road Trip from Athens 🚗

1 – Get Your International Drivers License!

If you’re American, you will need an International Driver’s license to rent a motorbike/scooter/quad in Greece. (most of the time) If you only plan on renting cars, your American license should be sufficient. 🚗 🛵 🚙 (we always rent with Discover Cars)

Since some of the Greek islands are small, renting a moto can be a lot cheaper and easier than a car. When we were in Greece we tried to rent a moto multiple times, but most of the time they would not rent to us because we only have American Driver’s Licenses. (exception – Astypalaia, small island that doesn’t receive many American tourists)

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2 – Learn to Drive a Manual Transmission

We always rented our cars through Discover Cars when we were in Greece, and almost always would have saved a lot more money if we could have rented a manual transmission. Automatic cars are not very popular in Greece, and thus cost a lot more to rent. If you can drive a manual – you will save a lot on your rental car when you come to Greece! This is also true across other countries in Europe and Asia. (Checkout our Best Countries to Visit in 2024!)

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3 – Book Ferries and Cars and Hotels EARLY

Everyone comes to Greece in the summer. The islands are small places with limited infrastructure to support all the tourists. Because of this, everything sells and books out very quick. Rental cars, ferries, hotels, you name it. Make sure you book early if you’re traveling to Greece in the summer so you don’t get screwed with empty hands or crazy high prices!

➡️ Read: Ultimate Greece Island-Hopping Itinerary for the Cyclades 🚤

4 – Be Strategic With Planning the Islands

Before you book hotels and rental cars on the islands, book ferries and planes. It’s important to know HOW you’re going to get to where you’re going. Ferries between certain islands don’t run every day, so you want to make sure you can transfer islands on the day that you want to before you book your hotel.

💡 When planning a Greece island-hopping itinerary, our traveling to Greece tips general rule is that you fly into Athens, then fly out to the farthest island you are going to, then progressively ferry your way back to Athens. ✈️

Any country with a bunch of islands requires a lot more planning.

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5 – The Time of Year Matters

Greece is VERY crowded in June, July, and August. To have the best experience possible, you should go in May or September. The closer you get to July and August, the more crowded the islands will be.

There are only a few top spots on the islands, and when they get crowded they are much less enjoyable than when they are not crowded. If you can, plan your trip in “shoulder season”.

🚗 We recommend to rent a car for Greece through Discover Cars. Book your rental car here!

6 – Don’t Rely on Public Transportation

Public transportation on most islands is nonexistent. You’re going to need your own wheels to experience Greece to the fullest. Plan on renting a car or a motorbike/ATV when you come to Greece.

We always rent with Discover Cars and would highly recommend.

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7 – What’s a “Chora”?

The “Chora” is the port town. Where the ferries come in. Most of the time the “Chora” will have an actual name, like ‘Adamantas’ on the island of Milos, but the locals will just call it Chora. (pronounced ‘hora’). Important to know this word as it is where you will land on multiple islands!! Don’t be confused like we were 🙂

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8 – Ordering a Gyro

A gyro is easily the best value “meal” you can get when traveling Greece. The typical gyro includes pork, lettuce, tomato, onion, and tzatziki, on a pita wrap. “Souvlaki” is similar, just that the meat is not cooked on a vertical rotisserie. You can also get souvlaki skewers which is meat on a stick.

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9 – Bring Water Shoes

Like most of Europe, a lot of beaches are rocky as you’re getting into the water. You’re going to want some shoes or sandals to wear to help with getting in the water, as it can be very painful on your feet! 🌊

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10 – Service Fee Thing that includes Bread and Water

It is common to have a ‘cover fee’ at restaurants that is 1 euro per person and covers the cloth to cover the table, bread, and water. We encountered this at pretty much every restaurant we went to on the islands. Although, apparently cover charges like this are illegal in Greece. Do with this information how you please, but at least know this is the strange charge you will probably see on your bill!

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11 – Travel Insurance

You’re going to be riding a motorbike or ATV off-road most-likely and you never know what could happen, so our next traveling to Greece tips is to make sure you have good travel insurance. (make sure to read all of the terms and conditions of your coverage! Recent news of a girl who got into an accident in Milos on her ATV said her insurance didn’t cover her and has to pay 37,000 pounds for her medical expenses and the accident)

12 – There is More to Greece than Athens and the Islands

Everyone goes to the Cyclades in the summer. And almost everyone visits the tourist spots in Athens. What most people don’t know is that the North of Greece is absolutely beautiful. The Meteora Monasteries are world famous, and Vikos Gorge is the world’s “deepest relative to its width” gorge. I took a road trip up North. There are way less tourists up here, and it gave me a very different look into authentic Greece! Highly recommend.

➡️ Read: Top 8 Things to Do in Milos 🇬🇷

13 – Get Away from the Touristy Islands

Authentic Greek islands are beautiful and much different than Santorini and Mykonos. You won’t need to deal with tourists everywhere you go, and you’ll actually learn about Greeks and their culture.

Naxos in the Cyclades had a good mix of Greek culture and tourist spots. Plenty of Greeks actually live on Naxos year-round, which is not the case with most tourist islands.

Kos in the Dodecanese also had its share of locals, and was a great cultural experience.

Summary – Greece Travel Tips

Our biggest tip would be to really consider the time of the year that you go to Greece. (especially the islands) If you can go in May-Early June, or September, that would be a HUGE plus.

Also, consider the Dodecanese or the Ionian Islands. These ones are much less crowded with American tourists and would be a more authentic and just as beautiful experience.

Overall, we loved our time in Greece and would put this country on our top list of countries we have ever visited! By keeping in mind these essential Greece Travel Tips, you are on your way to have an amazing trip. Leave a comment or reach out if you have any other specific questions or need suggestions! ⬇️

Happy Travels 😊 🇬🇷