8 Top Tips for Travelling to Greece on a Budget

Last updated on 14 May 2025

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Aaah, Greece! The birthplace of democracy and the world’s oldest wine-producing region. Greece is a land steeped in history. From Socrates to Alexander the Great, the country has produced many fine figures that have left their mark on the ancient and modern worlds. It was one of the things I absolutely loved about doing Classical Studies in both high school and University.

Greece’s history is reflected in its culture still to this day — and nowhere is this more true than in Athens, the capital city. The city has been called “the cradle of Western civilization” for good reason, with thousands of years of architecture and art to see as you walk down its streets. When my friend and I visited Athens in 2013, we were travelling to Greece on a budget, so did most things in a way that was going to be financially viable for our week-long trip.

Athens, the capital city, offers museums, theatres, fine dining, shopping, and an active nightlife while still having relaxed beachside communities less than an hour away. There is a lot to see and a lot to do, but if you’re travelling to Athens on a budget then boy do I have some tips for you!

Before we get into the travel tips for Athens, I do just want to point out that all in all, Greece was a cheap place to visit. I was coming from England, so flights were pretty cheap, the accommodation was very reasonable (even though we opted for a 4-star hotel given that we’d not been to Athens before, and my friend hadn’t travel overseas before – playing it safe!), and it didn’t break the bank.

Okay, let’s get into some tips for travelling to Greece on a budget, specifically looking at visiting Athens.

8 top tips for travelling to Greece on a budget

1. Do your research
2. Book cheap flights
3. Book a hostel instead of a hotel
4. Travel with friends
5. Look out for deals
6. Eat local
7. Don’t do everything at once
8. Walk everywhere
9. Bonus!

Do your research

First of all, do your research. There are plenty of English-language travel guides online written by people who have done the legwork already and know what they’re talking about. Find reviews from other visitors who have been there and done that—and even more importantly, asked questions that you may not have thought to ask (like whether or not a particular area is safe for tourists).

Doing your research will give you an overview feel for the place before you even step off the plane. You’ll know which places to stay away from, how to deal with street sellers, the best times to visit popular tourist attractions and more. The more you plan, the easier it will be to stick to a budget when you’re in Athens.

You’ve already started your research because you’re reading this post!

Book cheap flights

It’s worth spending some extra time finding the best deals on flights—it’ll be worth it later when you’re having fun instead of worrying about how much money you spent on travel costs getting there!

If you’re travelling from the UK, then airlines such as EasyJet provide cheap flights. I found our recepts from 2013, and we paid around $600 return for 2 adults economy in the height of the summer and tourist season. Chances are, you’ll be able to find much cheaper flights than this, especially if you’re visiting Greece off-season.

Look out for deals

I’m a big fan of deals and vouchers. Travelling to Greece on a budget is pretty easy if you can find an accommodation deal, a holiday package, or a flight deal. But so many don’t know to look for them.

Travel companies will often put together holiday packages, which will include flights, accommodation, transport to and from the airport, and even things such as location vouchers. It’s worth checking out your country’s travel agencies to see if they have any holiday deals. Couple of options: Thomas Cook, EasyJet, Flight Centre.

Book a hostel instead of a hotel

When my friend and I went to Athens we stayed in a 4-start hotel. There are pros and cons to doing this.

For us, the pros were that we hadn’t been to Greece before, we didn’t know what the vibe was going to be, it was her first time travelling overseas, and we visited when there were riots happening. We definitely played it safe and paid a little extra. However! Even our 4-star hotel was very affordable and also provided breakfast and dinner. This meant that we only had to think about buying out once a day, and then any snacks and goodies we wanted. By spending the extra money on a hotel, we saved money on food.

The con is that it’s still more expensive than a hostel. If you’re travelling to Athens or Greece with friends (next point), then you can book a full bunk room at a hostel and save yourself a lot of money this way.

Also read: 5 Reasons to Stay in a Hostel While Travelling

Travel with friends

One of the best ways to travel to Greece on a budget is by going with friends. The more the merrier, right? As I mentioned above, booking accommodation becomes cheaper when you have a group of people you don’t mind sharing a room, a hostel or an Air BnB with.

But it’s more than just accommodation. Lots of things become cheaper when you have a group doing them.

Shuttles and Ubers become cheaper the more people you can put in them. What might cost you $30 for one person will take you right down to $7.50 if your travelling party is 4 people, for example. Of course, the more people you have, the trickier some things become (such as booking a rental car as you need to think about the capacity of the vehicle), but on the whole, if you’re travelling with friends you can generally get the price down.

You can also sometimes get discounts on museum entries and the like if you’re a group.

Try and eat local

Speaking of eating, eat at local diners, street vendors and food spots away from the hustle and bustle of the tourist areas is really going to help you when you’re travelling to Greece on a budget. Food can add up pretty quickly, but it’s also one of the best ways to experience a country (especially for the first time!).

If your accommodation has options to add on breakfast, then jump on that opportunity. It’s going to save you money in the long run and it’s one less thing you have to think about. As I mentioned, my friend and I stayed in a hotel that offer a free breakfast every day, and we opted to join the other guests for dinner (although most of the time we were there there weren’t many other guests!). This meant that the only food we had to think about was lunch. And we ate local.

We decided we’d splurge on a nice restaurant one day, but on the other days we mostly found little cafes and market food and enjoyed trying new things. We saved a lot of money doing this!

Don’t do everything at once

I don’t know about you, but I have the tendency to try and squeeze everything I possibly can into a holiday. I want to see every single museum, eat at every single restaurant, and experience every single local market or event. And if I actually did that, my funds would go down incredibly quickly.

Don’t try and do everything at once. Plan your must-sees and must-dos and then reassess whether you actually need to see that museum when you’ve already seen one. Choose one restaurant to splurge on, then eat local the rest of the time.

Walk everywhere

If you’re visiting Athens and you’re staying quite centrally, then it’s really easy to walk everywhere. Our hotel was about 1km from the Plaka (main central plaza area), so we ended up doing lots of walking around the centre of the city.

However! If you’re not sure about walking around all the time (hey, get that!), make use of the Hop On Hop Off bus in Athens. We decided that one of the best ways we were going get to know the city was by grabbing a Hop On Hop Off bus ticket (again, look out for deals!).

Hot tip: If you’ve been to a lot of cities around Europe and you’ve used this service, you can often save 10% off your NEXT country’s bus! So if you had been in London and got yourself a Hop On Hop Off bus ticket, you can show that to your ticket seller in Athens and get 10% off.

We spent two days making use of the bus, visiting all the top spots along the route. Then, once we felt we knew the city really well, we walked the rest of the time and saved money on transport.

Bonus tip: Make use of the free attractions

There is plenty of history, culture and events to enjoy in Athens for free. Take a stroll in the stunning gardens around the city, tip toe around the ancient churches, enjoy the local markets, wander through the incredible towering structures that are still standing around the city (and some that aren’t!), sit on the stone steps around the Theatre of Dionysis, and even take a walk through the Cemetery of Keramikos. All free, all well worth it.

How will you be travelling to Greece on a budget?

I hope these tips for travelling to Greece on a budget have been helpful. Whatever you do, remember that it’s okay to plan to splurge on a couple of things – make sure you enjoy yourself – but know that there are plenty of ways you can save money while travelling to Athens.

Have you been to Athens or Greece? Got any other tips you can share for travelling on a budget?