Great "Cheap Holidays & Excursions" Hunt: Greek Islands

The best time to go is in May. It's cooler, all the flowers are out, it's not as crowded, and everything is at low season rates. The downside is that some services (like tourist buses) may not run, or not as frequently, and some eateries may not be open. If you go in April or October you have the place to yourself. Greek Easter time is highly recommended (Greek Easter is often on a different date from western Easter - check) but it can be a little busier as all the Greeks go back to their home villages, so flights might be a bit more expensive.

For accommodation, if you ask around you can sometimes find studios that have just been built. That means they're brand new inside, but the owner hasn't had time to agree a contract with a tour operator. They're standing empty and you turn up... perfect haggling opportunity.

If you need bottled water, buy it in bulk from the supermarket - much cheaper than buying individual bottles. Or, if you eat out and are served a bottle of water at your table but don't finish it, take the bottle home with you afterwards.

Look for signs at the roadside: ΛΑΔΙ (ladi, olive oil), ΜΕΛΙ (meli, honey), ΕΛΙΕΣ (elies, olives), ΤΥΡΙ (tyri, feta cheese) - local products bought from the farmer. If you know your herbs, you can often find them growing wild by the side of the road - so collect some to put on your salad.

In mainland Greece, and in some islands, the place all the locals buy their fruit and veg is a streetmarket called 'laiki' (pronounced l-eye-KEY). In cities there can be up to a hundred stalls. Sometimes they're only some days a week, or they move around, so ask a local if there's one nearby. In a city you might find local fruit and veg, fish, delicatessen, live birds, household goods, toys, clothes, carpets, etc etc, while a smaller place will probably focus more on the fruit and veg. It's miles cheaper than buying in a supermarket, and the food is fresh. I once spotted a kilo of lemons for 50 cents... about the same as a single lemon in the UK. You might find it difficult to buy veg in less than kilos/half kilos, but usually it's cheap enough that that's not a problem.

For renting a car what I'd do is, just before you go, do some research on the net to see what kind of rates you can get. Then wander around the agencies (often they're together, in a resort or at the airport) and ask for quotes (feel free to haggle). If the net beats them, book that way. You'll probably find it's the same agency supplying the car. I don't know about large resorts, but smaller ones don't seem to have taken up the EasyJet pricing model (where booking months in advance is cheaper) so there's no price penalty for booking late - just may be a lack of availability if it's a busy time. If you book late they may upgrade the size of car you get if they've run out of small ones.

I wouldn't bother with sunloungers at the beach... sometimes these can be extortionate. You can buy grass mats for few euros at tourist shops - they're easy to roll up and carry, they'll last all your time, and you can bin them at the end. Just take a towel or something to use as a pillow.

Eating out, you might find that non-Greek food is cheaper. Find the places the locals go - there's maybe a reasonably priced pizza/pasta place somewhere in the backstreets of many small towns if you look around. For Greek food, the Greek way to eat out is to do 'mezedes' - order lots of starters and share them between you... it can be expensive, but might work out cheaper if you're in a large group (fill up with bread which you've probably paid for as part of the cover charge - try bread and oil or vinegar together). If you look for somewhere that has signs/menus only in Greek you're probably on the right track.

About three years ago we were driving past the famous ruins at Knossos, and stopped to see what the price was as we were thinking of visiting another day.

On enquiring I found out it was FREE that day! This magic day was August 15th, when the Greeks celebrate the assumption day(?) or have some sort of fiesta connected with Mary.

I think this saved us around £20, and I confess I RAN back to the car to get the family out and into the place before they could close for last entries!

On looking this up just now, I've found that there many free days which include all winter Sundays (1st November to 31st March), the first Sunday of each month except July, and most major Greek Holidays (usually saint days). I'd take this with a pinch of salt and check, but if you go there with the plan of paying anyway and then find it really is free then.. :j


It's easy to get to by car or even by bus to Heraklion and then Taxi from there. If you do take a taxi, it's always worth asking 'how much' first.

I first went to Knossos in 1987 and four of us travelled from Rethymnon to Heraklion by bus and then took a taxi from there. The cost of this from the package holiday rep was huge, I think we all got there and back for the cost of ONE person on the package scheme.

The local buses are called 'KTEL', and often can be much cheaper than tour operators, though the services can be patchy. There isn't a central site giving you national bus timetables - but you can ask locally. If you want to dig around for times on the net (may be out of date but they don't change much) try searching for 'KTEL' plus the name of a nearby town.

On the mainland the trains are run by OSE. These can be surprisingly cheap (about EUR30 for 800 miles) if you take a slow train. All tickets valid on all trains but a supplement required for InterCity trains - personally I don't think they're worth it. Rail map.

It's often worth finding out how far your resort is from the airport. If the airport is nearby, sometimes it's not worth paying the tour operator a supplement for transfers... especially if you're hiring a car from the airport or it's a short distance by taxi. Or there may be a public bus into town run by the airport or by KTEL.

MM30 wrote: »

If you like Santorini try the Arion Bay Hotel at Kamari, cheaper than Fira hotels and at a good price. Book hotel and flight separate, about 15e for taxi from airport.

If you email and do not get a reply in a couple of days give Tony a ring, his number is on the website.

Fortyfoot