Popular Day Trips & Experiences

Meteora Monasteries

€€Full day from Kalambaka, 10 to 12 hours as a trip from Athens

Six working monasteries on top of sandstone pillars in Thessaly, reached by steps cut into the rock. Each monastery charges its own small entry fee and each closes on a different day of the week, so check before you plan the order. Shoulders covered for everyone, a skirt or dress below the knee for women and long trousers for men, no exceptions.

Photo: Takeaway (en.wikipedia), CC BY-SA 3.0 (also offered under GFDL), via Wikimedia Commons

Delphi

from €80 as a guided day tripFull day from Athens, 2.5 hours each way

The sanctuary of Apollo on the slope of Mount Parnassus, where the ancient world came to ask its questions. The site and the museum need three to four hours between them. Standard group day trips from Athens run around €80 to €95; going independently by bus is cheaper and slower.

Photo: Joyofmuseums, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Santorini Caldera Cruise

€€€Half day, about 5 hours, most sail for sunset

A boat out across the flooded caldera to the volcanic islets of Nea Kameni and Palea Kameni, the hot springs and usually a stop at Thirassia. Sunset sailings cost more than morning ones and sell out first in July and August.

Photo: karol m, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Samaria Gorge, Crete

€€Full day, 5 to 7 hours walking, 16 km downhill

The longest gorge walk in Europe, from the Omalos plateau down to the sea at Agia Roumeli, ending with a ferry out because there is no road. Open roughly May to October and closed after heavy rain. Proper shoes, not sandals, and start early.

Photo: Jimzoun, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Ancient Olympia

€€Half day on site, full day from Athens

The original stadium, the workshop where Pheidias built the statue of Zeus, and one of the best archaeological museums in the country. Quieter than Delphi and easier underfoot, which makes it the better of the two with children.

Photo: Michael Nicht, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Knossos, Crete

€€Half day, 2 to 3 hours on site

The Bronze Age palace complex outside Heraklion, and the most visited site on Crete. Go at opening; there is very little shade and the site fills by mid morning. The finds themselves are in the Heraklion Archaeological Museum, which is worth the same again.

Vikos Gorge and the Zagori Villages

Free to walkFull day, 5 to 6 hours for the gorge floor route

Stone villages, arched packhorse bridges and one of the deepest gorges in the world, in the mountains of Epirus. Walking it costs nothing. This is the part of Greece that has no beach and no cruise ship, and it is the reason to hire a car.

Photo: Chris Vlachos, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Nafplio and Epidaurus

€€Full day from Athens, about 2 hours each way

The first capital of modern Greece, Venetian and handsome, with the Palamidi fortress above it and 999 steps up if you want them. Half an hour away is the theatre at Epidaurus, where a coin dropped on the orchestra floor can be heard from the top row.

Photo: Brastite at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 (also offered under GFDL), via Wikimedia Commons

Free Museum and Site Days

FreeFixed dates through the year

Entry to every state run archaeological site, monument and museum in Greece is free on 6 March, 18 April, 18 May, the last weekend of September and 28 October, plus the first and third Sunday of the month from 1 November to 31 March only. There is no free Sunday between April and October, which catches out a lot of summer visitors.

Photo: Dimboukas (en.wikipedia), Public domain (released by author, PD-self), via Wikimedia Commons

Any Beach in the Country

FreeAs long as you like

Every beach in Greece has free public access to the water by law. Sunbeds and umbrellas are charged on the organised stretches, but there is almost always a free section alongside, and on the smaller islands most of the coast is free throughout.

Photo: dronepicr, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Turn Up at a Village Panigyri

FreeAn evening, and it will run late

The saint's day feast in a village square: long tables, live music, dancing that starts around midnight and food that is often free or close to it. They are not advertised to visitors and nobody will mind you being there. Ask locally which village has one coming.