Ever since your parents gave you that illustrated edition of The Odyssey for your third birthday, your lifelong dream has been to visit Greece, a land…

…of gods and goddesses,
…of philosophy and fraternity letters,
…of olives and the Mediterranean,
…of swarthy men and buxom women,
…of rocky archipelagos and naked wrestling.

If you too find yourself intensely stirred by this nation, you may proudly claim yourself to be a hellenophile (someone who loves Greek culture); of course, if your inner stirrings had more to do with those scantily clad Greek heroes, you may simply be exhibiting unresolved latent sexuality characteristics. Either way, a trip to Greece could be just the thing to satisfy your inner yearnings of visiting a land that is the cradle of Western civilization and home to some of the most fascinating ancient structures in Europe (and catching a few rays in the process).

1. GET YOUR PAPERWORK DONE

Get a passport

As is the case when you travel to almost any foreign country, you need a passport to gain admittance into Greece (and, even more importantly, to get back home!). So go to the post office and shell out the required $65 - it'll be good for 10 years. You will have to provide some proof of citizenship (birth certificate, certificate of citizenship, certificate of naturalization, etc.) as well as two passport-sized photographs of yourself (smile!). Just remember that it'll take a month for your passport to get to you; otherwise, you'll have to pay extra cash for rush delivery.

Still want more information about the exciting world of passports? Then visit the U.S. State Department Passport Services. If you're one of those cannuck hosers from north of the U.S. border, then you can go to the Canadian Passport Office, eh?

Get a visa

If you are American, Canadian, British, Australian or a member of the E.U., AND you are going to stay in Greece for more than 90 days, then you need to get a special Greek visa. You don't have to get it in advance; however, you must apply at least 20 days prior to the end of your 90 days (for those with a liberal arts degree, that's the 70th day of your stay in Greece or earlier). You can purchase a three-month sticker visa for about $20. However, this visa prohibits you from working in Greece - only fun in the sun for you! To get a visa, you should call the Embassy of Greece at (202) 939-5818.

2. PLAN YOUR TRIP

Decide when to go

Greece is a sunny place… at least, that's the reputation it has garnered from tourists and expatriate British and American writers and artists living there. And for the most part, it's not a bum rap. However, the coldest months of the year (February and March) are prone to considerably cooler weather with wind, rain, and even snow. Likewise, between June and August (the peak tourist season), downtown Athens can be miserably hot, dry, dusty and smoggy, with typical afternoon temperatures at about 100°F.

So for best traveling conditions, especially if you plan on spending any time at all in Athens, mid-April until early June and then early September through mid-November are the best times to visit. Springtime will find the countryside abloom with many a Mediterranean flower, and September will find the water temperatures the most comfortable for the vacationing aquatic athlete. Then again, peak season also affords you the cheapest flights, plus numerous summer activities on the islands as well as public concerts held in the ancient Roman amphitheater at the foot of the Athenian Acropolis. So you're going to have to buckle down and prioritize. (This is the part of the article where all the Libran readers have nervous breakdowns.)

Fly there

Provided that you book your ticket a couple months in advance, you should be able to find a ticket for $500 - $800 to Greece; if you're especially lucky, you may be privy to e-saver fares that low as $350. But for the best tips on airline shopping, you must read our own article, "SoYouWanna buy cheap airline tickets?"

Olympic Airlines is usually the only carrier that provides direct flights from U.S. cities to Greece (all of which will probably go through New York City's JFK airport). However, you may find cheaper offers with more flexibility for additional travel in other European countries if you fly another airline. For example:

By the way, if you happen to be a student, it would be a good idea to compare any potential deals with a student travel agency, such as STA Travel (1-800-777-0112).

Prepare your money

In Greece, the unit of currency is the drachma. You want to be sure to exchange your dollars into drachmas AFTER you get to Greece, NOT in advance. Sure, you could stand to exchange $20 - $50 for airport expenditures or immediate taxi fare, but with the current exchange rate of 390 drachmas to the dollar (and climbing), you will find your American money worth more over time.

And while Greece may show residue of the old world in many ways, its major cities are equipped with enough modern amenities to allow you to withdraw money from ATM machines, provided that your card is a Cirrus or Plus card and you are using a checking account.

3. SETTLE YOURSELF IN GREECE

Find accommodation

Accommodations can be rather tricky in Greece - each possibility has benefits and drawbacks:

  • Hostels. As is the case with other European countries, many vacationers to Greece (especially students) prefer to stay in hostels. Although Greek hostels are relatively cheap and may have fewer restrictions than those in northern Europe, their rules are strictly enforced. Missing a curfew may leave you subject to a lockout leaving you to rush to an ATM and spend a lot of money for a last-minute hotel room. But hostelling is an easy way to get a room and meet other young people, so consider getting a Youth Hostel International Card. There is a catch: only ONE hostel in Greece (Athens, to be precise) is a member of the YHIF. But if you call in advance and try to get a room, they'll be able to tell you about other hostels in the area.

  • Hotels. Fortunately, Greece is not an expensive country in comparison to the North America or most of Europe. Although the major hotels may be a bit pricey - particularly in downtown Athens (Syntagma Square) - there are a number of pensions (small boarding houses, kinda between a hostel and a hotel) that offer more than adequate accommodations, usually with breakfast. If you think you can afford a hotel, then visit GreekHotel.com or the Yahoo listings. Bear in mind that prices fluctuate tremendously between the peak and off-peak seasons. During peak season, proprietors are permitted to charge 20% more, plus 10% extra for stays of under three days. While this may seem like nothing more than legalized extortion to the seasoned traveler… you'd be right.

    Many hotels and pensions may require your passport as a form of a security deposit, returnable to you upon vacating the premises on time with full payment. This, too, is legal. However, there are limits to the power that your host can exercise. Hotels are required by law to post a chart of room charges; if you are charged significantly more than the designated amount, the threat of being reported to the Bureau of Tourism or the tourist police will usually resolve the matter in short order.

  • Private rooms. You also have the option of looking for rooms-to-let in individual homes. This is a common and legal practice in Greece. Because hospitality is an ingrained way of life in Greece, you can usually count on your accommodations to be sufficiently clean. Of course, you may find yourself getting more than you bargained for - Greek is a language with no word for "privacy," and you may find yourself sharing space with others (one of many reasons to travel with a small group of friends or acquaintances). While you may not get your own room, you will have your own bed to sleep in, and breakfast often included. This can be an extremely cheap option.

  • Camping. Camping is, of course, the cheapest route to lodging, although certainly not an option in any of the major cities. Most campgrounds are maintained by the Greek National Tourist Organization and include bathrooms and drinking fountains, although a small fee is usually required (around 1,200 drachmas, which amounts to $3 - $6, depending on the exchange rate). Technically, camping outside of a designated GNTO campsite is illegal and subject to fine. Depending on the relative size of your wallet (and your cajones), you may or may not wish to risk illegal free camping.

Get around

Unless you are as adept in stiletto heels as Tina Turner, you absolutely must wear sensible shoes. Most of Greece's appeal to tourists is its walkability. God knows it sure ain't the public transportation! There are actually four main ways to get around:

  • Walking. Even in Athens (Greece's largest city with close to 1/3 of the nation's entire population), most main streets are walkable at almost all hours, provided you are not on your own in some of the racier districts (Ommonia Square and Syntagma Square). Streets are safe and usually clean. However, you will find that absolutely everything in Greece is built either on a hillside or hilltop (and on some islands, cliffs!), so be prepared for sore calves if you are not accustomed to a lot of walking up and down hills.

  • Rails. In Athens, there are two major subways. The older subway runs from Athens to Piraeus, the port town from which all of Athens's ferries and ships depart. The newer subway is the ultra-modern Metro line. There is also a rail line from Athens to the northern city of Thessaloniki, and another rail line to the Peloponnese. While your Eurail pass (or possibly Europass) will work on the national rail, don't expect that kind of luxury or speed that exists in northern Eurorail - you will be setting yourself up for a major disappointment. If you're wondering what a Eurail pass is, then you should hop on over to our article "SoYouWanna backpack through Europe?", which gives a complete explanation.

  • Buses. Both city-to-city and within-city bus lines are extensive in Greece. If you intend to travel from one city to another in a bus, make sure to arrive sufficiently in advance, as buses often depart early. Also bear in mind that in Athens, neighborhood buses are typically overcrowded with pushy, touchy people, providing pickpocketers ample opportunities to take advantage of unwary tourists. So keep your belongings close and in view (but don't assume that everybody rubbing against you is a thief or pervert; bus closeness is simply another aspect of Greek culture).

  • Rentals (bikes, cars, etc.). Bicycles and mopeds are usually available for rent. So are automobiles. In fact, if you plan on seeing Greece beyond Athens, a car may afford you the greatest amount of freedom. Prices are slightly more expensive than rentals in the U.S., but a small group traveling together can easily split the cost. The largest and most affordable rental agencies in Greece are Just, InterRent and Retca (and Avis, Hertz, Europcar and Budget also exist if you are willing to pay extra for familiarity or if you wish to book your rental prior to departure). You will be required to have an International Driver's License and International Insurance Certificate. Luckily, AAA can help you get one. Here's a huge list of car agencies from which you can rent (in Athens, at least).

Know what to do in an emergency

We hate to tell you this, but bad things happen to good people (just look at what happened to Bambi's mom!). So you must always be prepared to handle an emergency. We've already warned you about pickpockets on buses and in several of the most popular districts within Athens. Traveling in small groups may deter some of this activity, as will doing your best to blend in rather than appearing like a tourist.

Always travel with a photocopy of your passport and keep it somewhere separate than your actual passport. If you find yourself a victim of a pickpocketing - especially if your actual passport is stolen - the American Embassy in Athens will be better able to help you if you at least have a photocopy. Here's the embassy's contact info:

  • Located at: 91 Vasilissis Sophias Blvd.
  • Tel: [30] (1) 721-2951
  • Fax: [30] (1) 729-4303 or (30) (1) 725-3025
  • Mailing address: Box 32, PSC 108, APO AE 09842.

Throughout most of Greece, a 911-like telephone system operates for various emergencies:

  • Police: 100
  • First aid: 166
  • Fire: 199
  • Hospitals: 106
  • Tourist police: 171 in Athens and 922-7777 in the rest of the nation
  • U.S. citizens can call (01) 722-3652 or 729-4301 in emergencies

And while we're on the subject of phone numbers, Greek pay phones require pre-purchased phone cards for just about all calls; in fact, to make an overseas call, you must use a Greek phone card before your own calling card will work. They are available at corner kiosks and most grocery stores.

Remember: you can do a lot to prevent anything serious from happening to you, and that includes following the laws and customs of any given country. Greece is very strict when drug enforcement is concerned, so if you honestly believe that "everybody must get stoned," then plan for some time up in Amsterdam, where many mind-altering substances are legal and safe… but don't try it in Greece!

One last note about the language barrier: the national language of Greece is so far from English that it might as well be Greek. Fortunately, many vendors in the tourist-heavy areas are proficient (if not fully fluent) in English. Unfortunately, you still have the daunting task of deciphering all of those storefront signs and newspaper headlines written in bizarre hieroglyphics that looks more like a rendering of all those place you used to love to party at in college. You will undoubtedly find a pocket dictionary of traveler's phrases and a refresher on your Greek alphabet a highly valuable.

4. HAVE A LIST OF THINGS TO DO

Greek has so many fascinating historical and archaeological sites and so many facets to its culture that you could spend a whole lifetime in Greece without ever running out of things to do. But you will run out of time, so here's a condensed list of ideas of what to see in Greece.

Athens
Thessaloniki
The Islands

Athens

Athens is Greece's largest city and is home to most of its national museums and its most "continental" euro-nightclubs. Chances are that regardless of where your flight originates, you will fly into Athens, so take advantage of being there.

  • The Athenian skyline is dominated by the Acropolis. The Parthenon, one of the most recognized buildings in western history, sits atop the Acropolis. At the bottom of the southeastern slope of the Acropolis you will find two ancient amphitheatres, the Theatre of Dionysus and the Theatre of Herod Atticus. The latter still houses live performances of music and theatre during the summer months.

  • Abutting the Acropolis to the east is the Plaka neighborhood, famous for its authentic Byzantine architecture as well as its many shops, pensions and tavernas where you can enjoy the best Greek food and drink. While the prices are steep compared to the rest of Greece, they're pretty cheap when compared to dining anywhere in Paris or Manhattan.

  • Like London, Athens is renowned for the changing of its guard. This military ritual is set against the backdrop of the presidential residence across the street from the National Garden, another Athenian treasure set in the heart of the city.

  • Athens has over a dozen museums - among them are the National Archaeological Museum, the Acropolis Museum, the Keramikos Museum, the National Gallery and the Museum of Cycladic and Ancient Greek Art - and scores of historical and archaeological sites that are all walking distance from the heart of the city.

Thessaloniki

The city of Thessaloniki is located in the northern region of Greece known as Macedonia (home of Alexander the Great). The second largest city in Greece, Thessaloniki captured the distinctive title of Cultural Capital of Europe in 1997 (like the Miss Universe title, Cultural Capital of Europe changes hands every year). As such, it offers a number of cultural venues by way of museums and theatre, as well as an active nightlife in its many cafes and tavernas which remain reasonably priced due to its considerably less tourist-driven economy than Athens or the islands. Trains from Athens stop in Thessaloniki and continue to Budapest and Germany, making this an excellent city of visit if you intend to Eurail further north.

The Islands

Let's face it: given the generally short nature of a first visit to any country, you have to pick and choose destinations. And as much as it would behoove a scholar to visit the plethora of historical sites on mainland Greece, most American vacationers are probably looking to pack a little more beach time into their Mediterranean meanderings. There is no better place to do this than the dozens of islands that are part of Greece.

If you have more disposable dough than a cookie factory, you may wish to consider a luxury cruise. Or, if spending your precious travel time aboard a big boat isn't your cup of tea, many of the islands can be reached by puddle jumpers, small aircraft departing from the mainland. And for those of you who aren't quite finished paying off your student loans, the islands are still affordable if you travel from Piraeus by ferry, the cheapest way to reach the islands. There are a number of ferry and hydrofoil lines, but they are also unreliable as far as schedules and departures go, so be flexible if you plan on traveling this way. The Athens News, an English newspaper in Athens, carries current ferry schedules to the various islands.

  • Ios will be the most instantly familiar island to an American traveler. It is the most frequented by tourists, particularly young tourists from Northern Europe and America, so English is widely spoken there. There are so many Irish pubs in Ios that it is sometimes jokingly referred to as "Ireland Over Seas." However, its reputation as a party town also means that you have to deal with large crowds of drunken college students and all the delightful shenanigans that ensue.

  • Santorini, known to the Greeks as Thira, is one of the most spectacular of the islands - it is comprised of the remains of a collapsed volcano, which some rumors hold to be the ancient lost city of Atlantis. Portions of the island have fallen off, allowing the caldera to fill entirely with ocean, although a live crater in the center of the harbor provides a most adventurous detour for tourists who wish swim in its geothermically heated waters. Even for those who eschew hiking an actual live volcano crater, the old island of Santorini is quite a sight: the main town of Thira (which means "wild island") is perched atop the cliff overlooking the caldera and seems to contradict the laws of physics and afford some of the most breath-taking panoramas in all of Greece. Santorini also has famous red sand beaches, again the result of volcanic action.

  • Crete is by far the largest of the Greek islands and sports a number of different Ancient Minoan ruins that should thrill even the most accidental students of archaeology. The port town of Hania is famous for its Venetian and Byzantine architecture, as well as the Well of the Turk, one of the best Turkish restaurants in Greece.

Of course, this list doesn't even begin to cover a number of Greece's fascinating geographical and cultural treasures, but this is a good starting point for the average tourist.

5. CONSIDER FUTURE TRIPS

Decide if you want to stay longer

Can't get enough moussaka? Having weighed the pros (constant sun, great food, Greek hospitality, inexpensive shopping, afternoon siestas, fascinating history) and cons (trash strikes, postal strikes, ferry strikes, train strikes, being bludgeoned by umbrella-wielding old ladies vying with you for the same seat on the bus, being bludgeoned by the same umbrella-wielding old lady when she tires of waiting for you to finish your call at the pay phone), you may find yourself less homesick for the States than you would have imagined. A great way to stay in Greece is as a student. Luckily for you, there are a number of programs to choose from:

You can also get an extended stay through a temporary residence or work visa. If all other job opportunities fail, seasonal restaurant help is always in short order (no pun intended) during high season. But remember to check with the Embassy of Greece before staying on; you'll need to get a special work visa.

Here is a great Greek resource link