These travel tips to Greece are essential before visiting the beautiful islands! Why? Because Greece can be overwhelming with all the travel decisions you’re forced to make. Which islands should you visit? What part of the island should you stay on? What is there to do when you’re there? Or, how do you get around the island? But you aren’t going to Greece to be stressed out. Which is why I’ve saved you the hassle of endless google searches and compiled all of my tips in one place. Although I researched a ton beforehand, there are a lot more tips I learned while on vacation. Check them out below.

If you’re looking for a day-by-day guide to island hopping, visit my Greece travel itinerary.

7-Day Greece Travel Itinerary
Renting ATV’S
best greece travel tips is to rent an atv or quad bike to get around the island. brunette girl on quad bike itraveling around santorini greece
travel by atv in greece travel tips and guide

Renting an ATV is a common way to get around the islands instead of driving a car. When researching ATV’s on the island, I read many horror stories from past visitors. I am not going to be one of those people. There was never a time we felt unsafe on our rented ATV. I will say, if you’ve never driven an ATV, trying it out in a foreign country is probably not the best time to learn. There are a few wild drivers, more than most cities, but use your best judgment to determine what you’re comfortable with.

Come prepared by getting your international drivers license before your trip. You can do so through AAA’s website. It’s a quick and easy process and you will get your permit within a few hours. It even lasts up to a year. To rent an ATV ahead of time, you can choose to book through one of the many online booking sites. We used Santorini Scooters giving us even more flexibility to book ahead so the ATV was waiting for us when we arrived at the hotel. You can also choose to rent once on the island as there are many rental companies along the streets.

renting beach chairs
renting beach chairs is a secret greece travel tip. brunette girl laying out on a beach chair rental in mykonos greece
travel tips to greece brunette girl laying out on a beach chair rental in santorini greece

One of my secret travel tips to Greece is renting your beach chair ahead of time! If you want to secure a beach chair, I found the easiest way to do so is through Beach Dibs. You can rent chairs at a lot of the popular beaches in Santorini and Mykonos with no hassle whatsoever. You pay ahead through the website and they reserve your spot for an allotted amount of time (ranging from 2-4 hours). Once you arrive, check in with the restaurant or club you reserved with and let them know your reservation is through Beach Dibs. They’ll take care of the rest.

If you aren’t a planner or the beach you want to visit isn’t available through Beach Dibs, you can do it the old fashioned way. Just walk up to any of the bars or restaurants lining the beach and ask the hostess to reserve a chair. For reference, the closer to the ocean, the more you’ll pay.

where to stay in santorini
santorini greece hotel stay. travel tips to greece is stay in fira instead of oia
santorini greece hotel stay. travel tips to greece stay in fira instead of oia. white hotel in santorini grece

There’s quite a debate on the best neighborhood to stay in Santorini. The two main area’s to stay in are Fira or Oia. I stayed in Fira and may be biased but I absolutely think it was the better spot to stay. I break down the pro’s and con’s of each below.

FIRA
  • GREAT SUNSETS
  • fewer crowds
  • better shopping
  • easy access to trails and other side of the island
  • harder to get around on by foot
  • better nightlife and restaurants
oia
  • amazing sunsets
  • huge crowds
  • a touristy area
  • good shopping
  • easier to get around on by foot
  • where you’ll find the picturesque white houses

I think it’s pretty easy to see that Fira outweighs Oia in my opinion. However, if you only have one night in Santorini then my Greece travel tip would be staying in Oia. Anything longer than a day? I recommend Fira.

getting to ammoudi bay
greece travel tips getting to ammoudi bay in santorini greece a famous landmark
t/sdcard/DCIM/100GOPRO/GOPR0414
greece travel tips getting to ammoudi bay in santorini greece a famous landmark
t/sdcard/DCIM/100GOPRO/GOPR0420
greece travel tips getting to ammoudi bay in santorini greece a famous landmark. brunette girl swimming in ammoudi bay

Trying to find Ammoudi Bay was like trying to find a needle in a haystack. I’ve saved you the trouble and provided a step-by-step guide.

  • park your car/ATV at the Sunset Bar at the top of the hill.
  • Proceed to walk down the hill passing The Sunset Oia hotel.
  • Keep Walking until you get to Canaves Oia Epitome and take a left
  • If you see Katharos Lounge, you’re going in the wrong direction.
  • Keep walking in the same direction until you reach the coast. You’re getting close at this point.
  • When you see Ammoudi Fish Tavern, you’ll know you’re in the right place.
  • Continue to walk past (or rather through) the restaurants and you will run into a foot path that leads you right to Ammoudi Bay.
  • Enjoy spending the afternoon or morning in the water, jumping off the cliff and taking in the view.
GETTING AROUND THE ISLANDS

Best pro tips for Greece travel? Take the ferry! The easiest way to island hop (for those who don’t have a yacht) is to take the ferry. It’s such a smooth transition and I would highly recommend. We flew from Athens to Mykonos and while it’s a short flight, you have to jump through a lot more hoops to get from the islands due to airport security, checking bags, etc.

To book a ferry ticket, I recommend using Ferry Hopper.

Have any questions? Think I’m missing an important tip or just want to know more about a certain island? Let me know! I would love to hear from you.

happy traveLS, liz stanford
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