My son was offered a last minute opportunity to travel to Santorini and Mykonos with a GF who’s parent could not go. He will only have to pay for one Airbnb and food. How is situation at Greece for travelers now? Is it safe? How expensive is food? Anything else he needs to know?
I wouldn’t worry about safety (any more than any parent normally would). D was there when the banks collapsed and still managed to do just fine. Especially with where he’s visiting, he’ll be removed from where any political action might be going on.
Food is very reasonably priced. Really the biggest expense is getting there - once you’re there things are quite affordable (I personally haven’t visited, but D spent a month in Paros and a semester in Athens).
What an amazing opportunity! Just prepare him for a significantly different pace of life - life in Greece is much more relaxed than in the U.S, and even more so in the Cyclades.
Thank you @InigoMontoya Do you know how good is internet connection on those islands? My son can work remotely, but he needs to have fast internet. Also will his Version phone work in Greece?
buy medical/evacuation insurance. it is really cheap for a young person. (like 20.00 bucks)
greece is in turbulent times but I would not fear traveling there more than any place in europe.
https://www.medexassist.com/Default.aspx?gclid%3dcklx3u-46c0cfyobaqodrk4ktw
p.s. greek food is awesome
Been to both locations in recent years. Not political hot spots. Sounds like a great opportunity!
Don’t know about internet reliability but consider these are islands and not big ones. It will be what it is. Life moves pretty slow.
We put an international plan on D’s Verizon phone for the time she was in Greece and she had no problems. She had a limited number of calls/texts she could make and a very small amount of data. Even on the most remote islands she at least had 3G service.
She never stayed in a hotel that didn’t have Internet access. But… one time (on Antiparos) it went out and the locals just shrugged and said “it’ll be fixed in a few days”. Santorini and Mykonos are larger than the islands she was on, so that may not be as much of a problem. I hope he’s not planning on working the whole time he’s there!
To keep her usage of the phone to a minimum, we communicated via What’s App. If you haven’t used it, it’s a messaging app that works on wi-fi.
D3 and a girlfriend spent 10 days in Greece during their month long European adventure in June. They spent 4 nights on Santorini in an Airbnb. They felt perfectly safe and had an excellent wifi connection. In fact, D3 phone interviewed for two different government jobs from Santorini and will be moving Washington DC soon for her first post-gradschool job.
@Ballerina016 Verizon has a great deal that allows you to roam in Europe for $10 a day. You have to sign up in advance, and you just use your existing data plan.
We have unliminted calling and 30 GB of data per month with our phone, so I essentially had unlimited data. I also used a hotspot with a cellhire chip and 5 GB of data, which cost $129. I had used this in the past and really liked it, and it helped me not incur the $10 charge on a lot of days, but in the future I may just use the Verizon phone.
Most Verizon phones can serve as hotspots, too, so you can use a laptop.
One more thing. A lot of people will tell you to never buy euros in advance. If you have access to some place like a Wells Fargo with foreign exchange that will change money for five percent over the spot rate (with no buy/sell spread), go ahead and get some cash. There is no telling when Greece might have some financial problems, and the first thing that happens is that people line up to the ATM machines to get cash. Not a fun way to spend a vacation.
Sounds like a lot of fun - I’m also in the “don’t over-worry” camp! That said, I know that “Worry” has become my middle name ever since the birth of the first offspring.
If your son isn’t aware, the US State Dept has a Traveler Aware program. He can register his travel dates and destination through the State Dept website. If there is any situation specific to his travel destination, the State Dept sends emails. I had never used the program until last year when traveling to a third world country. There was a “political situation” there that occurred during my travel. I received an email explaining the situation and the advice to to avoid crowds, demonstrations, etc, etc. If I’d run into such a situation, I would have retreated but it was nice in a country where I don’t speak or understand the language to know of the possibility. One of my kids lives in Asia and is registered. He’s also received email updates on situations that he would prefer to avoid.
I’m a very seasoned solo traveler, but these days, I register all my travel, even to Western Europe where I can understand the languages. I hope I never need State Dept advice and would never rely on it solely without also engaging my own best judgment, but in these times, information could be welcome.