Greece is not as cheap as it once was but is still very good value

wizard

Agreed. Since the introduction of the Euro,the cost of living has gone up.
We were in Santorini 6 weeks ago, and the price of dinks were comparable to those here in the uk, sometimes more (1 .5 Euro for a can of iced tea!).
If you go to countries that have their own currency, not the Euro i.e Turkey,
then you will find the cost of living is much, much cheaper. Having said that, we did find that Corfu seems to be one of the 'cheaper' islands for food and drink. We were there last September.

bushbaby
a lot depends where you are staying and which establishments you use. I was in Corfu a couple of years ago staying near Kalami and found that area ultra expensive compared even with Kassiopi. Over towards Paleokastritsa there were some beaches and road side bars/tavernas where the prices were reasonable enough and we didn't feel we were paying over the odds. Overall it wasn't bad though it was more expensive than, say, Kalymnos, southern Crete and tye mainland.

Hi, greekophile. My wife and I visit Acharavi in Corfu on a regular basis and yes, since the introduction of the euro it is a little more expensive. I stress the "little" as we find that eating out, as we do, is very good value in Acharavi. It is a lot cheaper than other resorts and the food is of excellent quality. I would only NOT eat in one establishment, that is the Trattoria, where we found a very poor standard.
Peter Pan

It did get very expensive after the introduction of the euro which led to us not going to Greece for a couple of years. However, things have settled down now and I can honestly say that the cost of living now is much cheaper than the UK and it is certainly cheaper than say Spain. It does depend where you are, for example we have found Corfu to be cheaper than Rhodes.

We wouldn't go if it was expensive.

hi, does anyone know prices in corfu? average meal/beer/wine/ouzo etc? we are going for the first time in june and it would really help us to budget if we had an idea of cost beforehand. thanks.

Hi Catwoman,
this is always a tricky one as prices can change from year to year. Can I start by saying that prices in general in Greece have cought up with the likes of Spain etc. What once was a cheap country when the drachma was in use, is no longer that cheap. Not sure what you'd like to compare prices with- have you been anywhere in Greece before. When we were last in Corfu (may 2006) a beer was on average 3 euros, 4-5 euros for a spirit and mixer and food varied depending on what you wanted. We were surprised that the prices were catching up with the U,K

We're off to Crete this year and to be honest we're budgeting on more than we usually take as the exchange rate is terrible now and doesn't seem likely to get better. We've just returned from a week in Spain b&b and whereas we budgeted for around £500 for 2, I think we actually spent over £600 (and we didn't go mad)

When we go to Crete SC in August we will probably take around £1400-£1500 for the both of us for 2 weeks. Hoefully that will be enough.

hi shirley,
thanks for the info. we went to lindos last year and were paying more than what quoted. the food wasnt too bad, it was the prices of drinks that were high. (i have a thing for cocktails on hol!) i think it may be a bottle of wine on the balcony a couple of nights! have a good time in crete!

Hi Catwoman,
I'd budget on the prices you paid in Lindos if I was you - Corfu will probably be slightly cheaper, but baring in mind the exchange rate you'd best over budget to be safe. Yes, sis and I said we'd probably have a night or two with a couple of drinks and a game of cards on the balcony instead of having 14 late nights, spending our hard earned cash
What part of Corfu are you going? It's one of my favourite islands.

Hi

We are off to Corfu on the 9th May for 2 weeks to Paleokastritsa.

We are wondering whether to take a small amount of euros with us as the rate is so poor here at the moment, and then take sterling to change up as and when we need euros.

Has anybody done this, was the exchange rate better in corfu and are there plenty of places to exchange money.

Does anybody know what the exchange rate is in Corfu at the moment.

Thank you.

Michele

Hi Michelle,
the exchange rate is at it's lowest ever at the moment and to be honest I can't see it getting any better. YOu might be slightly better off exchanging out there, but there won't be much in it. If you have a Nationwide debit card, you can withdraw money from the ATM's without being charged for doing so.

hi shirley, we are going to agios gordios - have you been there? we are really looking forward to it - not been to corfu before, it looks lovely from all the websites ive been on!

Linda

Hi Linda,
I can't say I'm familiar with Agios Gordios although I have heard of it. I'm sure it'll be beautiful. If you'd like to see a bit of the island I'd recommend you take an organised Island tour. We did this on our first visit and saw far more than we would have on our own. It also gave us a brief insight of the history and myths of the island.
Paleokastritsa is a picture postcard resort where you can take a trip on a glass bottom boat. Gorgeous!
Have a great holiday

Michele

We take mostly sterling cash plus about 100 euros for initial expenses every year. The exchange rate is commonly recognised to be better in Corfu than in UK, not by a great amount but we sometimes save enough for a meal out.

Remember the exchange rate is poor out there too though and we reckon we need to take about 20% more than last year !! Still I manged to get my hire car booked at the same cost (euros) as last year so inflation hasn't hit our usual car hirers.

Dennis

Hi Catwoman

We visited Agios Gordios in Sep 06. It is a lovely resort, only fairly small with an excellent beach. There are just about enough tavernas to last for 2 weeks. You can get a bus to Corfu Town which I would recommend. My review is on the relevant review page of this website. If there was anything lacking it was a coffee shop/pastry/cake shop.
We had a great time and found the prices to be average for the rest of Greece.

Enjoy.
Yiamass, Jean

i have been to greece many times and i recently figure it being roughly the cost in euros as things are in pounds here . ie, if you think you might go and eat at the sort of place that would cost you £20 a head here, a similar place would probably cost you about 20 europs in corfu. of course the pound is not very strong at the moment. hope this helps

This question gets asked all the time I know, but which are the best to take Euro or Sterling?, I suppose it depends on current exchange rates etc but not been to Euroland recently (normally Turkey) so any comments are appreciated. Thanks x

your correct there... i get fed up answering this one.. but hay your new here... i am off to Zakinthos in a few days , i have drawn £100 worth of evro for the first night/morning, i will be taking sterling to change at where ever is the best deal [bound to be better than the UK] credit card for purchasing prezzis [28 days accidental damage cover on the card purchases] my cash card for any over spend to draw evro from the machine...
I will not buy travellers cheques as you pay to get them and pay to cash them [they may not make a charge but the exchange rate is lower]

BY THE WAY to the Greek forums of HT

wizard

I think many people will have a shock using cards this summer; as of last August most card companies are now charging fees for using cards for purchases abroad as well as a percentage for cash, both on credit cards and debit cards so check with your card company before leaving! (Barclays are a case in point... my bank... for the moment!)
In Greece the rate is always better than in the Uk in summer by an average of 5 cents in the pound, which mounts up over a holiday.

I recommend taking a small amount of cash in Euros for arrival and "just in case", and the rest either in sterling Travellers cheques or Sterling cash. Cheques have the advantage of being insured. It is hard work persuading foireign exchange places in the Uk to sell you Sterling cheques as they want to sell you Euro ones on which they make all the money. Dont be fooled. You will still have to find a bank or foreign exchange bureau to cash them and you will still pay a charge locally and worse you get the lower Uk rate of exchange. Sadly they are not looking after your interests only their own profits.