Budget & Safety in Athens guides
I hate scams. Watching someone hand over €5 for a bottle of water, ten times more than the regulated price for greek-branded water annoys me probably out of proportion to the amount involved. Which is how I ended up at a kiosk near the Acropolis entrance a while back, watching a queue of tourists pay…
Nobody plans a trip around getting sick, needing a pharmacy at midnight, or having to figure out how Greek hospitals work. But it can happen. Food poisoning, dehydration during summer, scooter accidents, twisted ankles on slippery marble, random fevers after island hopping, all of that is part of daily life in a city that receives…
Athens can be surprisingly affordable in some ways and unexpectedly expensive in others. Food can be very reasonable, public transport is cheap, and museum tickets are not wildly out of line with the likes of Rome or Paris. Where things rise quickly is accommodation, mainly from May to September and holiday seasons. Add bad restaurant choices…
Athens is safe to visit. Violent crime against visitors is rare, and in a recent global safety index measuring pickpocketing and scams, the city ranked 15th worldwide and 19th overall. That’s well below cities like Paris, Rome, or Bangkok in reported tourist thefts. The real risks are petty, for example pickpocketing in crowded spots and…