Greece Package Holidays: 10 Tips & Recommendations for You

The holiday planning for the coming summer holiday is coming up and some people are already itching under their fingers for the next Greece Trip online or with his fairy at the travel agency. A look into the past usually brings back good or bad memories of the last Greece package holidays.

The problems checking in at the accommodation, the daily construction noise at the neighboring hotel, the party mile next door with the booming noise until late at night and the exhaust fumes from the street directly under the balcony. Does that have to be the case?

No! Let’s say if you keep a few things in mind before booking your vacation. To ensure that your next holiday in Greece is not a flop, we will tell you which 10 mistakes you can avoid when booking. Furthermore, you will receive our best savings tips for your Trip to Greece.

Our tips and recommendations in this article can be summed up in almost all holiday destinations in Europe. No matter if you are planning a holiday in Spain, France or Italy.

#1 Simply have the travel agency book something

Never make the mistake of going to a travel agency without any idea of where to go. If you just say you want to get to Greece on a budget, even the most knowledgeable agent will have a hard time coming up with the perfect holiday deal.

After all, how is the colleague supposed to know exactly what you want? Even intensive counseling ultimately does not clarify all stumbling blocks. In the worst case, it can happen that your Greece package tour does not meet your expectations at all.

If you want to book your Greece package holiday in a travel agency, then prepare yourself accordingly before your appointment. Look for suitable travel destinations in advance. Our island guide Which Greek island is right for me? helps you to find the right Greek island, for example.

Also, choose several hotels where you can stay in your Greece Holidays and that are tailored to your needs (e.g. near the beach, family hotel, all-inclusive).

Travel agency tip for Greece holidays: The more concrete your ideas about your Greece package trip (island or region, town, hotel, beach) are, the better the travel agency staff can plan your dream vacation.

Setting up a holiday plan for the most beautiful weeks of the year is just as important if you want to book online. In the following, we will give you more tips that you should consider both in the travel agency and when booking your Greece package holiday online.

#2 Travel modalities not observed

You have a real bargain for a Greece package tour on HolidayCheck* & Co. and would like to strike immediately? But be careful! Here you should slow down a bit in your anticipation of Greece.

Have you really read through all important notes? Especially the information about the journey can get lost in all the euphoria:

• How far is the departure airport from your hometown?
• What time is your flight to Greece?
• Is it a direct flight or a stopover?
• Is the hotel transfer already included?

Flights with stopovers and very late or early arrivals in the week are usually cheaper, but does that suit you? For example, if you are traveling with small children, the journey alone can be a test of patience.

You have the transfer times from the airport to your hotel not checked in beforehand? In Crete with its many Crete Resorts in the worst case, this means sitting in the bus for another 90 minutes after arriving by plane. If you arrive in Greece at 11 p.m., the first day of your vacation is already over…

With the help of Google Maps you can quickly and easily check the distance from the airport to your hotel in advance. But here, too, the next stumbling block is already waiting. Namely, to book the hotel too close to the airport. More on this at Point #4.

#3 Hotel reviews not read correctly

A bad mistake, because the “wrong” hotel can ruin your whole Greece vacation. Briefly checking the reviews on a portal or trusting the statement of the employee in the travel agency is no longer enough in today’s jungle of review portals.

It has long been known that you can now buy positive reviews. Guests receive a hotel voucher if they award full points. New hotels invite “influencers” to the opening, who give a very good rating for the free stay.

Due to the very good ratings, the hotels are displayed preferentially. All this is common practice today, so a look at a review portal is no longer enough.

Especially in the case of exaggerated valuations you should prick up your ears. For example, if all guests praise the quiet location or cleanliness and one complains. The same applies to a one-time failure of hot water or poor internet.

You should also be wary of older reviews. Watch out for Topicality! Circumstances that were described years ago may have long since been overtaken or renewed.

How to decipher hotel reviews

If you want to book a Greece package holiday with a very good hotel, then you should take a close look at the guest ranking of various portals. We explain in detail how this works exactly.

The hotel portals work with different rating systems. The higher the score, the better the holidaymakers rated their stay. The more reviews a hotel has, the more meaningful the ranking. Enclosed we have listed the individual rating figures of various portals:

The best thing to do is to take a look at the ranking system of Booking.com* After all, Booking is one of the largest hotel booking platforms in the world. For Greece alone, you will find 13,500 places to stay! The rating system ranges from 1-10.

• Excellent 9.0-10
• Very good 8.0-8.9
• Good 7.0-7.9
• Appealing below 6.9

The terms such as “excellent”, “good” or “appealing” are interesting. They give the impression that all hotels on Booking are okay. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. If you choose a hotel with at least 9.0 (or 90% or 5.4 for HolidayCheck) and a high number of guest reviews, you are usually on the safe side:

➲ To hotels on Greek islands from 9.0 (Booking.com)* ➲ To hotels on Greek islands from 5.0 (HolidayCheck)*

Our experiences on holiday in Greece

We cannot personally recommend all hotels below a rating of 6.9 (or 69% or 4.1 on HolidayCheck) for a great holiday in Greece. It may be that bargain hunters still strike here. From experience, we would like to give you the following orientations:

• 9,5-10 for a great place to stay, next to no compromises
• 9,0-9,4 for a very good accommodation, few small compromises such as internet, location
• 8,5-8,9 for a good accommodation, some compromises such as beds, breakfast quality
• 8,0-8,4 for solid accommodation, several compromises such as hotel age, staff
• 7,5-7,9 simple accommodation, still suitable for people with low demands
• 7,0-7,4 rustic accommodation, ok for one night, but not for Greece vacation
• under 6.9 for people without demands, such as backpacker, absolute bargain hunters, teens

The most important review portals

You can check guest reviews on the following portals. They are particularly relevant for the German market and together give a realistic picture of whether a hotel is recommendable or not:

• HolidayCheck
• Booking.com
• TripAdvisor
• Google Reviews
• Expedia
• Facebook
• Hotel.de
• Trivago

Don’t panic! You don’t have to study all these portals including guest opinions. Most of the time, it is enough to look at the current reviews of two portals. This saves the rude awakening on vacation. We always read the booking reviews and the Google reviews.

By comparing the individual ratings, you avoid disruptive factors on holiday, such as a permanent construction site at the hotel, aircraft or party noise. You will also become aware of unfriendly staff and unpleasant room odors or mold in the bathroom. Especially if negative things have been shared by several guests, you should prick up your ears.

At first glance, it looks like a lot of time to spend reviewing hotel reviews. We have done a little research work for you and the best hotels on the islands of Crete, Rhodes & Co. listed on the basis of guest reviews:

• Best hotels in Crete
• Kos: Best hotels
• Best hotels in Corfu
• Best hotels in Mykonos
• Best hotels in Rhodes
• Best hotels in Santorini

#4 Location and surroundings of the hotel not checked

We have never booked accommodation without checking the location first. Why shouldn’t we use today’s technical possibilities? Your smartphone can use Google Maps to set the hotel location indicate.

It is probably one of the biggest mistakes ever made when booking a holiday. Far too often you rely on the word of the travel agency employee or perhaps on fate. Everything will be fine!

A look at the digital map on Google Maps in the satellite mode reveals some details in the vicinity of the hotel. Of course, you can’t find out everything with it, such as the new construction site at the neighboring hotel. Nevertheless, you will get a better feeling for your holiday in Greece.

The hotel location on Google Maps informs about:

• the location on the island (tourist center or province)
• existing establishments nearby (restaurants and bars or wasteland)
• Distances to attractions in the region
• Streets at or around the hotel (highway or village street)
• Noisy buildings such as power plants, airports, party miles, stadiums
• Existing beaches (near the coast or hinterland)
• Possible long-term construction sites (airports, roads, residential buildings)

Choose the hotel location wisely

Do not book your Greece package holidays directly on your first visit to the travel agency. Have your favorites sent to you by email from the travel agency or save them in your smartphone. At home, you can then check the hotel location at your leisure.

The perfect location of the hotel is very individual for every holidaymaker. A city dweller will love being surrounded by nightlife and loud music. A person seeking peace and quiet reaches his limits in a tourist resort on the first day of his holiday.

Certainly there are holidaymakers who will not be bothered by being a bit remote from the hustle and bustle. But if your hotel is actually totally isolated from the outside world and is almost in the middle of nowhere, then authenticity is missing a bit, especially in Greece.

Alternatively, you can of course always rent a car on vacation. So at least you stay mobile and can dine in traditional Greek taverns. Without a vehicle, there is also no possibility to quickly buy something in the supermarket if your hotel is too far away from a settlement. We like to book rental cars via Discover Cars*, here you can compare providers and check prices:

➲ Book your rental car here*

#5 Be fooled by hotel and beach pictures

When it comes to selling the perfect holiday backdrop, tour operators tend to exaggerate. Nowadays, photos are beautifully edited with Photoshop and disturbing details are simply retouched.

You should always ask yourself:

• Are the pictures still up-to-date?
• Are photos of all rooms shown?
• Have all rooms been renovated?
• Is the beach shown in front of the hotel?
• Is the hotel environment also visible?

To check this, you can check your hotel via Google Reviews and TripAdvisor. Here, holidaymakers can upload their own photos. The pictures are provided with a date. The photos of the guests reflect reality.

Sometimes the supposed dream accommodation quickly turns out to be an old shack. With portals such as Booking.com*, you will see how old the hotel listing is. This will give you a sense of the topicality of the hotel images.

When hotels include images of beaches and landmarks in their ad, they don’t have to be nearby. Usually, the hotel advertises beautiful places to increase its attractiveness.

A look at Google Maps reveals whether your hotel is really located on the aforementioned “dream beach”. Sometimes the grey pebble beach in front of the hotel is also superficially filled with light sand.

#6 Not inquiring about nationalities in the hotel

At 7 a.m. in the morning, the Germans reserve the first beach loungers with their towels, at the hotel buffet the Russians behave as if they were at a slaughterhouse, in the evening the British celebrate loudly at the hotel bar until the early hours of the morning.

Every people has its own peculiarities and depending on which nation the hotel has signed the most contracts with, the more holidaymakers from the respective country are in the hotel.

You can easily find out about this via review portals like Booking, where you can see the countries of origin of the reviewers. Travel agency employees can also provide information about the dominant nationalities in the hotel if necessary.

If you are massively bothered by some of the behaviors of your fellow citizens or other nationalities, consider choosing another hotel.

#7 Greece package holiday booked too late

You already spotted the first holiday bargains for next year before Christmas, but wanted to wait for a better offer? Unfortunately, you usually wait in vain.

The first good early bird offers are already available in November of the previous year, because the tour operators want to occupy the first hotel beds in order to get an outlook on the coming season and to rake in the first money from holidaymakers.

If you have a fixed travel date and a specific hotel in mind, you should book by February of the current year. Because after that, the early bird offers usually end. Especially during the summer holiday season, you can’t be early enough with your holiday booking. The best offers on Holidaycheck* and Co. are quickly gone:

➲ To the best early bird offers*

Last-minute, on the other hand, is only worthwhile if you are absolutely flexible in the travel period, destination and hotel. Hotels want to fully occupy their beds, especially in the low season, and then offer many an attractive bargain at short notice.

#8 Misconceptions about Greece

Hardly any other country in Europe is as emblematic of hospitality as Greece. No wonder, since there is only one word for “stranger” and “guest” (Xénos). However, the more you entrench yourself as a vacationer in the hotel complexes, the less you feel the typical Greek flair that makes Hellas so unique.

Artificial hotel settlements can hardly imitate authentic Greece. In addition, there are usually no external restaurants or cafés in the vicinity of isolated hotel complexes. You will also often look in vain for a supermarket.

So you are always dependent on the gastronomic facilities of the hotel and their quality. And often you don’t get typical Greek dishes in large hotel chains, but rather international cuisine.

Finally, you decide to rent a car and explore the island or region. And suddenly disillusionment spreads through you. Where are the white houses and the blue church domes?

Between modern concrete buildings and bed castles, you hardly see a difference between Greece, Spain or Italy. In the catalogue it all looked typically Greek, didn’t it?

The white sugar cube houses and the blue church domes can be found mainly on the archipelago of the Cyclades. These include the islands Santorini, Mykonos, Naxos or Paros. This is also where the typical catalogue pictures of travel agencies come from.

➲ To cheap Santorini tours (Check24)*

➲ To cheap Mykonos tours (Holidaycheck)*

The popular Greek islands Kos, Rhodes and Crete on the other hand, have been severely shaken by earthquakes in recent centuries. Today, many modern concrete buildings characterize the townscape. Nevertheless, there are also charming towns and villages here.

In the North Aegean and on the mainland, instead of blue and white architecture, you will find gray stone houses with red roofs. In the Ionian Islands such as Corfu or Zakynthos the architecture was strongly influenced by the Italians. Nevertheless, the Venetian-looking capital Kerkyra on Corfu is one of the top highlights in the Corfu Holidays.

#9 Online holiday offers not checked

The prices for a Greece package tour usually do not differ significantly online and in travel agencies. Some travel agencies specialize in certain tour operators and prefer to offer their offers.

On the net, on the other hand, you usually get a larger variety of offers and can choose from several options. In addition, you have the opportunity to observe availability and prices yourself over a longer period of time and also to compare them with each other. So there is almost always a cheap offer.

Many Germans who search online for offers for a package holiday book via the comparison platform Check24*. Here are numerous Greece package holidays listed with price and rating and you can choose the right hotel according to your preferences:

➲ To cheap package tours*

You can put the hotel reviews through their paces and then book directly via platforms such as HolidayCheck, Booking & Co.

#10 Booked too expensive Greece vacation

Of course, there is the possibility to spend a good and cheap holiday in Greece. But it depends on which Greek holiday destination you book. Especially the prices for hotels and restaurants on the islands differ considerably.

For example, you can spend a fortune on your vacation in Mykonos and Santorini. In the high season, hotel prices on Greece’s two most expensive islands break all records. A free room for less than 100 EUR is then a rarity.

If you spend your Greece vacation on one of the quiet neighboring islands of Mykonos (e.g. Amorgos or Tinos) and Santorini (e.g. Anafi or Sikinos), you can get a room for just over 50 EUR. White houses and blue sea included!

➲ To cheap hotels under 100 EUR (Booking.com)*

Restaurant prices in Greece’s popular holiday regions are also well above the national average. A Greek farmer’s salad costs over 10 EUR in tourist places. In the provinces, you pay about half the price.

Save money on your holiday in Greece

Many tour operators rely on large hotels in tourist locations. Most offers for a Greece package holiday can be found on the most popular islands such as Crete, Rhodes or Corfu.

There is a lot of money to be made here with tourism. Accordingly, the prices for accommodation and meals are rising, especially in the high season. The less tourism there is on the island or a region of the mainland, the cheaper it becomes, especially for the individual holidaymaker.

Here we have a small calculation example for two people and double rooms without meals for you:

• Tourist location: 10 days à 150 EUR = 1.500 EUR overnight stay
• Non-touristy place: 10 days à 75 EUR = 750 EUR overnight stay

Holidaymakers believe that they can get cheaper with a Greece package tour and all-inclusive. But cheap is relative! On the popular island of Santorini, the cost of living is generally very high. Here you get less for your money.

Will I get cheaper with all-inclusive?

Many holidaymakers wonder whether they can get cheaper with all-inclusive package holiday. This varies depending on the offer. But let’s do a calculation example and assume that an all-inclusive flat rate of 100 EUR per day is applied:

• All-inclusive: 100 EUR per day for 2 people for a 10-day holiday = 1,000 EUR
  • Total hotel costs: 1,000 EUR (all-inclusive) + 1,500 EUR (accommodation) = 2,500 EUR (without flight)

Even if self-sufficient people would spend 100 euros on food on a non-touristy island, they would still get 750 euros cheaper. After all, in over ten years of traveling to Greece we have never paid more than 50 EUR in a small tavern in the evening.

• 10 days holiday all-inclusive on popular Greek island: 2.500 EUR (without flight)
• 10 days self-catering holiday on a quiet Greek island: 1.750 EUR (without flight)

In some cases, the holiday offers for Greece with all-inclusive are twice as expensive as a holiday without all-inclusive. Here is the proof of the hotel Atrium Palace Thalasso Spa Resort & Villas (Booking.com)* on the island of Rhodes:

You can find beautiful destinations for an individual summer foliage in Greece here:

• Greece Individual
• Insider Tip Greece

Our tips for a cheap package tour

With a package tour, the more rigid you are in your travel dates, the more expensive your vacation usually becomes. Because all people ideally want to start their vacation from their nearest airport, at a convenient departure time at the weekend.

A cheap Greece package tour starts with the travel planning and the more flexible it is, the more likely you are to get a real bargain. Even with schoolchildren, a lot can be taken into account except for the period:

• any departure airport (the train ticket to flight is suitable for this)
• Very early or late departure time
• Flights to Greece during the week
• tourist low season outside the holiday season (mid-Sep. – mid-Jun.)
• Use of early bird offers
• Book travel components separately (e.g. cheap flight)
• Explore your holiday destination on your own (without guided tours)

Here you can get an overview of the destinations and regions in Greece: Greece Regions

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