Greece travel guide : explore Athens, islands and ancient sites

What you need to know before visiting Greece

• Official name: Hellenic Republic (Ελληνική Δημοκρατία)
• Capital: Athens
• Population: About 10.4 million people
• Official language: Greek
• Currency: Euro (€)
• Area: 131,957 square kilometres

How Greek history shaped western civilization

Greece's historical narrative spans millennia, creating an unparalleled legacy that still shapes our world today:

Ancient Greece: from Mycenaean culture to classical Athens

Greek civilization emerged from the Mycenaean culture (1600-1100 BCE), immortalized in Homer's epics, before entering its most influential period during the Classical era (5th-4th centuries BCE). Athens under Pericles experienced a golden age, constructing the Parthenon—a temple measuring 69.5 metres by 30.9 metres with 46 outer columns, each standing 10.4 metres high—and developing the world's first democratic system. The polis (city-state) became the defining political unit, with Athens, Sparta, Corinth, and hundreds of others functioning as independent states across territories sometimes as small as 25 square kilometres.

Hellenistic Greece: Alexander's legacy and Roman rule

Following Alexander the Great's conquests, which created an empire spanning 5.2 million square kilometres, Greek culture spread throughout the Mediterranean and as far as India, ushering in the Hellenistic period. The subsequent Roman conquest in 146 BCE brought Greece into the Roman Empire, but Greek cultural and intellectual achievements remained so revered that educated Romans considered knowledge of Greek essential for the cultivated mind. The Apostle Paul's journey through Greece in the 1st century CE, including his famous sermon at the Areopagus rock formation 115 metres above Athens, helped spread Christianity throughout the region.

Byzantine and Ottoman Greece: medieval to early modern era

After Rome's fall, Greece became a crucial part of the Byzantine Empire for nearly 1,000 years, with Greek replacing Latin as the official language. The Orthodox Christian tradition developed during this period, establishing religious practices and architectural styles still evident today. Ottoman Turkish rule began with Constantinople's fall in 1453 and lasted nearly 400 years, during which Greek cultural identity was preserved primarily through the Orthodox Church and local village institutions.

Modern Greece: independence to contemporary nation

Greece's War of Independence erupted in 1821, leading to the establishment of the modern Greek state in 1830. The subsequent two centuries brought territorial expansion, constitutional monarchy, republic, civil war, military dictatorship, and finally, a stable parliamentary democracy. Greece joined NATO in 1952 and the European Union in 1981. The 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, with venues spread across 36 sites and a budget of €8.95 billion, represented a moment of national pride. Though severely impacted by economic crisis from 2009-2018, when unemployment reached 27.5%, Greece has since worked to rebuild its economy while maintaining its unique cultural identity and global significance.

Greek culture: language, food and traditions

The Language of Homer and Plato

Greek holds the distinction of being the oldest recorded living language in the Indo-European family, with 3,400 years of written documentation. The language that gave the world concepts like "democracy," "philosophy," and "mathematics" remains remarkably consistent over millennia—modern Greeks can read ancient texts with less difficulty than English speakers face with Chaucer. The Greek alphabet's 24 letters have influenced numerous writing systems and continue to appear in scientific notation. Today's Greek language, spoken by approximately 13 million people worldwide, features regional dialects and expressions that reflect the country's varied geography, from the distinctive Cretan dialect to the northern variants influenced by Slavic languages.

Greek arts: architecture, philosophy and cultural legacy

Greek cultural contributions remain fundamental to Western civilization. Philosophy pioneers like Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle established frameworks of thought still taught in universities worldwide. The theatrical traditions born in the 6th century BCE—with amphitheaters designed to seat up to 15,000 spectators with perfect acoustics—established dramatic conventions that continue to influence storytelling. Greek architectural innovations, particularly the three classical orders (Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian), have been replicated in important buildings across the globe for more than two millennia. Contemporary Greek arts maintain this tradition of excellence, from the poetry of Nobel laureate George Seferis to the films of directors like Yorgos Lanthimos.

Greek cuisine: what to eat and drink during your visit

Greek cuisine celebrates simplicity, fresh ingredients, and regional variations:

• Olive oil (Greece produces approximately 300,000 tonnes annually, with consumption averaging 24 litres per person—the world's highest)
• Feta cheese (protected designation of origin product, aged in 20-kilogram wooden barrels for at least 2 months)
• Moussaka (layered eggplant and meat dish with variations found across 500 kilometres of mainland Greece)
• Souvlaki (grilled meat skewers dating back 4,000 years, with approximately 130 million servings consumed annually in Athens alone)
• Baklava (phyllo pastry dessert containing 33 layers of dough, each just 1 millimetre thick, drenched in honey syrup)

The Mediterranean diet, of which Greek cuisine is exemplary, has been recognized by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage and linked to longevity on islands like Ikaria, where residents are three times more likely to reach 90 years of age than Americans. Greek viniculture boasts a 4,000-year history with over 300 indigenous grape varieties cultivated across 110,000 hectares, including distinctive wines like Assyrtiko from Santorini's volcanic soil and resin-infused Retsina that continues centuries-old preservation techniques.

Greek lifestyle: hospitality, traditions and local customs

Greek life centers around values of filoxenia (hospitality), filotimo (honor and duty), and the importance of family. The daily rhythm often includes the afternoon break of mesimeri, when businesses in smaller towns close for 2-3 hours. Social life revolves around the village or neighborhood plateia (square), typically measuring 400-600 square metres, where generations gather at cafés and tavernas. Orthodox Christianity remains integral to Greek identity, with 98% of Greeks identifying with the faith and nearly 10,000 churches and 850 monasteries throughout the country, many built between the 10th and 15th centuries. Annual religious festivals, like Easter celebrations when millions of candles illuminate midnight services and entire lambs are roasted on 2-metre spits for family feasts, strengthen community bonds while preserving traditions dating back centuries.

Where to go in Greece: top cities and attractions

Athens: exploring the ancient and modern capital

Greece's capital harmoniously blends classical glories with urban vibrancy:

• Acropolis: The sacred hill rising 156 metres above sea level, crowned by the Parthenon temple completed in 438 BCE using 22,000 tonnes of marble.
• Acropolis Museum: A 14,000-square-metre modern marvel displaying 4,000+ artifacts beneath a transparent floor revealing archaeological excavations.
• Plaka: The city's oldest continuously inhabited neighborhood, covering 1.5 square kilometres of narrow pedestrian streets.
• Panathenaic Stadium: The world's only major stadium built entirely of marble (50,000 tonnes), reconstructed for the first modern Olympics in 1896.
• Mount Lycabettus: At 277 metres, the highest point in Athens, offering 360-degree views across the 412-square-kilometre city.

Santorini: experiencing the iconic volcanic island

This crescent-shaped island emerged from one of history's largest volcanic eruptions around 1600 BCE, which ejected an estimated 60 cubic kilometres of material. Today, its 76-square-kilometre area features the iconic white-washed buildings of Oia and Fira perched on 300-metre cliffs above a flooded caldera. The island's unique viticulture involves training 100+ year-old grape vines into protective basket shapes (kouloura) to shield against winds that can reach 120 km/h and maximize moisture capture in a climate receiving just 371 millimetres of annual rainfall.

Delphi: visiting the ancient sanctuary and oracle

Once considered the center of the world, Delphi's ancient sanctuary stretches across the slopes of Mount Parnassus, 570 metres above sea level. The Temple of Apollo, dating from the 4th century BCE, housed the Oracle whose prophecies influenced decisions throughout the Mediterranean for nearly 1,000 years. The site's remarkably preserved 5,000-seat theater and 177-metre-long stadium showcase the advanced engineering of ancient Greece in a setting of breathtaking natural beauty.

Meteora: discovering monasteries perched on rock pillars

In central Greece, massive rock pillars rising 400 metres from the plain support monasteries constructed between the 14th and 16th centuries. Originally accessible only by removable ladders and rope baskets, these spiritual retreats required building materials to be hauled up by hand using 100-metre ropes. Today, six active monasteries continue centuries-old traditions, with the largest, Great Meteoron, covering 1,500 square metres atop a 615-metre peak.

Crete: Greece's largest island of myths and beaches

Greece's largest island (8,336 square kilometres) holds evidence of Europe's earliest advanced civilization—the Minoans, who constructed the labyrinthine Palace of Knossos covering 20,000 square metres around 1700 BCE. Modern Crete offers 1,046 kilometres of coastline with beaches like Elafonisi, where pink-tinted sand derives its color from crushed coral, alongside dramatic gorges including Samaria, whose walls narrow to just 4 metres wide and tower 600 metres overhead along its 16-kilometre length.

Best natural destinations in Greece: islands to mountains

• Greek Islands: An archipelago of approximately 6,000 islands and islets, of which 227 are inhabited, spanning 7,500 square kilometres across the Aegean and Ionian Seas.
• Mount Olympus: Greece's highest peak at 2,918 metres, home to the ancient gods and now a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve covering 238 square kilometres.
• Vikos Gorge: Listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the world's deepest canyon in proportion to its width—490 metres deep with a width ranging from 400 metres to just 1.1 kilometres.
• Navagio Beach: A perfect arc of white limestone pebbles accessible only by boat, enclosed by 80-metre cliffs and featuring a shipwreck from a 1980 smuggling operation.
• Prespa Lakes: Transboundary lakes spanning 270 square kilometres across Greece, Albania, and North Macedonia, hosting the largest pelican colony in Europe with 1,000+ pairs.

Interesting facts about Greece you might not know

No point in Greece is more than 137 kilometres from the sea, and 80% of the country consists of mountains or hills with the average elevation being 585 metres.

Greece has more archaeological museums (196) than any other country, housing over 3 million artifacts with many more millions in storage.

The Greek merchant fleet is the world's largest, controlling 17.3% of global shipping capacity with 4,705 vessels totaling 350 million deadweight tonnes.

The national anthem, adopted in 1865, consists of 158 verses (though typically only the first two are sung) and is the longest in the world.

Greece has over 250 days of sunshine annually, with some islands like Rhodes receiving an average of 3,000 hours of sunlight per year.

Greek contributions to global culture and thought

• Democracy (first developed in Athens around 508 BCE with an assembly of 6,000 citizens)
• Olympic Games (originated in 776 BCE in Olympia, with a stadium that could seat 45,000 spectators)
• Geometry (formalized by Euclid around 300 BCE in his work "Elements," containing 465 propositions)
• Theater (both tragedy and comedy, with ancient theaters like Epidaurus still in use after 2,300 years)
• Hippocratic Oath (establishing ethical standards for physicians since approximately 400 BCE)