We love Greece. It’s hard to beat for history, beauty and beaches.
Here’s our pros and cons for this epic gap year destination:
Pros:
History. Greece has 18 UNESCO heritage sites: including the Acropolis, the Old City of Rhodes and Epidaurus. Plus it’s significant collection of archaeological sites include must visit hill top monasteries, fortified towns and Minoan sites like the mighty Knossos.
Island hopping. Home to the largest selection of beautiful islands in the world. There are approximately 6000 islands and 83 sizeable ones. Even if you cut down the selection further to the most visited islands, you will have 20 or so to choose from. They range from the large and wonderful Crete to small instagram stars like Santorini.
Beaches. Greece has an extensive, often breathtaking, coastline and a huge choice of perfect beaches. The water is crystal clear in most place and there’s a great choice of water sports.
Greece has a low cost of living and excellent fresh food.
Greece may be a tourist magnet, but given its size, it’s easy to escape the crowds.
There’s a good ferry infrastructure for island hopping.
Cons:
Athens has high pollution levels in the Summer.
Some islands (especially Lesvos, Chios and Samos) have an increasingly large migrant population and local tensions and violent events can arise.
Some islands are home to infamous party towns (Kavos, Kos Town, Malia, Faliraki). If booze cruises and pub crawls aren’t your thing, avoid. There have been cases of sexual assault by other tourists, not the Greeks, in several party towns.
The Greek police are tough on excessive drinking.
Healthcare is good on the mainland, but may be limited on smaller islands.
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