This particular trip was a special one: we were celebrating my mom’s birthday! She’d never been out of the country before (besides Canada) and had always wanted to go to Greece, so of course we wanted to make the trip extra memorable. This called for a slightly higher trip budget than usual. Our week-long trip was split between Athens and Santorini. We arrived first thing on Saturday morning and headed back to the states the following Saturday.

I’d like to preface this with a few things to keep in mind:

• These costs were split between 3 people.
• We went during the fall, which is a shoulder season (late September – early October). This made things a bit cheaper than during the peak of summer tourism.
• I didn’t go into this trip planning to share costs afterward, so I didn’t keep track of my spending as well as I did for my trips to Italy and Germany. So just take all of my numbers with a grain of salt (aka give or take a couple $100).
• Like all things, prices have likely gone up somewhat since I took this trip.

Pre-Trip Estimate: $7,400 -vs- Actual Trip Cost: $7,895

Taking the exact same trip in 2026 would likely cost closer to $8,895.

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Flights

Unfortunately, it was cheaper not to fly out of Philadelphia. Jasper was nice enough to drive us so we wouldn’t have to pay for train tickets. We booked a direct roundtrip Delta flight from JFK to Athens. Thanks to points my flight was free, so I splurged and paid for the three of us to relax in the Delta Lounge and grab a few drinks before our flight. Between the lounge and the other two tickets costing a little more than our estimate, we went slightly over budget here. When going from Athens to Santorini and back, we opted to take a small SKY Express flight instead of the ferry.

2026 Estimate

Unsurprisingly, Delta isn’t exactly the cheapest option – they’re just my preferred airline. On Expedia I found flights for $1,590 round-trip with Norse Atlantic, less than half of the $3,462 it would cost with Delta. But I’ve never flown with them so I honestly can’t say if they’re good or bad. The Sky Express fare would be about $428. Technically it looks like fares went down a bit since we went in 2023, as my original “Actual Cost” only included two Delta tickets since mine was free with points!

Cost Estimate: $3,890

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Hotels

We opted to focus on location and nice rooms/amenities. We stayed at Ciel Living in the heart of Athens for 3 nights and Dream Island Hotel in Fira, Santorini, also for 3 nights. To avoid having to wake up early and deal with the train, we spent the last night of the trip at the Holiday Inn Athens Airport.

2026 Estimate

Unfortunately it looks like since we visited, Dream Island now has a mandatory 4-night minimum for around the time we stayed. For the sake of this estimate, I did the math for three nights.

Cost Estimate: $1,835

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Sites/Attractions/Excursions

The majority of the cost in this section came from the small group wine tour we booked. Most of what we did outside of eating/drinking and going to the Acropolis/Acropolis Museum, was free. We realized on day 1 that we could see some of the attractions pretty well from the street, so we didn’t pay to go inside. We also didn’t have time to go to Lycabettus Hill like I’d wanted to, so we saved money not having to pay for the funicular ride.

2026 Estimate

Prices have increased a bit more than I expected since our visit. This is especially true for the wine tour, which is now $700 for 3 people!

Cost Estimate: $870

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Booking an upcoming trip to Greece?
Check out these great things to do!

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Food & Drinks

For the most part meals in Greece aren’t super expensive: we spent less than $100 for dinner for 3 at most places. We did splurge on two really nice restaurants while we were in Athens though, which really skewed our numbers. One we went to for the rooftop views, and the other for a 6-course + wine pairing fine dining birthday dinner. These two meals alone took up about 65% of our food budget.

2026 Estimate

Food and drink prices are a bit trickier to estimate – mostly because menus and tastes change over the years. For simplicity’s sake, I figured the most reasonable estimate would come from inputting what I spent into an inflation calculator.

Cost Estimate: $1,425

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Miscellaneous Costs

We each brought about $250 in cash to use for things like souvenirs, snacks/coffees, and tips. Toward the end of the trip we were actually trying to figure out ways to use up our cash so we didn’t have to exchange as much when we got back home! If I did it again, I’d stick to bringing $150-200.

2026 Estimate

Like with my food and drink estimate, I just input my costs into an inflation calculator here as well!

Cost Estimate: $690

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Greece Trip Budget Saving Ideas

Even I know I went a little overboard with my budget for this trip. Here are a few ways you could cut back on some of the costs compared to what I spent:

• Besides picking a cheaper airline like I mentioned above, you could also choose a flight with a layover instead of direct as these are almost always the cheaper option. Just be careful you don’t miss your connecting flight like we did on our way to Italy, because that can prove costly.
• Want to try some Santorini wines, but on a budget? For a slightly cheaper version of the Santorini Wine Adventure tour we took, select the morning/daytime option instead of sunset. Going earlier in the day will save you a little over $100. The most budget-friendly option would be to pick one or two wineries to focus on and do a self-guided tour!
• For where they were located and what we got for the money, I feel like where we stayed was more than worth it. But you could definitely find places that are a bit cheaper, if you were willing to walk a little further to the main touristy centers and/or have less amenities.

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Have you spent any time in Greece? How long was your trip and what was your budget?
Let me know in the comments!