MYT Travel Discussion - Why visiting Greece now may be the best time ever

MYT Travel Discussion - Why visiting Greece now may be the best time ever

images of GREECE from: https://pixabay.com/en/sea-bay-waterfront-beach-nice-418742/

After stumbling upon some articles recently - we can't stop chatting about why we keep considering a visit to Greece.  After seeing an article titled 'Want to help Greece? Go there on a holiday' by the Guardian we decided to revisit our decision to avoid Greece due to their financial crisis.  Now may in fact be the perfect time to plan a visit to Greece - there has been no violence to report from the crisis according to the Guardian article "...it has always confined itself in a very small and easily avoidable area, in the very centre of Athens. If you are feeling even a little nervous about it, plenty of airlines fly directly to dozens of resorts and stunning, out-of-the-way destinations."  Sounds rather perfect to me including the portion about flying direct into one of the resorts - tourism makes up a nice chunk of Greece's economy keep in mind that during financial crisis there may be some extra preparation needed before entering Greece and enjoying those '19 amazing' endless beaches.  When you hear financial crisis the first thing to look into and research would be how are you going to pay for your trip and what kind of money is currently being issued and floating around in Greece. 

images of greece: https://pixabay.com/en/orthodox-greece-church-religion-165084/

I found some really insightful information from greeklandscapes.com on the current state of things in Greece as far as money goes, ATMs, credit card and more - here's a screenshot from their article SUMMER 2015 UPDATE - full article here

screen shot from greeklandscape article link above

After reading this screen shot it seems to difficult to sustain a long visit to Greece - you would basically have to be ready with plenty of euros before entering the country.  They say not to rely on credit/debit cards which may be tough for some world travelers especially when many of us use our travel cards to earn points on the road.  It's alarming to read that shortages may exist for some of the above goods - for Emily and myself we will only continue to monitor the situation in Greece before booking any of our own travel plans.  Here's a second screen shot I took listing why people should continue with their plans to visit this beautiful country: full article here

image screenshot taken from http://greeklandscapes.com/travel/travel-during-crisis.html

My advice as to why it may be the time to visit is that Greece is typically a very expensive location to visit.  Making it out of reach for some, here's what I might do if I were booking travel to Greece:

1. Book a nice resort for a week around 5-7 days MAX
2. Pack your bag with extra euros to account for any financial difficulties you might run into (safely pack extra cash, be weary of a place with financial trouble)
3. Book travel accommodations into your resort and/or airport shuttles that will take you right onto resort property
4. Avoid areas that are known to be 'incident' areas
5. Stay closer to resort properties as a safety precaution and only adventure to places deemed safe by those who know the area best
6. Always plan your travel OUT of an area with financial struggle, the last thing you want is to be stuck in a place and unable to reach any of your own finances

There's much emphasis on 'maybe' the best time to visit Greece, I also have confidence that things will continue to be peaceful in their nation as they settle out their debt problems.  Will visiting Greece take some extra preparation, planning and careful research - 100% if your going to try and make the trip happen it will probably take some extra work.  If you'd rather not put the extra work and/or deal with any issues then wait until things settle down as Greece's beautiful landscapes and beaches will always be there.  I'm still very much on the fence if it's the perfect time to visit Greece because accommodations and bookings may be cheap but inability to access funds and pay for your travel fun could pose some difficulties and bring a vacation down quick.  I would say traveling to Greece at this exact second is for the adventurous - if your looking for a more mellow visit then wait until much of the media blows over from their recent spotlight with financial crisis.  Do your research and make sure the timing is 'right' for you to enjoy Greece to the fullest.  

Have you visit Greece lately? TELL US ALL ABOUT YOUR RECENT TRIP - we would love some more information and background in our - comments section below.  Thanks for reading~MYT