How to SAFELY travel to Greece in 2024 and beyond

Good morning, lovely dreamers and welcome to another travel blog post here on the DoB blog! It feels like a lifetime ago since we shared our last travel experiences. And frankly, with the world being what it is lately, I didn’t think we would do this in 2021. Maaaaaaybe 2022…

If you follow us on Instagram, you might know that we moved back to Transylvania (that’s in Romania btw) from Scotland in October 2019, and that was actually our last long trip… that I now realize that we’ve never actually documented on the blog. Well, I’ll try to remedy that, if you want to read about it.

Anyway, let’s get back to today’s business.

Because we live in Transylvania, and because our family wanted to experience Greece as well, we planned this trip together.

We figured: 2 cars, 6 people, 1 large apartment close to the beach. 3 generations under 1 roof for a week. We can handle that. Right? So that’s exactly what we did.

My mom found this beautiful apartment super close to the Dionysiou beach (at a very reasonable price btw), so we booked it, and on our way we were.

But if you’ve travelled anywhere before, then you know that from the moment you make a booking to the moment you actually enter that place for your stay is a true adventure.

And our full experience truly was one for the books.

From making lists over lists, getting a mountain of paperwork in place just so we could enter Greece, to finding our car without number plates in Thessaloniki, to getting lost on an olive farm on our way to visiting an archaeology site because of Google Maps, to almost not getting back home because of Macedonian border police (not what you may think!)… it was something, alright. We’ll talk about all of it, and more today.

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But enough with the chit-chatting! Let’s get to it!

What you need to know about Greece travel in 2021

Before you travel to Greece, you should:

1. Make lists – things to do before & in Greece, what to see, pack & take home from Greece
2. Check the Covid-19 situation in Greece & the area you’re travelling to – use only official sources for this to avoid any issues
3. Prepare your documents – passports, car insurance, covid vaccination documents
4. GET VACCINATED – we encourage that you do this even if you’ve recovered from Covid-19, you’ll need that certificate everywhere you go
5. Don’t overpack
6. Rest

While you travel:

Depending on how you plan to get there (plane or car) you’ll need to make sure that you obey the rules that are in place at the moment of your travel.

Masks, disinfectants and social distancing really go a long way when it comes to travelling safely in 2021 and beyond.  And if you plan on driving there, don’t overcrowd your car with bags. It will just make it harder for you to enjoy the trip. Who the hell wants to carry a lot of bags up and down the stairs anyway?? I know I don’t.

If you’re planning to drive there, especially through Serbia and Macedonia as we did, be prepared for:

• Motorway tolls: you can either pay in cash or card
• Long waits at the borders, especially on your way out
• Checks at the borders:

Make sure to have all your passports, car documents, car insurance (valid in Serbia and especially Macedonia) and Covid vaccination certificates.

Also, have them all printed, because even though it’s almost 2022, Macedonian border police will say they’re not in a valid format if you have the insurance or the certificates on your phone. True story. And the reason why we almost didn’t make it to and from Greece.

When you’re there:

Yes, you’re on vacay, living life and enjoying the sand beneath your feet and the sunshine on your skin, BUT please please please, don’t forget about the important stuff:

• Suncream & after sun skincare

Especially if you’ve been on lockdown for what seemed like 1000 years, and/or you tend to turn from feta cheese to cooked lobster after a day in the sun.

Protecting your and your loved one’s skin is easy, as long as you have a good suncream with SPF 50 in your bag.

After extensive research and experimenting with a few, we found that Hawaiian Tropic Sunscreen Lotion SPF 50 and Hawaiian Tropic After Sun gel are your best choices for protecting and caring for all skin types, as they absorb fast and don’t leave the skin oily, or white.

• Safety on the beach and public spaces

Even if you go at the end of the season as we did, there are still plenty of people around, and it’s important to protect everyone, not just yourself.

Place your beach mat at a safe distance from others, while swimming keep your distance as well, and if you go visiting museums or attractions as we did, don’t forget to also wear a mask properly and respect the safety guidelines.

• Other miscellaneous safety measures

Hand sanitiser is your BFF, paying with a card whenever possible, not touching stuff like a crazy person and washing your hands often are just a few of the things you can do to make sure you get home safe and Covid free after your vacay.

What to do and see in Halkidiki, Greece in 2021

1. Swimming and snorkelling

Because we went with my entire family, not just us, we rented this lovely apartment in Paralia Dionysiou, which is literally 100 m from the beach, to accommodate us all.

From there, we went swimming and snorkelling. Andy and my uncle bought scuba masks, fins and water shoes so that they can explore the Aegean Sea.  

Unfortunately for me, I wasn’t able to fulfil my dreams of becoming a mermaid because there were no monofins to buy anywhere near where we were staying, but I could still enjoy swimming underwater safely with my new nose clips.

Yes, they look ridiculous, but for next time’s seaside adventures I’ll definitely upgrade to more subtle nose clips. And a mermaid tail. And will definitely go to mermaid classes.

Besides the beach at Paralia Dionysiou, there are tons of other stunning beaches with beautiful waters in the Halkidiki region alone in Greece, like Sani beach, Nea Fokea beach, Nea Moudania beach, Fava beach and many many more (over 60 apparently, wow!).

So there’s plenty of waters out there to explore, ya pirates!

2. Get a taste of Greek food

From gyros, Greek salad, baklava, halva, moussaka, saganaki, souvlaki, spanakopita, souzoukaklia, to anything seafood, like octopus, and grilled fish, there are tons of delicious things to try, and yes, they are everywhere you go in Greece. You just need to look.

Our favourite places to eat from while in Paralia Dionysiou are Fagadiko Spyros, Mira Mar (perfect place for drinks on the beach during the day), Ladokolla, Despotis – in Nea Moudania, and we also found some small pastry shops on the streets of Thessaloniki and Nea Moudania that were simply AMAZING.

3. Visit attractions

If you know anything about Andy and me, then you know we love to explore the history of other cultures as well as the present, so that means visiting museums, archaeology sites and other bits of the past.

While in Thessaloniki (the 2nd largest city in Greece), we visited the White Tower, the Archaeological Museum, the Museum of Byzantine Culture and the Rotunda. For a small fee of 15 euros/adult, you can visit all four of them with an all-in-one ticket.

Important TIP! Please be aware of where you’re parking your car in the big cities of Greece, because you will end up with a spicy ticket if you park on the streets, and if you have foreign number plates you’ll find your car without them… and have the shock of a lifetime. True story.

Just so you know, after you pay the fee and give a statement you will get your number plates back, but finding someone who speaks English well enough to help you will be tough, and Greek sure is a hard language, so please, just find a parking place and leave your car there while you visit.

Thankfully, the police are nice people and they do help you get your number plates back quite fast. Just, don’t do what we did, and instead, enjoy a lovely dinner at a restaurant for what you would pay.

Another interesting find is the Archaeological Site Olynthos, which is an ancient city discovered in the 1930s. It’s such a beautiful place to visit in person, but if you do, make sure to get there before 2 PM, so you can enjoy the walk up to it and everything it has to offer without having to rush through it, as the place closes at 3:30 PM.

Another little gem is Saint Paul’s Byzantine Tower, which even though you can’t visit on the inside, will give you one of the most beautiful seaside views ever. Plus a gorgeous beach for you to enjoy the sunshine.

As much as we wanted to visit everything this area has to offer and more, a week is just not enough time to do it all, plus we needed to relax as well, so we’ll definitely be back in Greece for more in the years to come.

But with a few changes for sure, like:

• Fly there and rent a car for longer stays
• Have weekend city breaks in Athens and other places not in swimming season
• Enjoy more of the beautiful beaches
• Bring some friends along for the fun
• Definitely take more photos
• Rest more – because I almost had a seizure after the long trip and I’m still recovering now.

Aaaaaand that’s all for today, lovely dreamers! We hope you enjoyed our ramble about how to safely travel to Greece in 2021, and if you did, make sure to share it, pin it, tweet it! We will surely appreciate it!

QOTD: What’s your favourite spot in Greece?