Cost of Living in Northern Greece

After a month in Athens, we were ready for a new adventure when September rolled around. We rented a car and headed off for a month of hiking and exploration in northern Greece. This is an area of Greece that we really hadn’t heard much about before. It’s a little off the beaten path for most international tourists. Most tourists tend to head to the islands first but there’s so much to enjoy in Northern Greece.

We explored three different areas of Northern Greece — including Meteora, Zagori and Ioannina — and logged everything we spent along the way on accommodations, dining out, entertainment and lots more. 

Our itinerary

Normally we like to stay for a full month in each city but there was a lot we wanted to explore in northern Greece. We started with a four-hour drive from Athens to our first destination of Meteora. This is an area of Greece known for its unusual rock formations and monasteries that are dramatically perched on top. We stayed there for a couple days of hiking and then headed off to Zagori. 

This is an area famous for the Vikos Gorge and 46 historic stone villages that are tucked throughout the Pindus Mountains. We were there for four days before heading off to the city of Ioannina where we spent the rest of the month.  

Ioannina is a small city on a lake that has a lively cafe culture and lots of shopping. We wanted to stay in a small city because we had a great experience in Fethiye on the coast of Turkey, which is another small centre with great access to mountains and hiking.

Accommodations

For our costs, we always start with the biggest ticket item: our accommodations.

In Meteora, we stayed in a stylish AirBnB apartment with a full kitchen, nice bedroom and a great location near the rock formations. Because it was a short stay in a popular tourist destination, we paid a premium price of $63 USD per night. 

In Zagori, we stayed in a cozy little guest house in a charming stone village up in the mountains. Again, because it was a short stay, we paid a bit more than usual at $49 per night. 

In Ioannina, we had a centrally located apartment with all the amenities that we look for: modern, fully-equipped kitchen, comfortable living room and separate bedroom. If you saw our Athens cost of living video, you’ll notice that we stayed in a much more spacious apartment there. We’ve found that when staying in smaller centres like Ioannina, there is often much less AirBnB inventory to choose from. In this case, we were happy with our little apartment in Ioannina and the price that we got, which was $30 per night.

Local transportation

Meteora, Zagori and Ioaninna were all beautiful, remote places to visit but, of course, we needed to spend on transportation to get there. And this month we spent more on local transportation than we ever have before.

For the first time in our travels, we rented a car for the full month. This was essential to give us the freedom to go wherever we wanted, including some more remote areas. We did look at alternative forms of transportation. However, the train doesn’t run everywhere; buses are difficult when traveling long distances with two dogs; and the cost of flying would have been more than the car rental. 

After doing some very detailed searching, we got a great deal for a car rental at $486 for the month. Our total spend on transportation including gas, parking and road tolls came out at $635.

Entertainment

Once we paid for our transportation to get there, our entertainment was almost totally free. In Meteora, the best way to take in the beautiful views of the monasteries was on foot so we spent the day hiking and visiting a few along the way. And of course we got to enjoy the famous view from sunset rock.

In Zagori, we spent our days hiking across the historic stone bridges to the little villages dotting the Pindus mountains. We also had an incredible hike through the vikos gorge, which is one of the longest and deepest in the world. 

In Ioannina, we came back to civilization to enjoy a very lively little city. Most of the downtown is for pedestrians only so we had lots opportunities to take in the cafe culture with afternoons sipping freddo cappuccinos. We also explored Perama cave, which is the largest cave system in Greece; took in the historic centre; had lots of beautiful walks along the lake; and had a dip at a local beach at the Ioanian sea.  

Most of these experiences were free or very inexpensive so our total spend was just $37. This covered the cave tour and monastery fees plus our usual entertainment subscriptions. 

Dining out & Takeaway 

We continued to have our fill of all the Greek classics, including the bougatsa pastry that Ioaninna is famous for. We also had moussaka, grilled lamb and some of the best souvlaki we’ve tried so far. In total we spent $326 on dining out and takeaway. 

Groceries

Of course, we still ate most of our meals at home, which was easy to do because the local produce was so amazing. Also the weather is still quite hot in September and we were eating a lot of salads and other simple dishes. Our total spend on groceries was $483. 

Fitness

We’re still staying away from gyms given COVID so we continued with our at-home fitness program that cost $18. And we had lots of hiking and long runs by the lake to round out our fitness. 

Data 

We used $8 worth of data on our global plan with Flexiroam. We’ve found that we don’t need too much data because we rely on the wifi in our AirBnB and download Google maps and translate so that we can easily navigate the city. 

Insurance 

We have an international medical insurance plan with Cigna Global. We pay annually in order to save 10% but have assigned a value of $140 on a monthly basis.

How do our expenses and experiences in northern Greece compare with Athens. In Athens we spent $2,499 and for that we got a very spacious, stylish apartment. We went to some pricier tourist attractions; took public transit and cabs to get around; and ate meals out every couple of days, sometimes at finer restaurants. 

Here in northern Greece, we spent just over $2,600 ($2617) and for that we stayed in three different airbnbs, all cute places but relatively modest. We had the freedom of our own wheels for a month and our entertainment was often free or very inexpensive. The total spend was roughly the same but the two months were made up of a very different set of experiences. 

All amounts in USD

Item	Budget
Accommodations: Three different AirBnBs in northern Greece, including short stays in Meteora and Zagori and a longer stay in Ioannina.	$1,016
Local Transportation: Renting an automatic car for a month plus gas, parking and road tolls, which add up very surprisingly fast when crossing the length of Greece.	$635
Entertainment: Visits to Perama cave and a couple monasteries in Meteora plus our usual monthly entertainment subscriptions.	$37
Dining Out & Takeaway: We had a restaurant meal or takeaway every couple of days.	$326
Groceries: Simple summertime recipes with lots of protein and salads for both lunches and dinners.	$465
Fitness: At-home workouts with an online program	$18
Data: Small amount of data from global plan.	$8
Insurance: An essential for travel. Our new plan with Cigna provides comprehensive medical coverage.	$140
Total	$2,645

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