How Much Does a Trip to Greece Cost from Australia? (2026 Budget Guide in AUD)
Updated June 2026
Ask the internet what a trip to Greece costs and you get a daily budget in euros, written by someone who flew in from London for ninety quid. Useful if you live in London. You don't. You live in Australia, where the single biggest line on the whole trip is the one those guides skip: getting there.
So here's the version nobody writes for us. Real numbers, in Australian dollars, for a Greek holiday that starts at a Qantas check-in desk and ends with you working out if you can afford one more island. Prices move, so treat these as honest ballparks rather than quotes, but they're built on mid-2026 figures and they'll keep you from nasty surprises.
The fast answer
For two weeks in Greece, flights included, budget roughly:
Shoestring — Per person, 2 weeks AUD $3,500 to $4,500; What it buys Hostels and budget rooms, cheap eats, careful island choices, shoulder-season flights
Mid-range — Per person, 2 weeks AUD $5,500 to $7,000; What it buys Nice three-star and small hotels, a mix of tavernas and a few special meals, ferries without flinching
Comfortable — Per person, 2 weeks AUD $9,000 and up; What it buys Four and five-star stays, caldera views, private transfers, the occasional internal flight
The spread is wide because two things swing it hard: when you fly, and which islands you pick. Get both right and a Greek fortnight is more affordable than most Australians assume. Get them wrong and you can double the bill without trying.
First, the exchange rate reality
In mid-2026 the Australian dollar sits at roughly €0.61, so one euro costs you about AUD $1.64. Every euro price you see on a Greek menu or hotel site, multiply by about 1.65 to get the real damage. A €15 lunch is around $25. A €200 hotel night is about $330. Keep that running in your head and you avoid the holiday-brain trap of treating euros like play money.
Cards are widely accepted in cities and tourist areas, but cash still rules in villages, small tavernas, and on the smaller islands. Bring a travel card with a fair exchange rate and carry some euros for the places that wave away plastic. Check the live rate before you go on the Reserve Bank of Australia page rather than trusting the airport bureau de change, which gives you a rate that quietly robs you.
Cost 1: Flights, the one that hurts
There are no direct flights from Australia to Greece, so every trip routes through a hub like Dubai, Doha, Abu Dhabi, or Singapore, and runs around 24 hours door to door. The fare is your biggest single cost and the one with the most movement in it.
In 2026, return economy fares from Sydney or Melbourne to Athens land roughly like this:
Shoulder (May, June, Sept, Oct) — Return economy (per person) AUD $1,900 to $2,600
Peak summer (July to August) — Return economy (per person) AUD $2,800 to $5,200+
Off-season (Nov to March) — Return economy (per person) AUD $1,700 to $2,300
Two lessons fall out of that table. First, peak summer can cost you double what the shoulder does for a worse experience, which is the whole argument of our guide to the best time to visit Greece. Second, Australian school holidays in late June and July collide with the European peak, so families pay the very top of the range. If you can travel outside the school holidays, the savings are enormous.
Book three to six months ahead for the best fares, watch for sales from the Middle Eastern and Asian carriers, and weigh up a longer stopover. A night in Singapore or Dubai on the way over breaks the journey and sometimes costs less than the straight-through fare. Our full guide to travelling to Greece from Australia walks through the routes and stopover tricks.
Cost 2: Accommodation, and the island premium
Where you sleep is your second-biggest cost, and it swings wildly by island. This is the lever most Australians don't realise they're pulling.
Budget — Per night (mainland / value islands) €40 to €70 ($65 to $115); Per night (Santorini / Mykonos, peak) €120 to €200 ($200 to $330)
Mid-range — Per night (mainland / value islands) €90 to €150 ($150 to $250); Per night (Santorini / Mykonos, peak) €250 to €450 ($410 to $740)
Top end — Per night (mainland / value islands) €200+ ($330+); Per night (Santorini / Mykonos, peak) €600 to €1,200+ ($990 to $2,000+)
Santorini and Mykonos run 40 to 60 percent more than the same quality on Naxos, Paros, Sifnos, or the mainland. That's the single most expensive decision in your whole trip, and it's why we keep gently steering people away from the obvious two. Our guide to the Greek islands beyond the obvious and our honest letter on Santorini and Mykonos both make the case: swap one caldera hotel for three nights on Naxos and you've funded a week of meals.
Cost 3: Ferries and getting around
Island hopping is half the romance of Greece and a real cost line. A ferry from Piraeus (the port near Athens) out to the Cyclades runs roughly €40 to €90 ($65 to $150) one way, depending on if you take the slower conventional ferry or a high-speed catamaran. Shorter hops between neighbouring islands are cheaper, often €15 to €40.
In peak season the popular routes sell out days ahead, so book once your dates are set rather than gambling at the port. On the mainland, intercity buses (KTEL) are cheap and reliable, and a hire car is worth it on bigger islands like Crete or Naxos at around €35 to €60 a day. Athens has a metro that gets you in from the airport for a few euros, which beats a taxi every time.
Cost 4: Food and drink
Greece is one of the great-value food countries of Europe, and this is where the daily spend eases up. A gyros off the street is €4 to €6 ($7 to $10). A long taverna lunch with wine for two comes in around €40 to €60 ($65 to $100). A frappe or a Greek coffee while you watch the harbour is a couple of euros and several hours of your life well spent.
Per person, plan on roughly:
Cheap and cheerful (street food, bakeries, picnics) — Per day, per person €20 to €30 ($33 to $50)
Tavernas and casual sit-down — Per day, per person €40 to €60 ($65 to $100)
Smart restaurants and island hotspots — Per day, per person €80+ ($130+)
The mainland and quieter islands eat far cheaper than the Santorini caldera, where a sunset table carries a view tax. If food is your reason for going, our guides to eating in Thessaloniki and to Michelin-starred Greece show both ends of the spectrum.
Cost 5: Sights, tours, and entry fees
Greece's headline sights are cheap by Australian standards. The Acropolis is around €20 in peak season, and a combined ticket covering several Athens sites is roughly €30. Most archaeological sites and museums run €6 to €15. A day boat trip or a guided tour is where it adds up, typically €40 to €120 depending on what's included. Our guide to visiting the Acropolis covers tickets and timing so you don't queue in the heat or pay for a skip-the-line you didn't need.
A sensible activities budget is €20 to €40 a day per person if you like a mix of sights and the odd tour, less if you're mostly there for beaches and long lunches.
Cost 6: The sneaky extras
A few costs catch first-timers, so bake them in now.
Greece charges a nightly accommodation levy, the Climate Crisis Resilience Fee, which is higher from April to October and lower from November to March. It ranges from about €0.50 a night at the budget end up to €15 a night for five-star hotels and larger rentals in peak season, and you pay it in cash at the property, not through your booking site. Over two weeks that's anywhere from a few euros to a couple of hundred.
Tipping is modest and not compulsory: rounding up or leaving 5 to 10 percent at a taverna is plenty. Travel insurance is non-negotiable on a trip this long and this far from home, so factor $150 to $400 depending on cover and age. And an eSIM for data beats roaming charges, usually $15 to $30 for a couple of weeks. For official safety and entry information before you go, check Smartraveller.
Three sample budgets, two weeks, per person
Here's how it all stacks up for a fortnight, flights included, travelling in shoulder season.
Return flights — Shoestring $2,000; Mid-range $2,300; Comfortable $3,200
Accommodation (share of room, 13 nights) — Shoestring $600; Mid-range $1,500; Comfortable $3,500
Food and drink — Shoestring $550; Mid-range $1,100; Comfortable $1,900
Ferries and transport — Shoestring $250; Mid-range $400; Comfortable $700
Sights and tours — Shoestring $250; Mid-range $450; Comfortable $800
Fees, insurance, eSIM, extras — Shoestring $350; Mid-range $450; Comfortable $600
Rough total — Shoestring $4,000; Mid-range $6,200; Comfortable $10,700
Accommodation assumes two people sharing a room, which is how most couples and friends travel. Solo travellers should add a single supplement on rooms. Families can read the kids as cheaper on food and flights but pricier on rooms, since you'll need space
How to bring the cost down (the Australian version)
The big savings for us aren't the ones the European blogs talk about. They're these.
Travel in shoulder season and dodge the school holidays. This is the single biggest lever, cutting both your flights and your rooms while handing you better weather. Pick value islands over the famous two, and let Naxos, Paros, Sifnos, or Crete do the work Santorini charges a premium for. Fly with a stopover and consider building a night into it, which can come in cheaper than the straight-through fare and softens the jet lag. Eat where the Greeks eat, one street back from the waterfront, where the same food costs half. And go longer rather than shorter: once you've paid two grand to get there, an extra week of cheap on-the-ground living is the best-value part of the whole trip.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a two-week trip to Greece cost from Australia?
Roughly AUD $4,000 per person on a shoestring, $5,500 to $7,000 mid-range, and $9,000 or more for a comfortable trip, flights included, travelling in shoulder season. Peak summer pushes every figure higher.
What is the cheapest time to fly to Greece from Australia?
The off-season (November to March) is cheapest for flights, often AUD $1,700 to $2,300 return. For warm weather at a lower price, the shoulder months of May, June, September, and October beat the July-August peak by a wide margin and avoid the Australian school-holiday surge.
Is Greece expensive for Australian travellers?
On the ground, Greece is good value, with cheap food and modest entry fees. The expensive part is the flight, since there are no direct routes and the journey is long. Once you're there, your daily costs are lower than most of Western Europe.
How much spending money do I need per day in Greece?
Excluding flights and accommodation, budget around €60 to €90 ($100 to $150) per person per day mid-range, covering food, ferries, sights, and incidentals. Shoestring travellers can do it on €40, and luxury travellers will spend €200 and up.
Are Santorini and Mykonos worth the extra cost?
They're beautiful and pricey, running 40 to 60 percent above islands like Naxos, Paros, and Sifnos for similar quality. Many travellers get more out of mixing one or two nights on a famous island with longer stays on a cheaper one.
Should I use cash or card in Greece?
Both. Cards work fine in cities and tourist areas, but villages, small tavernas, and the smaller islands often want cash. Carry euros for those, and use a travel card with a fair rate for everything else.
What is the Greek tourist tax?
it's the Climate Crisis Resilience Fee, a nightly accommodation levy from about €0.50 to €15 depending on the property and season. You pay it in cash at check-in or check-out, not through your booking platform.
How much does a family trip to Greece cost from Australia?
For a family of four travelling two weeks in shoulder season, a realistic mid-range figure is AUD $18,000 to $24,000 all up. Flights and rooms drive the cost, so travelling outside the school holidays and choosing value islands makes the biggest difference.
What it comes down to
Two numbers decide your trip: the airfare and the islands. The flight is fixed and painful, north of two grand, and there's no clever way around it. Everything after that is a choice you make. Eat one street back from the water, sleep on Naxos instead of Santorini, fly in May instead of July, and the same fortnight costs you thousands less. Put what you save into a third week, because the part of a Greek holiday that costs the least is the part where you're already there.
Want the rest of the plan? Read next: the best time to visit Greece, our guide to travelling to Greece from Australia, and the Greek islands beyond the obvious. And sign up for Tiny Postcards from Greece, our newsletter for Australians planning the trip properly.
