vacaman2

Thinking about an August trip and considering Florence/Tuscany area and/or French Riviera vs Greece?
Wondering with the economic situation and the cost of living is Greece much/alot cheaper than Italy/France? thanks

Dukey1

Before there ever was a European Union we always thought Greece was cheaper than Italy.

sandralist

Greece is much, much, much cheaper.

ParisAmsterdam

It's hard to think of anywhere that would be more expensive (and crowded) than the Riviera in August!

Heimdall

Maybe that's one reason so many Italians and French take their summer holidays in Greece.

RosieCharb

You're going to spend money no matter what. Just accept it and enjoy it. With that said ,the Greek Islands are absolutely fabulous, like no other.

WWK

Greece is definitely cheaper than The French Riviera and most of Italy, especially in August! If you are serious about August, decide quickly. Many hotels get booked months to a year ahead.

Sojourntraveller

Depends where you go, where you stay, where you eat, etc.

It is entirely possible to spend as much in Greece on a vacation as anywhere else.

The simple answer would seem to be Greece is generally cheaper but that assumes you are a typical tourist on a typical low budget of some kind.

You can get a decent room in the Grande Bretagne in Athens for around 300E a night for example. You can get a room in the Hotel Negresco in Nice for around the same price. Or a room in the Grand Hotel Minerva in Florence for less. All members of the Five Star Alliance hotels. http://www.fivestaralliance.com/find...ds=&facet=true

When people say one place is cheaper than another, generally what they mean is that cheaper rooms, restaurants, etc. can be found there at the low end of what is available. At the higher end, prices tend to be more comparable.

WWK

Yes, it's true that you can " spend as much in Greece on a vacation as anywhere else", especially if you're willing to put up with the mediocre rooms that you get for E300 at The Grande Bretagne. Ours was not much bigger than a broom closet with no view, which is why we stopped going there years ago.

But the point is that you can find much nicer and often much cheaper four or three star hotels in Greece than you can usually find in Italy or France.

Sojourntraveller

"But the point is that you can find much nicer and often much cheaper four or three star hotels in Greece than you can usually find in Italy or France."

That is a generalization WWK. The way I choose where I will go is based on where I am most interested in going. If where I would really like to go is say Tuscany rather than Greece, then I make that decision and then look for a place that fits my budget.

So while in general you might say Greece is cheaper, 'in general' does not rule out being able to find a nicer and cheaper 3 or 4 star place in Tuscany than some 3 and 4 star places in Greece. There are plenty of hotels in Greece where you would wonder how they ever got their 'Star' rating. Generalizations are not absolutes. It may be harder to find an equal place that is in your budget but it does not mean they don't exist.

What I am trying to get at with the OP is that first you choose where you want to go and THEN you look at where you can find that fits your budget requirements. To me it is a case of putting the 'cart before the horse'.

I never understand this tendency to put price as the top factor in deciding where you want to go. Interest should be the top factor. Otherwise what you are saying is I don't care where I go as long as it is cheap enough. If that were the case, why wouldn't everyone end up going to the same place?

sandralist

Across the board, in every price category, Greece is cheaper. A luxury hotel in a famous tourist location in Greece is cheaper than its equivalents in France or Italy. A modest b&b or rental in an off-the-beaten track location in Greece will be cheaper than a similar one in France or Italy.

Michelin star restaurants in Athens will be cheaper than ones in Rome or Monaco. It is shocking how cheap street food and taverna drink can be in Greece with respect to what you get for the same price in Italy or France in similar locations.

There is nothing wrong with preferring a cheap vacation or having it add to the fun of traveling, and starting out with the premise of looking for cheap destinations first, as a priority, because you will enjoy them more and get more for your money.

sandralist

>>"I never understand this tendency to put price as the top factor in deciding where you want to go."<<

Obviously, and you probably never will understand it, either due to lack of imagination or insufficient smarts or just self-centeredness.

But just because you'll never understand something doesn't mean it is valueless or a good way to go for other people. You are not representative of all travelers everywhere. People are all different, and there reasons for choosing their trips is every single bit as good as yours, whether you understand those reasons or not.

Sojourntraveller

Insufficient smarts sandralist? I would guess you know far more about that than I do.

Do you want to continue to exchange insults or is that enough?

WWK

Soujourntraveller,

I'd love to base our vacations solely on personal interests. But budget and value for our money trumps interests every time.

annhig

vacaman - at the price-point of the average human [a group which some people here do not aspire to join, but probably covers you and me] - Greece is likely to be quite a lot cheaper than most of Italy and France.

you might also think about Spain which is also going through economic turmoil so has generally lower prices.

Both, however, are likely to be pretty hot in August so choose your destination carefully if this might be a problem.

david_beav

I would do Tuscany... home base in Lucca or Florence then day or overnight train trips to Pisa, Florence, Cinqueterre, and the other of Lucca/Florence.

If you choose Greece, don't plan on too much time in Athens... ho hum.... get out to the countryside or the islands.

joannyc

Lol! Athens is 'ho hum'??? Not in my book.

WWK

I agree- Athens isn't ho hum for me, either. In fact I always look forward to spending at least few days there exploring new neighborhoods. The city has come a long way in the last few years, and has a thriving new restaurant scene. Don't miss it!

artsnletters

Oh piffle. For those of us with limited funds for travel, budget nearly always plays a role.

La.st year I wanted to go to Italy, but I couldn't afford the trip I wanted there (4-5 weeks), and I couldn't make peace with just taking part of that trip to stay within my budget. So I chose Greece, which I also had a hankering to visit, because I could afford to spend 4 weeks there. I don't feel budget played too large a part in my decision at all. I was happy with my decision and happy with my trip.

The OP is not trying to decide from every destination in the world. France, Italy, and Greece are my favorite countries to visit, and you can have a wonderful trip to any of them. If you want to visit one of these countries and your budget is at the top of your criteria, have a wonderful stay in Greece and tick that one off your list.

On the other hand, with the dollar so strong against the euro, it's a good time to be visiting more expensive places, which are less expensive than usual due to the great exchange rate.

Sojourntraveller

So what will you do next time artsnletters? Go to Greece again because you can't afford Italy?

Your argument is fine if both appeal fairly equally and I have no problem with letting budget play a bigger part in that situation. Nowhere have I said budget is not a factor.

However, if you always chose to go to Greece and never to Italy simply because you always think you could spend more time in Greece for the same cost, then I would say that was a wrong decision.

If I want to visit California, I don't say, 'oh no, I'll go to Greece instead, it's cheaper.'

I don't see what is so hard about understanding that not everywhere is of equal importance and that choosing not to go to where you are really interested in going, simply because of budget, is a bad idea. I would rather spend 1 week somewhere I am really interested in that 4 weeks somewhere I am not as interested in.

I can picture it at the end of my life. 'Well, I've been to 28 countries all of which I was mildly interested in and they were cheap. I never got to the 10 places I was really interested in, they were too expensive for me to go to for as long as I would have wanted to. So I settled for second best.' Great epitath for your tombstone.