Myself and 1 friend, both 21 year olds, are planning a trip to Greece next june for 4-5 weeks. I would greatly appreciate some tips to help keep cost down. We are not picky about housing. I'm trying to figure out how we should go about planning this trip. Should we rent a villa for the whole time and make day trips? Should we plan to stay a different place each week? Should we book a few places for a general itenerary or should we just wing it?
We want to do it all--beaches, restaurants, clubs, and historical sites.
I apologize for being vague, but I really don't know where to start and would appreciate any input.

I think people can give you better advice if you will force yourself to be specific on ONE point: how much-- aside from the airfare to/from Athens -- do you want to spend/have to spend per person,per day for everything else?? If you have 100E per day, you have NO problems. If you want to do it on 50E per day, you'll have to plan carefully... I do it on 55E and have strategies, but I don't go to clubs any more.

That villa strategy is something I hear a lot about in Italy -- but in Greece, in the islands, it means you spend all your time on the ferry. Basically, you should travel VERY light (a backpack or one carry-on rolling case), and Island-hop, Island-hop. June is ideal for this -- things are open but not crowded and prices are good. To know what you're doing, spend the next few months mastering the ferry websites, haunting the Bulletin Boards -- this one, Thorn Tree, Trip Advisor etc.

And also (gasp) read some guidebooks. Look thru the whole lot at Barnes & Noble, and buy the one that suits you best. I advise u to get one from the Libarary (Eyewitness Guide for Greek Islands) for the best overview... and the one that I'd buy today, as a collegian or a smart budget traveler of any age, is ROUGH GUIDE to GREECE. The most candid & thorough,detailed with good city and island maps.
Lonely Planet, formerly tops has gone way downhill.

Look at a couple of books, give us some real Euro limits, and we'll come back at you with a lot of tips and links. You've got time... I estimate you could cover at least 5 islands, Athens and a couple of mainland highlights in 4-5 weeks. Lucky you.

Well my flight is taken care of, but as far as lodging goes, I would like to stay under US$500 a week for both of us ($250 each). From the research I've done so far, this seems quite plausible. I guess my best estimate (or hope rather) would be to spend around $750/week, or $3000 for the 4 weeks.
And when i said nightclubs/restaurants, that wasn't a nightly thing, just an idea of things I wanna do......I have no problem eating cheaper food (or better yet, cooking) most of the time.

Let me understand clearly: you want to limit housing to $500 a week for 2. At icky exchange rates which won't improve under current US govt, that's 355 Euros (best translate to Euros before you start researching cheap lodging). That = 50E per night per double (25E ea).

You should be able to do MUCH better (except in Santorini, Athens, Mykonos). Tho prices go up June 1, it's still "middle season" many places. In most islands in late may-early june I get doubles @30-35E w. pvt bath, patio or balcony, fridge, a/c (not needed) & often kitchenette which allows making meals too. Sometimes breakfast included.

PLUS I book beforehand, just because my travel pals aren't comfortable winging it. In June U may do better arriving by ferry midday with 3-4 good choices in mind &just walk up and ask. Be ready to walk away if a room quote is too high, and sometimes they come down (after all, an empty room is NO income).Always look at a room before agreeing. NOTE: beware of the people with "Rooms to Let" signs at ferry docks. Have maps and demand exact location or u may be stuck way out in country w. no transport.

On average (including higher costs for short stays in Athens/Santorini)u thus can figure 35E per day per double as do-able. that frees up 15E per day (7.5 each) for your "everything else" budget. It will be sorely needed! Try to lower lodging to 25-30 Per day for 2.

Your "everything else" budget apparently is $250 per week/2 =$125 each. In Euros that's only 88E each per week, or 12.5 euros per day -- not possible! Add 7.5 (see above) = 20 per day...whew! a huge challenge.

Some typical 2007 costs in Euros for islands like Naxos, Sifnos, Paros, Crete,Milos, Samos.(Starred items much higher in Mykonos & Santorini):

Coffee = 1.5 - 2.5E per cup (eek)
Bottled water= Small .5 at kiosks, large .8 at mini-markets (do refills)
Breakfasts* out - 5-7E
picnic lunches - 3-4E
Dinners at modest Tavernas(main plate, shared salad, glass of wne)= 10-12E
Beach sunbed/brellarental* - 5-6E for 2
Local bus rides 1-1.5E
Museum/site admission 2-6E (if u still have Student ID, u get half-price!)
Glass of wine at cafe* - 4E
Soft drink @ cafe* - 2E
Ferry tickets (economy or 'deck' class) -- 5-25E, depending.
---this doesn't even include club booze and scooter rentals (popular items, but not together ).

Sorry to run on, but you need to face EuroRealities to avoid running out of money halfway. Save more on lodging with hostels where possible. However, Greece is not as good on hostels as other European countries. Internet research can help --and book ahead for well- reviewed ones, such as Oia in Santorini. Many places u do as well with rooms in small hotels (pensions) or pvt homes.

U can see, it's not gonna be easy, but research is the secret. Besides Rough Guide, u might look at Let's Go Greece and Thos Cook's Greek Island-Hopping, both have back-packer budget slant.

Have fun planning, and good luck! If u need more specifics, e-mail me.

Your budget is not impossible, but it will be difficult, especially given the weakness of the US$ vs. Euro. I think it's not realistic though if you want to travel above the absolute lowest backpacker level.

Your $500 currently is about Eur 350. Last June, medium range Athens hotels seemed pretty uniformly to charge Eur 145/double/night, though I got one for Eur 125 through a hotel service. Medium price rooms or studios on the islands ranged from Eur 60 for the best room in one of the cheaper hotels on a very popular island to Eur 40 for a spacious studio on one of the less touristed islands. So you can do the math.

You can economize by looking for studios (sometimes called apartments or studio apartments.) These usually cost the same as hotels, sometimes cheaper, and are in many ways better: you don't have a front desk or daily maid service, but you have a tiny kitchen and refrigerator, and the rooms are almost always larger than a hotel's. And the studios are often in quieter locations. So you get better accommodations for your money plus you can save on food by eating in the studio. If you're lucky you can get one with a nice balcony or veranda which is even more pleasant than sitting in most restaurants.

In June in all but the most crowded islands you can usually find a place just by looking around and asking. Do some research and note down promising inexpensive studios listed in guidebooks. When you get to the island (assuming it's a reasonable hour), ignore the touts meeting the boats, park one of you with the luggage in a cafe, and the other one can go in search of rooms. You can look for the studios you've noted down, but also look at any others you see while walking around. If you have trouble finding places, ask in a cafe for the locations of ones you've noted or if they know any other places. (Cafe owners know everyone and usually have a friend or relative who has accommodations for rent.) Finding accommodations by this method will often (not always) get you a cheaper rate than reserving, and at least won't get you a higher one, plus you have the benefit of being able to see the place before you rent. You can also ask to see the room before deciding.

Athens has some cheap hotels but they can be icky. Don't stay in one unless it's reliably recommended. Outside of Athens there used to be "rent rooms" which could be very cheap, but in my experience most of these have become so expensive that I'd rather pay a little more and stay in an actual studio or hotel. Also many of them are poorly located -- out on the edge of town, or in the middle of town next to a disco. You might be able to save money with them, but choose carefully and don't take one sight unseen.

If you do want to travel at the absolute lowest backpacker level, the Rough Guide series (several are about Greece) I've found to have the best advice for minimum budget travel, though the guides aren't at all limited to that. Much of their content is available on their web site.

Some islands which are less touristed than most, and therefore cheaper, are Milos, Serifos, and Skopelos. They all have good beaches and some other attractions, though none has much night life or an international youth party scene, which you may or may not consider a disadvantage. More information on them is in most guidebooks.

I did Greece on a budget. We stayed in Santorini and Naxos aside from Athens. In Santorini, we booked a private double ensuite room in Oia (Casa Francesca) for only 22 dollars CAD per person. This included a patio, kitchen and the works. It was really nice - very quiet and it was only a 10 minute walk to get into Old Oia. The owner/manager will drive you from the bus station to the studio for free as well.

In Naxos, we stayed at the Windmill Naxos Studios for only $14 CAD per person in a twin ensuite room. This came with a balcony and kitchenette. Owner is fabulous and very accomodating. This includes free pickup from the ferry.

You can definitely do Greece on a budget. Book ahead, esp. ferry tickets. We got 10-euro tickets for a ferry from Naxos to Athens which was a bargain (normally 27 euros).

It would be nice to stay at least 3 nights in each place. We did 4 in Santorini and 3 in Naxos. I wish we could have stayed a week in both.

Check out hostelworld.com if you want to take a look through hostels/studios. Most of the places in Greece are normally studios but you can find a dirt-cheap place easily!

In Athens you'll likely only be able to stay on budget in a hostel. I stayed at the Athens Backpackers and had a great time--it's very clean and nice, the other people were friendly, and the rooftop bar has a really amazing view of the Acropolis and .50 ouzo shots. It was 25E/nt, towel rental was another 3E. It has a kitchen you can use, but I wasn't there long enough to check it out. You can read about my experience here: http://travelathomeandabroad.blogspo...hens-ouzo.html

I reviewed all the hotels I stayed at, including a fabulous one for 35E/nt (with breakfast!) on Naxos, with info on cost and location, here http://travelathomeandabroad.blogspo...in-greece.html