I will be traveling in Europe mid-May to mid-June this summer. My group's (3 23 y/o's) itinerary will probably include Athens and Santorini. I'm personally really excited to visit these places, but I've had a few (older) people tell me that they would not go back to Greece because it is not safe, I'm assuming due to the recent economic/social turbulence.

Of course things may be different now, or they might be wrong, so I wanted some more opinions on how safe Athens is. Of course you can't always predict when a strike or riot will occur, but any advice would be welcome.

I was in the same quandry last summer when major riots were occuring in Syntagma Square and we were scheduled to arrive at the Grand Bretagne. We have family in Athens who encouraged us not to stay in the city center (which is the only place we WANTED to stay.) We are a couple in our 40s and we had our 18 year old daughter and her friend with us.

Anyway, after talking to the hotel, they encouraged us to come and everything was totally fine. The daily demonstrators tended to be families and calm people. They held signs and shouted into bullhorns, but we never ever felt unsafe. Police were on every corner "keeping the peace". Apparently, the media tended to show the same footage of violence over and over, so it seemed it was happening continuously, when really 90% of the time it was peaceful demonstrating.

So we had a a lovely day and two nights in Athens -- the new Acropolis Museum is fantastic, and of course the Acropolis itself is amazing. Walking around the Plaka was fun and safe.

In other parts of Greece, outside of the city center, we encountered no evidence of any problems whatsoever.

If you want to visit Athens, you might consider making a reservation in the city center and then also maybe at one of the beach hotels in Glyfada or nearby. You can cancel one of them a few days before, depending on the climate of protests.

The Greek economy can use some tourism! I hope you go and have a great time!

My one concern might be more rotating strikes than safety.

One thing to note is that there will be elections in Greece in April, and the conduct and outcome of those elections, and the immediate response to them, will tell you a great many things.

I would not hesitate to go to Greece at the moment, including Athens and Thessaloniki (where most of the largest protests take place). However, I would consult a map and more detailed message boards who tend to have locals posting (like Tripadvisor for Athens or Frommer's) to choose a place to stay that is not (a) quite near the major government buildings and (b) in the university district. Riots and tear gas are not something you want to get caught up in.

Most of Europe will see strikes this summer, as it does every summer. Last year, there were significant transportation strikes in France, the UK, Germany, Portugal, Belgium, Spain, and Italy.

My only concern in going to Greece is the breakdown in health care services due to imposed budget cuts. But you are 23, and that should not be of overriding concern to you. But do get travel insurance nonetheless, not just for Greece, but everywhere, especially if you still have your appendix. ;-) It's just a nice thing to do for your parents (who may offer to pay for it.)

PS: In case my post wasn't absolutely clear, I would watch the news about Greece. While I wouldn't hesitate to plan a trip, or even go this week, things could happen between now and May that might cause me to change my mind. The situation is dynamic.

zeppole
Whatever could happen to Greece , already happened last Monday.
The Eurogroup agreed on the second package of help for Greece, the PSI was completed, and the Greek Parliament approved very harsh laws that will change the life of Greeks over the next years. There have been demonstrations of course, as the private sector sees a decrease of 20-35% of the wages, but as i said that's it. Unfortunately the Greeks have no other choice than to adjust to these new austerity measures.
Elections will take place probably in mid. April, but they have never caused any problems to the Greek society .

Public health care doesn't suffer more than it suffered before, the cuts that are being dictated from the EU are referring on crazy expenses that used to be the rule over the last decades.

Life in Athens continues as usual, and there is no dynamic situation.

For what its worth, we absolutely loved greece and athens in Sept 2011 and are heading back in Aug 2012 for a sailing trip and visiting Athens. We didnt notice anything related to the controversy and have no issues returning - in fact we cant wait!

If you dont want to stay at the main square I would highly recommend where we stayed: http://www.hoteltony.gr/

It was affordable and walking distance to all the sites. We would definitely stay there again!

No one can predict the future, but up to now Athens is one of the safest cities in Europe. Media present a really false picture of Athens. Peaceful protests have been happening mostly in Athens and sometimes in other areas of Greece since 35 years ago without anyone making a fuss about it.
Riots is a different matter, and those are street fights among a few eeejits and police. Those do not happen of course on every protest, there have been about 5-6 such events in the last whole year 2011. Yes, 5-6 days of so called "riots" and those concentrated in Syndagma Square.
Last couple of years it is true that those "fights" have sometimes expand a bit and are more harsh at times, including a minority even on those troublemakers, who try to burn down banks, offices of multinational chain companies and public service offices, ministries'buildings etc here and there, again mainly around Syndagma Square and surrounding streets. Still these events happen very very rarely and is not an everyday occurance as some media make it to seem. Actually arsons and majhor damages happened once on 2008, once some days ago, and on an isolated event in a bank last year if my memory serves me right...
About other areas of Greece,mostly on mainland on large cities or large islands with large main towns such as Crete, there have been some tention lately, but not the one you'd imagine. A few people tried to burn down or vandalise some local politicians' offices. Those are not really riots, and certainly didn't occure on tiny Santorini.
No one can predict the future, but up to now, on my opinion, Greece is absolutely safe for a tourist. Never anyone hurted a visitor, on the contrary locals try to protect tourists, plus if someone just use common sense, it is very easy to plan around and avoid risky events/areas. I guess no one plans to stand between a policeman and a troublemaker, so how one is supposed to get hurt??? This is so far my description of Athens' and Greece's "unrest".
I would be more concerned on Athens safety about pick-pocket crime, which was unheard of some years ago, but unfortunately this is not the case nowdays. Usually thifes target metro lines from Piraues to city center,sometimes from airport to city center, and major metro stops used by tourists, such as Acropolis metro,Syndagma metro, Evaggelismos etc. Buses from airport and around city center are a target too. USe common sense and usual precausions as everywhere in the world,and you'll be fine.
One more thing to be concerned, is to drink plenty of water and use suncream and sunglasses. Yes, even on May. You might not realise it, but sun rays are really strong in Athens and on the islands, and I've seen lots of nasty sunburns and even sunstrokes happening. Island breezes and gorgeous sightseen may grab your attention, but on the end of the day, you may find your self suffering, so please do not think my advice is naive or something.
Now...Unconveniance is an other matter, very different than safery of course. I need to point out that various strikes happen all the time in Greece. But onl a few can affect a visitor. Air traffic controlers' strikes are very very rare. ATC announced a strike many times last year, but it was claimed illegal by courts and didn't happen most of those times. When ATCs strikes really occured, (this happened maybe 4-5 times in 2011) most flights were just delayed a few hours,as most strikes last only 6-8 hours and only I think in one or two occasions 24-48 hours. In any case strikes are announced days in advance. About other public transport in Athens,it is a very rare occurance for all meanbs of transport to strike at once. This happened 2 or 3 times in extreme circumstances last year. Urban buses, metro,taxis,trams etc were all striking in Athens, but government hired out immediately Ktel (intercity) buses to serve the Airport-City Center and City Center-Piraeus Port routes. Furthrmore, hotels could easily arrange private transport. For once again,please note this was a very rare happening. Common thing is that when taxis are on strike, metro and buses are working, when metro strikes taxis work and so on... Ferry strikes are nearly non existant. Last year we had 3 strikes of PNO (Greek Nautical Assosiation) that caused some peroblems, as ferries form Piraues and other Athens port did not run to the islands for 1-3 consecutive days to the islands. Again this was very rare, and note that most inter-island services were runniong as usual. So, to make a long story short, a year has 365 days. 5-6 days of strikes affecting a visitor is not statisticaly a big deal. I agree that if you happen to be unlucky enough to face a strike, it is unpleasant, but stay a bit flexible and there are always alternatives. I can't stress enough that strikes are announced some days in advance, so your plan around them!
As a conclusion, I would say to go for this trip, just try to be updated on strikes or other events that might influence your itenerary and travel logistics.
Have a nice trip!

If there has ever been a tourist harmed in any Athens demonstration, I have not heard of it. Wouldn't that be reported by all the media? ;-)

Will be following this thread. Plan on going to Greece this summer and am more troubled by the "inconvenience" factor than safety. Glad to read the ferry strikes are nearly nonexistent; still, makes me rethink which islands make most sense in the event of one.

clausar,

I am sorry to say that I believe the recent actions will only lead to a deepening economic depression in Greece, and that typically deep depressions lead to greater social turmoil. I hope I am wrong, but I feel it is only responsible to tell a young traveler to watch the news.


Heimdall,

What happened yesterday isn't predictive. For many, many months, demonstrations in Greece did not turn violent or into flames. And recently they did, after many people had pointed to the fact that they had not been so for many, many months in a row. People are not being unduly alarmed about the situation in Greece. They are having an important discussion. The actions of the rest of Europe toward Greece are more likely to have negative consequences than positive ones. That doesn't mean there will be situations that threaten travelers, but the it could.

zeppole
The violence during demonstrations is something very very old in Greece, caused by the so called "Gnostoi agnostoi" ( the known unknowns).
It's not the first time that 100 people are turning a peaceful demonstration into an act of violence.
I am always surprised from what i read about Athens from people who maybe have been visiting once for 2-3 days, and yet they have an opinion on what is going on here.

I would like to disagree with your political-economical analysis, i believe that Greece has now a big chance to recover.

Zeppole, what you wrote to Heimdall about violence etc, make it obvious, that you are far away from what's really happening here. Following the news, doesn't make you an expert on Greece.

Zeppole, when I read your predictions I can't help being reminded of the fable of <i>Henny Penny</i>. ;-)

Like dina4 we too were worried about visiting Athens last year but found the place to be pretty calm, even around Syntagma Square, where people were protesting, but quietly. I think the media always likes to present events in a dramatic light, makes for better viewership maybe? I wouldn't worry too much, go right ahead with your planning

We were in Athens last summer during the riots. We took a hop on hop off tour bus from our cruise ship and the tour bus operator told us they were eliminating part of the route due to the riots, but we would be safe (from the riots) in the Acropolis area.

The down side was that we arrived after 2 days of strikes (during strikes the tourist sites were closed), so there was 3 days of pent up demand and massive amounts of tourists trying to get into the Acropolis. It was a complete mob scene with probably over 500 people shoving and pushing to get into an entrance gate the size of a double door. I have never seen anything like it, we were stuck in the middle and my 13 yr old son was pushed away from us. I was terrified he would get trampled and I couldn't even see him. A couple of minutes later I saw him standing on a rock looking for us. We were able to get in and it wasn't as bad on the inside. They finally stopped letting people in and closed the gates. I hope I'm never in a situation like that again.