My husband and I and another couple are going to Athens, Santorini and Crete in early June. Given the current slumping dollar against a strong euro, we are unclear as to what restaurant meals will cost. We would like to eat at a mix of upscale restaurants and tavernas. We live in New York City and are used to paying between $100-$150 for dinner at a decent restaurant. Any advice you can give will be appreciated. We are considering going to Spondi and Daphne in Athens, 1800 and Selene in Santorini. Thanks.

Check out my recent trip report (Santorini Trip Report -- Spring 2005). I gave details (including prices and what we ate) for our trip to Santorini. Lunches averaged around $45 and dinners averaged around $150. My trip report specifies cost in Euros. You can convert at www.xe.com.

Have a great trip.

I hope you can find good places to eat for less than that! Is it $150 for dinner most places? That's above our budget for sure.

My wife and I are budget travellers and do not eat at high end restaurants. We generally choose a nice taverna and share an appetizer and a Greek salad and each have a greek dish (lamb, pork, chicken). All this and a liter of house wine generally costs between $25 to $35. We have found similar pricing on Naxos, Paros and Santorini. We spend most of our budget on dinner as most hotels provide breakfast and we generally purchase a loaf of bread, olives some cheese and tziki for lunch. We eat very well on a budget of $50 on the Islands and probably $75 in Athens.

Thank you all for your responses. beanweb24 - I have printed out your extensive email and am sharing it with our friends.

hklukas -- Tavernas are "good" places to eat and are definitely less than $150 for dinner. I would also say that we found tavernas serving more traditional Greek fare than the restaurants which were mostly international (with a Greek influence). All of our dinners were enjoyed at higher end restaurants (very different than tavernas) which explains the price...as does the lousy strength of the dollar against the Euro. We also found that dining in Santorini (even tavernas) was more expensive than the same equivalent in Athens.

Thanks for the info. I feel better now! I was thinking we may have to starve if dinner was $150 every night! The Tavernas sound more our speed and price. I am looking so forward to this trip, we leave June 5th for 3 weeks!