Travelling to Greece from Quebec: Athens, the islands and the Aegean
Athens is reached nonstop from Montreal in about nine hours, from April to November only. No visa is required of a Canadian citizen. Allow ten to fourteen days to combine Athens with two or three islands, and keep a spare day before the flight home.
Greece rewards a decision most travellers make last and should make first: which island. The photographs all look alike from Quebec. On the ground, a week on Santorini and a week on Naxos are two different holidays with two different bills.
To place Greece among the other long-haul destinations, see the guide to world destinations from Quebec.
How do you get to Greece from Montreal?
Air Canada and Air Transat fly Montreal to Athens nonstop in about nine hours, but only from April to November. Outside that window you need a European connection, and the travelling day grows by four to six hours.
That is a real constraint. A trip to Greece planned for February is not prepared like one in September, and the cost of getting there bears no resemblance. Have the state of the network checked against your dates.
Once you are there, everything turns on the ferry and the domestic flight. The fast ferry takes about five hours from Athens to Santorini against eight for a conventional one, and it cancels in heavy weather. The flight takes forty minutes. For a short stay, fly; for the pleasure of the crossing, take the boat, above all for the entry into the Santorini caldera at first light.
The meltemi
A north wind that blows across the Aegean from July to September, sometimes for several days running. It cools the summer, which is welcome, and it cancels fast ferries and small boats, which is less so.
If your itinerary depends on a crossing in high summer, check the marine forecast the day before and keep a buffer day ahead of your flight home.
How do you visit the Acropolis now?
On a timed slot booked in advance. Since September 2023 the site has applied a cap of twenty thousand visitors a day and compulsory time bands. Morning slots in summer go weeks ahead.
The entry fee is higher from April to October than in low season, and a combined ticket covers the Acropolis, the ancient agora, the Kerameikos and several other classical sites: if you stay in Athens more than a day, it pays for itself quickly.
Two pieces of advice that change the visit. Take the very first slot or the late-afternoon one, because the midday sun on that rock is merciless and the groups are at their peak. And leave time for the Acropolis Museum below: the original friezes are there, and the glass floor shows the excavations under your feet.
Athens runs far beyond the rock. Monastiraki and its flea market, Plaka and its paved lanes, Psirri and Gazi for the Athens of people in their thirties, Piraeus for harbour tavernas. And one simple rule: the restaurants in Plaka with a direct view of the Acropolis are almost all traps. The parallel streets, a hundred metres away, serve better food for less.
Which Greek island should you choose?
Greece counts some six thousand islands and islets, of which around two hundred and twenty-seven are inhabited. Choosing is the first real decision of the trip, and it should not be made from photographs.
| Island | Ideal length | Feel | What makes it singular |
|---|---|---|---|
| Santorini | 3 to 4 days | Romantic, spectacular | A volcanic caldera with no equivalent on earth, villages perched three hundred metres above the sea, and assyrtiko |
| Mykonos | 2 to 3 days | Cosmopolitan, lively | White lanes built as a labyrinth to lose pirates in, the windmills, an international night scene |
| Crete | 5 to 7 days | Varied, authentic | Almost a country: 250 kilometres long, mountains past 2,000 metres, Knossos, and a cuisine of its own |
| Rhodes | 3 to 5 days | Historic and seaside | A listed medieval old town, Lindos and its clifftop acropolis, Greek, Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman layers |
| Corfu | 3 to 4 days | Green, Venetian | The only truly green Greek island, with Venetian architecture found nowhere else in the country |
| Naxos | 3 to 4 days | Authentic | The largest of the Cyclades, mountain villages, superb beaches and far fewer people |
| Paros | 2 to 3 days | Balanced | The right compromise between authenticity and convenience, and an ideal base for the small Cyclades |
| Hydra | 1 to 2 days | Outside time | No cars and no scooters: donkeys, horses and boats. Two hours by sea from Athens. |
| Halkidiki | 3 to 5 days | Nature and beaches | Three peninsulas in the north of the country, turquoise water, very little international tourism |
Is Santorini worth what it costs?
For a couple, for an anniversary, for a first trip to Greece: yes, without reservation. The sunset seen from Oia and a terrace above the caldera have no equivalent, and that is not brochure language.
For a week on a beach: no. Naxos, Paros or Crete offer the same Aegean, the same light, better beaches and a hotel bill from another world. Santorini is an aesthetic experience rather than a beach destination.
If you do go, book six to nine months ahead for a room with a caldera view, and get out of Oia: Pyrgos, Akrotiri and the inland villages give you a far more inhabited island.
What does a twelve-day itinerary look like?
| Days | Stages | What you experience |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 3 | Athens | Acropolis on the first slot, then the museum. Plaka, Monastiraki, the ancient agora. The national archaeological museum. A free day in Psirri and the central market. |
| 4 to 6 | Santorini | Ferry or plane. The caldera from Fira. A boat trip to the volcano and the hot springs. Vineyards, the black sand beach, Oia at sunset. |
| 7 and 8 | Mykonos | Two hours by ferry. The Chora and Little Venice. Delos in the morning, beach in the afternoon, grilled fish at the port in the evening. |
| 9 to 12 | Crete | Chania and its Venetian harbour. The Samaria gorge or Elafonisi beach. Heraklion and Knossos. Back to Athens for the flight. |
For ten days: Athens, Santorini, Crete, and two days of transition. For seven: Athens and Santorini, or Athens and Crete. For fourteen: add Mykonos and a day at Delphi from Athens.
Delos, the sanctuary island where Apollo is said to have been born, sits about thirty minutes by boat from Mykonos. It is one of the great classical sites of Greece, and one of the least visited.
When should you go to Greece?
May and September. In May the hills are in flower, the sea becomes swimmable around mid-month, and the islands are not yet full. In September the sea is at its warmest, the August crowds have gone home, and the light turns golden.
| Period | Weather | Crowds | Our view |
|---|---|---|---|
| January to March | Mild, 10 to 16 °C | Very low | Athens and the classical sites are perfect. Many island hotels are shut. |
| April | Pleasant, 16 to 22 °C | Moderate | Excellent for Athens, Crete and history. The sea is still cold. |
| May | Perfect, 22 to 27 °C | Moderate | Our first recommendation |
| June | Hot, 27 to 32 °C | High | High season starts. Santorini begins to fill. |
| July and August | Very hot, 30 to 38 °C | Overwhelming | Difficult heat in Athens, packed islands, strong meltemi across the Aegean |
| September | Perfect, 26 to 30 °C | Moderate | Our second recommendation. Warm sea, superb light. |
| October | Mild, 20 to 25 °C | Low | The best value of the year. The islands empty and turn Greek again. |
| November and December | Cool, 14 to 18 °C | Very low | Athens yes; the islands hibernate and the ferries thin out |
What does a trip to Greece cost?
Less than Italy or France, more than Portugal. But the real variable is not the country. It is the island. The gap between Santorini and Naxos, for the same week and the same sea, is considerable.
- Choose the island before the hotel. Naxos or Paros rather than Santorini for a beach week: same Aegean, different bill.
- Eat where Greeks eat. Tavernas with no English menu and no photographs are almost always better and cheaper.
- Take an overnight ferry for the long crossings: you save a hotel night and you travel while asleep.
- Go in May or October. Same hotels, same ferries, a bill a third to a half lower than in July.
Two items nobody puts in the budget. The hotel accommodation tax, restructured in 2024 and distinctly higher than before, is paid on site and varies with the category of the property and the season. And since July 2025 a landing tax applies to cruise passengers at Santorini and Mykonos, collected by the cruise line rather than on the quay.
On that note, Greece is very well seen from the sea: look at our Mediterranean cruises.
What do you eat in Greece?
- Spanakopita: the spinach and feta filo pie, from any bakery, at any hour.
- Moussaka: aubergine, minced meat, béchamel. Nothing like the industrial versions.
- Souvlaki and gyros: the Greek fast meal, excellent and next to free.
- Grilled fish at the water’s edge, olive oil and lemon. Total simplicity.
- Gigantes plaki: giant beans baked in tomato sauce. The best vegetarian dish in the country.
- Baklava: from a pastry shop, never from a tourist restaurant.
- Greek coffee: very strong, very thick, served with its grounds. Sipped slowly, never standing up.
Greek wine, the real surprise
Greece has been making wine for four thousand years, and its native grapes are among the most interesting in the world right now. Assyrtiko from Santorini, dry and mineral, from vines trained into baskets to survive the wind. Agiorgitiko from the Peloponnese, fruity and supple. Xinomavro from Macedonia, tannic and structured, which enthusiasts compare to Barolo. And retsina, resinated, which you either love or do not, and which goes perfectly with mezze.
What formalities apply to Greece?
No visa for a Canadian citizen: Greece is part of the Schengen area, where you may stay ninety days out of any hundred and eighty. The passport must be valid at least three months beyond your exit from Schengen and have been issued within the last ten years. No particular vaccination is required.
On ETIAS, to be clear: in early September 2026 it is not in force and applications are not open. There is nothing to apply for and nothing to pay. What already exists is the EES, the biometric check at the Schengen borders, in full service since April 2026: you are photographed and fingerprinted on first entry, with no prior step required.
On the ground, the euro. Cards work in hotels and restaurants in tourist areas, but keep cash for village tavernas and markets. Tipping runs around ten percent, or rounding up.
One detail that half the travel writing on Greece gets wrong: Greek is not written in the Cyrillic alphabet. It is written in the Greek alphabet, from which our own descends. Signs in tourist areas carry a Latin transcription, and a couple of words go a long way: efcharistó for thank you, yassas for hello.
Weighing the two shores of the Mediterranean? Compare with our guide to Italy from Quebec.
How to have your Greek trip prepared
Tell us your dates and what you are after: the history, the beach, the quiet or the nightlife. Our advisers will tell you which islands genuinely combine inside the time you have, whether the ferry fits your schedule, and which Acropolis slot to aim for.
Talk to an AquaTerra adviser at 1 866 628-6241.
Voyages AquaTerra holds a Quebec travel agency licence. Booking through an agency licensed in Quebec gives access to the Fonds d’indemnisation des clients des agents de voyages (FICAV), which covers certain specific situations; the conditions are set out on opc.gouv.qc.ca. Air services, site access rules and local taxes mentioned here were verified in September 2026 and may change without notice.
