greece is a beautifull country with alot of history. the food is amazing and the girls are too....to me its the closest thing to being in heaven.

I went to Greece. As with any place, I had expectations of the country based on my experiences traveling elsewhere in the world. Overall, Greece is just O.K. - not awesome and not complete sh!t. Being Canadian, I was probably mistaken for American and mistreated from time to time (everyone seems to hate Americans for some reason). It was expensive, and the cuisine was substandard more often than outstanding. The people were pretty rude or at least what 'appeared' to be rude. Could just be a cultural gap, but I found the service pretty bad. The nicest people were the best rip-off artists. I asked some Cops for directions and they purposely sent me the wrong way. The beaches were O.K., but they were sometimes rocky and dirty. I've been to places where the beaches are far better (try Australia or Thailand). I think the Greeks have it too easy for tourism, as many people flock there from all over Europe. They don't really have to work for their customers (that or they're just plain lazy). Being the birthplace of modern Democracy is often what Greeks claim as their greatest achievement. Ancient Greece may have been sophisticated for its time, but by modern standards - Greece leaves much to be desired. Go everywhere else before you go to Greece is my advice.

I have to temper the comments below. Depending on what you compare Greece to, I can rule or suck. I know my stuff because I'm half Greek and I've live here and there : in "better" and "worse" countries. Of course the truth depends also on what you're looking for. Like the immediate previous comment, "Greece is a mysterious country."

Greece as a vacation spot can be great with beautiful landscapes and sea. It has incredible ruins (Acropolis, Epidauros) and paradise islands. Add to this a hot and sunny weather (that tends to become more "African" as years go by) and who wouldn't spend holidays here? Unfortunaly, when you've talked about food and wine (you like it or not) and nightlife, there's nothing much more to enjoy. The touristic industry is worsening every year : hotels and restaurants are rising prices and lowering quality. This is insider info as I know people in this business. They fool the customer and they are proud of it. Even worse, they do not reinvest the money they make. There is little creativity as Greece relies on it's past.

You may have understood by the other comments that Greeks are fond of history, which is a bit strange to me. We think we have the "greatest" history ever. We think that no one surpasses us. Which is completely wrong. There are a lot of civilizations that appeared before the Greek, but the average Greek will reply "We're the same as before, we ressemble a lot more to the ancient greeks than today's chinese to ancient chinese or modern-day egyptians to ancient egyptians). Who still worships Zeus? We think everything comes from Greece (kimono comes from the Greek word xeimona, here you go... - I've heard equivalent in real-life) and we always rely on History because we have dangerous people who re-write it to accomodate nationalism. If you talk with an historian he will tell you that Greece has dark pages in its past. But of course the man-in-the-street knows better than this "dick-head", "because I saw on TV we were the greatests ever". So don't really believe what Greeks will tell you about their History as we have biased views. Even the "democracy" of the 5th century BC had nothing really of a democracy (and the modern one isn't better at all).

So we live in an exactic national past and we prepare for an egoistic personal future. We have no respect for the State/Government, as we elect it only to erase our parking tickets and to legalize villas built on national parks (or on private land with an authorization for a toolshed). I've heard this discussion between Greek and Japanese officials : "Japan is a rich country with poor people. Greece is a poor country with rich people", 100% true. Count Lanborghinies and Ferraries (or just Porsches) licenced per capita and adjust it with basic economic figure, the result is not European. Basically we don't pay taxes (buy 100 and get a receipt for 5, order beers all night and get only one receipt...) and buy Mercedes and build villas, though we don't have decent roads to drive the Mercedes to the villa. And better no be ill or you'll sell cars and houses : pay first we'll check you up after (happened to a member of my "foreign" family -> got back home and never return).

There is no respect for the nature as well. I've seen with my eyes trucks emptying separated bins alltoggether. You separate paper from plastic and metal, but you see in the street that after all, they all go toggether in the same truck. We have the biggest recycle bin : our land and sea, "nature will take care of this beer can in no time"...

In a general way I don't know what we respect. We go to church but you hear "f*ck christ" all day. We live thanks to the tourist but we overcharge them and insult them as soon as they've left the store. I've seen in a carpet store of a friend of mine, an email received from the US: "We bought two months ago and we received nothing, you said UPS took 10 days". The truth is: the carpet was shipped with regular mail 6 days after the order... I told my friend "What do you think this guy is going to do? First, never come back and second, dissuade his friends to come.". His answer : "F*ck the customer, he thought he bought and antique handmade carpet but he got a machine-made plastic rug"... Plus his store says "since 1921" when he arrived in Athens in the 70s. And trust me, this is not exceptional.

Another thing made for tourist: the "cafeterias", where we sit for hours drinking cold coffee (what do we need caffeine for?!). Logically, we keep the table for hours so we pay for it, hence the excessive price. But the tourist who is used to drinking quickly a Coke to refreshen and continue his tour, the price is not affordable. So the "tourist trap" does not work : people buy cans and food in the super-market and avoid the area.

(part 2/3)

All this in the most despicable mood: I've come to congratulate waiters who say "hello, please, thank you". Most of them will treat you like shit, at best like a walking-wallet. Walk into a shop and have the feeling you're disturbing the newspaper-reading of tv-watching session. Pay for something and do not expect to obtain it. I argued tonight with a waiter in a "souvlakeri" : he wouldnt let me out of the store! I stood in front of him, like "I'm the customer and you're the waiter, who has the priority?". He crossed himself (he's probably a good christian so he doesn't need to apologize, I look like a stupid tourist. When I asked his colleague if blocking the PUBLIC road with tables and chairs (but no legal authorization) so that people can't even enter/leave, the basic reply : "Whatever you say, you're right". No apologize, just insults when I was far enough. I have to say I'm eating there for 25 years, I've never heard "hello, please, thank you" from any of the staff (summer/winter). One of the biggest restaurants in downtown Athens, making tens of thousands euros per day, go checks their toilets or the "cooking area" (F*CK YOU Dirty-Savvas !!!) -- think their staff has health-care? But they pay the health-system inspectors, the mayor (to extend their shop to the pavement), the hygiene office... and the police ! (want pictures of police "working" drinking frappedaki in cafeteria, complete with uniform, motorcycle and sun-glasses?). Greeks are lazy ("de variese"), not user-friendly nor productive ("de gamietai").

I won't even write about taxis that will drive you only if they go your way (even if empty ; because when you're in a taxi, it may stop to load people but you won't share the bill). And taxis are non-smoking, except for the driver (same for public buses).

I shouldnt write either about traffic, just DONT WALK and DONT RIDE A BICYCLE, cars have absolute priority. Even if we think we're the best drivers in the universe (and the other's always wrong), the truth is you won't get a licence without corrupting the people of the bureau : if you dont, they think you're trying to provoke them and will punish you for that. I'm currently waiting for my definitive licence (there is no temporary). If you pay 60 euros (to the members of the ministry), you get it in 2-3 days. If you dont, 2-3 weeks (today was last day of the 3rd week). Should I mention the mortality rate on Greece's roads?

So the result is, from the mouth of my friends in the tourist business : every year come worst poor people. And less people.

Well, you harvest what you sow.

Let me tell you that the tourist industry has not evolved since the 70s. As many Greeks will say, nothing's better for us the people and our country than a "soft" dictatorship, so rules are respected and things are done (Greece lacks one law : the one that will make all the other compulsory). During the colonels era, hotels and highways were built. After their fall, nothing. Until the Albanians came and built us new homes and hotels and took care of agriculture. Now they got a bit richer and started to run businesses, same thing again. No evolution, no progress. Whatever's done is done, and never polished (take a look at the olympic venues now... rust !)

Living here? After many years abroad, Greece (even Athens) appear to me like a haven of peace, far from the 21st century's buzz. Sounds attractive? Forget reliable internet, land and mobile telephony ("I'm sorry you have the wrong number!"). Forget hospitals, understandable prices (everyting has round prices, excluding taxes). Go to a tech shop and ask why TVs prices are shown without taxes. The truth is, nobody pays them... Ok, if you buy a TV you'll pay the price shown +20%, but have you house painted or you car fixed and ask for an invoice...)

(part 3/3)

Doing business here? Another topic, but my advice is : don't. It's a small market and the people has no durable interest in changes. Small example : when the Internet first came, people bought very expensive shitty sites. Now they still have the same crap and still pay the same price, so visitors dont trust them anymore. Most site owners don't even check their mails and will ask you for a phone, fax, or postal mail (best case: delivery failure, so you know the email adressed advertised online is dead). Fax is still the first means of professionnal communication, not email.

If you can accomodate with ambiant chaos and learn everyday-life tricks (and accept all this), it's the perfect place to live : you can drive you moped on pedestrian walks and stop to ask you way to the police, you can run a company without paying taxes, just bribing the tax inspector (when not paying officially the tax office, to avoid being controlled!). Driving without licence or serving rotten food is not a problem, you can always find an arrangement. And this will not change, we like it that way. We save to build houses and buy cars we can sell if our parents need medications. We have state-of-the-art GSM but the network always fails ("Why was you cell off, why didnt you call back?", "My phone's never off, you never called me").

I should probably not write that, but Greece doesn't deserve the EU. Except of territorial reason, there's no Europe here, we shouldn't be a member of the Union. I can't think of a field it doesn't have the worst results of all EU countries. We take EU funds, and auto-magically turn highways into villa, or sea into cotton fields. The State's services are so corrupted there's need for EU agents to check the final destination of the money. Does any web-company really need 950.000 euros to build the city of Athens' website? When we're talking about EU funds, sky's the limit. Get me a villa and dream-cars! With sensible judgement, Greece really needs a curator, a sort of UN administration. No offense. Government and state's agent are not a fatality : we elect them and support them (why not delate a notorious corrupted police officer?). There are so many scandals here we easily forget each of them to focus on the already uncovered next one. As days are passing, nothing changes.

Don't think I hate my contry. Why are there so much Greeks abroad? Here you'll hear they were hungry so the left. But most of them were rich and educated. The truth is Greece and the Greeks make fun of educated people (you're just g*y!), so the comment below that says that many Greeks work for the NASA or big companies, hospitals and research centers, is right. They flee from the cheap miserable party-oriented mentality, and when they live abroad, they can't come back. Most family who can afford it send their kids to study abroad (or at least in foreign universities here).

Greeks have a fake self-esteem : I've come to talk to many people who thaught their country is the best, and we are the best people, blessed by the gods and so on. After hours of conversation (or less), they finally admit there are many thing that need to change so we can follow the march of the word, and we're far from being as good as we may think. Except the huge part of the population that already knows it.

But we don't care, we like it that way!

i love greece but some ppl who live in greece so weird.. They really hate turks i dont know why. I am a Turk, got some greek friends they re fine okey but not all of the greeks like that. there is a turkish saying 'geçmise mazi denir' it means history is just history, you cant change it, band things have already experienced and passed, old hatreds shouldn't control us and make us enemies. Its normal that an empire can be defeated and taken control by another powerfull civilization. let me give you an example after WW I, the greatest power of the world,the ruler and the emissery of islam religion Ottoman empire defeated and fell. After that today's biggest powers of europe(england france italy)
tried to enslave turkish ppl with a imperilast idea. they captured nearly entire country, they used armenians and greeks.. but after all we still dont hate you and others.. for another example in ww one austrialian brothers fought against us in canakkale (dardanelle) they killed millions of turkish soldiers in a month.. but we dont hate them,instead we love em. they fought and died with their honor just like a turk does. their soldier's greaves re in Turkey next to our soldier's greaves.

sorry for mistakes..
5 stars from me

Greece is not that great i know i live there. The people aren't friendly at all, and will take advantage of you any way they can. Don't even bother buying anything Foreign(especially American)its 3 times the price. A can of coke for example would be about 50 cents in the United States, in Greece about 2 dollars!!!. They have no concept of service at all, and if they feel like it will accommodate you. The women never smile, and think all men are perverts. Yet they **** like rabbits. Talk about hypocricy. The men are all lazy fat asses who sit around drinking coffee and yelling malaka all day long, and talk about football,cars or which girl they ****ed last night. If you are a tourist who is planning on visiting Greece just be careful they love to price gouge. They will charge 100 euros for a hotel room that offers nothing or the very basic( a bed and a breakfast of ashtrays, corn flakes and spoiled milk).You will be greeted at the airport by stray dogs sleeping on the tarmac, and donkeys will take your luggage to your overpriced hotel. If you and your family are walkers be careful using the roads. Drivers never stop and will blame you if you get run over rather than their erratic and careless behaviour. You will also see a huge sign near the highway from the airport saying " GREECE 5 WAYS TO EXPLORE ONE COUNTRY TO ADORE". You won't adore it more like abhore it.

I have never been to Greece, so it is probably not fair for me to rate it. My son was there on a tour with the Coast Guard. They ported in Crete which is one of the Greek islands. It made an impression on him. He enjoyed the landscape, the people, the food and the drink He was only there for a few days, but apparently it was positive visit.

I had a older friend who was an Orthodox Greek Jew, who is now deceased, that was a great guy, and much of what I know about food and cooking I learned from him.

I am from Greece n i would like to answer to some people which i bet they r smelly Turks. Greece is one of the most beautiful countries on the world, with the most powerful history ever, everything began from Greece. The only bad thing about Greece is that some of its polititians lied to greek people n stole too much money, But i would like to remeber you that Greece for 400 years, smelly n ugly orcs had conquered the country. These orcs were called; The Turks. While the orcs were powerful enough, n Greeks were not powerful at all, one day in 1821 , 10 times less populated and without weapons, they slaughtered the orcs 1 by 1 and they won. So what can the turk say about Greece? NOTHING. For 1000 years we were kicking their ass, since they were huns and percians. Greece with 400 yrs conquer is still better than turkey, turkish people r just jeallous of us. We builted Constantinoupolis ,since 1821 that they took it its still the same. I really feel sorry about the turkish people that they are Asians and NOT EUROPEANS. Their country sucks, they have no culture , they r a mixed nation of Huns,Persians, and Kurds, which r licking the ass of Bush. As for the other one who told that a Greek male's dream is to go to USA n built a gyro stand, i would like to inform him that abou 15-20 yrs ago , a greek business man Aristotelis Onasis, was the richest man on they planet, n if you dont know what happens to USA its your problem little fagget ok? Greek people dont come to America only to open Gyro stands n shit, i would like to remind you that most people in Nasa and many in the FBI and CIA r Greeks. I know that i was a little rude about this post and i am really sorry to all you readers, but i cant stand people who dont know about my country and say whatever they like.

I'll try to be objective here, since we're talking about my homeplace. Greece has got many beautiful places but also many ugly ones, especially the cities. Building fast in concrete has destroyed wha Athens used to be 50 years ago.Too much air-pollution and traffic noise and generally an enviroment that destroys people's character. However some classic breeze in the air is still around. Anyway if you don't like archaeology and dont want to se the Acropolis, there is no reason to visit Athens. Gnerally most of the cities in Greece (With few exceptions such as Nauplion, Ermoupolis, Ioannina and Mytilene) are built as a micrography of Athens. But, in spite the fact that cities are not suitable for quiet vaccations, the rest of Greeks mainland and especially the island have lots to offer. Noise, clubbing, sex in Mykonos, Santorini or Crete (keep yourselves away from the british nerds favorite, Rhodes) but also quite and beautiful places (not only natural sceneries but also in the villages and the towns) in Lesvos, Chios, Samos. There are indeed many ancient ruins but lots of them remain in a bad situation and generally unknown to the public because of the authorities' stupidness. It is a magic axperience though, to visit Epidaurus theatre in Peloponnese. or Mycynae. Greek people can get snobbish in a stupid way, they find it difficult to learn some basic english and they often see tourists as a $ wallet or as a piece of willingful ass. But not all of us are like that, there are kind and willing-to-offer-for-free Greeks as well an believe it or not, terrorism is something that concerns some 20 people who are not arrested because of police ineffectivity. It is bad to characterize a nation of 10.000.000 people that way. Also, i have not intension of coming in USA and open a souvlaki shop and like me are most of the Greeks. Greek economy is ameliorated through time but what if not..Do we choose a country with economy citeria or with having-good-time ones? Anyway, we are controversial as a society but not bad. And light anti-Americanism exists everywhere don't shut your eyes. USA reminds Athens of 500BC or Alexander's empire.

Athens doesnt rate as one of my favourite world cities but most of the islands are generally great places to holiday, with the exceptions of those club and sex destinations, so popular with sozzled retards from England. At a superficial level I appreciate the chilled Greek way of life but having lived there for 2 years there are times when you want to get into second gear. I do like the food and the beer, esp Mythos, is pretty good. I wouldnt say the people there are any any more or less friendly than most other countries. For a chilled, hot summer beach holiday in Europe/Mediterranean I rate the Greek islands ahead of the competition. For cultural attractions etc it doesnt quite match France, Germany, Italy or Spain.

UPDATE: I keep getting nasty comments in my e-mail about my allegedly harsh comment about Greece. So in the spirit of world brotherhood, I must update my comments.

This country is a gaggle of goat-humping lefto mopes with crumbling ancient monuments being ruined by pollution, and with which the present crew had nothing to do with the construction thereof, ugly women, terrible food and worse booze.


PREVIOUS COMMENT: Virulently anti-American Balkan country that has poor soil, no rainfall, and no economy to speak of, but has a glorious past with lots of beaches so it can fleece the suckers who flock there. (Lots of places have nice beaches!)

If you are into goats, this is your place.

One of the most beautiful, picturesque, and historic countries in the world! You get a feeling of great reverence when you travel around Greece, given it's rich history of Philosophy, Culture, and the Arts. The Greek people themselves are very humble, intelligent, soulful, and passionate. They have a zest for living and simple beauty that is lost in most fast-paced, technologically advanced Western nations where empty materialism reigns supreme. And to the morons below posting how some Greeks are anti-American, that is just utterly absurd. I'm American, and i've met more AMERICANS who are 'anti-American' or 'anti-American policy' than Greeks i've known or met while travelling in Greece!!!

History-excellent beaches-great nightlife. I think its one of the 2-3 most blessed countries in the world.

GREECE IS AWSOME!!!!!! I WAS THERE LAST YEAR, ACCORDING TO THE TRAVEL CHANNEL AND OTHER TRAVEL MAGAZINES, CRETE WAS RATED OF HAVING ONE THE TOP 10 BEACHES IN THE WORLD. ANYONE THAT TELLS YOU GREECE SUCKS OR HAS BAD SOIL OR THE ECONOMY STINKS, BETTER GET THERE HEAD EXAMINED OR SIMPLY PUT, AN ANTI GREEK HATER. ALSO, THE FOOD IS EXCELLENT.. IN ADDITION, YOU HAVE THOUSANDS OF ISLANDS, ANCIENT RUINS, SITE SEEINGS, GREAT RESTURANTS,NIGHT CLUBS AND MORE. ECONOMY IS GREAT TOO, MUCH BETTER AS OPPOSED TO 20 YEARS AGO..NOW THAT GREECE JOINED THE EURO, IT S VERY EXPENSIVE!!! HOWEVER, GREECE DOES HAVE IT'S DOWNSIDE JUST LIKE ANY OTHER COUNTRY IN THE WORLD. ONE IS THAT THE PEOPLE THERE HAVE ATTITUDES AND TRY TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF YOU IF THEY CAN, ALSO THE SYSTEM THERE IS BACKWARDS; EVERYTHING THERE HAPPENS LIKE MOLASSIS. BUT OVERALL, IT'S A GREAT PLACE TO VISIT AND EXPLORE.

rude people

Beautiful country and rich culture but the people have xenophobic attitudes. They seem reluctant to discuss their language with outsiders. In a nutshell, if you manage to integrate into Greek society, you're a candidate for a Nobel Peace Prize.

The MOST BEAUTIFUL country. I love GREECE

Loved the place.

Endless islands... <3 Greece

Once the most advanced nation on the planet. What happened, the Romans invade and adopt the culture and the whole place goes to hell in a hand basket. Terrorists favortie hub.

Given the number of years it's been around I can never understand why it is still so backwards (I'm also thinking of the need to put the paper you've wiped your bum with in the bin) Stunning scenery and a great lifestyle, good looking people. I love Greek mythology and feel that it is timeless when I visit Greece.

DeNiro put it nicely, F**kin' Greeks

Where all began.

Greece has a lot of natural beauty, but is in many ways a backward country for this day and age. Comments based on numerous visits to Greece during the 1985-1992 timeframe. Lots of rugged beauty, both on the mainland and the islands. Food is really excellent, and inexpensive (at least it was the last time I was there). I really like the Greek custom of letting customers go into the kitchen to look at what's being prepared, and although some of the mom-and-pop kitchens I have seen probably wouldn't pass any US Board of Health inspection, the food is nevertheless fresh, tasty, wholesome - in a word, delicious. The only Greek wine I like is restsina; as I said in my rating of Athens, it's great if you like to drink turpentine, otherwise, it'll turn you off. Turpentine comment aside, I love the stuff. Greek drivers all need remedial driving lessons. Hotels are pretty good, but not the best. Cities are not the cleanest I've been to. The Greeks themselves are a bit of a mixed bag - they are really friendly and engaging, but I think that they have too much of a sense of their importance to the world. Overall, I lkie the place, but not enough to give it a Five rating.

beautiful country...beautiful people...the best country in the world. makes you never want to go home

If we're rating politics here, Greece is not tops on my list. If we're rating places to live, Greece is wonderful -- I spent 4 memorable years there. If we're rating vacation destinations, Greece is in my top 3 because of food, archaeology, the people, the scenery, the lifestyle, the beaches, the fun.

Country was at its' peak over 2000 years ago, been on a steady decline since. Now the lifelong goal of any Greek male is to go the USA and open a gyro stand.

greece is just beautifull :)

its great a paradise

gamiete i koloxora

Plenty of great beaches and an excellent tourism industry, but not much else. Greek food is awesome!

a great country!

COOL

The islands could very well be the most beautiful place in the world. That is all.

The Greek mainland is so great and is (sadly) rarely visited by most tourists. Mount Olympus is beautiful and offers great hiking. Monemvassia is a great Byzantine port town that doesn't allow motorized vehicles of any kind. Delphi has amazing ruins and is fun at night. The coasts offer super views of the sea. I'd give Greece a 5, even WITHOUT Athens and the islands! Athens is a great, underappreciated city and the islands are pristine and gorgeous. Crete is one of the most interesting places I've ever been.

The cradle of civilization? Don't think so. Andreas Papandreou, born in America, was a TRAITOR to my country. The Greeks can have the dude. Socialist extroardinaire. Long history of mousiness in the face of overwhelming odds. Military dictatorships. Greek olives have PITS in them! What kind of Mediterranean conspiracy IS that?!? Feta cheese is more like foot-a cheese. Mountainous. Poor soil and wretchedly poor goatherders in my opinion. Can't even get along with Turks or Bulgarians, or Macedonians, or even Albanians. No wonder they emigrated...to AMERICA, BAY-BEE!!!!!

It's history is very rich.

Greece is the greatest place in the world - rich history, great people, awesome food and the most beautiful beaches and attractions in the world.

Beautiful, but people are too nationalist

Lovely islands.Fantastic, interesting history.Nice people. Beautifuk houses.

Greek islands are fabulous

Athen is top! :o)