Greece

I've seen Paris, I've seen France, and I've seen Greece being inferior in every way thinkable. That being said Greece does have one good thing going for it, tourism. How does Greece handle tourism? The short answer is badly. Visit a 3-star hotel in Paris, Chamonix, Rome or anywhere in Western Europe and what you'll find is a fully air-con room with en-suite, buffet breakfast, TV and, if you're lucky, a fridge. However Greece must have it's own independent body for rating hotels because for the same price and evaluation you'll be lucky to get hot running water in your sink. But why such a harsh rating? Surely there are redeeming qualities to Greece? Have you not visited the ruins, landmarks and historical sites. Yes, indeed I have and indeed I was impressed, at the HISTORY of Greece. Unless your thing is carefully examining the grain and structure of the marble which makes up a ruin to determine the source (assuming the guides let you within ten metres of the stones) then Greece isn't... Read more

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). ... Read more

(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 i... Read more

(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 (su... Read more

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 mak... Read more

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 turk... Read more

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 the... Read more

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 ... Read more

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

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 -... Read more

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.

greece is just beautifull :)

gamiete i koloxora

its great a paradise

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

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.

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

Greek islands are fabulous

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

Athen is top! :o)