Island hopping in Greece on a budget – Itinerary & travel budget
Are you planning a trip to Greece? Then you should definitely consider exploring more than one Greek island. Island hopping in Greece is super easy and affordable even on a small budget. How to do so and how we explored five Greek islands in just ten days, I’ll tell you here. In addition to general tips on island hopping in Greece and our exact itinerary, I also provide some insights on how much we paid for our trip to Greece and during our island hopping adventure.
If you like the pictures in this article, then feel free to follow me on Instagram.
Table of contents
- Tips for island hopping in Greece on a budget
- Island hopping – Our route
- Island hopping in Greece – How much we paid
Tips for island hopping in Greece on a budget
Tip No. 1 – Compare prices without a fixed itinerary
Probably you are thinking now “Compare prices – this is nothing new”, but actually it is super important to check flights to the respective islands regularly. Especially if you are aiming for an island hopping in Greece on a small travel budget.
On Skyscanner, we only searched for Greece as a destination and did not decide on a certain Greek island. Because airfares fluctuate from day to day, it took us a while until we found the perfect offer. Also, if your own place of residence allows it, searching a flight to Greece from different airports in your home country, is worth a try.
Our starting point for island hopping in Greece was Rhodes. Why? Because the flight to Rhodes from Berlin was available for 35€ only and just fit perfectly into our travel budget. In comparison: A flight to Santorni was over 400€ per person and Crete was also about 200€. When Rhodes suddenly popped up for 35 €, we knew – this is our time to shine.
By the way: Airfares can be treacherous – whether short-haul or long-haul flights. Usually they are cheaper at night. If you are flexible in terms of your flight times, you can save a lot of money too. So flights on weekends are often more expensive. So if you are planning your island hopping adventure in Greece on a budget consider to board a plane on a weekday.
Tip No. 2 – Travel low season
Blue Greek sea and bright sunshine – that’s not only possible in July and August. School holidays all over Europe transform this travel time to high season and so prices for hotels and flights increase drastically during this time of the year.
To avoid this, you should keep an eye on the month of September for an island hopping in Greece. The weather is neither too hot nor too cold, accommodations are much cheaper and the islands are less crowded. So your island hopping adventure in Greece becomes a much more authentic experience and saves you some money for your travel budget.
Tip No. 3 – Concentrate on lesser-known islands
If you think about a holiday on Greek islands, then of course you immediately have the big names in mind. Santorini and Mykonos are on everyone’s list for the perfect island hopping experience in Greece, but unfortunately they are also among the most expensive destinations. This is why you should also consider unknown places during your island hopping holiday. This saves money and also valuable time. After all, Greece has about 200 islands to explore.
Have you ever heard of Symi or Chalki? Probably not – but with the proximity to Rhodes they were part of our island hopping itinerary and thus enabled us to visit five Greek islands in 10 days.
Tip No. 4 – Don’t stay overnight on every island
The ferry system in Greece is really well organised. Especially if you want to explore nearby islands, you can easily take the earliest ferry, explore another Greek island and schedule the last ferry of the evening for the return journey. This benefits your travel budget and saves you from booking an overnight stay on every single island. For an hour ferry ride you can expect about 10 € – the further away the island, the more expensive the ticket.
For island hopping in Greece, especially small neighboring islands are suitable as day trips. Within a day you explored such an island, spent time on the beach, had lunch in a typical Greek tavern and added another chapter to your island hopping adventure in Greece on a budget.
Island hopping in Greece – Our route
Flight to Rhodes
Our base for the first five days in Greece was Rhodes. The flight from Berlin takes about 2.5 hours. On the island itself, we rented a small car and really recommend everyone to explore the island with a rental car. The roads are in good condition and petrol prices are in the European average.
Our accommodation was located in Faliraki, one of the most famous seaside areas on Rhodes. We had booked a small apartment with its own kitchen to save money for our travel budget while island hopping in Greece. Shopping for food was also easy, because well-stocked supermarkets can be found everywhere on Rhodes. One of the best-known supermarket chains here is Lidl.
All sights and photo spots that we visited during the island hopping on Rhodes can be found here:
Lindos Town, Rhodes 
Mandraki Port, Rhodes
By ferry to Chalki
From the small port of Kamiros Skala on Rhodes, the ferry to Chalki (also Halki) departs at 09.00 a.m. The car can be parked here without any problems, because there is a free parking lot directly at the port. Per person, the ferry trip cost us about 24 €. The return trip to Rhodes is already included.
Chalki itself is the smallest island of the Dodecanese and only about 10km from Rhodes. There is only one road, no buses and no cars. You can explore the island on foot. Some say Chalki doesn’t have much to offer and lacks sights. During our island hopping in Greece, however, we experienced the island as one of the most authentic ones, because it is not very touristy and you can experience the real Greek lifestyle here. In addition, it is perfect for a cheap day trip. Next to sightseeing, you can also spend a day on one of the beaches here or eat in one of the typical Greek taverns.
Port of Halki 
Alleys of Halki
By ferry to Symi
After the calmest island we have visited with Chalki, we come to the most touristic excursion we have done. Symi is a popular destination for day tourists, but once you see the island, you know why. Architecturally, the place is really beautiful and you are already enchanted by the sight of the scenery when the boats enter the harbor.
From today’s point of view, I would probably even plan an overnight stay on Symi, since I would like to explore the island again without all the tourists around. However, during our island hopping adventure, we were traveling on a small budget, so we only decided to do the day trip. Such tours are offered directly at the port of Mandraki (Rhodes) and cost about 25 € per person.
On Symi you will be welcomed directly in the port of Gialos and you all you’ll feel is amazement. Pastel-colored houses line up on the mountainside and offer an enchanting panorama. A walk through the several small alleys is also a must-do when on Symi.
Port of Gialos, Symi 
St. John Church, Symi
Flight to Crete
After 5 days on Rhodes, we decided to move our base to another island. We took a domestic flight, because the ferry would have been on the road for about 14 hours. The flight to Crete, on the other hand, takes about an hour only. Prices vary, but are usually between 70 € and 100 € for local airlines.
By the way, we deliberately decided for Crete, because I wanted to explore a very specific island for our island hopping adventure in Greece, but more about that in a while.
Crete is the largest Greek island. A rental car is a good decision here for exploring some remote bays and fishing villages on the otherwise somewhat touristy Crete.
If you decide on an AirBnB accommodation, it is usually worthwhile to talk to the host. Usually they give the best tips if you want to experience a Greek island far away from mass tourism.
By ferry to Santorini
The real reason why we paid so much attention to our travel budget when island hopping in Greece was actually this island!
My dream was to finally see Santorini with my own eyes after several trips to Greece. Unfortunately, it is also one of the most expensive Greek islands. That’s exactly why I looked for a way to include Santorini in our island hopping itinerary. After all flights were way too expensive, only the ferry remained as an option and finally, the long-awaited offer appeared.
From Crete, ferries run daily to Santorini during the summer months. With the high-speed ferry it takes a maximum of 2 hours to dock in the port of Thira. It was about 129 € per person and also included the return trip back to Crete as well.
On Santorini we basically spent two days. We arrived on a Tuesday with the earliest ferry to Thira and took the latest ferry back to Crete the following day. Of course, all this could be packed as a day trip when island hopping in Greece, but since we wanted to experience a sunset on Santorini, we decided to spend a night here.
On Santorini itself, you do not necessarily need a car. Public buses run at regular intervals throughout the island. So you can save some money when island hopping in Greece on a budget.
By the way, you can find articles about a holiday on Santorini here:
Island hopping in Greece – How much we paid
Now let’s talk about our personal travel budget. How much we paid (traveled as a couple) you can see in the table below. Of course, such a travel budget for an island hopping in Greece is always very dependent on personal preferences. We booked everything individually and choosed self-catering for all of our accommodations. Luxury or restaurant visits were not essential for us, although we still visited cafes from time to time. Surely you can also skip booking the cars and explore the islands by bus – so you can save a little more money.
Also airfares are often a gamble, one day you can suddenly fly to Rhodes for 35 €, but on other days you have no luck at all. Nevertheless, it is worth comparing prices and being open in planning your trip. And if you consider one or the other tip, it is possible to do an island hopping holiday in Greece with a small travel budget.
| Expenditure | Costs | |
| Flight Berlin – Rhodes | 35€ per person | |
| Car hire Rhodes | 86€ for 5 days | |
| Accommodation/Apartment Faliraki | 144,19€ for 5 Nights (self-catering) | |
| Refueling Rhodes | 50€ for 5 days | |
| Catering Rhodes | 50€ Weekly shopping for 2 persons | |
| Ferry to Chalki (round trip) | 24,71€ per person | |
| Day trip Symi | 25€ per person | |
| Flight Rhodes – Crete | 79€ per person | |
| Accommodation/Apartment Crete | 208,17€ for 5 nights | |
| Car hire Crete | 137€ for 5 days | |
| Catering Crete | 50€ Weekly shopping for 2 persons | |
| Refueling Crete | 68€ for 5 days | |
| Ferry to Santorini (round trip) | 129€ per person | |
| Accommodation Santorini | 49€ for 1 night in Fira | |
| Bus rides Santorini | about 18€ per person (Port, Oia & Fira) | |
| Flight Crete – Hamburg | 138€ per person | |
| Total (per person) | 845,39€ |
I hope this article helps you to plan an island hopping holiday in Greece and gets you an idea of what budget to calculate for this trip. Which islands you want to include in your itinerary, is up to you. But Rhodes in particular surprised me very much and should find a place in your thoughts.
