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Greece is a beautiful country that many foreigners have chosen to call home.
While a Greek myself, the year 2020 was the first year I called Greece home as an adult and I have been playing catch up with the groups, websites and online hangout places on offer to make my stay here smoother.
Every country has an online world where things are happening, news is shared and services are provided. Having lived in 6 countries growing up I am all too familiar with that moment you stumble across a website and think “Finally, what I needed, why couldn’t I find this sooner?”.
Here are some websites that will prove useful if you are living in Greece as an expat or are considering moving to Greece.
Find a Home to Rent in Greece
One of the most popular websites to find houses to rent or buy. You can also browse in English. It also has a very useful index that tracks asking house prices across Greece, that gives you an idea of affordable and less affordable areas and cities in the country.
OUR RECOMMENDATIONS
Visiting Greece? Explore useful services
Find your dream hotel
The best place to find your next apartment, hotel, villa or accommodation option. Booking.com is the preferred way to book your ideal stay.
Find your next experience
Make the most of every opportunity to travel, learn, and explore. Find cultural experiences, sights, and attractions anywhere you are.
Find the perfect rental car
With no hidden fees, free cancellation and comparisons across all major car rental companies. Saves you time and money.
XE stands for “Xrisi Eukairia” or “Golden Opportunity” and is one of the biggest websites in Greece covering real estate, careers, and cars for sale. At the moment, only the real estate section of the website can be found in English. For the rest, you will need to either use Google Translate or ask a friend for help.
General Websites
Remember the stingy, miserable character that loves to ruin Christmas for everyone from the Charles Dickens’s novel, A Christmas Carol?
Ebenezer Scrooge spelled Skroutz in Greek must be the inspiration behind this popular website that allows you to find the best price deal across multiple websites offering the same item or product across the internet.
While there is no English version, my experiment with Google Translate worked quite well.
Update: There is now an English, Romanian, Bulgarian and German version of the site.
This is a second hand items website that allows users to list anything from garden items, furniture and phones to professional services and cars. There is also no separate English version.
Whether you are staying in a country for a few months or a few years, it is always nice to know how to say a few things. This is a new website, simple and straight forward with the FREE lesson resources on offer. What appealed to me most when browsing free resources for Greek language learning is the simple layout and few basic categories that it prompts people to visit.
At the moment there are a few dozen lessons covering grammar, listening and repeating, and “short dialogue” prompts that are perfect for anyone who is just starting.
I have a feeling they will grow into a great resource for all things Greek Language Learning.
Update 2021: Unfortunately this website closed down.
In Athens and Thessaloniki, road closures due to strikes or changes in the public transport schedule are quite common. This website has a running list of scheduled strikes around the country for ferries, buses, and trains. It is also in English which really helps!
Community Websites on Facebook
Greece is not as tech-savvy as you would expect. We are good at a lot of things but learning how to move to a digital world has taken quite a bit of time. This is obvious to anyone who has had to deal with paperwork, banks, and the government. The official websites are infrequently updated, lacking in information, and even confusing.
(Obviously, this is coming from someone who has lived in New Zealand for the past 8 years, where everything and anything can be handled through the internet with incredible ease).
Often the best way to get information or ask for advice is online community groups for expats on Facebook or other social media platforms. I am specifically focusing on Facebook because it is the most popular networking site in Greece and where you can find both locals and expats under one roof.
NOTE: You might need to request and join quite a few Facebook groups to see how they are run and what type of engagement they have (if any at all). Often some groups are heavily overrun with advertisements for different businesses, job placements, or rentals.
Some of my favorites so far are here:
One of the largest Facebook groups with almost 30k members, this is a broad choice if you are not going to be living in one of the major cities. It is well monitored by admins, there is a limit on “spam” posts and frequent engagement from the community.
Update 2024: This group is now up to 62k members!
This is my go-to Facebook group when looking for advice or recommendations. It is much smaller with under 10 thousand members and has a very active community.
Update 2024: This community is now over 70 thousand members strong!
Girl Gone International
This is a global friendship network of international ladies that is present in Athens and now Thessaloniki. As the community manager for Thessaloniki, this is one group I am personally very involved with. If you are new to a city and looking for some international friends to go to fun events with, this might be for you!
Update 2024: I am no longer a community organizer for Thessaloniki but I still very much would recommend you check it out.
Buying and Selling Pages on Facebook (main cities)
There are a couple of Facebook pages for buying and selling, especially for Athens and Thessaloniki. I have not had any luck finding quality products or even interesting listings on most of these Facebook pages.
One of the reasons could be that buying or selling second-hand is still very new in Greece. Even the idea of buying online might be too much for some people, so adding the “already used” factor doesn’t help.
However, I have had success with Facebook Marketplace in Greece for small items, and furniture.
Finding Job Websites in Greece
The issue with pretty much any job board advertising work opportunities in Greece is that they will be written in Greek and targeting people that speak Greek. If you already speak some Greek that’s awesome!
But it’s also possible you have already moved to Greece with a job offer or that you are self-employed or working online. Unemployment rates in Greece have never looked good in the last decade and due to the crisis, even extremely well-educated people with multiple degrees have chosen to leave the country to purse career opportunities outside of Greece.
However, this doesn’t mean finding work in Greece is futile.
Randstad often has listings catering to English speakers or expats but word of mouth, LinkedIn or Facebook boards are often the best way to go about it.
Linkedin is probably the best way to filter, search and apply for jobs.
Delivery Websites in Greece
It is impossible to walk down the street in Greece without running into a bakery or pâtisserie shop or “gyradiko”. There are food outlets everywhere and that doesn’t even include the coffee spots that we so love to frequent.
In addition to having an overwhelming amount of options, “delivery” or having your food, coffee, and drinks sent to you is very common. I have gotten food delivery at home, the beach, a public park or even the hairdresser’s office while waiting to dye my hair.
The biggest website at the moment for online delivery is e-FOOD followed by Wolt.
They have a user-friendly interface, daily deals, lots of participating businesses on offer and you can also see what the minimum spend is for an order, how long you will have to wait and ratings and reviews for every business.
A similar business mode is Deliveras.gr.
Note: Pretty much every coffee and food establishment also has their own “personal” delivery service, so if you have settled on a place you like you can call them and order directly from them.
Update: Deliveras.gr is no longer active.
Websites for Events in Greece
Xpat Athens was established back in 2007 by international visitors to Athens and has recently become a registered non-profit organization. The aim is to provide people with access to information and resources regarding events and happenings in the city.
As you can expect everything is written in English and there is also an incredibly useful section of the website called the “Directory” where you can find information on everything from nurseries, local charity shops, real estate agents, or language schools in Athens.
They also have a “classifieds” section if you are looking to buy or sell something or need to advertise for a job position.
Another great website in English and Greek where you can find and book tickets for the latest shows, performances, and music festivals.
ESSENTIAL INFORMATION
Must Know When Visiting Greece
- Emergency: Dial 112 for all emergencies. For police, dial 100. For ambulance 166. For fire dial 199.
- Language: English is widely spoken in most tourist areas. Common phrases to learn are “Kalimera” (Good morning), “Yia” (Hello and Bye – informal), and “Efharisto” (Thank you).
- Water: Tap water is safe in Athens, mainland Greece and a small number of islands. Always ask beforehand.
- Driving: Right-hand side, international driving permit recommended. Book your rental car with Discover Cars for the best rates and comparisons across all major and local companies.
- Accommodation: Booking.com for the most options on hotels, apartments and hostels. Free cancellation in a lot of places and no need to pre-pay. Great for their rewards points system.
- Islands: There are a lot of islands, spread out around the country. Start with a map or ferry service to get an idea of travel times. Ferry Scanner is the best for ferry bookings to the Greek islands.
- Activities: From cultural sights to day trips, food tours and city guides, use Get Your Guide.
- Public Transport: For Athens, use the Athens Metro. If you are not renting a car, use Trains (Hellenic Train) or KTEL (Public Buses) services.
- Domestic Airlines: The main airlines for air travel are Aegean Airlines and Sky Express. I recommend Aegean Airlines and its rewards program.
- Taxi: Always use a taxi app, instead of flagging down a taxi from the road. Use FREE Now (formerly BEAT).
- Culture: A siesta nap is still common in less touristy areas. This also means businesses will close between 2 PM – 5 PM. Except for hospitality businesses, everything is closed on Sundays.
