Oia, Santorini Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Oia_Sunset_4.jpg Author: karol m
Greece is a country at the southern end of the Balkan Peninsula in Europe. It is bordered by Albania, Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and by Turkey to the east. To the east and south of mainland Greece is the Aegean Sea. A vast part of Greece comprises islands and islets in the Aegean Sea.
Greece has a total area of 131,990 square kilometers (50,944 square miles), and an estimated 2010 population of 11.3 million. The capital of Greece is Athens, a city of over three million people. Euro is the official currency in use.
Greece receives over 17 million visitors per year, making it one of the top 20 tourist destinations in the world. Visitors to Greece are drawn to its beaches, sunny summer weather, nightlife and historical sites.
Fast Facts about Greece
Official Name: Greece (Hellenic Republic)
Capital: Athens (3,216,000)
Population of Greece: 11,306,000
Currency: Euro
Languages spoken: Greek
Religions: Greek Orthodox
Size: 131,940 sq km (50,942 sq miles)
Windmill in the Cyclades Islands of Greece Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cyclades_Mill.jpg Author: Wolfgang Staudt
Melissani Cave, Kefalonia Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Melissani_Cave,_Kefalonia_3.jpg Author: Matt Sims
Xanthi Hot Spring Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:20091128_Loutra_Thermes_Xanthi_Thrace_Greece_2.jpg Author: Ggia
The Stoa of Philip, Delos, Greece Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Stoa_of_Philip,_Delos.jpg Author: Bernard Gagnon
Getting into Greece
The biggest airport in Greece is Athen's Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport, located in the suburb of Spata. Other international airports in Greece are located in Thessaloniki, Heraklion, Rhodes and Corfu. The national flag carrier is Olympic Air, while privately owned Aegean Airlines offer a vast network of domestic flights with a growing number of European routes.
In addition to taking the plane, you can also enter Greece by train, by driving, by bus, and even by ferry. Greece's international rail hub is located in Thessaloniki. It is connected by train to many European cities. You can also make a land crossing by car into Greece via the former Yugoslavia, or take a car ferry from Italy.
Seeking accommodation in Greece
There are many opportunities to find cheap hotels in Athens as well as in other cities in Greece, particularly online. You should always do your homework, checking out the prices, location, read or rating by past users, to gauge whether the hotel is right for you.
Dear visitor, thank you so much for reading this page. My name is Timothy Tye and my hobby is to find out about places, write about them and share the information with you on this website. I have been writing this site since 5 January 2003. Originally (from 2003 until 2009, the site was called AsiaExplorers. I changed the name to Penang Travel Tips in 2009, even though I describe more than just Penang but everywhere I go (I often need to tell people that "Penang Travel Tips" is not just information about Penang, but information written in Penang), especially places in Malaysia and Singapore, and in all the years since 2003, I have described over 20,000 places.
While I try my best to provide you information as accurate as I can get it to be, I do apologize for any errors and for outdated information which I am unaware. Nevertheless, I hope that what I have described here will be useful to you.