About Greek Trip Planner

Researched like an engineer. Checked like a local.

Most travel advice is a memory: someone went once and wrote it up. Greece changes every season, so we build our guides on current data and official sources, and the people who work in Greek tourism every day check what changes fastest.

Explore the guides How we check our advice

Founder story

Hi, I'm Panos

I was born in Athens and trained as an engineer, and I work with data. I've always liked two things: solving problems and exploring Greece.

For years, friends visiting from abroad asked me for advice, and I'd spend hours on their itineraries. Online, I kept finding Greece advice written by people who had spent a week or two here: lists of “the best islands” from writers who had seen three of them, routes that hopped from the Ionian to the Cyclades as if it were an afternoon ferry. Not wrong exactly, but incomplete and often out of date, which is worse, because you don't know what you're missing.

So I do what an engineer does: start from the data. Timetables, official statistics, operators' own prices, primary sources, cross-checked. Then I ask four friends who have spent their careers in Greek tourism, each in a different part of the country, to check what the data can't tell you: which ferry runs late, which port is chaos in August, which taverna changed hands.

Greek Trip Planner is the result: guides that tell you how Greece is right now, and a free AI planner that turns them into a first draft of your trip. I'm proud of that work, and every guide says how we know what it says.

I now run a small portfolio of country trip-planner sites: Greek Trip Planner came first, then Portugal Trip Planner, with Italy Trip Planner on the way. Each has its own local partners and tells you who checked what.

Panos

The people

Who checks it on the ground

One founder who researches and writes, and four partners who work in Greek tourism every day, in and out of season.

Founder · Athens · Engineer and data analyst

Panos

Researches and writes the guides, builds the trip planner and runs the site. Works from current data and primary sources, and coordinates the checks with our partners.

Peloponnese · Tour operator

Vaggelis

Runs a tour operation across the Peloponnese, from the ancient theatre of Epidaurus to the tower villages of Mani. Knows how long a Mycenae visit really takes and what you can combine in a day. Checks our Peloponnese advice and timings.

Athens, Mykonos, Santorini · Transfers

Panagiotis

Runs a transfer and logistics business in Athens, Mykonos and Santorini. Knows the fastest way from the airport to Plaka, which port to sail from and whether a hotel is really walkable from town. Checks our getting-around and island-logistics advice.

Crete · Hotel owner and tour operator

Kostas

Owns a hotel in Chania and runs tours across Crete, from the Samaria Gorge to the villages of Lasithi. Checks our Crete advice.

Thessaloniki · Hotel supplier

Tasos

Based in Thessaloniki, supplies hotels across Central and Northern Greece: Zagori, Pelion, Halkidiki and the city itself. Checks our advice for the north and the mainland.

Our method

How we know what we know

Every guide carries one label under its title, so you always know where its information comes from.

Label

Researched

Built from current primary sources: the Greek National Tourism Organisation, operators' own timetables and prices, ELSTAT and Bank of Greece statistics, official site ticketing. The starting point of every guide.

Label

Local check

One of our partners has confirmed the details are current and worth recommending. The label names who and when.

Label

Been there

One of us has personally stayed, eaten there or done the trip recently. The label names who and when.

What you get

What makes the difference

What the data and our partners give you that a trip report can't.

Island logistics that work

Ferry links change every season. We plan island sequences that stay in one group and don't waste your holiday in port.

Realistic timing

How long a site visit, a transfer or a crossing really takes, checked by people who move travellers every day.

The mainland beyond the obvious

Zagori, Pelion, the Mani, Prespa: some of the best of Greece is off the usual map, and our partners work there.

Every season

Greece in October is not Greece in August. Our partners work all year, so we hear what changes between seasons.

Honest about hotspots

When a famous place is overrun or overpriced, we say so and suggest the alternative.

A planner on top

The free AI planner turns the same research into a day-by-day first draft of your trip, with the hotels and tours we recommend.

Transparency

How we stay honest

★ Editor’s PickNever for sale

No hotel, restaurant or operator can pay to become an Editor's Pick.

Featured PartnerAlways labelled

Some businesses pay for a Featured Partner placement. They are clearly labelled, shown in separate sections and never mixed in with our picks.

Affiliate links, disclosed

Some links earn us a small commission if you book (hotels, tours, transfers, car hire, insurance). It costs you nothing extra and never decides what we recommend.

Labelled by source

Researched, Local check or Been there: each guide says how we know.

Read our Editorial Policy & Disclosure

Fair question

“If it's good, why is it free?”

Because it started as advice for friends, and we wanted anyone to have it. The site pays for itself through affiliate commissions and clearly labelled Featured Partner placements, not through you. Neither lets anyone buy a recommendation.

And more informed visitors are good for Greece: travellers who choose Tinos as well as Mykonos, drive the Mani instead of only flying to Santorini, and eat at the village taverna instead of the port tourist trap.

FAQ

Questions people ask us

Have you been to every place you write about?

No, and we don't think that's the point. A visit tells you about one week in one year. What you need before a trip is what is true now: this season's ferry links, today's prices, what opened and what closed.

So every guide starts from current data and official sources, and our partners check the details that change fastest. Each guide shows a label under its title (Researched, Local check or Been there) that says which applies. The details are in our editorial policy.

Do you use AI?

Yes, as a research and writing tool, and we say so openly. AI helps gather and organise sources and draft guides; Panos checks and edits every guide before it is published, and AI never sets a “Local check” or “Been there” label. The trip planner is AI too: it turns our guides into a first draft of your trip. How it all works is in our editorial policy.

Who are your partners, and what do they check?

Vaggelis runs a tour operation in the Peloponnese, Panagiotis a transfer and logistics business in Athens, Mykonos and Santorini, Kostas a hotel in Chania and tours across Crete, and Tasos supplies hotels across Central and Northern Greece from Thessaloniki. Each checks the part of our advice that matches what he does every day.

Is this part of a bigger group of sites?

Yes. I run a small portfolio of country trip-planner sites: Greek Trip Planner came first, then Portugal Trip Planner, with Italy Trip Planner on the way. They share the founder, the trip planner and the editorial rules. Content and local partners are separate: on this site, only the people named on this page check the advice.

How does the site make money?

Mainly affiliate commissions when you book a hotel, tour or transfer through our links, at no extra cost to you, plus a small number of clearly labelled Featured Partner placements. Editor's Picks are never for sale. The full detail is in our editorial policy.

Can you help me plan my trip personally?

The free AI trip planner handles most trips well. If yours is complicated (several weeks, islands plus mainland, accessibility needs), email us. We read every message, though we can't always reply in detail.

Contact

Say hello

A question about your trip, a correction, or news that it went well: we like hearing from travellers. If something in a guide is out of date, tell us and we will check it.

Confirmed corrections go into the guide, with the update date
Businesses: see our Featured Partner programme

Email panos@greektriplanner.me Featured Partner programme

Greece, as it is right now

Start with the guides. When you are ready, the free planner drafts your route from the same research.

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