One of the shortest questions you could ask but properly one of the longest answers you can give. Greece is made up of 227 inhabited islands along with the mainland and much more uninhibited. However, though it only comes in 16th place in the list of countries with the most islands and will have to go a long way to beat Sweden who is in first place with an incredible 267,570 islands! You may though find that the water is a bit warmer in the Mediterranean.
The Birthplace of World Civilisation
Amongst other things, Greece is also deemed to be the birthplace of world civilisation. Which is quite a decent claim! What that means for the question, why visit Greece, is that they have plenty of old stuff to look at. We say stuff, but actually, by stuff, we mean buildings such as the Acropolis in Athens and its other 18 UNESCO world heritage sites. Greece is also credited with being the birthplace of things such as western democracy, western history, political science and mathematics to name but a few.
Beautiful Weather
Then we come to the climate and one of the main reasons that Greece traditionally welcomes more than 20 million visitors on average each year. With a total population of just half that figure, it’s no surprise to see that tourism accounts for over 20% of the countries total GDP. It’s also a very good reason to think about visiting this tourist mecca because of the knowledge the indigenous population has about welcoming visitors from abroad. The UK generally provides the majority of holidaymakers to Greece with over 2.6 million each year deciding to either visit the mainland or one of the paradisial islands.
In 2010, Lonely Planet magazine ranked Thessaloniki the world’s 5th best party town and in 2011 Santorini was voted the world’s best and one of the most beautiful islands anywhere on our planet.
Interesting Culture
The Greek culture is also very proud to be the origin of modern philosophy throughout the World. The word pre-socratics represents philosophers born before Socrates who is known to have distanced their views from those before him and contemplated many new theories on which the world still revolves around today. With other philosophers such as Aristotle and his most celebrated student, Plato, Greece has the most interesting and inspiring history which it proudly allows tourists to enter into should they wish.
Why You Should Visit Greece
Greece has the longest coastline in the Mediterranean basin so if it’s crystal, clear water and soft white sand you are after, then this is your ideal holiday destination. With temperatures reaching up to and over 100 degrees for several summer months you can be guaranteed great weather between May and September. In the winter months too the temperature easily holds above 18 degrees in some parts so you can even sit on a beach somewhere at Christmas time only 3 hours or so away from the UK.
Currently, of course, the world is in the grip of an ever-changing pandemic and Greece is no exception so it’s really important to, not only, check the UK government website for travel details but also the rules imposed by the Greek authorities on travellers into their country. You need to check the rules around what colour travel corridor list Greece is on in the UK, the rules around double jabbed entry, if there are any quarantine laws in either country, what insurance cover you can get should you contract COVID whilst in Greece and finally the Greek healthcare system is and could cope with an influx of tourism. If you can answer all these questions then you will not be disappointed when you arrive in Greece, it is a wonderful destination to travel to.
