Im thinking of moving to Greece, would like advice,experiences..?

Question

Im thinking of moving to Greece, not in the near future but definately in the next 10 years. Ive been there for many holidays, and i love the place..Has anybody made the move to Greece? experiences? What is the health system like? The price of housing..language difficulties..what is it like in the winter months? earning a living..ect..

any advice? it would be great to hear some details..thankyou for any replies..

Answer 1

We moved from the UK to Crete in 2005 and have not regretted it for one minute.

We have found the Greek people to be warm and very friendly, and Crete in particular is very safe place to live. Like you, we visited many Islands and the mainland while on holidays and fell in love with the place. We chose Crete to live because it is a big island and so has more facilities such as decent hospitals, supermarkets and so on.

We have not had much dealings with the health service, but we found it to be top class, as is the dental service. All the health professionls speak perfect English and there is a high standard of care.

There's no Tesco supermarkets here, but we don't miss that - we love to shop at local markets selling local fresh foods - like it used to be in the olden days!

Winters in Crete are cooler and wetter than the summer of course, but the weather is far better than the UK - all year round. Crete is a very green verdant island because of the rainfall, and you get the benefit of it in the Spring when the countryside is full of beautiful flowers, some species only found on this island.

Neither I nor my wife speak Greek to any degree, although we can speak a few words. Almost everyone here speaks English, and if you try to talk to people in Greek they answer in English, because they want to practice it with you!

If you planned to get a job in Greece, you will probably need some language skills, but that depends on the type of job. In the catering/tourist industry, you will need English more than Greek!

The average wage in Greek is one of the lowest in Europe - but then, so are the prices. It is recognised as the cheapest "shopping basket" in Europe.

We love it here mainly for the lifestyle and quality of life. My wife can walk alone at night and not be afraid. The young people here respect authority, the police, older people, and they are polite and fun. There is a strong sense of community here, and we feel welcomed into it.

We have a lot of information for people who are thinking of moving to Crete on our website if you want to learn more:

http://www.completely-crete.com

Of course there are lots of other sites with useful information for you about moving to other parts of Greece.

I do hope you realise your dream like we did.

Regards,

Graham Yates

Answer 2

For the Americans and all the other foreigners that decide to move to Greece, check out the site below. Sometimes it is pretty biased or presents only the bad aspect of Greece but it is useful though.

I think that the language philosophy is quite difficult for English speakers, same as most of the other Indo-european languages.

The average Greek salary is 700 €, pretty low compared to other countries' but it concerns basically public professionals.

The hardest think in my opinion is to start a friendship with another woman.

Edit: Greek people are racists. All they want is your money. They will hate you, they will take your food from your own mouth and they will steal your beer from your own fridge. Greek women will rival you all the time. They will think that you came here in order to mislead their husbands or their boyfriends and will always liken you as a hooker. Are you British? Greeks really hate Brits, just look at how the Greek media present the innocent British tourists who decided to come here for holidays. Greek men always refer to British women as "blonde rags" or "busted sofas"..

Here is what happened to a British tourist in Greece just because he was a Brit:

http://www.yourcelebritystuff.com/wp-con...

Answer 3

lucky! i wanna go to greece..

Answer 4

Seeing as you're British you may find that Cyprus suits you better than Greece. Cyprus has a very similar culture and is regarded by many as a Greek island anyway. But the difference with Greece is that you'll find large british ex-pat communities everywhere. And most cypriots speak English well. They drive on the left and you'll find lots more british products in shops that you are used to; food- and clothes-wise. As the British Empire only left in 1960 you'll find lots of things to remind you of home. Of course, if you want to leave that all behind there are small villages that still have ex-pat communities that are still very greek cypriot in character.

Answer 5

if you are moving to athens, you may be able to find work, but whether it will pay enough to sustain any kind of a life in the city is a whole other thing. wages are low, low, low there. do you speak and read.write the greek language fluently? if not, then you will have great difficulties in managing to live there. the healthcare system (IKA) is archaic and not very good. the doctors are opinionated beyond belief and if you want decent care from an IKA doctor, be prepared to offer brown envelopes stuffed with cash. YES! the country LIVES on bribery and corruption. if you can afford it, private healthcare is much much better. if you have kids, then they will HAVE to learn greek, or be educated in very expensive english/american schools (as far as i know, these are all sited in or around athens and thessaloniki) if you plan to live on any of the islands, then you will have to learn some greek to survive decent;ly.

you say you have had many holidays in greece... forget them. living there and holidaying there are 2 different experiences. in summer, they are all smiles and happy to see you (although thats only true of your money, they dont care a d**n about YOU) in wintertime, the weather is cold and wet and miserable... just like winters in most places. forget the thoughts of 52 weeks a year sunshine and sea... winter IS winter. if you decide to go for it, develop a thick skin.. the local people will not like you or want you there.. they will want your money. are you american? if so, then they certainly will NOT like you at all and in some places they will not want your money either.

all this sounds very negative ...yep.. it is... i lived in crete for 5 1/2 years and was ecstatically happy on the day i finally left. i will never return to greece for even a short holiday.

Answer 6

First of all definitely do your research. Where you choose to live is very important, most islands & resorts are ghost towns in winter, or expats only. It is definitely not like being on holiday! I love living here & would not go back to the uk ever!

Save as much as possible, making a living is tough without knowing the language, the chances are you will only get something in the tourist season, then things like olive picking in the winter.

Once you have visited more places & decided on where you like (I live on the Peloponnese) then you can look into more specifics because the cost of housing for both renting & buying varies a huge amount.

Look at sites such as www.greeceishome.gr where you will find lots of people sharing useful info.

Unlike Ewan I don't regret moving here at all, but I'm not on a holiday island so my experience is probably very different!

Answer 7

Hey Doll, I havent been to Greece, but my advise is to look into it properly, everyones exp is different, speak to an estate agent and legal ppl to see what will be best for you!  but hunni, if this is an opportunity for you to do what you want then go and do it just look into it, cause, you dont want to regret it in the long run, if you dont at least look into what you want..  Hope that made sense to you

Answer 8

Just following what your heart wants to and do not listen to anybody but only you . Your desires . people have different opinions for everything . So follow your instinct and your feelings

Answer 9

Where in Greece?