Greece: Another country you can visit without a vaccine

The real problem you are going to face if you are going to Greece will be getting there because depending on where it is you are starting from there is a good chance that there will not be direct flights and with the world going covid bananas still, there might be restrictions that already do exist or will start to exist as far as international travel is concenrned.

However, at least for now, with a negative PCR test you can enter Greece without being vaccinated and although I have never been there I hear some good things from people that have visited recently or are living the nomad life there now.

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This isn't to say that you can just rock up to Greece and galavant around without a care in the world, they still have some rather obnoxious public protocols in the major cities so if you wanted to go there for a history tour of the ancient sites it might be more trouble than it is worth. In all areas that would normally attract crowds, particularly if they are indoors will require constant masking. I know that this doesn't bother some people and there are a few people out there whose mindset I do not understand that actually prefer it. Just know that you will be subjected to it in areas where there are people.

Also, in major cities going to any indoor dining or entertainment venue can be complicated for the unvaccinated: In order to be admitted if you do not have a vaccine pass, you will be required to provide a negative Covid test no more than 48 hours beforehand. Therefore, as you might imagine, this can end up involving a lot of having your nose probed.

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While this might be a deterrent to some people it wouldn't be much of a factor for someone like me because I have no desire to be in crowded places any longer than I have to be anyway and if you can tolerate it while in the airport, you can make your way to the beach areas where although the restrictions are technically still existent, they are rarely enforced according to friends of mine that are currently there.

They have told me that basically you just need to have a mask with you and put it on in certain, very limited situations. Also, the dining establishments at the beaches were always catering to outdoor dining anyway so this has very little impact on whether or not you can eat there vaccinated or not.

While it isn't nice to gloat about this, Greece beach areas depend heavily on tourism and because of the near complete lack of it over the past year accommodation is significantly less expensive than it normally would be.

Also, the beaches at basically every point up until the past year would be in my opinion overcrowded and that is not the case now.

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_{This is NOT what it looks like now}

My friends are in the Corfu area at the moment and they have informed me that it is absolutely delightful and less than half what it would normally cost. Villas on monthly rates are practically being given away for those bold enough to make the journey.

Some places are enforcing a 1am to 5am curfew but again, for most people I don't think that this would be much of a hindrance since most people I know are in bed during those times anyway. The crazy nightlife of some parts of Greece are operating if that is your thing but just know that the unvaccinated are going to need to provide a negative test taken in the past 48 hours to get entry and even then it is left up to the owners whether or not they wish to discriminate against "pure bloods."

Also a lot of venues are insisting, strangely, that people remain seated unless arriving or departing or using the restroom so this isn't going to be a great time to mingle if that is your thing. Once again, at the beach areas, a lot of these regulations are ignored although they technically do exist.

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_{They still have the sexy greeters that definitely do not like you but are great at pretending they do}

There is a downside though, especially if you are really nervous about Covid: Greece is considered a hot spot by a lot of the world's governments because they started to ease travel restrictions well before a lot of their neighbors. I don't know about the accuracy of their opinions but both the UK and USA are urging people to NOT travel to Greece right now as it is considered a "high risk" country.

I do not concern myself with such thing but if you are unvaccinated be prepared to be required to go through some additional steps in order to return to your home country, especially the UK. These are ever-evolving so I am not going to post specifics about the here.

So the upside of Greece right now is that it is likely around 50% the cost that it would normally be for lodging and compared to other places the restrictions are a lot more relaxed, especially at the beach areas. This could be a wonderful opportunity to get a discount vacation - it might actually be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Take advantage of it if you can.