Price rises in Greece

[Petra]

If anyone is thinking of going to Greece this year just thought you might want to know that our friends have just informed us that petrol has just gone up to 1.55 a litre and I guess diesel is the same. Also VAT has just gone up so everything else is bound to rise.

 

They said that petrol is also going up again as well as cigarettes and alcohol. It is a big problem in Greece as they are cutting salaries and pensions so expect a few strikes to take place. Dont book anything in advance unless you are travelling at peak times.

[Brian Kirby]

Hi Petra

Well, we're booked from Ancona mid April!  Is that 1.55 Euros, or Sterling equivalent?  Have they said what the new VAT rate actually is, and when/by how much the next increases are expected to be?  Since we're now committed it might help the planning a bit!

BTW, your details say you are in Crete, but I assume you are not at present?

[EJB]

Wikipedia suggests that it's rising from 19% to 21%.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Value_added_tax

 

Well down the page ;-)

[Guest JudgeMental]

Mmm....Last thing they need to do on top of all their problems is to damage the tourist trade *-)

 

30 years ago they used to issue tourist vouchers for fuel because prices where so high.....Perhaps time to introduce some inducements to visit :-S

[Hymer C 9.]

Brian Kirby - 2010-03-09 1:11 PM

Hi Petra

Well, we're booked from Ancona mid April!  Is that 1.55 Euros, or Sterling equivalent?  Have they said what the new VAT rate actually is, and when/by how much the next increases are expected to be?  Since we're now committed it might help the planning a bit!

BTW, your details say you are in Crete, but I assume you are not at present?

Brian I would say when we went to Greece last year, we found it more expensive in general than the rest of Europe, it is well worth taking any general supplies you can with you, having said that we stayed on some lovely sites in Olive & Lemon Groves and beautiful scenery. The wild flowers in April were stunning. Carol.

[creakyknee]

Is this a sign of things to come here, after the election ,or even with the budget on the 24th.

[kenny]

This is the reason we are still in Sicily cannot make our minds up about going to many reports about costs

[Brian Kirby]

Hymer C 9. - 2010-03-09 8:35 PM Brian I would say when we went to Greece last year, we found it more expensive in general than the rest of Europe, ................. Carol.

Thanks for this.  Was there anything in particular you found more expensive?  I'm aware Spain and Portugal tend to be a bit cheaper than France (which we find on a rough par with UK), and (especially) Italy, Austria and Germany a bit more expensive - so I'm struggling a bit to gauge where you are making the comparison.

[Hymer C 9.]

Brian Kirby - 2010-03-10 4:08 PM

Hymer C 9. - 2010-03-09 8:35 PM Brian I would say when we went to Greece last year, we found it more expensive in general than the rest of Europe, ................. Carol.

Thanks for this.  Was there anything in particular you found more expensive?  I'm aware Spain and Portugal tend to be a bit cheaper than France (which we find on a rough par with UK), and (especially) Italy, Austria and Germany a bit more expensive - so I'm struggling a bit to gauge where you are making the comparison.

It was the cost of food in general and quite often finding good quality produce was difficult, some of the supermarkets the veg was well past the sell by date and we bought of markets when we could but more expensive than the UK one silly thing that sticks in my mind a Lemon Cake we often but from Lidyl for £1.40p in UK cost equivalent of £3.40 for exactly the same cake.A cauliflower was £2.80p. Stopped on the side of road to buy cherries and he wanted £6 for a med size bag, we spent 3 weeks in Greece from there had a month in Italy which was cheaper than Greece, from there a month in France which was cheaper than both. Ed and I have both said we will never complain about the UK again because at the moment it is cheaper for good quality food than anywhere else on the continent.Having said that, the scenery different experiences, makes it all so worth doing just that forewarned is forearmed.Just one real word of caution if you are travelling on the Metro into Athens take great care, one of the people we were with had them money taken out of their bag, another caught a woman with her hand in her pocket and screamed out in the carriage, and 2 woman of East European heritage did their best to get us off at the wrong stop I know everywhere there is risk but we have been to Athens 3 times and found the difference this time markedly different.

[Brian Kirby]

That's helpful Carol, thanks very much.

[terry1956]

Things are going up all over europe, france is a rip off most of the time re food, and I have a house there so do know some good places to shop. germany is far better and austria better still, the fuel is also cheaper in austria then france, germany or italy and if you keep off the main camp sites in austra there are lots of stop overs that are free or cost next to nothing.

I have not been to spain for a few year as i was sick of driving around a building site. Love italy and plan to go back in may.

terry

[Petra]

Sorry not to have responded earlier but are in the process of moving this week and intend changing our location as soon as we are settled.

 

THe petrol rate is 1.55 euros. We found the cost of living, apart from household bills such as council tax and water, quite high. Food in Lidl varies as much as UK supermarkets with some things cheaper and some more expensive. Wine however is much cheaper and LIdl seem to have quite a good wine buyer. Markets for fresh food tend to be good up until around May when package tours start and then the traders increase the prices to tourists.

 

Not sure when the VAT rate was likely to be increased. Petrol if it gets too high tends to get regulated by the Government. It is quite cheap around Patras and we always fill up there when leaving or arriving. On the islands it tends to be more expensive.