Greece 7-Day Itinerary From Mumbai | Under Rs 1.5 Lakh

Quick Answer: A 7-day Greece itinerary from Mumbai covering Athens, Mykonos and Santorini costs about Rs 1.4 lakh to Rs 1.5 lakh per person in September, including IndiGo nonstop flights (Rs 45,000-55,000 return), a Schengen visa (Rs 9,000), six nights of mid-range stays, ferries, an Acropolis ticket and vegetarian meals. Book flights 8-10 weeks ahead.

Here's the thing about Greece: for years the real cost for Indians was not the hotels or the ferries but the flight. A one-stop hop through Dubai or Doha ate 13-16 hours and Rs 70,000 of your budget before you had seen a single white-washed wall. IndiGo's nonstop Mumbai-Athens flight changed that maths. Eight hours in the air, three departures a week, and return fares that dip under Rs 50,000 if you book early. Prices are approximate as of August 2026, and they move fast around long weekends, so treat every number here as a planning figure rather than a quote.

September is the month to do it. The Aegean is still bath-warm after a long summer, the August crowds have flown home, hotel rates in Mykonos and Santorini fall by 20-30 percent, and you land back in Mumbai a fortnight before Diwali. Couples on a honeymoon budget and families with school-age kids both get a fair deal in this window. This greece itinerary 7 days from india plan is built for a couple sharing rooms, flying IndiGo, and eating mostly vegetarian. Solo travellers should add about Rs 15,000 for single-occupancy rooms.

Getting There From India - The IndiGo Mumbai Athens Flight

IndiGo operates the indigo mumbai athens flight three times a week using a widebody on a nonstop routing of roughly 8 hours outbound and 8.5 hours on the way back. Departures leave Mumbai in the morning and land in Athens early afternoon local time, which means you can be eating dinner in Plaka on your arrival day without a zombie-like layover in the Gulf. Return fares in September hover between Rs 45,000 and Rs 55,000 in economy when booked 8-10 weeks ahead. Leave it to the last fortnight and you will see Rs 70,000 plus.

Delhi travellers get the same nonstop service, and on the days IndiGo does not fly, Air India plus a one-stop option via Istanbul on Turkish Airlines or via Doha on Qatar Airways runs Rs 55,000-75,000 with 12-15 hours total travel time. Fair warning: because the nonstop runs only three days a week, your 7-day plan must start and end on IndiGo's operating days. Check the schedule first, then book the ferries and hotels around it. Doing it the other way round is the single most common mistake travellers on this route make, and it ends in an expensive reroute through Doha.

Do Indians need a visa for Greece?

Yes. Indian passport holders need a short-stay Schengen visa for Greece. Apply through VFS Global in Mumbai (Nariman Point) at least 4-6 weeks before travel. The fee is Rs 9,000 (EUR 90) plus a VFS service charge of about Rs 1,800. Carry confirmed flight and hotel bookings, travel insurance and three months of bank statements.

Greece is one of the more approachable Schengen consulates for Indians, and first-timers routinely get 15-30 day single-entry visas when the paperwork is tidy. Book refundable hotels on Booking.com for the application, then firm up once the passport is back. Travel insurance with EUR 30,000 medical cover is mandatory; a 10-day policy from Tata AIG or Bajaj Allianz costs Rs 1,500-2,500. Keep your ferry bookings in the itinerary letter too. The visa officer wants to see that you know how you are getting from Athens to the islands.

Forex: how much cash should you carry?

Load a multi-currency forex card (Niyo, BookMyForex or your bank's) with euros at roughly Rs 100 per euro and carry Rs 25,000 (EUR 250) in cash per couple. Greece runs on cards in cities and ports, but island tavernas, beach sunbed operators and bus conductors on Santorini often prefer cash. ATMs on the islands charge EUR 3-5 per withdrawal, so draw once in Athens at a bank ATM rather than the orange standalone machines near Monastiraki, which add a brutal conversion fee.

Day 1 - Land in Athens, Walk Plaka Before Dinner

You clear immigration at Athens International around 1.30 pm and the metro (Line 3, Rs 900 or EUR 9, 40 minutes) drops you at Monastiraki. Stay in Plaka or Koukaki; a clean double in a small guesthouse with breakfast runs Rs 8,000-9,500 (EUR 80-95) a night in September. Drop bags, shower, and walk. Adrianou Street is the spine of Plaka, lined with cafes where the waiters will tell you that tourists sit outside and Athenians sit inside because the inside is cooler.

Head uphill to Anafiotika, a cluster of tiny Cycladic-style houses built by island stonemasons in the 1800s, wedged right under the Acropolis rock. The lanes here are barely a metre wide and bougainvillea drips over the walls. Come back down via the Mnisikleous steps, where restaurants have colonised every stair and a Greek salad the size of your head costs Rs 1,000 (EUR 10). For dinner, vegetarians are spoiled: order gigantes (giant white beans in tomato), briam (roast vegetables), spanakopita and a plate of fava. Jain travellers should ask for dishes 'choris kremmydi' (without onion); kitchens will oblige if you ask before ordering.

Day spend: Rs 6,500 (metro, half a night's stay counted to Day 2, dinner, water, a Freddo espresso).

Day 2 - Acropolis at Opening Time, Then Lycabettus at Dusk

Be at the Acropolis gate on Dionysiou Areopagitou at 8 am sharp with a timed e-ticket bought on the official hhticket.gr portal (Rs 3,000, EUR 30 in peak season). The site now caps daily visitors and the 8-9 am slot sells out days ahead. Early morning means the marble underfoot is cool, the light on the Parthenon is golden rather than bleached, and you share the Erechtheion with perhaps 200 people instead of 2,000. By 10.30 am the cruise-ship groups arrive and the experience changes completely.

Walk down to the Acropolis Museum (Rs 1,500, EUR 15) for an air-conditioned two hours among the original Parthenon marbles, then lunch in Koukaki at one of the neighbourhood tavernas on Drakou Street. Afternoon: the Changing of the Guard at Syntagma Square on the hour, a wander down Ermou Street, and a ride on the Lycabettus funicular (Rs 1,000 return) for sunset over the whole city. From up there the Acropolis looks like a lit ship sailing across a sea of concrete. Honestly? It beats the view from the Acropolis itself.

Day spend: Rs 16,500 (stay Rs 9,000 per couple split two ways is Rs 4,500, tickets Rs 5,500, food Rs 3,500, transport Rs 1,500, funicular and coffee).

Day 3 - Ferry to Mykonos and the Little Venice Evening

Two ports serve Mykonos: Piraeus and Rafina. Pick Rafina. It is closer to the airport side of Athens, the ferries are 30 minutes quicker, and tickets are cheaper. The 7.45 am Golden Star or SeaJets fast ferry takes 2 hours 30 minutes and costs Rs 5,500-7,000 (EUR 55-70) in economy class. Book on Ferryhopper three weeks ahead. A counterintuitive tip from regulars: if either of you gets seasick, take the slower Blue Star conventional ferry instead (4.5 hours, Rs 4,000). It rolls far less in the afternoon meltemi wind and has open decks.

Mykonos Town (Chora) is a maze built to confuse pirates, and it still works. Drop bags at a studio in Ornos or on the edge of town (Rs 10,000-12,000 a night for a double in September; inside Chora expect Rs 15,000 plus). Spend the afternoon lost on Matogianni Street, then walk to the Kato Mili windmills by 6 pm and down to Little Venice, where the bars' balconies hang over the water and the spray reaches your table. Sunset beer here is Rs 900 (EUR 9). Nobody minds if you nurse one for an hour.

"Siga siga" - slowly, slowly. You will hear it from every Mykonos taverna owner when you ask how long the food will take, and it is the only itinerary advice the island really has.

Day spend: Rs 17,000 (ferry Rs 6,500, stay Rs 5,500 per person, food Rs 3,500, bus and sunset drinks Rs 1,500).

Day 4 - Beaches, Ano Mera and an Optional Delos Morning

The KTEL bus from Fabrika station runs to Platis Gialos and Ornos every 30 minutes for Rs 200 (EUR 2). Go early. A pair of sunbeds at Platis Gialos costs Rs 3,000-4,000 (EUR 30-40) by September, down from the outrageous August rates, and the water is 24 degrees with a sandy, shallow entry that works for kids. Skip the celebrity beaches on the south coast unless you want to pay Rs 20,000 for a daybed and listen to DJs at noon.

History buffs should instead take the 10 am boat to Delos (Rs 2,200 return plus Rs 1,200 entry), the sacred island where Apollo was supposedly born; the mosaics in the House of Dionysus are the real thing, out in the open, and there is zero shade so carry water. In the late afternoon, catch the bus inland to Ano Mera, a farming village with a monastery and a square of tavernas where a plate of grilled halloumi, fava and a village salad comes to Rs 1,800 for two. It is the one place on Mykonos where prices still feel Greek.

Day spend: Rs 14,000 (stay Rs 5,500, beach Rs 1,750, Delos Rs 3,400, food Rs 3,000, buses Rs 350).

Day 5 - Ferry to Santorini, Fira Cliffs and the Oia Question

The Mykonos-Santorini crossing is the most expensive ferry in the Cyclades: 2 hours 15 minutes on SeaJets or Seajets' competitor Minoan Lines, Rs 7,500-9,000 (EUR 75-90). Take the 10 am departure so you reach the new port at Athinios by 12.30 pm. From there a shared transfer to Fira is Rs 1,500 (EUR 15) per person, or the public bus for Rs 230. Stay in Firostefani or Imerovigli rather than Oia. You get the same caldera view, cave-style rooms from Rs 14,000 a night in September, and you are 10 minutes' walk from Fira's buses and bakeries.

Now the Oia question. Everyone goes to Oia for sunset. Roughly 4,000 people squeeze onto the castle ruins at the western tip at 7 pm, and most of them see the back of someone's phone. Here is what locals will tell you: watch sunset from Imerovigli's Skaros Rock or from the terrace of any Fira cafe facing west, then take the 9 pm bus to Oia (Rs 200) when the crowds have gone, the blue domes are lit, and Marble Street is quiet enough to hear your own footsteps. Dinner in Fira at a family taverna, where gemista (stuffed tomatoes, usually cooked without meat) and Santorini's own white aubergine make a meal for Rs 2,500 for two.

Day spend: Rs 19,000 (ferry Rs 8,000, stay Rs 7,000 per person, transfers Rs 1,700, food Rs 2,300).

Day 6 - Caldera Hike, Akrotiri and a Volcano Wine

The Fira to Oia caldera walk is 10 km and takes about three hours with photo stops. Start at 7.30 am. The path climbs past Imerovigli's white chapels, drops into a gravelly stretch with nothing but the Aegean 300 metres below, and ends at Oia's bus stop with your legs shaking and your camera full. Carry two litres of water per person; there is one cafe on the whole route. Bus back to Fira, then the 12.30 pm bus to Akrotiri.

Akrotiri (Rs 1,200, EUR 12) is a Bronze Age town buried by the volcano around 1600 BC, preserved under a modern roof with three-storey houses and frescoes still on the walls. It is cooler inside than out. Red Beach is a 10-minute walk from the site, and the late afternoon light turns the cliffs the colour of tandoori masala. Finish with a tasting at Santo Wines near Pyrgos (Rs 2,500 for a four-wine flight with a caldera terrace). The Assyrtiko grape grows in volcanic ash and tastes faintly of sea salt; even non-drinkers tend to finish the glass.

Day spend: Rs 16,000 (stay Rs 7,000, Akrotiri Rs 1,200, wine Rs 2,500, food Rs 3,500, buses Rs 800, snacks and water).

Day 7 - Fly Santorini to Athens and Home to Mumbai

Do not try to ferry back to Athens on departure day. The Santorini-Piraeus ferry takes 5-8 hours and a delay in a September meltemi would cost you the IndiGo flight. Instead, book the 9 am Aegean or Sky Express flight from Santorini to Athens (45 minutes, Rs 7,000-10,000, EUR 70-100) a month ahead. You land at 10 am, which leaves a comfortable buffer before the afternoon IndiGo departure to Mumbai. Grab a spinach pie from a Grigoris bakery in the terminal (Rs 300) and use the remaining euros on your forex card at the duty-free olive oil counter.

The return flight lands in Mumbai in the small hours of the next morning, so do not book anything for that day. If your IndiGo day falls one day later than this plan, spend the extra night in Athens' Psyrri quarter for street art, live rebetiko music and a Rs 6,500 room.

Day spend: Rs 10,500 (domestic flight Rs 8,500, airport bus and food Rs 2,000).

How much does a 7-day Greece trip cost from India?

About Rs 1.42 lakh per person for a couple in September, which leaves an Rs 8,000 cushion inside the Rs 1.5 lakh headline. Flights and stays take 55 percent of the budget; the rest is ferries, food and tickets. Travel in July-August and the same plan climbs to Rs 1.9 lakh, mostly because island hotels double.

Where can you trim? Drop Mykonos and spend four nights in Santorini and you save roughly Rs 12,000 in ferries and sunbeds. Swap cave rooms for a family-run pension in Karterados (Rs 7,000 a night) and save another Rs 14,000 per couple. Where should you not trim? The Acropolis timed ticket, travel insurance and the Santorini-Athens flight on departure day. Those three are what keep the whole santorini trip cost from india in the under-Rs 1.5 lakh bracket instead of turning into a rescue mission.

Is Greece vegetarian and Jain friendly?

Very, for vegetarians. Greek Orthodox fasting traditions mean every taverna has five or six meat-free dishes: fava, gigantes, briam, dolmades, spanakopita, horiatiki and fried courgettes. Jain travellers face onion and garlic in most cooked dishes, but grilled halloumi, fresh bread, fruit, feta and fava made to order without onion are safe bets.

Athens has a handful of Indian restaurants around Omonia and Metaxourgeio for when you need dal; expect Rs 1,500 a head. On the islands, Indian food is rare and pricey, so carry theplas and khakhra for the ferry days. Supermarkets (AB Vassilopoulos, Sklavenitis) stock pre-washed salads, yoghurt and olives for Rs 500 picnic lunches that eat into the food budget far less than three taverna meals a day.

When is the best time to visit Greece from India?

Mid-September to mid-October. Sea temperatures stay at 23-25 degrees, daytime highs are 26-28 degrees instead of 35, island hotel rates fall by a quarter, and the Diwali rush has not yet pushed IndiGo fares up. April-May is the second-best window, though the sea is cold and some island restaurants have not opened.

Avoid the Christmas-New Year period for this particular route: Athens is lovely and cheap but the Mykonos and Santorini ferries thin out to one or two a day and half the island hotels close. Summer school holidays in May-June work for families, with the caveat that the last week of June is when European school groups descend on the Acropolis.

Trip Cost Summary