AP Photo/ Petros Giannakouris

Currently, the first thing you think of when someone mentions Greece is not the usual image of beautiful ancient ruins, sparkling blue water and white sandy beaches, but protests, unrest and unemployment.

And it's precisely because of this image that visitor numbers to the usually popular holiday destination have been falling, and holiday companies are slashing prices as a result. So can you cash in on this trend, and is it worth it?

Holiday tips

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The current situation

Whilst there are no travel restrictions in place for Brits travelling to the economically-troubled country, the Foreign Office does warn of the possibility of regular strikes which are often called at short notice and can be violent. Their advice is to avoid large crowds and demonstrations, and keep an eye on local media as transport links are often closed at short notice due to protests.

Whilst all that sounds scary, if you are travelling to more rural areas of the country, or to the islands, you should face much less of problem.

Holiday tips

Travel Insurance Tips


Holidays

Back in February the already ailing tourist trade suffered further when Foreign Secretary William Hague made an announcement that Britain had plans to evacuate British nationals in the event of major civil unrest. Angry travel companies were forced to further cut prices as holiday bookings slumped.

As a result you can now find some pretty astonishing deals to destinations all over Greece. A week in a four star hotel in Kos including breakfast and flights from Leeds Bradford is just £193 per person on Lowcostholidays.com, while you can stay in Santorini for seven nights including flights from Manchester from just £159 per person with Olympic Holidays.

Teletext holidays is offering a week in Crete at four star villas for £229 per person with flights from London Gatwick, and if you want to enjoy five star luxury in Crete, easyJet holidays has a seven nights half-board deal at a resort and spa including flights from Gatwick for £260 per person.

If you do choose to visit bigger cities like Athens you will likely find yourself rewarded not only with great value accommodation, but with bargains at restaurants and souvenir shops as well.

Currency

Even better news for consumers is that the British pound is performing pretty well against the euro at the moment, so you'll get more for your spending money too. Buying currency at the moment should see you get a decent rate of about 1.2 Euros to the pound.
But don't forget, but your currency in advance and don't wait until you arrive at the airport to exchange - you'll get a much poorer rate and often be charged commission too.

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