Cost of Living in Athens

Lol Santini is under water Greek citizen I live in Athens flooded too tides have been surging often. Try a different site you Russian trol.

You obviously don't live in Athens but I do,flooding is rampant.

Hold off on visiting Athens or anywhere else in Greece anytime soon. We've had major flooding here over the past month so most areas have been damaged badly.

Hello Im leaving Holland cause they offered me a job in Athene. It’s No problem for me to travel an hour to work If I cam get a Nicer place Instead. Im kinda off modern and I want to keep it like that. Looking for a rent to hire for a year around 400/500 per month. This is where I will be working. 330 Eleftheriou Venizelou (Thisseos) Ave.
17675, Kallithea. This is my first experience.

The cheapest living options are 200€ rooms in shared apartments in the centre-north of the city (around Victoria or Amerikis). I've lived there. They have a negative reputation, and they are actually ugly, but they weren't as bad as one would expect after hearing some comments. Part of their negative reputation are prejudices againsnt African and Muslim immigrants who live there.

Groceries or basic shopping costs are at least 200€ per month and person. Fruits, vegetables and raw ingredients are very common and affordable (though not super cheap, prices are not too different than what I've seen in other countries). Sadly there are very few options (less than in other countries) for "easy meals". If you don't like to cook too much (or you don't have too much time) you can spend a lot in food. Frozen pizzas cost over 4€ and that is if you're luck to find one.

Public transport is affordable with a 30€ monthly card, but it is the worst I've seen in Europe. Only the proper metro is fine, sadly there are only two lines. The "green like" (or train) is overcrowded, some buses are a disaster and so are the trolleybuses. They are not as frequent as they should be and crowd ness can reach extreme levels in some places and times.

The most common street food options are gyro (a brochette) and soulaki ("Greek durum")
The cheapest gyros cost 2€ per brochette (many would get two more though) or 3€ for a soulaki
If you want to sit down the cheapest restaurants cost 10€ per person

Clothes can be affordable if if you go for second hand shops. I've found used jeans for 5€ and used shirts for 1€

Anyway. The best about Athens is how apartment and public transport prices are still cheaper than in most European capitals, but they are often also worse. Maybe the minimum wage to survive in Athens without being homeless is 600€ per month, but that is living with a lot of frustration and poverty, no vices, no enjoyment, no dates, just going for the cheapest and saving absolutely nothing. I would not recommend anyone to move to Athens unless they offer you a wage over 1000€ per month (after taxes)

Was surprised how much I loved Greece. There's a rugged honesty to the people and the country. People are abrupt but very friendly and willing to help if you ask. And as a San Franciscan, my expenses in Greece seemed minimal by comparison. Many people bash Athens, but my sons and I felt safe,and enjoyed the vibrant pulse of the city.

By the way- We can unite the world with kindness and acceptance!

@ #ruff Yea 2K Euros per month are more than enough to do what you describe.

Athens is a fairly safe city, of course depending on the area one lives.

Prices above are a general indication, fairly true at the moment.

#Dutch Citizen, Pride is not a problem with the Greeks, the problem is indifference in critical situations, and lack of respect or professional ( at least) responsibility to what one does or says, something that is very rare here in Greece. so in general, you have to live here to understand these.

Of course there is no comparacing to the ancent Greeks with these new ones, absolutelly not.

Unfortunately for 4 persons family the cost of leaving in athens is far from this amount.if you add also the rent is doubled.search again the numbers the rents are very high and not lower outside the city center but higher

To Pan # Greece is nothing more than a bunch of failures,rejects of society all of Greece.Athens like all of Greece is full of negative minded people who could care less if anyone visits Greece at all.Currently tourism in Greece is down by 93%,yes tourists were listening and observing behaviors of greeks.Greeks openly display their hatred with anyone who's not from their country and even then there's infighting between locals.Greece will turn into another Moldova in the not too distant future, where nobody visits.Greek God's? I think not.

Happy New Year! I am looking for information on cost and logistics of renting a dumpster (possible crew) to clean out a field north of Athens near Marathon. An old trailer, equipment, general debris, old fence, etc. Many thanks!

Athens is indeed a very beautiful city to live in as there are countless of activities to do whether cultural or athletic for example. The climate is wonderful and is considered among the best in the world. As for the cost of living here. As an expat, I highly suggest 'renting' at first until you find your job, get settled and see if you can live here on your salary. Many of the comments from Greeks with homes handed down to them by their parents have answers which differ drastically from someone who has to pay rent and utilities, transportation costs, insurance etc etc. Not only are the salaries very low, jobs are hard to come by for many. Many offices prefer younger adults with less responsiblities, who might be willing to work with no insurance among other things and do so for much less than a family man/woman who has two kids to feed at home. Utilties are sky high. They are nowhere near what is stated here and they include many other costs which triple the bill. The supermarket for a family of four who wants to have three proper meals is no less than 600 euros a month. Anything less means you are taking away. Rent to live in a two or three bedroom apartment differs drastically with the average between 200 and 375 euros in the inner ring suburbs. Crime levels are nowhere near what they are in other European cities. It is generally very safe in most of Athens with the exception of a few neighborhoods which are run down by recent migrants/illegals etc. and the sale of drugs is the primary industry of the area. It is by Greek standards that it is very high as Greece was never a country with violent crime. Petty theft was more or less the crime of yesteryear here. Nowadays we hear of other crimes which was traditionally viewed on TV and is now appearing here slowly. To get back to the cost of living, I have found living in Athens a very good experience overall but to attain a good job quite difficult. On the question of bills it is very hard to keep up with your monthly bills. Keeping the family fed is a challenge. If you have kids, the cost of having a baby and keeping the baby fed for the first two three years is three four times more expensive than abroad. Diapers, formula, creams, baby food and the like is very expensive. Again as I said at the beginning, if you have a house that is paid, and you are working only for yourself, you'll be "okay". If you are married, the two of you will work it out as long as at least one of you is working. If you have a family, unless you are both working and you are bring in at least two thousand euros per month clear, you don't have a chance. You'll be making one sacrifice after the other. Rent, try it out for a year. If you can live here or any other foreign city to you, then make a permanent move. If not, bear the brunt of the difficulties you are going through where you are. It is much more difficult to go through difficult times in a foreign country than your own.

in athens salary is low but you can have better life compare with other cities of europe cause you can have your own big apartment.rentals is so cheap in athens,gyms are cheap,food and nightlife also cheap.supermarket is more expensive than other europe cities but its ok.i stayed in rome before i had better salary but the money was not enought to do the same thing like in athens

710€ salary? Hah! You wish!
Have a masters degree, speak 3 languages and I got 600€ (with a raise included!) and forget about 8 hours workdays. More like 10+.
Why do you think everyone wants to move out of this hellhole?

I live in Athens since 3 years, paying 250€ rent for a very nice 50sqm apartment close the center, in other cities I would pay much as double for a place like this. I spend 30 euros for water and electricity in summertime and 50 in winter, because my heating runs electric. Another 350€ goes for food, but I go to small restaurants nearly every day. Another 70€ I spend for a private health insurance, 30€ for public transports monthly ticket and about 80€ for clothes, shopping, culture and so on. All in all about 850 per month and with this I have a very high standard of living. By the way, cultural, for climate and things to do, Athens is surprisingly great. A good website to get more informations seems movingtoathens.info

Question:
1.How much would a studio or one bedroom apartment cost in a central area?
2.I'm vegetarian; you say that groceries are expensive. What about vegetables?
3.I use the bike to get around. Is it safe to leave it locked in the street? Or do I have to carry it up to my flat?

Thanks...

Is Athens a safe city?
Is it possible live well with 850€ per month?

Rent price is higher. Impossible to find a decent apartment 2bd outside the city centre in a nice neighborhood thars close to public transport for under 550€ unfurnished. And if you're a millennial who wants to get away from parent and live alone it's not possible since salary for people under the age of 26 is 17€ per day and 21€ for 26+ yrs old. And most employers don't give you a bigger salary because the law set the basic salary and they're fine with that obviously. Quality of fun is the only thing that keeps a Greek in Greece but everything else is falling so fast down the hole its devestating and sad but it's so true. That's why Greeks start to move and myself planning to move to the Netherlands for a better tomorrow..