Don't panic, someone is having you on! We were paying around 25 to 30 euros for a starter each, a drink of wine or orange, and a main, with bread. Sweet something was provided at the end of the meal, and usually raki as well. (We didn't usually drink the raki as OH was driving, but if a meal had cost what you were told we would have taken it with us!) That price was for the two of us, not each. I'm sure prices vary (we were near Chania) but not by that much!!!!!

Enjoy your holiday.

I found that when I went to Crete in 2006 & 2007 the prices had increased slightly and also the decay of the Euro not helping matters.

Generally we found that eating out and drinking was similar prices to the UK, around 2.5-3.5 Euro's for a large Mythos and a meal was costing around 30-40 Euro's for 2 of us (including a few alcoholic drinks each), then there's always the free raki for dessert lol.

We were spending an average of 100 Euro's every two days but we were on a fairly tight budget then so couldn't afford any day trips or the 50 Euro for jet bike hire. Still, we had a wonderful time and would love to back (especially to Rethymnon) but may wait until the Euro is a bit stronger (hence the reason we're going to Turkey this year - at around 2.9 Lira to the £ it's looking very appealing - only 17 more sleeps til we fly ).

I would budget on around 1,000 Euro's per week if you want an extravagant holiday or 500-700 Euro's per week for an average hol.

Hope this helps anyone travelling to Crete anytime soon
It seems that the Crete discussion thread is very inactive this year - maybe due to the low Euro, I've heard that Turkey is very popular this year and again I'm sure it's to do with the Lira doing so well at the moment - almost an all-time high

Cheers,

Justin

Hi Sunseeker 2011,
I've just returned from Crete and found prices little changed in recent months. VAT on food goes up to 23% today however so that may change things. I feel sorry for the locals who will not be able to pass on the full increase for fear of losing customers. Main thing I noticed was fewer Brits but many more Athenians on holiday.

By the way you might be better off waiting for the Euro to weaken (not strengthen as you suggest in your post!).

When you say changed can you give an example of prices, eg salad, sandwich, beer, water in a restaurant?

Hi sooze29,
I've never bought a sandwich in a Greek restaurant but a 500ml beer is typically 3-4 euros and a salad 2-3 (enough for 2 people). A meal for 2 comes to about 35 euros as long as you stick to local dishes. If you stay in the western region just ask for a jug of water which comes from the White Mountains and is much purer than English water. In the East the water quality is bad so order a bottle (about 2 euros for a litre in a restaurant). If you want steaks and other non-Cretan food you'll pay twice as much.
Overall it's about 20% cheaper than England (before the VAT increase!). Hope this helps.

Very useful thanks, Yes we prefer Cretan dishes and hope to avoid chips at all costs!

Richard1 we've been back from Agia Marina a couple of weeks now, sad to see Make Up Bar was closed. All in all we didn't notice much difference in the price of eating out but the supermarkets were slightly more expensive.

Hi Groovychick,
Hope you had fun. We were there end August and found the same. Yes we noticed the sad state of the Make-Up bar plus a few other closures but it was generally busy in the restaurants with more Athenians in evidence than usual.