Hold an ordinary Georgian biometric passport and you need no visa for Greece — you may stay up to 90 days in any 180-day period. That leaves three real decisions: which island, which month and how many nights. This guide answers all three, with our 2027 dates and the entry rules quoted from the sources.
Two things did change in 2026. Georgians holding a diplomatic, service or official passport now need a visa; an ordinary passport is untouched. And at the border a digital system has replaced the passport stamp: on your first crossing your fingerprints are taken and your photograph captured. The official wording is further down — the holiday comes first.
Crete or the Cyclades — which to choose
Crete — one hotel, sea and mountains
The Crete 7-day escape keeps all six nights in the same hotel near Chania: you unpack once and the rest of the week belongs to the sea. It opens with a welcome dinner by the Venetian harbour. One day goes to Elafonissi, where the sand runs pink into a shallow, warm lagoon; one is a boat day to Balos and Gramvousa, with swimming stops and lunch on board; one climbs unhurried into the stone villages of the hills, with a family taverna lunch and local wine. Two days are completely free, and the Samaria Gorge is an optional extra.
In the price: six nights with breakfast daily, airport transfers on Crete, the Elafonissi and Balos excursions, the welcome dinner and a guide who works in Georgian and English. The group runs from six to fourteen and the route is physically easy.
Who it suits: couples, and anyone who wants a real rest by the sea rather than a new hotel every second day. It works for families too — one base, no daily packing.
The Cyclades — three islands in eight days
The Cyclades island hop strings three islands together: two nights on Santorini, three on Naxos, two on Paros. Santorini brings Fira and Oia, a caldera boat trip out to the hot springs, and the sun dropping into the caldera. Naxos brings long golden beaches, the marble Portara gate and the mountain villages of Halki and Apiranthos. Paros brings Naoussa harbour and its coves. Naxos and Paros each give you a free day.
In the price: seven nights in hotels we picked for location and character, with breakfast daily; every inter-island ferry; every transfer on the ground; the Santorini caldera boat trip. Group departures travel with a Georgian-speaking coordinator, two to fourteen people.
Who it suits: anyone who wants the postcard Greece, with variety inside the same week. The route also runs private from two travellers, on your dates, starting from any island; a proposal sets out what is included and on what terms.
Not settled on either? Plan your trip with us: tell us the month, the number of travellers and the budget, and you get an itinerary and a price within 24 hours.
When to go
Our own calendar answers it: departures run every second week, late May to mid-September.
- Late May and June. Long days, islands not yet crowded. The first Crete departure is 29 May.
- July and August. The liveliest months, and the busiest. If school holidays fix your dates, book three to four months ahead.
- September. The best compromise for most travellers: summer sea, far fewer people. These dates fill first.
Month-by-month weather and sea temperatures, the best window for a family trip and how prices move are in their own guide: when to visit Greece.
Getting there from Tbilisi and Kutaisi
Tbilisi International Airport's route map lists three direct Greek routes: Aegean to Athens, Aegean to Thessaloniki, Sky Express to Athens. From Kutaisi, Wizz Air sells two Greek destinations on its own site — Athens (ATH) and Thessaloniki (SKG) — often the easier airport from western Georgia.
For scale, on 9 October 2026 Wizz Air showed one-way economy fares from Kutaisi to Athens from GEL 139 and to Thessaloniki from GEL 169, and Aegean listed Tbilisi–Athens from EUR 83 for December through March. These are "from" fares and move fast — Wizz Air notes its figures were collected in the previous 48 hours. Flights are not in our price: we quote the current fare for your dates, so you see one all-in figure.
You reach the islands by ferry. Blue Star Ferries states the crossing from Piraeus takes from 6 hours 6 minutes to Santorini, from 5 hours 20 minutes to Naxos and 4 hours 10 minutes to Paros, with daily routes to all three. Our inter-island hops are far shorter, one to two hours; we book the tickets and set the schedule so a delayed ferry never costs you a night.
Dates and how to book
The group departures on sale now are the 2027 season:
- [Crete](/en/greece/crete-7-day-escape): 29 May, 12 and 26 June, 10 and 24 July, 7 and 21 August, 4 and 18 September.
- [Cyclades](/en/greece/cyclades-island-hop): 5 and 19 June, 3, 17 and 31 July, 14 and 28 August, 11 September.
Stated plainly: none of these is yet a guaranteed departure. Crete confirms from six travellers, the Cyclades route from two, and we tell you a week ahead whether the group made up. If not, you choose: move date, travel at the small-group price, or take a full refund.
What the price does not cover, on either route: international flights, meals not listed in the programme, optional excursions (the Samaria Gorge on Crete, for instance) and travel insurance.
Sending a request is not a booking and costs nothing: you pay once we have confirmed your places. On group departures you cancel free if more than 14 days remain; between 7 and 14 days, half comes back. Full terms: our cancellation policy.
For a real budget — flights, hotel classes, on-the-ground spending — see what a Greek holiday costs from Tbilisi. For a figure on your dates, ask us.
Visa, border and documents, from the official sources
Ordinary passport: no visa. The Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs publishes a table with three columns — ordinary, diplomatic and service passport. The Georgian row reads: ordinary visa-free, diplomatic visa, service visa, marked "(NOTE 1)".
Note 1 is about biometrics. Note (1) on that table states that the visa requirement exemption "should only apply to holders of biometric passports". A non-biometric Georgian passport is therefore not covered.
What was suspended in 2026. The European Commission's visa policy page states that visa-free travel is suspended for Georgians holding diplomatic, service and official passports, from 6 March 2026 until 6 March 2027, under Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/496 of 6 March 2026. The Commission is explicit that this covers those three categories only, not all Georgian citizens. The EU's External Action Service says the measure runs for 12 months and the Commission may extend it for up to 24.
The 90/180 rule is not a calendar year. As the Commission puts it, a short stay in the Schengen area is up to 90 days in any 180-day period. The 180 days begin when you enter a Schengen country, not on 1 January, and within that limit you may come and go as often as you like.
Passport and paperwork. Per the EU's Your Europe guidance (page last checked 19 August 2026), a non-EU traveller's passport should be valid for at least three months after the date you intend to leave the EU, and must have been issued within the last ten years. A border officer may ask you to justify the purpose and specifics of your stay, including proof of sufficient financial means, and may also ask for an invitation letter, proof of lodging and a return ticket. From us you get a booking confirmation, your hotel confirmation and a pre-trip pack with flight and meeting details.
EUR 50 a day: what it is and is not. In the Commission's table of reference amounts fixed by national authorities (document dated 8 June 2026), Greece lists EUR 50 per person per day, EUR 25 for a minor and a EUR 300 minimum for a stay of up to five days. This is not spending money and does not belong in your budget — you only need to be able to show you have it.
EES: the new procedure at the border. Per the European Commission, the Entry/Exit System (EES) began progressive operations on 12 October 2025 and became fully operational on 10 April 2026, from which date it replaces the stamping of passports. It records fingerprints and captured facial images plus your name, travel-document data and the date and place of entry and exit. The Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed, in an announcement dated 16 April 2026, that Greece implemented EES in full on 10 April with the rest of the Schengen area. For a traveller:
- On your first crossing you give your fingerprints and have your photograph taken at the border.
- The data is stored for three years.
- No pre-registration is needed, and registering costs nothing.
- Failure to comply with the biometric data collection requirement could result in a refusal of entry to the Schengen area.
So allow extra time at the border on your first crossing, especially with an onward connection in Athens to an island.
ETIAS is not running yet. The EU's official pages state plainly that ETIAS is not in operation, that no applications are being collected, and that the EU will announce the start date several months before launch. Per the Commission's page the fee is set at EUR 20 (up from EUR 7), taking effect once the system is operational. Georgia appears by name on the list of visa-exempt nationalities who will need an authorisation, and Greece is one of the 30 countries that will require it. ETIAS is not a visa.
Every rule in this section was checked against the official sources on 9 October 2026. The suspension expires on 6 March 2027, so we re-check before a booking is confirmed.
Why book with us
Traverse is a registered tour operator based in Tbilisi. We have run tours since 2019 and hosted more than 6,000 travellers in that time. On these two routes the group never exceeds fourteen. We ask no prepayment to make a request, and if we ever cancel a departure you choose a full refund or a free transfer.
"The best sea holiday we've had… Elafonissi is a dream." — Nino K., Crete, June 2026. More reviews here; every current trip and date is on the Greece page.
Ready? Get in touch — WhatsApp reaches us fastest, every day 09:00 to 21:00. Tell us the month, how many are travelling and your budget, and you will have an itinerary and a price within 24 hours.
