Renowned as one of the few countries that managed to keep tourism alive during the pandemic, it comes as no surprise that Greece is featured on most travel sites’ lists of places to visit in 2022. Tripadvisor’s Travelers’ Choice Awards for destinations, which were announced yesterday, are based on traveler reviews and ratings for accommodations, restaurants and activities, and again, Greece stood out as one of the most recommended countries. Four Greek destinations are featured in four out of seven categories – occupying seven places in total.

In the main category, Popular Destinations, we find Greece’s largest island, Crete, in fifth place. “The birthplace of both the king of the Olympian gods and of modern European civilization, Crete is a Mediterranean jewel,” Tripadvisor’s description reads.

Crete is featured again as number three in the Sun Seekers category, where we also find the islands of Rhodes and Santorini, in eleventh and fourteenth place respectively. Rhodes and Santorini are also listed at third and tenth place in the Trending Destinations category, naming the places around the world that showed the greatest increase in popularity last year.

Athens just makes the City Lovers list, placing as number 24 on a list of 25 cities worldwide, which still is an accomplishment for a city that until recently was known mainly as a stopover on the way to the archipelago.

There seems to be no doubt among travelers that Greece is still, as it always has been, a wonderful place to spend a summer vacation. Only in three categories were no Greek destinations to be found: Destinations for skiers, outdoor enthusiasts, and food lovers. Italy, Greece’s nemesis in the unofficial war of cuisines (if you missed it, Gordon Ramsay recently declared Greek food better than Italian, in his latest show currently on FOX) has three cities listed as among the most popular with food lovers – a sign, perhaps, that Greek gastro tourism should up its game. As for outdoor enthusiasts, the government is hoping to increase popularity in the country’s alpine destinations, and their natural environments suitable for all types of mountaineering, through a commercial campaign.