For tourists with limited time (particularly when visiting in the summer), I always suggest just a few days in Athens to see the sights, and then move on to other parts of the country that are more fitting for a vacation/holiday experience and do more justice to the country. For the longer term, however, it is a great city to live in, with great neighborhoods, great culture, incredible nightlife, and especially the city’s ongoing transformation which started in the late 1980s, but gained speed in preparation for the 2004 Olympics. This momentum did not stop with the Olympics; there’s new iconic buildings going up by world-renowned architects such as Bernard Tschumi and Renzo Piano, and the city is always restoring and reinventing new chic neighborhoods like Gazi and Psirri. However, I wouldn’t suggest the city for the summer, particularly August when the Athenians leave the city en masse. When the weather’s nice, you want to be in the countryside not in Athens.

Most of the touristy islands will have the atmopshere you’re probably looking for, particularly Mykonos, Rhodes, Crete, Corfu, Santorini, Ios, Paros, Zakynthos, and Kos. for a quieter place, some excellent suggestions are Cephalonia, Lefkada, Spetses, Syros, Skiathos, and the Chalkidiki pensinsula.

In addition to working in a bar, you can also look for jobs at a hostel.

My advice: keep looking online, and see if you can find work at a hostel, rather than a bar. Keep in mind that you face lots of competition with other young people looking to do a working holiday. A lot has changed since your mom did this 30 years ago.

What country are you coming from?