# escaping to greece



## paulus (Jun 27, 2009)

me and the wife were thinking of escaping the rat race and moving to greece to run a cafe/bar.We were looking at a couple of bars in elounda but we have a 4 yr old and a 3 yr old so schools are a must.Is it easy to own a bar out there or not and would you get custom in winter or could you make enough through the summer not to open in winter.


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## scoobie (May 25, 2009)

paulus said:


> me and the wife were thinking of escaping the rat race and moving to greece to run a cafe/bar.We were looking at a couple of bars in elounda but we have a 4 yr old and a 3 yr old so schools are a must.Is it easy to own a bar out there or not and would you get custom in winter or could you make enough through the summer not to open in winter.


I know ELounda well and spent a few years there. You need to check what English run bars are already still opening in the winter. There were two and to be honest one has been open years. There are not really enough Brits to go around a few bars in the winter months, and without work not enough money to spend in them. If you can open a bar with cheap drinks for the Brits then you will be ok but some of the people have been living there years and there is a rule of loyalty so you need to be aware of that. If the bar you are looking to buy is already run by Brits then you should be ok. Also be aware it is a very quiet year this year in Elounda , the big hotels are not full and have not been all summer. Make sure you take that into consideration when putting in an offer to buy the bar. I would suggest a winter visit there via Athens to get a feel for how things are. When i was there most people go between friends or families houses in the winter rather than out to bars very often. Working 7 day weeks for all the summer often leaves people not wanting to open in the winter anyway. Or just open once a week as one of the places does. There are already the local traditional Greek bars open which are popular with all. 
There will be no problem for schools there and there is a music school and private english/greek lesson school. 
Finally, a couple of the established music bars have arrangements with the tour companies so it would be worth asking around now to find out which bars do and which tour operators and see if you can come to some arrangement with other ones for maybe the "welcome meeting". You give a free drink, something like juice for the kids and a shot for the parents and water or coffee, but it is a good way to advertise and get business through the door. 
Good luck


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