Greece: Essential Travel Tips

Fact file

Area: 131,950 sq km (50,950 sq miles), including around 25,050 sq km (9,670 sq miles) of islands.

Capital: Athens

Population: About 11 million, 10 percent foreign-born. Greater Athens and Piraeús have a population of 4 million. Thessaloníki, the second-largest city, 1 million, and the most populated island is Crete, with just over half a million inhabitants.

Language: Modern Greek

Religion: Predominantly Greek Orthodox Christianity, with small minorities of Muslims, Catholics, Protestant sects and Jews.

Time zone: EET/EEST

Currency: the euro (€)

International dialling code: 30

Transport

Getting to Greece

By air

Almost 50 international airlines, large and small, serve Athens from around Europe and many other parts of the world. Elefthérios Venizélos International Airport (tel: 0210-353 0000; www.athensairport-2001.gr) is at Spáta, around 33km (20 miles) east of central Athens. An expressway called the Attikí Odós links Athens Airport with Elefsína via the northern suburbs, and taxis to the city cost a flat rate of €35 during the day and €50 at night. The Metro runs half-hourly from the airport to the town centre (€8 for one person, discounts for two or more), while express buses prefixed “X” serve a variety of points around Athens every quarter of an hour (€5). All services run around the clock (less frequently 11pm–5am).

As well as being served by the Greek national airline Olympic (www.olympicair.com) and major carriers like British Airways or Lufthansa, as a popular holiday destination Greece also has many low-cost flights, many of which go to other airports apart from Athens. EasyJet (www.easyjet.com) flies from the UK, Germany, Italy and other European countries to Athens and direct to Corfu, Haniá (Chania) and Iráklio (Heraklion) on Crete, Mykonos, Zanthe, Kefalonia and Rhodes, Ryanair (www.ryanair.com) flies to Thessaloníki, Volós, Corfu, Crete and Rhodes and German Wings (www.germanwings.com) flies from Germany to Athens and many of the Greek islands.

By rail

Though Greece is obviously not directly connected to Western Europe it is possible to travel there by train. Getting there all the way overland by the most traditional route (Paris–Munich–Vienna–Budapest–Bucharest–Thessaloníki) is no longer possible since rail connections between Greece and Bulgaria were suspended in 2011 due to Greek government cuts, but you can take a train down through Italy to Bari and then a ferry to Pátras in Greece, from where trains run to Athens. The journey from Paris can take only 48 hours. For information, bookings and an explanation of the routes see www.raileurope.com and www.seat61.com.

By road

Greece is accessible by a number of major European arteries. Roads out of Albania and former Yugoslav Macedonia are pretty bad; the main E75 trunk route through Bulgaria has been improving due to EU money, but still has its dangerous patches.

By sea

Several ferry routes run year-round between Italy and Greece. Brindisi or Bari to Igoumenitsa (near Corfu, 6–7hrs), Corfu itself or Pátras (16hrs) are the most popular routes, but longer, more cruise-style ferries are also available to both Greek ports from Ancona (16hrs to Igoumenitsa, 22–24hrs to Pátras) and Venice (25hrs to Igoumenitsa or Corfu, 36hrs to Pátras). Some of the main operators are Anek Lines (www.anek.gr), Superfast (www.superfast.com) oand Grimaldi Lines (www.grimaldi-lines.com).

Getting around Greece

With so much of its territory as islands, inevitably travelling around Greece inevitably involves extensive use of seagoing transport and flying. Bus services on the mainland (and largest islands) are adequate, though the rail network (mainland only) is rudimentary. Many visitors imitate the car-mad Greeks by renting their own vehicle.

By air

Domestic air services, mostly operating out of Athens, are provided by several internal carriers. Olympic Airlines (www.olympicair.com) has the most extensive network, but you’ll generally have better service from Aegean Air (www.aegeanair.com) or Athens Airways (www.athensairways.com). Crete-based Sky Express (www.skyexpress.gr) offers expensive links between Iráklio and a number of island and mainland destinations. Routes and flight frequencies vary radically between summer and winter.

By rail

Greek train travel is generally slow, if relatively cheap and often scenic. Many schedules have been reduced, and all international trains to Macedonia or Bulgaria suspended, as part of the national austerity programme. The main route north from Athens (Lárissa station) reaches Thessaloníki, where it now ends. Another line operates from Athens (Peloponnese station) to the Peloponnese via Corinth. All trains are run by Hellenic Railways/OSE (tel: 1110; www.ose.gr).

By road

Buses: A syndicate of bus companies, known as KTEL (Tel: 14505), offers relatively cheap and generally punctual service between all major towns (though increasingly rarely to depopulated villages). Additional bus services along major routes are provided by OSE, the state railway. Larger towns will often have different bus stations for different destinations – for example, Iráklio on Crete has three, Thessaloníki still has two (one for Halkidikí, one for everywhere else), and Athens also has two: Terminal A at Kifissoú 100 and Terminal B at 260 Liossíon 260.

Cars: Driving licences from outside the European Union are not officially recognized in Greece, so travellers from elsewhere wishing to drive should obtain an International Driving Permit (IDP). This rule is often waived by rental companies, but it’s still advisable to have one. Vehicles must carry a first-aid kit, warning triangle and a fire extinguisher. Front seatbelt use is mandatory, or risk a €175 fine. Greece has the highest accident rate in EU Europe after Portugal, so drive defensively; speeding, aberrant overtaking and ignoring stop signs are common local driving habits.

Tolls are charged on the two main motorway,: Athens–Thessaloníki and Athens–Pátras. Petrol stations off the main highways generally close by 8pm, but automated pumps operated by banknotes or credit cards are becoming common.

The Automobile and Touring Club of Greece (ELPA; www.elpa.gr) has an emergency road service (tel: 10400). Other organisations, used by car-rental firms, include Express Service (tel: 1154) and Hellas Service (tel: 1057).

Car rental is easily arranged, either on the spot or in advance through the usual websites. All the major international chains are present, but you will often get a better deal through smaller, equally reputable local chains. Even in high season you shouldn’t pay more than €200 per week inclusive.

By sea

Seagoing transport schedules are famously erratic, a feature that has worsened with the economic crisis, and best obtained online from each company’s website.

Ferries: Two websites that try to give an overview of all Greek ferries are www.gtp.gr, updated regularly, and www.greekferries.gr. Major tourist information offices and the Athens News supply weekly schedules, which should not, however, be trusted implicitly. The most authoritative information source on each port’s sailings is the Port Police (limenarhío), which has offices at Piraeús and near the harbours of all fair-sized islands. They post complete timetables and are the final arbiters of whether a ship will sail or not in stormy weather conditions.

Hydrofoils: nicknamed delfínia or “dolphins”, connect Piraeús with most of the nearby islands such as Ýdra, and many of the Dodecanese between Kós and Sámos. In Piraeús the embarkation booths are on Aktí Miaoúli. Hydrofoils tend not to sail in conditions above Force 6.

Catamarans: Also called tahyplóa (high-speed boats), catamarans are newer, purpose-built craft which would have seen off slower conventional ferries were it not for their very high running costs (though fares are often little more). Unlike hydrofoils, they carry cars and are permitted to sail in weather conditions of up to Force 7. The bad news: often there are no cabins (if they finish their journeys before midnight), food service is abysmal and there are no exterior decks. The aeroplane-style seating salons are ruthlessly air-conditioned and subject to an unavoidable barrage of Greek TV on overhead monitors.

Getting around Athens

A Metro system, a tramway, a fleet of buses and taxis do the lion’s share of getting locals and visitors around what is, by Mediterranean standards, a huge city. Suburban rail systems and (for the stout-hearted) driving yourself are more esoteric choices. The centre, however, is compact enough that you’ll often choose to walk to and between attractions.

All city public transport is coordinated by OASA (tel: 210-8200-999; www.oasa.gr). The same tickets are valid for the Metro, trams, buses and suburban rail lines and can be purchased with cash only from counters and automatic machines (coins only) at Metro stations or tram platforms, the yellow and blue booths by some major bus stops or from many newsstands. With single tickets (currently €1.70) you must validate the ticket in the machines at the entry to platforms or on buses before boarding, after which your ticket will be valid for 90 minutes travel. If you are caught with no ticket or an expired one by plainclothes inspectors, you get an on-the-spot fine of 60 times the standard fare. The best strategy is to buy a daily (€4) or weekly (€14) pass allowing you to use all means of transport during that time.

Much of Athens’s public transport system is very modern, having been built or renovated for the 2004 Olympics. However, because of Greece’s financial cuts and austerity programme, services are under severe pressure, and schedules can be reduced at short notice.

By bus

The most useful suburban services for tourists are the orange-and-white KTEL Attikís buses going from 14 Mavromatéon Street, Pédio toú Áreos Park, to Rafína or Lávrio (alternative ferry ports for the Cycládes) and Soúnio (for the famous Poseidon temple there).

Trolley buses running on overhead pantographs have also been upgraded and their routes can be easier to fathom; number 1 links the centre of the city with the main railway station, number 15 calls at the taverna-rich central district of Petrálona, numbers 5 and 9 pass the Archaeological Museum, and number 7 does a triangular circuit of the central districts.

By car

Drive at your peril in Athens during rush hours. The traffic flow is intense and unpredictable and parking space very scarce, so most visitors prefer not to try.

By Metro and tram

The Athens Metro (www.ametro.gr) has three intersecting lines operating from just after 5am until just after midnight. Line 1 (green-coded) is the older ISAP (electric train line) running mostly above ground between Kifissía and Piraeús (for ferries and hydrofoils). Lines 2 (red) and 3 (blue) were inaugurated in 2000. The three city-centre interchange stations are Monastiráki, Omónia and Sýntagma.

There is also a suburban rail service from the airport to Nerantziótissa on line 1, and on to OSE’s Lárissa station; of more interest to most visitors is the tramway, with separate lines from Sýntagma to the beach suburbs of Néo Fáliron and Glyfáda, as well as a link line between the last two.

The tram is circuitous and slowish (though it runs until late), but the Metro is sleek, modern and with adverts kept to a minimum. The most central stations display archaeological artefacts and even entire sections of street or water mains uncovered during the excavation of the tunnels.

By taxi

If a taxi flashes its headlights it wants your custom. If you decide to take it, ensure that the meter is switched on and registering 1, rather than 2 which is the rate from midnight–5am. Don’t be worried if you find yourself joined, en route, by a cross-section of Athenian society going roughly your way. It is perfectly legal for drivers to pick up as many as four passengers, and charge them all individually for the distance they cover, plus the current minimum fare. Tariff rules are posted on dashboard cards in all taxis. There is a surcharge from airports, seaports, railway stations and bus terminals; passengers will also be charged a small fee for luggage.

The alternative is to call a radio taxi. You pay more, but this is worth it if you need a car at a busy time or if you’re luggage-laden. Íkaros, tel: 210-51 52 800; www.athens-taxi.gr, is one established firm. Otherwise your hotel will arrange a pick-up for you.

Greece A–Z

Accommodation

Lodging in Greece includes standard Mediterranean beach hotels, high-standard urban hotels, some worthwhile restored boutique accommodation in the provinces, standard Mediterranean self-catering villas, and that old warhorse of the more touristed islands, enikiazómena domátia (rented rooms). Hotels run the gamut from de luxe to the all-but-extinct D-class (five stars down to one in the new categorisation). Best prices are typically found through major travel websites if not the hotels’ own pages. Island and coastal hotels, with some local variations, tend to be open from April to October, or perhaps a bit into November on southerly Crete. By contrast, mainland hotels and inns can be busy in winter if near a ski resort and charge high-season prices because of heating costs. Villa rentals are best booked through specialist agencies and websites. Proprietors of rented rooms still often meet arriving ferries armed with glossy photos of their offerings, and they are the budget set’s mainstay given the almost complete absence of youth hostels as understood elsewhere in Europe. In less commercial provincial locales, a rented room or hotel room can be found for under €80 even in peak season, but in big-name resorts like Zagóri, Pílio, Rhodes or Santoríni the sky is literally the limit.

Arts and activities

The weekly (Friday) English-language paper Athens News has selected events listings for Athens and to a limited extent Thessaloníki, as does the daily English edition of Kathimeriní (www.ekathimerini.com). If you can puzzle out the Greek script, the main listings magazine for Athens is Athinórama (every Thursday).

Athens and Epidaúros Festival

This runs, with slight annual variations, from late May to late August/early September, featuring ballet, opera, jazz and modern music, and modern and classical plays from world-class artists. The main Athens venues are the Iródio (Herod Atticus Odeion), Pireós Avenue 260, and the Mégaro Mousikís; the Epidaúros amphitheatre is used during July and August. Top performances are popular, so book tickets online (www.greekfestival.gr/en), or as soon as you arrive in Greece. Information and tickets can be obtained from the main festival box office in the arcade at Panepistimíou 39 (tel: 210-32 72 000), or, for events at the Iródio only, its own box office on the day of performance. Bring cushions and binoculars for the cheap seats – they’re hard marble and quite far from the stage.

Budgeting for your trip

Entrance into the euro in 2002 meant that prices rose across Greece, but this has to some extent been knocked sideways by the massive financial crisis since 2009. What you’ll find is now hard to predict:

Accommodation: Some hotels and other businesses struggle to maintain their pre-2009 prices, while elsewhere you may find what are – by international standards – amazingly cheap offers. Nevertheless, overall, travelling as one of a couple, you should allow a minimum of €30 each for accommodation (€40–50 in Athens or Thessaloníki). To keep costs down, look for hotel deals online, which, again, can be very low-priced.

Meals: Count on €14–25 for a meal with modest intake of beer or cheap wine.

Sightseeing: It usually costs €4–12 each for site admission, and €30–36 for the cheapest small rental car – before petrol costs.

Children

Children are adored in Greece, so expect your own kids to be the centre of attention. Children, especially boys, are treated very indulgently, though at the same time are not allowed to determine adults’ schedules – they are very early on inculcated into the stay-up-late routine, including being taken to taverna meals. Resort hotels are slowly introducing dedicated kids’ activities.

Children aged under 6 travel for free on Athens public transport, and under-10s travel for half the adult fare on most buses and ferries. There are also reduced prices at museums and archaeological sites.

Climate

The Greece of tourist posters is a perennially warm and sunny place – and it is, by European standards. But this picture does not reflect the considerable climatic variety. The north and inland regions have a modified continental climate, so winters are quite cold and summers extremely hot. In Ioánnina, Trípoli and Kastoriá, for example, snow and freezing temperatures are not uncommon in winter. In mountainous regions, winters are even more severe, with ski centres operating above elevations of 2,000 metres (6,500ft).

The southern islands, the coastal Peloponnese and the Attic peninsula conform more to the traditional Mediterranean image: a long, warm season of rainless, sunny days extending roughly from late May to mid-October. But here too the winters can be cool and rainy.

In general, spring (late April–June) and autumn (September–October) are the best times to visit. During these periods, you will find mild to warm temperatures, sunny days and fewer tourists. Throughout July and August, Greece is at its hottest and stickiest, and most crowded.

Disabled travellers

Despite nudging from the EU, Greece has some way to go before becoming fully compliant with regulations on facilities for disabled people.

Athens, with lifts in the Metro, “kneeling” buses on many routes, recorded announcements of upcoming stops on the Metro plus some buses, and ramps at kerbside, is furthest ahead. Elsewhere, amenities are poor.

Few hotels in the provinces are disabled-friendly, though things are improving, with some preparing a few rooms with wide doors and safety handles in the bath – ask when booking. Otherwise, the best way to find accessible facilities in Greece is through international disabled travel websites.

Eating out

Eating out in Greece is a social affair, although the ritual of families and friends patronising tavernas twice a week is less observed now owing to hard economic times. A meal with bulk wine or local beer will cost at least €13 per person: €16–20 is a more typical figure. If you order fish or bottled wine, then it’s €25 minimum, and more realistically €35. Check bills carefully – variance from the cited menu price is far from unknown.

Cuisine has improved in recent decades, with the dousing of everything in superfluous quantities of oil somewhat reined in. Estiatória or magería specialise in the more elaborate, home-style casserole dishes known as magireftá; psistariés are grillhouses featuring only meat platters plus a few salads and mezédes (starters); while tavernas try (with varying degrees of success) to do all these things. Psárotavernas specialise in fish, with some exceptions as expensive as anywhere in the Mediterranean.

Booking at all but the most upmarket eateries is not required. Greeks eat late by Northern European standards: 1.30–4pm for lunch, 9pm–midnight (later at weekends) for dinner. Sunday night and part of Monday are the typical days of closure outside the more tourist areas.

Kalamári-and-chips or moussakás may be the resort stereotypes, but the best-value main dishes include frikasé (any meat stew with celery), spetzofáï (sausage and pepper hotpot), papoutsákia (aubergine “shoes” stuffed with ground meat) and kounélli stifádo (stewed rabbit). Vegetarians – and the impecunious – will do better assembling a meal from various mezédes, and a whole class of eatery – the ouzerí – specialises in this.

Embassies and Consulates

Australia: Thon Building, Corner Kifissías and Alexándras avenues, Ambelókipi, Athens, tel: 210-87 04 000; www.greece.embassy.gov.au.

Canada: 4 Gennadíou Street, 115 21 Athens, tel: 210-7273 400; www.canadainternational.gc.ca/greece.

Ireland: 7 Vassiléos Konstandínou Avenue, 106 74 Athens, tel: 210-7232 771/2; www.embassyofireland.gr.

South Africa: 60 Kifissías Avenue, 151 25 Maroúsi, tel: 210-6106 645.

UK: 1 Ploutárhou Street, 106 75 Athens, tel: 210-7272 720; http://ukingreece.fco.gov.uk.

US: 91 Vassilísis Sofías Avenue, 10160 Athens, tel: 210-7212 951; http://athens.usembassy.gov.

Festivals

Carnival/Apokriátika – three weeks up to the seventh weekend before Easter. Pátras with its elaborate floats and gay participation is the liveliest, but the very pagan “goat dance” on Skýros and the boúles revels at Náoussa in Macedonia are also well attended.

Easter weekend (variable April/May) – sombre, moving procession of the Epitáfios or Christ’s funeral bier in all major towns Good Friday evening, with brass band accompaniment; each parish competes for the most elaborate floral bier. Saturday midnight sees (and hears) the Anástasi or Resurrection church service, with deafening fireworks and the best chanting into the small hours.

Firewalking by anastenarídes cult members – at Agía Eléni (near Sérres) and Langadás (near Thessaloníki) on 21 May. This observance, which commemorates the rescue of precious icons from a medieval church fire, was brought to northern Greece by refugees from what is now Bulgarian Thrace (where identical rites still occur).

Dormition of the Virgin (15 August) – major festivals on Kárpathos, Agiássos and Tínos, where the icon is carried over the unwell kneeling on the street. But almost every island and mainland county has a bash of some sort; the second-most important festival after Easter.

Gay and lesbian travellers

Overt gay behaviour is not a feature of Greek society. The age of consent is 17, and bisexual activity fairly common among younger men, but few couples (male or female) are openly gay. Mýkonos is famous as a gay mecca, and Skála Eressoú on Lésvos (birthplace of poetess Sappho) is essentially a lesbian resort. Elsewhere in Greece single-sex couples are liable to be regarded as odd, but are usually as welcome as any other tourists. If discreet, you will attract no attention asking for a double room and will find most people tolerant.

Emergency Numbers

For all emergency services: 112

Police: 100

Tourist Police (Athens only): 171

Ambulance: 166

Fire service: 199

Coastguard: 108

Health and medical care

Citizens of non-EU countries must ensure they have a travel and health insurance policy before travelling in Greece. EU nationals are entitled to free basic healthcare at state clinics or hospitals with an EHIC card, but must pay for medication and specialist tests. Also, public hospitals vary widely in reputation, and the recent austerity cuts have caused many new problems including the closure of some services, so it’s best also to have travel insurance, allowing you to use private healthcare. In Athens and major resorts your hotel should be able to suggest a reputable private doctor, and consulates keep lists of English-speaking doctors.

In Athens, the Evangelismós Hospital, Ypsilándou 45, Kolonáki, tel: 210-72 01 000, is a good general hospital, next to a Metro station of the same name.

Chemists/pharmacies are open during normal morning shop hours, but some stay open day and night. Duty rotas are displayed on chemists’ windows, or tel: 1434 for information (in Greek). Most pharmacists speak English.

Opening hours

Banks are open Mon–Thur 8.30am–2.30pm, closing at 2pm on Friday. In heavily visited areas like Rhodes, however, you may find banks open additional late-afternoon hours and on Saturday mornings.

Business hours vary. The main thing to remember is that businesses generally open at 8.30am and close for the rest of the day on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday at 2.30pm. On Tuesday, Thursday and Friday most businesses close at 2pm and reopen in the afternoon from 5.30–9pm. An increasing number of business and shops, especially in Athens, are working continual shifts of 9am–6pm or even later. Supermarkets are typically open Mon–Fri 8.30am–9am, closing Saturday at 8pm. Some branches of the Carrefour Marinópoulos chain open on Sundays.

Postal services

Most local post offices are open weekdays from 7.30am–2pm. The main post office in central Athens on Sýntagma Square is open Mon–Fri 7.30am–8pm, Sat 7.30am–2pm and Sun 9am–1pm. There are also long-hours post offices in Thessaloníki, Ioánnina and Rhodes.

Public holidays

January: 1 New Year’s Day, 6 Epiphany; February/March: variable Orthodox Shrove Monday; March: 25 Independence Day; March/April: variable Orthodox Good Friday/Easter Mon; May: 1 Labour Day; May/June: variable Orthodox Whit Mon; August: 15 Assumption Day; October: 28 Ochi Day; December: 25 Christmas Day, 26 St Stephen’s Day.

Shopping

Handcrafted jewellery and durable-but-crude leather goods are favourite purchases. Worry beads, Greek coffee pots (bríkia), colourful tin retsina-measuring cups and olive-oil soap will remind you of your visit. Foodstuffs (but bear in mind baggage/customs regulations at your destination) are also popular: pickled capers, honey, pistachio nuts, olives and olive oil, pickled wild bulbs, ouzo or dried figs make ideal souvenirs or gifts.

Telecommunications

All telephone numbers within Greece, whether fixed or mobile, have 10 digits. Land lines start with 2, mobiles with 6. The prefix for Athens and Piraeús numbers is now 210, for Thessaloníki 2310. The code for Greece is 30.

For local or intercity calls, purchase an OTE (Greek Telecoms) telephone card from a kiosk and use (invariably noisy) street-corner phone booths. The best way to make international calls is with a laptop with Skype or similar software. With the growing prevalence of Wifi zones, this is generally feasible from your hotel. Avoid making any calls from hotels – charges are typically quadruple the basic local phone rates.

The amounts charged foreign mobile users by Greek networks have been particularly high. If you’re going to stay for more than a week, it makes sense to buy a local pay-as-you-go phone for €20 or less.

Tipping

Restaurant prices notionally include “service”, but an extra 5–10 percent depending on the size of the party is expected as coins on the table. Round up the charge on the taxi meter. Around Christmas and Easter, all taxis (and a few restaurants) add a filodórima (holiday gratuity) to the bill. At the end of your stay a few large euro coins for your hotel chambermaid are much appreciated.

Tourist information

The Greek National Tourism Organisation (www.visitgreece.gr) has information desks in Athens at: D. Arepagitou 18–20 (tel: 210-33 10 392; daily, Sat–Sun closes 4pm), and Athens’s tourist authority (www.breathtakingathens.com) has “Info Points” at the Airport and Amalias Avenue (both open daily) and at Piraeús harbour (closed Sun). Local authorities also maintain tourist offices in all the islands and resort areas, which all supply free maps and other information.

Tourist offices abroad

All can be contacted through www.visitgreece.gr.

Australia: tel: 02-9241 1663

UK: tel: 020-7495 4300

US: tel: 212-421 5777