Greece

Greece Country Information

Greece attracts more than 16 million tourists each year, thus contributing 15% to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product Economy. Greece has been an attraction for international visitors since antiquity for its rich and long history and more recently for its glorious Mediterranean coastline and beaches.

In 2005, 6 Million tourists visited only the city of Athens, the capital city.

In 2004, the country welcomed over 16.5 million tourists.

The island of Rhodes is one of the most visited places in the Mediterranean Sea. According to a survey conducted in China in 2005, Greece was voted as the Chinese people’s number one choice as a tourist destination. Furthermore, Greece has been actively trying to secure a large share of Chinese tourists per year, highlighted by the large presence of Greek tourist informative at the 2006 Beijing International Tourism Expo. Greece had the largest single country participation at the Beijing Tourism Expo with a total exhibition space take-up of more than 1,152 m², more than any other nation. In November 2006, Austria, like China, announced that Greece was the favorite destination for tourism giving optimistic hopes for the future. In line with these observations, Greece’s Minister of Tourism Aris Spiliotopoulos announced the opening of a GNTO office in Shanghai until 2010. In order to promote the Chinese flow of tourists to Greece, Air China has now established direct flights from China to Greece.

General Information:

Greece is situated in Southeastern Europe, with an area of 131,957 sq.km. And a population of 10,964,020.

Athens is the capital of Greece with a population of 3,192,606.

Local time is GMT +2 hours.

The Hellenic Republic is a Presidential Parliamentary Democracy

Greece is a member state of E.U. since 1981.

Money

The currency is Euro.

Electric Current :

The standard in Greece is 230V AC (50Hz). Appliances from North America require a transformer and British ones an adapter.

Shopping :

Greece is the ideal destination to shop for a wide variety of products, catering to everybody’s tastes and wishes. Prices are very reasonable in relation to product quality and visitors will be able to find something for every budget.

Shops are open Monday through Friday from 09.00 till 14.30 and on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday also from 17.30 through 20.30.On Saturday shops open from 09.00 till 15.00, while they are closed on Sunday. Supermarkets and kiosks may stay open till 22.00.

More specifically, in the center of large urban areas as well as in tourist areas, tourist shops and kiosks are open from early in the morning till late at night, seven days a week.

Health:

In all cases, the tourist-consumer: Should acquire, for their own convenience, detailed information regarding the use of public transport at their destination, especially with regards to the cost of the journey, ticket validity and cancellations, and recommended arrival times in advance of the departure of the service.

Has to be aware, when using taxis, that drivers are obliged, upon request, to issue official receipts for the total cost of the journey, which include vehicle’s registration number and owner’s name. In the event of any omission or violations of the above, you may submit a complaint or claim to the Greek National Tourism Organization, by telephone on 1572, or by email to kouremenou_i@gnto.gr. 

For tourist information: visit http://www.v isitgreece.gr email: info@gnto.gr or call: 210 3310392, 210 3310716 Tourist Police: 171

Public transport in Greece:

www.oasa.gr or www.isap.gr or www.ose.gr

Useful telephone numbers, in case of emergency:

Emergency ambulance service: 166

On-duty hospitals, clinics, doctors & pharmacies: 1434

Police (Emergency number): 100

Regional Police Departments: 1033

SOS Doctors: 1016 (not provided under the National Health Service)

Greece and the Greek Islands do not present any health problems, any strange or particular disease and consequently, no vaccines are required to travel in Greece.

However, there are some common vaccinations to all international health certificates to do before leaving your country such as tetanus & diphtheria, polio and hepatitis A & B

Passports:

For the citizens who travel form the EU, no passports are required. For the non EU subjects, a valid passport is necessary to enter in Greece. In case of lost, the local police and the embassy of your home government must be contacted. It is recommended to have a photocopy of your passport in order to get the process of replacement lost quickly.

Visas:

All the citizens from the countries except from the countries of the European Union, the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand need a visa to enter Greece.

I.D.:

A passport can serve like an ID. Apart from the official identity card of your country, other forms of ID can be recognised: a driver’s licence, a teacher or student identification.

Animals:

Animals from an other country of the EU require a health certificate.

Weather:

The Greece weather is fairly uniform throughout Greece . Due to its geographical position, the weather in Greece and the Greek Islands has mild winters and warm summers, cooled by different kind of seasonal winds. The summers are characterized by sunshine and very little rainfall: great summer holidays guaranteed! The Greece weather of the islands of the Aegean and the Ionian seas is milder. Some regions are characterized by the Meltemi, a summer wind which blows mostly the islands of the Aegean and offer perfect wind conditions for sailing and windsurfing.

Money

It is important to always have some cash in Greece and the Greek Islands. You can use your cash card on ATM machines but you should ensure also an other way to have access to money. Some ATM may not accept your cash card so you better get information from your local bank agency. There are ATM machines in all parts of Greece but there are so places where their access is difficult. For example, some islands have only cash machine in the main town.

The safer way to travel to Greece and also in all countries is the travelers check. Outside banking hours, currency and check can be exchanged at ticket agencies. If you travel with cash, do not keep them all in one place (in case you get robbed). Greece is part of the European Union and its currency is the Euro. (The Euro replaced the Drachma).

Tourist Police:

The Tourist Police is a Service of the Greek Police Force staffed with specially trained, foreign-language speaking personnel. Within the framework of its duties and functions, it provides the following services:

It provides information to Greek and foreign visitors and offers them assistance in settling any issues arising with tourist businesses.

It cooperates with locally competent Directorates of Tourism and local authorities in order to deal with tourism issues.

It ensures that the tourist legislation in force is applied in all tourist areas, businesses and media, such as hotels, apartments and rooms to let, tourist shops, tourist agencies and coaches, car and motorcycle rental agencies, archaeological sites, tourist guides, ski resorts, spa towns, mass arrival/departure stations, sanitary facilities operating in tourist businesses and sites of free camping, etc.

It carries out inspections of tourist businesses with the aim to provide better services and higher protection to visitors.

The distinctive insignia of the Greek Tourist Police officers are the following:

White band on the cap

White belt

White gloves

The distinctive insignia “TOURIST POLICE” worn on the front of the shirt.

The Greek Tourist Police can be reached around-the-clock by dialing “171”. This line provides all kind of information and instructions in Greek, English, French and German, thus helping tourists to deal directly with any arising problem.

In case you need any help, do not hesitate to contact the staff members of the Greek Tourist Police by dialing “171”. Tourist police stations

Health

Public transport in Athens-Attica

Athens is located in the Prefecture of Attica and sprawls across the plain of Attica hemmed in by mountains ( i.e. Mt Aigaleo, Mt Parnitha, Mt Penteli and Mt Hymettos). The Greek capital, together with its suburbs and the neighbouring city of Piraeus, forms an integrated residential complex (the capital’s main urban planning complex) numbering about 3.5 million inhabitants. The entire prefecture has witnessed the development of state-of-the-art transportation infrastructure catering to residents and visitors in a fast and reliable way. Buses-trolleybuses: For information on city bus and electric trolleybus itineraries , as well as on timetables and tickets click here.

Metro:

The Athens metro consists of three lines – Line 1 (the old Athens-Piraeus electric rail service known as ISAP), Line 2 (underground) and Line 3 ( underground) – covering a considerable part of the Attica region. New extensions reaching other parts of the city are expected in the future. Analytical route maps are displayed in every metro station. For more information visit Attiko Metro and I.S.A.P.

Tram:

The tram network connects the center of Athens ( Syntagma Square ) to the southern (coastal) suburbs. Boasting state-of-the-art technology and modern vehicle design, it serves the following Routes:

- Athens-Glyfada, running through Nea Smyrni, Paleo Faliro, Alimos, Helliniko.

- Athens-Peace & Friendship Stadium (Neo Faliro), running through Nea Smyrni and Paleo Faliro and from there branching out along the coastal avenue, and

- Glyfada-Peace & Friendship Stadium via the coastal avenue and the Faliriko Delta.

The Suburban Railway (Proastiakos):

It accommodates travel to/from Athens and the “Eleftherios Venizelos” Athens International Airport (with seven stops along the line), Athens and Corinth (84 km west of Athens – with seven stops along the line), Corinth and Kiato (24 km) and Corinth and the “Eleftherios Venizelos” Athens International Airport(with eleven stops along the line). Upon completion it will connect Piraeus and its port to Athens, the airport and other large urban centres in neighbouring prefectures (Thiva, Chalkida, Loutraki).

Taxis:

All taxis are yellow and equipped with a metre displaying the fare. The driver is obliged to activate the meter upon hire. From 05:00-24:00hrs Tariff 1 applies, while from 24:00-05: 00 hrs Tariff 2 comes into effect.

Attiki Odos Motorway The Attiki Odos is a cutting-edge motorway in Europe linking the town of Elefsina (located in western Attica) to the “Eleftherios Venizelos” Athens International Airport (Spata, eastern Attica). Part of the Athens peripheral ring road, it circumvents Athens and offers 27 main and secondary interchanges for entrance and exit into /from the capital. To enter the motorway tolls are paid, the fare depending on vehicle category based on height and number of axles.

National Greece Dates:

March 25: Greek Independence Day It is the day of the celebration of the beginning of the Greek revolution against the Turkish occupants in 1821. It is celebrated with military parades all over Greece.

May 1: Labor Day It is called “Protomayia” and it is a urban holiday when people traditionally go to the countryside for picnic and pick great bunches of flowers. It is also a day where large demonstrations organized by the left wings take place

October 28: National Anniversary It is the day of the National Anniversary of Greek Independence. The day is characterized by military parades and folk dances. The day is also called “Ohi Day” in honor of General Metaxa’s famous “Oxi!” (no!) as a refusal to Mussolini’s demand to occupy the country during World War II.

November 17 : Day of the student rise against the Junta of 1974.

Holidays in Greece:

Holidays in the mythical land, Greece and the Greek Islands. Greece is the perfect place to plan your holidays. It is a beautiful country characterized by its mountainous landscapes, its incredible weather, its many islands, its long sandy beaches and more. Greece is the favorite holidays destination for many Europeans and attracts every year millions of visitors.

Religion

The Greek population is composed of a 97% of Christian Orthodox. The rest of the population is Muslim, Roman Catholic and Jewish. Greece and Russia are the only countries to have such a proportion of people belonging to the Orthodox Church.

Orthodox Religion

Religion for Orthodox Greeks is a word which means the true belief. Sunday mass can last up to 3 hours, but it is not customary to remain for the whole service. Men and women are separated. The priest officiates behind the iconostas, a wall covered in icons which hides the altar. To the right and left of the entrance, St. John the Baptist and the Virgin Mary show the way to Christ. Whereas the bishops remain celibate, the priests can marry and have children. They are easily spotted in their long black robes, with their long hair that they wear in a bun or a pony tail and a long beard which is a sign of maturity among the orthodox. The patriarch, or head, of the orthodox religion is in Istanbul in Turkey. There are many monasteries in Greece, the highest concentration of monks being found on Mount Athos where there are 1700 monks in the 20 monasteries there. Women and children are not allowed on Mount Athos.

The Greek Easter

Easter is the most important celebration for the Greeks. Families get together to share lamb roast on a spit. The masses are particularly impressive. The celebrations last for several days, and even up to Ascension in certain villages, that is 40 days. On Easter Sunday children are given new clothes. At the beginning of Lent, children go to school in disguise and a big carnival is organised in the towns.

Greece Traditions & Customs

Traditions in Greece and Greek Islands are either of a religious character or coming from paganism. Furthermore, most of the traditions and festivals still followed and celebrated today, are religious. Many Greeks are very superstitious people and believe a lot in religion as well as in supernatural or paranormal phenomenon. It impress many visitors who travel to Greece .

Mythology

Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece. Modern scholars refer to the myths and study them in an attempt to throw light on the religious and political institutions of Ancient Greece and on the Ancient Greek civilization, and to gain understanding of the nature of myth-making itself.

Greek mythology is embodied explicitly in a large collection of narratives and implicitly in representational arts, such as vase-paintings and votive gifts. Greek myth explains the origins of the world and details the lives and adventures of a wide variety of gods, goddesses, heroes, heroines, and other mythological creatures. These accounts were initially disseminated in an oral-poetic tradition; the Greek myths are known today primarily from Greek literature. The oldest known Greek literary sources, the epic poems Iliad and Odyssey, focus on events surrounding the Trojan War. Two poems by Homer’s near contemporary Hesiod, the Theogony and the Works and Days, contain accounts of the genesis of the world, the succession of divine rulers, the succession of human ages, the origin of human woes, and the origin of sacrificial practices. Myths are also preserved in the Homeric Hymns, in fragments of epic poems of the Epic Cycle, in lyric poems, in the works of the tragedians of the 5th century BC, in writings of scholars and poets of the Hellenistic Age and in writers of the time of the Roman Empire, for example, Plutarch and Pausanias. Archaeological evidence is a principal source of detail about Greek mythology, with Gods and heroes featuring prominently in the decoration of many artifacts. Geometric designs on pottery of the 8th century BCE depict scenes from the Trojan cycle as well as the adventures of Heracles. In the succeeding Archaic, Classical and Hellenistic periods, Homeric and various other mythological scenes appear to supplement the existing literary evidence.

Greek mythology has had extensive influence on the culture, the arts and the literature of Western civilization and remains part of Western heritage and language. Poets and artists from ancient times to the present have derived inspiration from Greek mythology and have discovered contemporary significance and relevance in classical mythological themes.

Tourist Protection Line

Learn about your rights and your obligations. All enterprises, regardless of their nature (tourist or otherwise), are obliged to issue written receipts for the total amount they receive. Possession of a receipt safeguards the consumer in the event of any claim or dispute with the enterprises. Foreign visitors must ensure that they have valid medical cover before departing.

The following is valid during your stay in accommodation licensed by the GNTO and displaying the Special Function Sign: The hotelier is obliged to license vacant rooms to customers and provide all advertised amenities.

Within 3 days of receiving an inquiry for a room, by any means (telephone, letter, or email), the hotelier is obliged to inform the customer by print whether or not they accept the booking, and include details on the booking (type of room, length of stay, price). A written response protects both the customer and the hotelier.

The deposit for the booking cannot exceed the 25% of the total accommodation cost, and on the other hand cannot be less than the charge for one night. In the event that the customer wishes to cancel a booking, and the cancellation is made 21 days prior to the agreed arrival date, the hotelier is obliged to refund the deposit in full, while for cancellations made within 21 days, the customer must pay the hotelier the 50% of the total cost of the canceled booking.

In the event that the hotelier is unable to provide rooms they have confirmed with customers, they are obliged to secure customers’ stay in alternative accommodation of at least the same category, in the same town, which offers the same amenities and services as those advertised by their own establishment.

The hotelier is only responsible for valuable belongings entrusted to them by the customer, and for which they have issued the relevant receipt.

Keeping pets of any kind in a hotel is forbidden, unless the hotel provides a designated area for pets. In all cases, a prior arrangement on this issue must be made between the hotelier and the tourist-consumer.

The following is valid for transactions with tourist agencies licensed by the GNTO and displaying the Special Function Sign:

The tourist agency is responsible to the consumer for all the services they have sold, including those provided by third parties (hotels, restaurants, car rentals, etc.), except in cases of personal or third party liability, or force majeure. In all cases, the customers of a tourist agency or car rental agency must be informed by print about the terms under which services or products are provided prior to making a purchase.

Specifically, for Organized Trips (P.O. 339/96), which Greek law defines as a fixed combination of at least two of the following elements, i.e. transport, accommodation or other services (participation in meetings or events of a professional, cultural or artistic nature, meals, guided tours etc.), it is obligatory to sign a relevant contract, which includes:

The terms attached to the services included in the contract (cost and category of accommodation).

Means of transport, meals included, itinerary, information pertaining to passports and necessary visas, cancellation policy, guided tours, entry to archaeological sites and museums, other recreational services, etc.).

An insurance policy which will state by print that in case of insolvency or bankruptcy of the tourist agency, the consumer, above and beyond other claims, will be entitled to a refund of the full amount paid, as well as immediate payment of repatriation expenses.