Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Évvia. The map-and-guide booklets published by
Marengo Publications (
T
01485/532710,
W
marengo
walks.com) in England also prove very useful for
areas including Crete, Corfu, Kálymnos, Lésvos,
Messinía, Párga, the Pelion, Sámos, Sými and Thássos.
AT M s
. Larger airports have at least one ATM in the
arrivals hall and any town or island with a popula-
tion larger than a few thousand (or substantial
tourist tra
c) also has them. Most accept Visa,
MasterCard, Visa Electron, Plus and Cirrus cards;
American Express holders are restricted to the ATMs
of Alpha and National Bank. There is usually a
charge of 2.25 percent on the sterling/dollar trans-
action value, plus a commission fee of a similar
amount. Using
credit cards
at an ATM costs
roughly the same; however, inflated interest accrues
from the moment of use.
Major credit cards are not usually accepted by
cheaper tavernas or hotels but they can be essential
for renting cars. Major travel agents may also accept
them, though a
three-percent surcharge
is often
levied on the purchase of ferry tickets.
Money
Greece's currency is the
euro
(€). Up-to-date
exchange rates
can be found on
W
xe.com. Euro
notes exist in denominations of 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200
and 500 euros, and coins in denominations of 1, 2, 5,
10, 20 and 50 cents and 1 and 2 euros. Avoid getting
stuck with
counterfeit euro notes
(€100 and €200
ones abound). The best tests are done by the naked
eye: genuine notes all have a hologram strip or (if
over €50) patch at one end, there's a watermark at
the other, plus a security thread embedded in the
middle. If you end up with a fake note, you'll have no
recourse to a refund. Note that shopkeepers do not
bother much with shortfalls of 10 cents or less,
whether in their favour (especially) or yours.
Opening hours and public
holidays
It's di
cult to generalize about Greek
opening
hours
, which are notoriously erratic. Most shops
open 8.30/9am and close for a long break at
2/2.30pm. Most places, except banks, reopen
around 5.30/6pm for three hours or so, at least on
Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Tourist areas tend to
adopt a more northern European timetable, with
supermarkets and travel agencies, as well as the
most important archeological sites and museums,
more likely to stay open throughout the day. If you
find yourself needing to tackle
Greek bureaucracy
,
you can't count on getting anything essential done
except from Monday to Friday, between 9.30am
and 1pm.
As far as possible, times are quoted in the text for
tourist sites
but these change with exasperating
Banks and exchange
Greek
banks
normally open Monday to Thursday
8.30am-2.30pm and Friday 8.30am-2pm. Always
take your passport with you as proof of identity and
expect long queues. Large hotels and some travel
agencies also provide an exchange service, though
with hefty commissions. On small islands with no
full-service bank, “authorized” bank agents will
charge an additional fee for posting a travellers'
cheque to a proper branch.
A number of authorized brokers for exchanging
foreign cash have emerged in Athens and other
major tourist centres. When changing small amounts,
choose those bureaux that charge a flat percentage
commission (usually 1 percent) rather than a high
minimum. There is a small number of 24-hour
automatic
foreign-note-changing machines
, but a
high minimum commission tends to be deducted.
There is no need to
purchase euros
beforehand
unless you're arriving at some ungodly hour to one
of the remoter frontier posts.
Travellers' cheques
(best in euros rather than dollars) can be cashed at
most banks, though rarely elsewhere. Cashing the
cheques will incur a minimum charge of €1.20-2.40
depending on the bank; for larger amounts, a set
percentage will apply.
PUBLIC HOLIDAYS
January 1:
New Year's Day.
January 6:
Epiphany.
February/March:
Clean Monday (
katharí
dheftéra
), 7 weeks before Easter.
March 25:
Independence Day.
April/May:
Good Friday and Easter
Monday (see p.45 for dates).
May 1:
May Day.
May/June:
Whit Monday, 7 weeks after
Easter.
August 15:
Assumption of the Virgin
Mary.
October 28:
Ohi Day (see p.46).
December 25/26:
Christmas Day/
Boxing Day.
ATMs and credit cards
Debit cards
have become the most common
means of accessing funds while travelling, by
withdrawing money from the vast network of Greek
