Basics - The Rough Guide to Greece - page 51

the last Sunday in October when they go back. This
change is not well publicized locally, and visitors
miss planes and ferries every year.

Travellers with disabilities

In general the disabled are not especially well
catered for in Greece, though, as relevant EU-wide
legislation is implemented, the situation is gradually
improving. In cities, wheelchair ramps and beeps for
the sight-impaired are rare at pedestrian crossings,
and outside Athens few buses are of the “kneeling”
type. Only Athens airport, its metro and airline staff
in general (who are used to handling wheelchairs)
are disabled-friendly. Ancient monuments, one of
the country's main attractions, are usually inacces-
sible or hazardous for anyone with mobility
impairments.
Some advance planning will make a stress-free
holiday in Greece more likely. The Greek National
Tourist O ce is helpful; they also publish a useful
questionnaire that you might send to hotels or self-
catering accommodation. Before purchasing travel
insurance , ensure that pre-existing medical condi-
tions are not excluded. A medical certificate of
your fitness to travel is also extremely useful; some
airlines or insurance companies may insist on it.

Toilets

Public toilets are usually in parks or squares, often
subterranean; otherwise try a bus station. Except in
tourist areas, public toilets tend to be filthy - it's best
to use those in restaurants and bars. Remember that
throughout Greece, you drop paper in the adjacent
wastebins, not the toilet bowl.

Tourist information
The National Tourist Organization of Greece
(Ellinikós Organismós Tourismoú, or EOT; Visit
Greece abroad, W visitgreece.gr) maintains o ces in
most European capitals, plus major cities in North
America and Australia (see below). It publishes an
array of free, glossy, regional pamphlets, invariably
several years out of date, fine for getting a picture of
where you want to go, though low on useful facts.
In Greece, you will find o cial EOT offices in
many but by no means all of the larger towns and
islands where, in addition to the usual leaflets, you
can find weekly schedules for the inter-island
ferries - rarely entirely accurate, but useful as a
guideline. EOT staff may be able to advise on bus
and train departures as well as current opening
hours for local sites and museums and occasionally
can assist with accommodation.
Where there is no EOT o ce, you can get infor-
mation from municipally run tourist o ces - these
can be more highly motivated and helpful than EOT
branches. In the absence of any of these, you can
visit the Tourist Police , essentially a division (often
just a single room) of the local police. They can
sometimes provide you with lists of rooms to let,
which they regulate, but they're really the place to
go if you have a serious complaint about a taxi, or
an accommodation or eating establishment.

Travelling with children

Children are worshipped and indulged in Greece,
and present few problems when travelling. They are
not segregated from adults at meal times, and early
on in life are inducted into the typical late-night
routine - kids at tavernas are expected to eat (and
up to their capabilities, talk) like adults. Outside of
certain all-inclusive resorts with children's
programmes, however, there are very few amuse-
ments specifically for them - certainly nothing like
Disney World Paris. Water parks, tourist sites and
other places of interest that are particularly child-
friendly are noted throughout the guide.
Luxury hotels are more likely to offer some kind of
babysitting or crèche service . All the same basic
baby products that you can find at home are
available in Greece, though some may be more
expensive, so it can pay to load up on nappies,
powders and creams before leaving home.
Most domestic ferry-boat companies and airlines
offer child discounts , ranging from fifty to one
hundred percent depending on their age; hotels
and rooms won't charge extra for infants, and levy a
modest supplement for “third” beds which the child
occupies by him/herself.

Greek national tourist offices abroad
Australia & New Zealand 51 Pitt St, Sydney, NSW 2000
T 02/9241 1663, E [e-mail].
UK 4 Conduit St, London W1R 0DJ T 020/7495 4300, E info@
gnto.co.uk.
USA 305 E 47th St, New York, NY 10017 T 212/421-5777,
E [e-mail].