GENERAL INFORMATION

In this page you may find:

• Visitors Information on Entry Visa Requirements. Click here.
• Small travelers' tips.
• Useful information: Credit Cards, Electric Current, Cell phones, Telephone and P.O. services etc.
• Find information about Health and Insurance in Greece, tipping service.
• Information of how to get around in Greece.
• Check about "Weather & Climate" for the best period to visit Greece.

Lost or damaged baggage: If your baggage contains valuables, declare them to the airline at the origin before travelling! In case of loss, you will be entitled to compensation for the full amount declared.
Report the loss or damage to your baggage immediately with the "lost and found" department of the airline involved.

Health information: Take proper protection against some infections and hazards, such as:

• Gastroenteritis - traveler's diarrhea - Foodborne diseases ( nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, fever etc.).
  How to prevent them: Wash always your hands before and after eating. Tap water in Greece is safe to drink but avoid using water from wells. If in doubt choose bottled water. Eat vegetables and fruit that have been washed well. Avoid raw and undercooked food.
• Sun exposure. Always bear in mind that the sun can be dangerous. Ultraviolet sun radiation includes UVA and UVB rays which can cause skin damage(burns, cancer, melanoma) as well as thermal exhaustion and shock. Do not expose in the sun too long and always protect yourselves.
  For more information about health matters Click here

Service and tipping advice: The custom of tipping is not as precisely regulated although it is customary to offer some gratuity for a service well done. More often, however, you are presented with a bill which includes a service charge. If this is the case it will be approximately l0-l5%. If you would like to leave a little extra for the waiter, you might round up to the nearest 5 or 10 euro leaving 1-2 euros on the table for the busboy and tip porters and concierges between 2 -3.00 €. You are generally expected to tip a taxi driver rounding up the amount to the next round euro figure. Others, should be tipped in proportion to the level of services rendered. There is one little service charge in Greece which may cause you a bit of surprise. When you enter a restroom in a public place you will often be greeted by an attendant who is invariably an elderly black-clad woman. She maintains the facilities and bestows toilet paper and should accordingly be rewarded with a small tip of few cents.

Calling someone: As always in Europe, the golden rule is never call home from a hotel room. The charges can break your heart. Public telephones take prepaid phone cards, is the cheapest way to make intercity or international calls, you purchase them from the kiosks and they allow you to know exactly how much money you are spending.

Mobile Phones: In Greece you can use all GSM mobile phones but, US cell phones do not work in Greece. I suggest you check 'InTouch Global' <http://intouchglobal.com> to get more info about cell phones. If you bring your own mobile phone with you, when you first switch it on in Greece, will be prompt of which mobile phone provider to use. We recommend you to choose the one recommended by your home mobile phone service provider.
Incoming calls are expensive, because you pay for the international part of the call (from your country, where your phone service is provided, to you, in Greece). Tip: Check on rates and services with your phone service provider, before your travel.

Internet and E-mails  When traveling in Greece you want to have a look at your e-mails, or at your favorite news site using your Notebook, but don't have an Internet Connection or your provider don't offer roaming in Greece. Tip: Easiest way to "connect" your own notebook in Greece and on all your travels worldwide, is to set up an account with Net Roamer <http://www.myaffiliateprogram.com/u/netroamr/t.asp?id=1098>. They give you an ISP account that you can use worldwide without changing settings on your laptop.

Postal Service: If you need to send a letter there are stamp vending machines and post-boxes outside all central post offices. Parcels sent abroad must be inspected, so do not wrap and seal them beforehand. Brown paper, soft padded envelopes and cardboard boxes can be bought at the post offices themselves. Signs denoting post offices are usually bright yellow, as are post-boxes. Most places which sell postcards, such as the street kiosks, also sell stamps.

Electric Current: The standard in Greece is 220V AC (50Hz).

Time: Greek time is two hours ahead of G M T, an hour ahead of Central European Time and seven hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time.

Visiting Churches and Monasteries:  You are expected to dress in a respectable manner when visiting churches and monasteries: long trousers for men, sleeved dresses and no miniskirts or shorts for women.

Public holidays in Greece: The legal National holidays in Greece are:

• January 1, New Year's Day
• January 6, Epiphany Day (Baptism of Christ),
• 41 days before Easter - Clean Monday (Kathari Deftera) - End of the Carnival.
• March 25,  The Revolution Day - against the Turks.
• Good Friday to Easter Monday ( Greek Orthodox dates ).
• May 1, Labour Day
• Whitmonday (Holy Spirit Monday), day after Whitsunday (Pentecost), the 7th Sunday after Easter
• August 15, Assumption of the Virgin
• October 28, The “Ohi” (=No) Day - II world war
• December 25 and 26,  Christmas days.

On these holidays, Government offices, Banks, Post offices, most stores, and many restaurants are closed; a few museums, sites and attractions may be open. Before your visit find out more...

Tourist Police: offers information and help, whenever tourists face problems, solve minor differences between tourists and entreprises. Tel. No.171 is an emergency telephone line on a 24 hour basis from all over Greece.

For more information on tourism matters you may visit Greek National Tourism Organisation - G.N.T.O. (EOT in Greek) website and find plenty.
Otherwise the G.N.T.O. addresses in Athens are:
Head office: 7, Tsoha Street, Athens. Tel.: 210 8707000. e-mail:info@gnto.gr Working hours: Weekdays 08.00-15.00
Information desk: 26, Leoforos Amalias, 105 64 Athens.  Tel.: 210 3310565, 210 3310692. E-mail:eotda01@mail.otenet.gr
Information Desk at "Eletherios Venizelos" airport (arrivals hall). Tel.: 210 3530445-448. Working hours: Monday-Sunday: 08.00-22.00

Affiliated websites: astoria travel, astoria of Athens, Tours to Greece.