Good to know before your trip — Greece

The coloured lines painted on the roads in central Athens may look purely decorative, but parking on the wrong colour carries a fine and the risk of having your vehicle towed. In the city centre, the colour of the line determines who is permitted to park. White bays (sign R69) are for visitors and require payment. Blue bays (sign R70) are reserved for residents with a permit and must not be used by others. Yellow lines (sign R40) indicate a complete prohibition on stopping and parking. As paid parking hours vary from zone to zone, always read the sign at the specific location — and when in doubt, a car park is a safer option than the street.

A traveller who expects to pay for everything by card can quickly find themselves out of options at a small taverna, a market stall, or a sun-lounger rental — most often on precisely the kind of island where there is no nearby ATM. Greece uses the euro, and card and contactless payments are standard in cities and on the larger tourist islands. In smaller tavernas, at local markets, and on less-visited islands, cash can be the only option, and on islands and in mountain areas card terminals sometimes lose their signal. The practical rule: always carry some euros in cash as a backup, even if you plan to pay by card for everything. A modest amount for day-to-day expenses is sufficient — larger purchases can be paid for safely by card.

Island plans can fall apart when a route sells out or when a traveller arrives at the quay too late and misses boarding. Islands are explored by ferries from mainland ports and by connections between the islands themselves. Tickets are purchased in advance, and during peak season popular routes and fast catamarans can sell out. Tickets are available directly from ferry companies or through aggregators that bring together multiple operators. The official Passenger Rights Charter of the Greek Ministry of Shipping requires passengers to be on board at least half an hour before the scheduled departure.

In an emergency on one of the islands or at sea, a traveller can lose precious time searching for the individual number for each service. The pan-European number 112 covers the police, fire brigade, ambulance service, and coastguard — the last of which is especially important in an island nation. Calls are free from both landlines and mobile phones. Through the same system, Greek Civil Protection can send written alerts directly to the screens of all mobile phones within an affected area. For situations that are not emergencies but rather travel-related problems — fraud, lost documents, a dispute with a rental company — there is a dedicated tourist police number, 1571, which operates around the clock and in several languages.