Good to know before your trip — Greece

In the city centers of Athens and Thessaloniki, parking spaces are marked with colored lines. White spaces are for visitors, paid at a kiosk (meter) or via an app, and are free outside paid hours, on Sundays and public holidays. Blue lines are reserved for residents with a permit and parking there is not allowed even outside working hours, while yellow lines are for delivery vehicles and people with disabilities. Since rules vary from zone to zone, always check the road sign, and when in doubt a parking garage is safer than the street.

Greece uses the euro, and cards and contactless payments are common in cities and on the major tourist islands (Crete, Rhodes, Santorini, Mykonos). In smaller tavernas, at markets, when renting sun loungers, and on less-visited islands, cash can still be the only option, and on the islands and in the mountains card terminals can lose their signal. A practical rule: always carry some cash in euros as a backup, even when you plan to pay for everything by card.

Islands are most commonly visited by ferries from mainland ports and connections between the islands themselves. Tickets are purchased in advance, and during peak season popular routes and fast catamarans can sell out, so it is better to book ahead than to rely on buying at the pier. For many vessels there is online check-in with a QR ticket on your phone, but for some lines you still need to pick up a paper ticket at the agency before departure — check this when you buy.

The single European emergency number is 112 and works for police, ambulance and fire services, with operators who also speak English. The call is free and can be made even without credit on your phone, and in Greece, warnings about fires and evacuations are also sent via 112 to mobile phones in the affected area.