Here's some basic information for you when it comes to travel to Greece...
OFFICIAL NAME
Hellenic Republic
CAPITAL
Athens
OFFICIAL LANGUAGE
Greek
FLAG
The flag of Greece is nine equal horizontal stripes of blue alternating with white; there is a blue square in the upper hoist-side corner bearing a white cross; the cross symbolizes Greek Orthodoxy, the established religion of the country.
MONEY
Greece's currency is the euro. Coins are 1 and 2, 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, and 50 cents. Euro notes
come in 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, and 500 denominations.
The VAT varies from 15% to 18%.
TIME
Greece is two hours ahead of GMT/UTC; thus when it's noon in Athens, it's 10am in London, 5am in New York, 2am in San Francisco,
5am in Toronto, 8pm in Sydney and 10pm in Auckland. In the summer Greece observes daylight savings time, setting clocks forward an hour on the last Sunday in
October and; clocks are wound back in the first Sunday of the following March.
BUSINESS HOURS
Banks are open from 8:30am to 2:30pm Monday to Thursday and 8:30am to 2pm Friday. Shops are open from 8am to 1:30pm and 5:30pm to
8:30pm on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, and 8am to 2:30pm on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday, but these times aren't always adhered to.
RELIGION
About 97% of Greeks nominally belong to the Greek Orthodox Church. The rest of the population is split between the
Roman Catholic, Protestant,
Evangelist, Jewish and Muslim faiths.
ELECTRICITY
Electricity is 220V AC, 50 Hz, as in Australia, Asia and most of Europe; appliances designed
for DC supply or different voltages need a transformer.
WEIGHTS & MEASURES
Greece uses the metric system of measurements. Petrol is bought in litres and food is
weighed in kilos.
LEGAL MATTERS
Greece has the strictest drug laws in all of Europe - there is no distinction between possession and distributing. Possession of
a small amount of marijuana is likely to land you in jail.
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