Greek banks, post offices and currency

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From Jan 1st 2002, Greece entered into the European Monetary Union and got the new currency EURO (€). This consists of the following units:
Coins
1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 cent and 1, 2 euro. 1 Euro has 100 cents, called Lepta in Greek.
             
Notes
5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200 and 500 euro

Feb 28th 2002 was the last day you could use Greek drachmas in Greece. So how much is a EURO worth? It is worth about 340 old, worthless Greek drachmas.

 
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In Greece you can change foreign currency in travel agencies and many hotels, as well as in banks. These follow the daily bank exchange rate, but hotels and travel agencies charge between 2 and 7 % commission, while banks charge only a small fee, usually under 3 EURO. It is easy to change notes in Greece, and you can also use 24-hour machines which accept all western currency notes. You can also use Travel Cheques, Euro cheques and Visa and American Express Travel Cheques, if you don’t wish to carry cash. These can be cashed in travel agencies, hotels and the banks corresponding to the issuer of the cheque. Banks have signs at the door showing which cheques are accepted. You will need your Passport, or for EU citizens ID card, to change Travel Cheques.

Credit and Cash cards are widely accepted in Greece, especially Visa. (I have used this myself for many years and even in small Antiparos with only 950 inhabitants have I been able to pay with Visa in almost all the shops.) However, some shops charge a higher price when paying with a card. This is not legal, but widely practiced. The easiest is to get EUROS and use these. There are more and more cash machines, even on the islands. How much you can get at a time varies from machine to machine. They are easy to use and you can chose the English menu.

A comment from 3/7/01

There are more and more cash machines, and you can find them already at the airport. At Santorini there are 2, one inside the terminal and another just outside Arrivals. At Athens new airport there are several, one even in the baggage hall. Many more in Arrivals and more in Departures. Lately we have stopped taking cash or Travel Cheques with us and rely entirely on cards. But we always take two, in case one should be eaten by the machine. This has never happened yet.

Opening Times

Banks 08.00 – 13.30/14.00 Monday to Friday. Sat and Sun closed. Some local variations.

Post Office 07.30 – 15.00 Monday to Friday. Sat and Sun closed. Local variations.
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Thanks to Solvejg Sørensen, Copenhagen, Denmark for her translation into English and to Vicky for help with the updating!
© Jan Bergtun, 12 March 2000 Updated, 09.24.2011
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