"Athens-tips from my "end-of-mission"... " a Greece Travel Page by carolerica

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house on Santorini island

GENERAL LOGISTIC MATTERS

CURRENCY:
Euros
MONEY EXCHANGE:
I would go to the central bank of Greece, which is on Panepistimiou street, there you’ll have official rates and no commissions.

VISA:
None if you're a from the European Community

COMMUNICATIONS:
Tel. code: 30
I bought a SIM card from Cosmote, ask them to call the operator (or dial 1310 if my memory is good) to switch the language to English (if you dial 1314, you get to the menu where you can know how much you have left, or to add credit). The 30 euros cards give you 3 extra euros, and each month they give you bonus credits, quite good bargain I found.

INTERNET :
Well, if you find an internet café with ADSL, it will cost you 3 euros/hour… There are tons of internet cafes in town. In Athens, I used the one on Ipokratous street. In the other towns, I went to the ones the Lonely Planet pointed out. If you have a computer of your own, I would suggest forthnet. It cost about 35 euros for unlimited connection per month.

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fruit stop on peloponese's road

TRANSPORTATION

TAXIS:
They are a real pain, at least for me. It never took LESS than 15 mn to find one available and who would agree to take me where I wanted to. At the end, I found a nice taxi driver who gave me his mobile and I would call him.

My favorite locomotion mean was my feet!!!!

Second favorite: METRO and BUSES
It takes no time to get familiar with the metro, a bit more for the buses or the trolley but people are very helpful.
Metro passes: one month (carry a picture for the first time) cost 35 euros, you’ll have to go to Syntagma station to get a receipt, but you can buy your ticket from any station and then go to Syntagma, to the customer’s office.
One day pass (24 hours) costs 2.90 euros. One metro ticket 0,70 euros and a bus ticket 0,40 euros.

CAR RENTAL:
I rented a car a couple of times from the company HOLIDAY AUTOS (33 euros per day for unlimited km, the best bargain I could find during the summer, tel: 210.92.23.088) they also have offices in Crete, Corfu…

FLYING: For flying to Thessaloniki and Crete, I used Olympic Airways, they have on each flight a limited number of seats that are cheaper, good to know and to ask for them!

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Poreidon's temple - Cap Sounio

OUTINGS & DINNER

I followed the advices of the Lonely Planet, and never was unhappy. Many tavernas in Plaka, cafes in Kolonaki, none preferred ‘cause I was changing each time. Outside cinemas are quite popular and really fun to go to (careful it can be cold at night!)

Lots to explore in Greece, Peloponnesus is gorgeous, the Cycladic islands a wonder, especially Santorini, Crete is beautiful, the Meteora a visual experience… EXPLORE!!!