Safety in Greece

The new border system: the EU's Entry/Exit System now records biometrics for non-EU visitors and passports are no longer stamped. Overstaying the 90-days-in-180 Schengen allowance is picked up automatically, so count your days carefully.

Heat: July in central Athens hits 40°C. Climbing the Acropolis at midday is a genuinely bad idea, and you want at least a litre and a half of water on you at any time.

Slippery marble: the stone on ancient sites has been polished mirror-smooth by millions of feet. Wear trainers with real grip; fashionable sandals cause a steady stream of injuries.

Restaurant traps: avoid anywhere with someone outside trying to talk you in, particularly on the main streets of Plaka. The food is mediocre and a "service" line can appear on the bill at the price of a main course.

Pickpockets: watch your bag on the Athens metro and around Monastiraki flea market. Greece is safe overall, but the tourist hubs are worked hard.

In an emergency: 112 reaches all services. The tourist police on 171 are obliged to speak English and are the right call for disputes with businesses.

Tap water: fine to drink in Athens and on Crete. On the smaller islands it can be brackish, and there the bottled stuff is worth buying.

Greece is calm, and the main danger here is not a criminal but a bill.

The Athens bar scam. A classic of Plaka and Monastiraki: a friendly local strikes up a conversation, invites you to "a great place nearby", women appear, champagne is ordered, and the bill reaches several hundred euros. At the exit stand men explaining that it must be paid. The rule is the same as everywhere: do not follow someone who approached you first.

Taxis from Athens airport. The fare is fixed: 40 euros by day and 55 at night to the centre. Anything above that is a breach, and you can say so out loud.

Meters and the "long way". Meters are compulsory in Athens and Thessaloniki. Tariff 1 applies in town, tariff 2 at night and outside it — and tariff 2 has a habit of appearing in daylight.

Island petrol stations. The classic: you ask for 30 euros' worth and the pump "happens" not to have been reset. Check for zero before fuelling starts.

Acropolis tickets. Official tickets are sold on the culture ministry site and at the box office. Street offers to "skip the queue" mean overpaying, and sometimes a forgery.

Scooter hire. Rental shops hand over machines without asking about your licence category. After a crash you discover the insurance is void and you pay for everything yourself.

Scooter licences are the most common tourist problem in Greece. A motorcycle or moped requires category A or AM on your licence, not merely category B. Island police check this regularly, the fine is substantial, and in an accident without the right category your insurance pays nothing. Every season this leaves someone with a bill running into tens of thousands of euros.

Stones and potsherds. Exporting any archaeological object is a criminal offence. A fragment of marble from Delphi or a pebble from the Acropolis in your suitcase is taken literally at screening, and cases have reached court. The same applies to finds on beaches near ancient sites.

Drones. Flights over archaeological sites are prohibited outright, as they are over cities and airports. People have been detained for filming the Acropolis from the air.

Nudity. Official nudist beaches are few; topless sunbathing is informally tolerated elsewhere, while full nudity can end in a fine.

Smoking. Prohibited indoors, though enforcement in Greece is uneven.

Alcohol and noise. Mykonos, Ios and Malia have municipal restrictions on street drinking and fines for night-time noise.

Documents. Carry a passport copy and leave the original in the safe. Hiring a vehicle requires the original licence and passport.

Vaccinations. None.

Water. Tap water in Athens and Thessaloniki is drinkable and good. The islands vary: on many it is desalinated or brackish and locals drink bottled. Take your cue from what the cafes do.

Heat and fire. July and August regularly pass 40°C, and wildfires have become an annual reality — tourists have been evacuated from Rhodes and Euboea in recent years. The 112 system sends SMS alerts giving the evacuation direction, in English among other languages. If such a message arrives, act on it immediately without waiting for the hotel to confirm.

The sea. Sea urchins on rocky beaches are the commonest reason for a doctor's visit; swim shoes solve it. Jellyfish appear sporadically.

Sun. UV on Crete and Rhodes is harsh, and the meltemi wind creates a deceptive coolness in which people burn without noticing.

Healthcare. The public system is overstretched, especially on islands in season: the local clinic may be a small health post, and anything serious means a transfer to the mainland or Athens. Private clinics in Athens, Thessaloniki and Crete work well. Insurance is essential.

Greece sits in the middle of the upper half of the Corruption Perceptions Index. Street bribery involving tourists is essentially absent.

Tourist police. A separate service on 1571, operating around the clock and speaking English. This is the number that resolves disputes with a hotel, a driver, a rental company or a restaurant that inflated the bill. It genuinely works, and mentioning it often ends the argument.

Ordinary police are on 100. The European 112 also works.

Reporting theft. Reports are taken and certificates for insurers issued. In tourist areas this is done in English and reasonably quickly.

Road checks. Island police check scooter riders' licences and helmets regularly, issuing fines on the spot with a receipt.

The 112 alert system. In Greece this is not only a phone number but a mass SMS system used for fires, floods and storms. Messages arrive automatically on any phone in the affected area, foreign numbers included.

Emergency numbers: 112 unified, 100 police, 166 ambulance, 199 fire, 1571 tourist police.