How to survive your Greek holiday – pack wads of cash
ON the stunning, tiny Greek island of Skopelos – made famous as the location for the hit ABBA-themed movie Mamma Mia! – you’d barely know there was a financial crisis.
The three banks in Skopelos Town are dark, quiet and depressing. But despite political leaders thrashing out a deal to finance the country’s debts and fears that the nation may run out of cash, there are no queues.
Even though more than €1.3billion left Greek banks in a single day last week, the locals seem bored when you ask: ‘What do you think will happen to the economy?’ But back on the mainland in Athens, the graffiti on almost every wall is the biggest indication that all is not well.
It’s on shop fronts, apartments and offices. It is mostly unreadable, and when it is, it’s largely unrepeatable. Then there are the streets and streets of abandoned shops and boarded-up windows outside the main centre.
You could be in the grotty suburb of any town in the world – not in one of its most historic cities. You can even see it in the way taxi drivers treat you – always trying to add an extra euro or two to what the meter says. Millions of tourists visit Greece each year, and there are an hundreds of thousands of tourists in the country right now. The vast majority head straight to the islands – away from Athens, where the major protests and strikes have been so far.
THOUGH the threat of these, and of cash machines running dry, receded on Monday, it’s only a temporary reprieve. Many arriving at Athens airport on Monday morning – just as finance ministers were trying to hammer out a deal in Brussels – had followed advice from travel agents: bring as much cash as possible.
Every person I speak to getting off a plane has brought hundreds of euros more than normal.
Philip Knowles and Julie Graves, from Kent, have owned a little villa in southern Greece’s Peloponnese for 11 years. They usually keep their spending money in a Greek bank, but this year have bought cash to cover their 12-day trip.
Philip, 66, says: ‘We thought we’d bring cash just in case the cash machines close. I feel more worried for the Greeks than for how our holiday will be. I also fear for other Brits who don’t have a clue what’s going on and may be unprepared.’
Mandy Seymour and her 18-yearold daughter Zoe are heading through Athens on their way to the Greek island of Agistri for ten days.
They’re staying in a hotel they’ve visited three or four times before – but on this trip rang ahead to make sure they were accepting bank cards.
Mandy, 58, a carer, from Berkshire in England’s south east, says: ‘The hotel said it wouldn’t be an issue. But we’ve brought extra cash just in case.’
However, Mandy hadn’t checked her travel insurance to make sure the money she had brought with her would be covered if it was lost or stolen. This is vital for travelling to Greece. One in ten policies won’t cover cash losses, according to comparison site Go Compare. Though cards are taken in Greece, they are not accepted everywhere.
At the Acropolis on Sunday afternoon, a group of older travellers is on a tour. It’s roasting hot on the dry hillside, so they don’t want to stop long. Those that do describe how they’ve had to rely on cash almost everywhere they go.
Then there are Mark and Mandy Gates, both 52, from Brighton. They have been on a cruise for a week, stop- ping off at Crete and Rhodes before arriving in Athens.
The trip had been so lovely they’d almost forgotten about the country’s problems, until they arrived at their hotel in the capital. The receptionist at check-in warned of potential riots. Then when they went out they discovered that few places would accept their bank cards. Mandy, a civil servant, says: ‘We felt a little underprepared. We’d lost touch with the worsening economic situation – like most people on holiday, we’ve been sightseeing, not watching the news. We weren’t prepared for so many places not accept- ing cards, so have had to check what they take before going in.’
The guidance from the Government is to steer clear of trouble spots such as Syntagma Square in Athens. It’s likely your insurance won’t cover you if you get caught up in a protest.
You also have an obligation to keep up to date with any strikes, and should check your insurance policy for its small print on transport delays.
The problem if you don’t know what’s going on – as most tourists won’t – is that strikes and protests can sneak up on you.
ON Sunday evening, thousands of Greeks congregated on the capital’s central Syntagma Square to protest against austerity. Not even the taxi driver taking me to a nearby popular r estaurant area knew i t was happening.
Just hours earlier it had been filled with tourists watching the soldiers in their traditional dress. But now the crowd brandished signs and chants outside the parliament building. It happened again on Monday night.
The following morning there was no sign the protest ever took place – or little clue that this is a country that could have been about to go bust and that a run on the banks may still happen.
And for tourists, as long as you take care i t’s still a l ovely holiday destination.
The restaurants are open and full. The Acropolis is packed with tourists, mainly American and Chinese. The islands are abuzz with Irish and British tourists. It’s back to business as usual in Greece.