Telephones: Country Dialing Code 0030.

Local and long distance calls can be made from all post offices and public telephone booths. Telephone cards are required for most telephone booths. Phone cards can be purchased from small shops in every city, as well as street vendors that sell magazines and cigarettes.

Mobile Telephones: Greece operates on a GSM network, so if you're coming from Europe and many other countries, your current mobile will probably work in Greece. If you are coming from the US and do not have a tri-band phone (that works on the European GSM frequencies), you can buy a complete "package" of cell phone & sim card.

There are four main mobile phone providers in Greece: Cosmote, Vodafone, Tim Hellas, Q Telecommunications.

Internet: Internet cafes are located in all Greeks cities.

Money and Banks: Money is Euro.

Banking Hours: Opening hours are determined by the individual banks, and can vary greatly, each bank has its own but if you do your banking in the mornings, all of them are certain to be open from Monday to Friday, 08.00-13.00.

There are ATM machines in all parts of Greece but there are so places where their access is difficult.

All major Credit Cards as well as Euro-cheques are recognized and accepted in most hotels, shops, travel and car rental agencies and restaurants.

Traveller's cheques issued by all the major companies are widely recognized.  

Electricity: 220-volt service is common, although 110-volt service still exists in some areas. The Continental two-round-pin plug is standard.

Shopping hours: Shops are open Monday through Friday from 09.00 till 14.30 and on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday also from 17.30 through 20.30. On Saturday shops open from 09.00 till 15.00, while they are closed on Sunday. Supermarkets and kiosks may stay open till 22.00. More specifically, in the centre of large urban areas as well as in tourist areas, tourist shops and kiosks are open from early in the morning till late at night, seven days a week.

Cuisine: Greek cuisine is based on olive oil, herbs and spices. Greek cuisine is not only moussaka, souvlaki and choriatiki salata, but has a wide variety of dishes that can meet the culinary demands of both meat-eaters and vegetarians in an extremely satisfying way. The most characteristic and ancient element of Greek cooking is olive oil, which is present in almost every dish. The Mezedes are little dishes, commonly seafood dishes such as "little fishes" or grilled octopus and often small salads, typically served with wine or ouzo (Greek anise-flavored liqueur). Feta is a semi-soft, crumbly, well-salted white cheese made from goat or sheep milk. Used in pies, added to salads and served with meals. A typical Greek meal is formed by: mezedes (black olive, anchovy, cold meat, Feta cheese, Dolmádhes (rolled steffed slices of meat or rice), Taramosalata (sauce of fish eggs), Tzatziki (yoghurt with cucumber, garlic, cetriolo, and olive oil)) and by a main courses, usually meat based (lamb or pork), fish (grilled or fried). GREEK CUISINE RECIPES.