Tastes of Culture

In this installment of our guide to holidays in Greece we look at what you can expect there in terms of shopping…

Greece isn’t renowned for its shopping, but it does offer some unique and quality local products. Special purchases include lace, jewelry, metalwork, pottery, knitwear, rugs, leather goods, local wines and spirits, and local handicrafts.

Large international style shopping malls can be found in nearly all of its cities, and you’ll recognize many of the retailers and brands stocked within them. Prices are similar to elsewhere in Europe for such goods though so don’t expect to find any real bargains unless shopping during the sales.

Tourist souvenir shops and some family-owned arts and crafts stores tolerate haggling, but otherwise it is frowned upon. In places where bargaining is accepted, you can reduce the price by at least 10-20%, and being able to speak some Greek can help you get price as low as possible.

Value Added Tax (VAT) is charged on most goods. This is normally included in price tags, but be alert for the rare exceptions. In some shops, non-EU residents can make tax-free purchases by asking for a VAT voucher when buying a product. If such vouchers and the relevant items are shown to a customs officer when the traveler is leaving the EU, a VAT refund can be provided.

The official currency is the Euro, and other currencies will not be accepted, but you can easily exchange money in the larger cities and in any tourist destination. Banks usually offer the most favorable exchange rates and automated currency exchange machines tend to offer the worst rates; specialist shops are somewhere in between. When changing money, try to get mostly smaller notes – nothing over a 50 – as many businesses are averse to accepting larger denominations.

ATM machines are present almost everywhere and Mastercard, Visa, and Eurocard are widely accepted in retail stores, hotels, and travel agencies, but are not accepted at some restaurants and local souvenir shops.