Travelling to Greece in August

sillygoose

jonnno wrote: »

I want to use our Caxton card but am worried about ATMs being available. We're staying at Makrigialos in crete

Caxton euro is Mastercard, apparently there are 34 Mastercard machines in Crete, probably can also use many other machines too (I have just shoved it in any ATM in many countries and its worked OK)

http://www.mastercard.us/cardholder-services/atm-locator.html

It also depends on how mobile you are, we always have a rental car and travel around a bit so can time topping up the cash easily.

jonnno

sillygoose wrote: »

Caxton euro is Mastercard, apparently there are 34 Mastercard machines in Crete, probably can also use many other machines too (I have just shoved it in any ATM in many countries and its worked OK)

http://www.mastercard.us/cardholder-services/atm-locator.html

It also depends on how mobile you are, we always have a rental car and travel around a bit so can time topping up the cash easily.

Thanks sillygoose that's really helpful

We will have a car so that should help. We just keep hearing rumours that there could be problems with banks shutting and ATMs running out of cash

davidlizard

Prices can vary greatly from island to island. Islands that are on the cruise ship trail such as Santorini and Mykonos seem to be the most expensive. Islands that do not attract large numbers of package tourists tend to be much cheaper. A standard beer is usually around €3 in a restaurant, but can be double that in the more expensive islands and half that elsewhere. Cannot vouch for Kalymnos as we have not been there for several years, but do not recall it being one of the more expensive islands.

Most islands these days have several ATMs - these can and do run out of cash from time to time. However we have never had any problems finding a working cashpoint but we do not wait until we are onto our last €5 note before looking.

We have found using ATMs outside the islands banks tend to avoid most charges, whereas not surprising ones in shops do charge fees - pretty much the same as in the UK really.

We usually get a couple of hundred euros before we go which will keep us going for a few days, then use the ATMs as necessary. Credit cards are accepted in most places, but there are a lot of places that do prefer cash.

sillygoose

I did have one big issue getting money in Corfu I hadn't planned for. I had set up my phone to be able to recharge our Caxton Card, the texts with the required account numbers and commands were saved in the 'drafts' memory ready to send.

We had hired a small motor boat and in the afternoon the wind gets up. Foolishly I tried to land onto a rickety old jetty on an exposed beach, inevitably nearly demolishing it and getting the propeller end grounded on the pebbles (you can tell I knew what I was doing eh?) a large and very irate looking local gentleman started coming down the beach waving his arms and shouting enthusiastically in Greek compliments on my boating skill I think. I decided not to wait for a more close up discussion and jumped into the shallow water to push the back of the boat free and we departed using our full 30bhp. In my haste I forgot my phone was in my shorts pocket and of course a dose of sea water is always fatal. Fortunately the SIM still worked and I was able to put it in another phone and we worked out how to make the Caxton transactions in the end. Will be taking a printout as well this time.

I hang my head in shame, I was a hit and run boater. We did go back by car later and the jetty was still intact, I suspect its used to being rammed by inept tourists every season.

tricklesthegreek

As a half Greek myself, please make sure you take enough Euros for your stay before you leave. Use travelmoneymax and reserve your currency in advance to pick up at the airport (you don't have to pay til you get there) - moneycorp offer fantastic pre-reserved rates.

Do not expect to have wide access to cash machines and banks can close in the summer on 15th August as it's the ascension of the virgin mary celebration which renders everyone to go on holiday.

As far as the crisis is concerned - if you have stirling with you as well, you can change it up, but if you have enough Euros you will be fine. Worst case you change up the stirling to whatever currency is running and you change the Euros back when you get home. The Euro is not going to collapse and actually even if Greece came out (which is not likely at the present moment anyway) then they would need a transition period.

Keep your notes in small denominations though, nothing over a 50 - the poor Greeks don't have much themselves and getting them to change them up in little independent tavernas could be difficult unless your bill comes close to 100 Euros.

Hope this helps. Have a wonderful time. Please keep Greek tourism alive. There is nothing to be afraid of, Greece is still beautiful and its people are still wonderful towards us Brits. They need their tourists more than ever. Please support them. :beer:

spritzer2001uk

Hi Tricklesthegreek


have looked at the moneycorp bureau do you know if the rate when you order is the rate on day of pick up?
Am a little confused because it does say on site that if rate goes up they will give you that rate if you have original confirmation email , so what happens if rate goes down?
It seems a good way to do it if the rate locks in while it better than has been
Many thanks