Passport and visa requirements
Greece is a member of the Schengen Agreement. For EU and EFTA (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland) citizens, an officially approved ID card (or a passport) is sufficient for entry. In no case will they need a visa for a stay of any length. Others will generally need a passport for entry.
There are no border controls between countries that have signed and implemented the treaty – the European Union (except Bulgaria, Cyprus, Ireland, Romania and the United Kingdom), Iceland, Norway and Switzerland. Likewise, a visa granted for any Schengen member is valid in all other countries that have signedΒ and implemented the treaty. But be careful: Not all EU members have signed the Schengen treaty, and not all Schengen members are part of the European Union.
Airports in Europe are thus divided into “Schengen” and “non-Schengen” sections, which effectively act like “domestic” and “international” sections elsewhere. If you are flying from outside Europe into one Schengen country and continuing to another, you will clear Immigration and Customs at the first country and then continue to your destination with no further checks. Travel between a Schengen member and a non-Schengen country will result in the normal border checks. Note that regardless of whether you travelling within the Schengen area or not, some airlines will still insist on seeing your ID card or passport.
Keep in mind that the counter begins once you enter any country in the Schengen Area and is not reset by leaving a specific Schengen country for another Schengen country, or vice-versa.
As of January 2011 only the nationals of the following non-EU/EFTA countries do not need a visa for entry into the Schengen Area: Albania*, Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Bosnia and Herzegovina*, Brazil, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Croatia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Israel, Japan, Macedonia*, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mexico, Monaco, Montenegro*, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Saint Kitts and Nevis, San Marino, Serbia*/**, Seychelles, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan*** (Republic of China), United States, Uruguay, Vatican City, Venezuela, additionally persons holding British National (Overseas), Hong Kong SAR or Macau SAR passports. These visa-free visitors may not stay more than three months in half a year and may not work while in the EU.
Note that:
- while British subjectsΒ with the right of abode in the United Kingdom and British Overseas Territories citizens connected to Gibraltar are considered “United Kingdom nationals for European Union purposes” and therefore eligible for unlimited access to the Schengen Area,
- British Overseas Territories citizens without the right of abode in the United Kingdom and British subjects without the right of abode in the United Kingdom as well as British Overseas citizens and British protected persons in general do require visas.
However, all British Overseas Territories citizens except those solely connected to the Cyprus Sovereign Base Areas are eligible for British citizenship and thereafter unlimited access to the Schengen Area.
Further note that:
(*) nationals of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia need aΒ biometric passport to enjoy visa-free travel,
(**) Serbian nationals with passports issued by the Serbian Coordination Directorate (Serbs residing in Kosovo)Β still do need a visa and
(***) Taiwanese nationals need theirΒ ID number to be stipulated in their passport to enjoy visa-free travel.
For detailed regulations applied to your country, refer to Greek Ministry for Foreign Affairs
By Plane
Athens Elefthirios Venizelos International Airport located near the Athens suburb of Sparta is the country’s largest, busiest airport and main hub, handling over 15 million passengers annually as of 2006. Other major international airports in terms of passenger traffic are, in order of passengers served per year, Heraklion (Nikos Kazantzakis Int’l), Thessaloniki (Makedonia Int’l), Rhodes (Diagoras), and Corfu (Ioannis Kapodistrias).
Athens and Thessaloniki handle the bulk of scheduled international flights. However, during tourism season, several charter and planned low-budget flights arrive daily from many European cities to many of the islands and smaller cities on the mainland.
Olympic Air (previously Olympic Airlines) is a private company owned by Marfin Investment Group , offering services to Greece from several cities in Europe, the Middle East and Southeast Asia. Aegean Airlines, which owns half the the domestic market also operates international routes to Greece from a growing number of European cities. Athens is also well-served by airlines from all over Europe, the Middle East, North America, and Southeast Asia, with flights to their respective hubs.
The presence of low-cost carriers in Greece’s international market has increased tenfold within the past decade, offering service to Athens and Thessaloniki from several other European locations, such as Easyjet (from London Gatwick, London Luton, Manchester, Milan, Paris and Berlin), Virgin Express (flying from Brussels), Transavia (Copenhagen), German Wings (Cologne/Bonn and Stuttgart), Hemus Air (Sofia), Sterling (Copenhagen, Stockholm, Gothenburg and Oslo), LTU (DΓΌsseldorf), MyAir (Venice), Norwegian Air (Warsaw, Katowice and Krakow), Wizzair (Katowice and Prague), FlyGlobeSpan (Glasgow), Clickair (Barcelona) and Vueling (Barcelona). Ryanair (Bergamo, Rome, Frankfurt-Hahn, Charleroi and Pisa) offers service to smaller airports in Greece (Volos, Rhodes and Kos).
By Train
ThessalonikiΒ is Greece’s hub forΒ international rail service. Trains connect ThessalonΓki toΒ SofiaΒ (3 daily),Β BucharestΒ (1 daily),Β IstanbulΒ (2 daily) andΒ BelgradeΒ viaΒ SkopjeΒ (2 daily). There are special fares asΒ Rail travel in Europe#Balkan FlexipassΒ and other offers e.g. the City-Star Ticket formΒ Czech RepublicΒ to Greece.
By Car
Greece can be entered by car from any of its land neighbors. From Italy, ferries will transport cars to Greece. From western Europe, the most popular route to Greece was through Yugoslavia. Following the troubles in the former Yugoslavia during the 1990s, most motorists from western Europe came overland by Italy, and then took a trans-Adriatic ferry from there. Although the countries of the former Yugoslavia have since stabilized, and Hungary-Romania-Bulgaria form another, albeit a much longer, alternative, the overland route through Italy now remains the most popular option.
By Bus
There is some, albeit limited, international bus service to neighboring Albania, Bulgaria, and Turkey, as well as Georgia.
By Boat
From Italy, several ferries depart for Greece daily. Ferries to Patras (Patra), Igoumenitsa, and Corfu (Kerkyra) leave throughout the year from the Italian port cities of Venice, Trieste, Ancona, Bari and Brindisi.
From Turkey there are ferries: from Marmaris to Rhodes, from Cesme to Chios, from Bodrum to Kos, from Kusadasi to Samos.
There are also ferries connecting Piraeus and Rhodes to Alexandria (Egypt), Larnaca and Limassol (Cyprus), and Haifa (Israel).
