Greece

Greece is a country in Southern Europe, bordering Turkey, Bulgaria, Macedonia and Albania. It is a member state of the European Union as well as the Schengen Agreement.

Contrary to belief, Greek drivers will rarely, if ever, ask for money. Because there are few motorways in Greece, the national roads become great havens of locals and long distance drivers pouring in from the south east to west and vice versa, up into the north. Hitching in Greece can be a little slow because many Greeks seem to be afraid of Albanians. It's best not to ask too much about it as something close to racism and prejudice comes out. You can cross the border by foot!

In 2014 guaka tried hitching from 2 fairly okay locations in Athens for about 5 hours and later from an excellent location in Corfu for an hour and a half. All attempts were in vain. Greek people are nice but unfortunately not when it comes to picking up hitchhikers.



It is very hard to hitchhike using mainly petrol stations – it can cause long waits since they are a little off the motorway and quite small by Western standards. Besides, you can barely find any in the northern parts of Greece. The best way to get lifts is to hitch right on the road (if it is not a motorway). It is not recommended to thumb on the motorways, although some hitchhikers do so anyway since the cars are more likely to stop, and the police are pretty liberal about it; however, it is at your own risk.

It would be smart not to mention Macedonia either – the Skopje issue might be emotional for many (older) Greeks.

In summer it can get very hot in Greece, so be careful that you don't get sunburned and carry plenty of water with you.

Number plates
The number plates of Greece usually consist of 3 letters (from which the first two letters represent a city) and a number. The plates are valid for the whole life of the vehicle even if its owner moves to an other town, so you can not be absolutely sure about where the vehicle is from.

Free camping
Free camping in Greece is not allowed, but fortunately, compared with the other Mediterranean EU countries, there are still a lot of of beaches where you can camp for free and without police problems. Police may fine you (150 euro) during the summer months (July and August especially), so it's best to ask other free campers when you arrive at a beach.

You can camp freely anywhere in the mountains, valleys, hills, river beds etc. Nobody is going to chase you off. Anyway the law that forbids free camping was created due to economical reasons so that hotels, organised campgrounds and all kinds of tourist accommodation can flourish, which means that if you camp where there is no tourism nobody will come after you.

Cities

 * Athens
 * Thessaloniki
 * Kalamata
 * Igoumenitsa
 * Florina
 * Patra
 * Greek islands
 * Ioannina

Getting away
You can get a ferries from Igoumenitsa or Patra. A lot of trucks going through Igoumenitsa. Ferries are expensive and time consuming, but there is a shower and you can sleep on the deck. Crossing in the truck cab - dangerous and illegal. There are discounts for students. If you are under 25 - ask for a discount!
 * To Italy

Links

 * 14 hours of autostop – the hitchhiking adventures of Georgi Kalendarov and Diljan Vulev, of Bulgaria, in Greece

isin: Balkans

trash:Greece

Greece

Griechenland Grèce