Greece

From Hitchwiki
Revision as of 17:10, 11 October 2009 by Guaka (talk | contribs)

Earth > Europe > Southern Europe > Balkans > Greece
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Flag of Greece Greece
Information
Language: Greek
Capital: Athens
Population: 11,216,708
Currency: Euro (€) (EUR)
Hitchability: from Average.png (average) to Good.png (good)
Meet fellow hitchhikers on Trustroots
<map lat='39.791654835253425' lng='21.46728515625' zoom='6' view='0' float='right' />

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. Greece can be a little slow because many Greeks tend to seemingly 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't cross the border by foot!

Hitchhiker Jason thumbing in Greece, June 2008. His hips have seemingly turned inside out.

It is very hard to hitchhike using mainly petrol stations - it can cause long waiting hours since they are a little off the motorway and quite small for Western criteria. 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 that anyway since the cars are going to stop most definitely, and the police can be liberal about that; however, it is 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 won't get burned and carry enough water with you.

Number plates

The number plates of Greece consist usually 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

In Greece, as well as in the rest of the EU countries (except for Northern Europe) applies the same law for the free camping, so legally is forbidden. But fortunately (compare with the rest of mediterranean EU countries), there are still loads of beaches that you can camp for free and without police problems. Police may "attacks" for fines (150 euros) during the summer months (July and August most propable). So it's best to ask other free campers when you arrive in a beach.

Camp freely anywhere in the mountains, valleys, hills, river beds etc. Nobody is going to chase you. Anyway the law that forbids free camping was created due to economical reasons so that hotels, organised campings and all kind of touristic accommodation can flourish. Meaning that if you camp where is no tourism nobody will come after you.

Cities

Links

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



trash:Greece wikipedia:Greece