Difference between revisions of "Greece"

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Contrary to belief, Greek drivers will rarely, if ever, ask for money. Because there are few [[highway|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!
 
Contrary to belief, Greek drivers will rarely, if ever, ask for money. Because there are few [[highway|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!
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[[User:Guaka|guaka]] ([[User talk:Guaka|talk]]) 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 half. Both attempts were in vain. Greek people are nice but unfortunately not when it comes to picking up hitchhikers.
  
 
[[File:IMG_2349.jpg|thumb|250px|Hitchhiker [[User:Whisperingofthestars|Jason]] thumbing in Greece, June 2008. His hips have seemingly turned inside out.]]
 
[[File:IMG_2349.jpg|thumb|250px|Hitchhiker [[User:Whisperingofthestars|Jason]] thumbing in Greece, June 2008. His hips have seemingly turned inside out.]]

Revision as of 09:32, 15 April 2014

Flag of Greece Greece
Information
Language: Greek
Capital: Athens
Population: 11,216,708
Currency: Euro (€) (EUR)
Hitchability: <rating country='gr' />
Meet fellow hitchhikers on Trustroots or BeWelcome
<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. 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!

guaka (talk) 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 half. Both attempts were in vain. Greek people are nice but unfortunately not when it comes to picking up hitchhikers.

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 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

Getting away

Links

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



trash:Greece

wikipedia:Greece