Tourist Information and Useful Phone Numbers for Greece
Health
In order to have access to necessary health care, tourists from member states of the European Union (EU) wishing to visit Greece must be holders of the European Health Card (EHIC) or any other legal Community document issued by their competent social security agency.
In these cases, the necessary treatment in Greece is provided by:
- the IKA (Social Security Institute) Health Units (polyclinics) or doctor’s offices in the region;
- Regional clinics (former rural clinics) or the Health Centres of the National Health System;
- the outpatients’ departments of the hospitals on contract.
In order to have access to necessary health care, tourists from countries other than the member states of the European Union wishing to visit Greece must consult their social security agency for information before travelling.
In case of emergency call:
Tourist Police
The Tourist Police is a Service of the Greek Police Force staffed with specially trained, foreign-language speaking personnel. Within the framework of its duties and functions, it provides the following services:
- It provides information to Greek and foreign visitors and offers them assistance in settling any issues arising with tourist businesses.
- It cooperates with locally competent Directorates of Tourism and local authorities in order to deal with tourism issues.
- It ensures that the tourist legislation in force is applied in all tourist areas, businesses and media, such as hotels, apartments and rooms to let, tourist shops, tourist agencies and coaches, car and motorcycle rental agencies, archaeological sites, tourist guides, ski resorts, spa towns, mass arrival/departure stations, sanitary facilities operating in tourist businesses and sites of free camping, etc.
- It carries out inspections of tourist businesses with the aim to provide better services and higher protection to visitors.
The distinctive insignia of the Greek Tourist Police officers are the following:
The Greek Tourist Police can be reached around-the-clock by dialing “171”. This line provides all kind of information and instructions in Greek, English, French and German, thus helping tourists to deal directly with any arising problem.
