We're looking at spending time in Athens, Santorini and Naxos (maybe Mykonos too). I've never been to Greece and was wondering if ATMs are everywhere. Also, are credit cards commonly accepted in restaurants etc. or do they prefer cash?

Thanks in advance for your help.

My Mom is in Greeece right now. She is having problems using Mastercard, supposedly because VISA sponsored the Olympics. She has made a couple ATM withdrawals within 3 days, so I am assuming they are not hard to find! My mother is NOT the type to go hunting for one on her own...

There is a website you can find by "googling" appropriate words such as "VISA" +ATM or Cirrus or location.
I had trepidations similar to yours some years ago, until I went to this website, put in the location of a small town (XXXX)in the Czech or Slovak republice of about 2,000 people, and found that the town had 3 ATMs. I then felt comfortable that, if XXXX had ATMs, everywhere would.

I went to my bank's web site and found the location of ATMs in the towns/countries I would be visiting. I also notified the bank that I would be using the ATM out of the country, ditto my credit card companies. Some companies told me that it was needed. Others that it didn't matter. My friend didn't notify hers and couldn't use it overseas.
Leslie

When I traveled to Austria last month, Citibank wanted the names of all the major cities where I planned to use the credit card and asked me to choose a password based on the name of a pet since they assume that a determined ID thief would find the common choices like family or ancestor names.

we were in Athens, Mykonos and Santorini last year and ATMs are everywhere, both the Plus and Cirrus networks. In Athens there was one chain of European banks that had the Plus sign but my card wouldn't work. Had no problem on the islands as they make it easy for you to part with your money. Visa was widely accepted but some smaller hotels wouldn't use credit cards. For security purposes I prefer to pay cash at restaurants as you never know where your receipt ends up.

If you can put money in your checking account before you leave it's much less expensive to use an ATM debit card. There won't be any bank charges or high interest rates for cash advances that way. Credit card use will usually also involve a service fee from a restaurant or a retailer of as much as 3%, and 7% for American Express.

I'll be using my Bank Of America Visa Debit card this coming May-June. This entitles me to free cash withdrawls from ATMs that accept Plus and Interlink cards. If yours is a VISA debit card you can google "VISA ATM locations" to see where you can use it. Ask your bank for the names of the banks in Greece that have reciprocity with yours.

I've found that "Visa-ATM" "list" to be woefully inadequate...there seem to be many more than the list indicates in some locations. I don't think you have anything to worry about.

I don't know which website Intrepid1 was looking at, but the one below shows 100 ATMs in Athens, 10 on Naxos, 15 on Mykonos and 13 on Santorini. These are for Visa ATM cards.

http://visa.via.infonow.net/locator/...SearchPage.jsp

I agree, you don't have anything to worry about when it comes to finding one wherever you go.

When I was in Greece I found ATMs to be plentiful. However, for some reason my ATM card only worked sporadically, even though I only used banks displaying the Plus or Cirrus symbol. It also worked sporadically at different locations for the same bank. I met another traveler who had her card eaten by the ATM.

I didn't have any problems on Mykonos, Santorini, or Paros. Just as an aside, I always carry 3 forms of "currency" when I travel--ATM card, credit card, and cash. Because of the aforementioned problems in Greece (and a few other countries), I don't solely rely on any one form of exchange. Good luck!

I have travelled all over Greece and there are ATMs in all the larger communities, including the main city on each of the islands. They are pervasive in Athens. I've never had any trouble using either debit or credit cards in the machines, although you need to make sure your card is one with a four digit PIN.

I don't see 10 ATMs listed on Naxos. We have a card from the Bank of America that has a VISA symbol on it.

Will we have any trouble using this card on Naxos?

I've just returned. Believe me, there are ATMs everywhere on every major island, Naxos being one of them. Don't worry.

One other point, try to use an ATM that is at a bank building rather than a stand lone in case the machine takes your card. It is rare but it can happen. I had it happen in Istanbul but not in Greece. Also, try to take out enough cash before leaving an island early enough that you can go to a bank if something goes wrong. Like on a long weekend some ATM's run out of cash. That happenned to me on Santorini as I was about to depart for Folegandros where I was not sure if there was an ATM. One island where there was only an ATM at the port was Amorgos but that may have changed by now.

we were in Naxos last September and had no trouble finding ATMs, in fact a few were too convenient ... too much nice stuff, too much good food (if possible) and one 12-year-old with a taste for lobster.