twk

<<To write that it would be interesting to be in Greece while it leaves the Euro, is a proof of how serious such posts should be taken>>

I forgot, this internet stuff is serious business. People are going to speculate on what happens to the euro until conditions in Europe fundamentally change. If that bothers you, I would suggest staying away from the internet, newspapers, TV and radio for a while.

Heimdall: Vested interest might be too strong. I just think there are folks with ties to Greece that are anxious about the situation and bothered by folks talking about it.

Jackie

Roadbus--thanks for the update. What did you decide to do?

When I went to the bank, they had just been wiped clean of small bills, so will go back again tomorrow for a second purchase. The conversion rate at Bank of America was 1.338.

clausar

twk
i read the papers, follow the internet, and still have a connection to reality, as i actually live in the country, while you are not. ( and may never have been )

Heimdall

Hi twk,

Why should we be bothered by "folks talking about [what currency to bring to Greece]"? After all, that's what Fodor's is for — to answer travellers' questions. What I <i>am</i> bothered about is inaccurate information that just causes unnecessary worry. I am also bothered about threads like this turning into a debate on economics when all the OP wanted was an answer to a simple question.

Now we are getting feedback from roadbus on this thread and valleyk on the <i>Greece - Euro or Sterling</i> that "everything is calm and ATMs are working fine" and "there were no problems at all with anything". Of course that's what "folks with ties to Greece" have been saying all along. ;-)

mariha2912

I rarely participate on this kind of conversation these days because they get very repetitive, but as a side note I want to point out that having lots of dollars or sterling or whatever currency with you is not a so good idea. I am in Delphi right now, and seems like some people carry nearly no euros while they have a wallet full of dollars or whatever. Then dollars are not accepted on local stores and visitors either have to rush in the nearest ATM either they try to find friends who hold some euro and borrow some money for simple purchases. (Banks are not open on afternoon to exchange and even if they did, again exchange rate might not be great.)
I see many incidents, more recently it happened on a souvenir shop when someone did not had enough euro to buy a 7 euro guidebook and on a kiosk when someone tried to purchase a can of coke on dollars! Now I think this is kind of a pain for no reason and of course credit cards are not everywhere accepted- and definitely not on kiosks! Take mostly euro with you and some dollars or whatever to keep you going for a couple of days in case something happens (which on my opinion is very unlikely, but let's not start over with this, have a small amount just for peace of mind) , rather than the other way around!!!

roadbus

Jackie, thank you for the update on the exchange rate. I will probably get a couple of days worth of euros with me and exchange there.

travelgourmet

<i>That's rich. Expecting German taxpayers to keep paying ever higher taxes, maybe even increasing their present 66 yr old retirement age, so their money can be shipped off to Greece to bail-out their profligate Govt and Govt labor unions.</i>

Actually, I'm hoping German taxpayers wake up and realize that their economic success is driven in huge part by the euro and the way it dramatically undervalues the German currency. When and if the deadweight is dropped from the euro and it becomes, effectively, a new Deutsche Mark, the cost of German exports will rise and the gains they have made in competitiveness will begin to be chewed away at.

Germany has prospered precisely because they have aligned themselves with weaker economies, which can't compete with them for manufactured goods when they are tied to the same currency. So, German goods flow to places like Spain and Greece. Germany reaped the benefit of expansionary policies in these countries but now wants to pretend that they hold no stake in bailing them out.

This isn't about Germany bailing out Greece, but Merkel simply looking at the cold, hard facts and realizing that bailing out Greece and putting a stop to this nonsense is the better play for Germany than letting their currency appreciate by 20% or more. Germany shouldn't do it for the Greeks, but for Germany. It is a tough sell to the voters, sure, but leaders are supposed to lead.

<i>Did the Euro collapse? No...</i>

You might not be familiar with the phrase "over/under"? Regardless, it is less than 2 months past my mid-line and things are as hairy as ever. We are certainly no closer to euro stability than when I wrote that post and it has to come to a head soon.

roadbus

Anyway, I am expecting to have a nice vacation, planning to see many places and take a lot of photos with my DSLR. If curious I will put the photographs on my site mid-July at http://www.VeritaVision.com

ira

Hi twk,

>the OP's concern about runs on ATMs in Greece is not totally unfounded.<

If I wanted to take my life savings out of my Athens bank, would I do it by withdrawing 300E at a time or by ordering an EFT to my Swiss account?

Mimar

I'm just back from Greece and had no problems withdrawing cash from ATMs. We traveled to the Peloponnese, some islands and Athens. No ATM problems anywhere, and, in fact, no problems at all.

There were a number of restaurants and stores that didn't take credit cards.

I don't know about the Bank of America exchange rate, but the interbank rate is 1.255 dollars for 1.0 euro. I just looked at www.xe.com.

Christina

I imagine some Greeks don't have Swiss bank accounts. People can do lots of things when they are worried, I don't see any reason to be dismissive of the question which wasn't crazy. I am just glad roadhouse came back and reported o people know the situation from a fellow traveler.

There have been some Greek travel agents who have posted on Fodors in the past, tehre are always a few people around who do have interests in tourism in various countries on Fodors.

yiassas

I have posted on this subject ad nauseam & I will repeat:
I am a Brit living in Greece, I have to withdraw money from the ATM all year round (from my UK account), not just for 1 or 2 weeks vacation. There have been no problems & nothing is any different to previous years, & I expect none until/if Greece exit the euro. If/when (I am NOT debating that, again, there is only speculation as to what will happen, if & when, repeated for several years) Greece does exit, volutarily or forced, there will be a period of changeover for ATMs as well as many other machines etc. For this reason Heimdall is quite right in saying take money out before your wallet is empty, especially on a Friday, as the most likely change would take place over a weekend. If the exit does happen you would withdraw/exchange for the new drachma or whatever currency.
There is an economic crisis yes, but that is tough on the citizens & residents of Greece regarding lower (or no) wages & higher taxes, but absolutely nothing that should affect a visitor to Greece, apart from being more welcomne than ever!
If you can't listen to a non Greek, living here, & having to access foreign funds via the ATM on a daily basis then I give up.

clausar

I am sometimes really speechless, that the opinion of people who actually live in the country ( like you and me yiassas) is not taken as seriously as it should be.

roadbus

I don't mean to restart this argument but I couldn't help but notice that Fodor's issues similar warning about bringing cash with you to Greece and not rely on ATMs.

http://www.fodors.com/news/story_5677.html

Heimdall

Whoever wrote that article didn't know the difference between a thermometer and a barometer, either. Scroll down to <i>Pack for a Heat Wave</i> and it reads:

"On the heels of March's record high temperatures in Northern Europe, meteorologists are predicting above-average summer temperatures across Southern and Eastern Europe. The good news: barometers aren't likely to reach the record highs of 2003 or 2010."

I think that illustrates what we have been saying: poorly written articles by people who have never even been to Greece. ;-)

clausar

After reading Fodor's warning, i will go tomorrow to my bank, get all my savings in small bills and hide them in the freezer..

Unless the author of the article has a better advice on where to hide the money....

Heimdall

clausar, lol!!

twk

I said, above, that all I would do if I were going to Greece is to keep a decent cash reserve (basically, the amount that one withdrwaw in a typical trip to the ATM) just to cover this eventuality. You guys talking about folks not living in Greece being unqualified to comment on the subject are missing the point--how many of you have been in a country when it was forced to leave a hard currency? This is not an uncommon occurrence in history, although it has happened less frequently that it used to (Argentina in the 90s comes to mind). Living in Greece the last 20 years wouldn't give you any experience in dealing with this phenomenon--at least not yet. You may very well end up becoming experts, but, at this point, you've no more experience with the subject than the folks you are criticizing.

clausar

Argentina cannot be compared to Greece, this was a completely different case, as you should know.
Seems that some people here are obsessed with Greece leaving the Eurozone....
Maybe it is more of a wish.. in the meantime things are getting more complicated after Spain and Cyprus getting rescued....

Living in Greece as a Greek gives me the right to deal with reality... while others are reporting even shortage of money at ATM's or shortage of food....

Heimdall

twk wrote: <i>I said, above, that all I would do if I were going to Greece is to keep a decent cash reserve (basically, the amount that one withdrwaw in a typical trip to the ATM) just to cover this eventuality. </i>

In other words you would do just the same as at home: "basically, the amount that one withdraws in a typical trip to the ATM". That's what I do at home, too.