My new Island Hopping Book says that planning to use ATM's exclusively in Greece may lead to problems. What is your experience with this?

Thanks!
Marsh

MY experience is they are EVERYWHERE...especially on Sanorini in the shopping are it seems as if there was one every few feet!!!

What "problems" are you/they referring to? We used them everywhere and did not have any problems (at least that we were aware of).

I can't imagine what kind of "problems" they are talking about, but ATMS are pretty easy to find in Athens and on most of the popular islands. Maybe it's an issue on some of the remote places far off the beaten track.

Years ago some of the smaller islands, like Folegandros didn't have them but they probably all do now. I think on Amorgos I had to go into the main town to find one. Once on Santorini in Thira, the ATM was empty of money so you should not leave taking out money at the last minute before needing it. This can happen any where. It happenned to me in Paris. In Istanbul, I had an ATM take my card so I always try to use an ATM attached to a bank in case I need to retrieve my card or there is a problem. I don't use stand alone ATM's at home or travelling. I haven't used travellers cheques in years. They are a pain to cash and there is usually a fee. All you need is a couple of credit cards and a debit card. Don't use a credit card in an ATM.

Make sure you notify your bank that you will be using your card in Greece so the computer doesn't 'freeze' your account.

Marsh, we all would be interested to learn what GREEK ISLAND HOPPING thinks these problems will be??? Please come back and tell us!

I prefer to travel with 2 ATM cards from DIFFERENT banks. If one card gets lost, stolen, damaged, or frozen, then you have a backup.
Of course, don't carry both ATM cards in the same purse or wallet, defeats the redundancy
; - )

My <i>Greek Island Hopping 2008</i>, p 23, reads pretty much as Marsh says. It even advises travellers to bring the bulk of their money in travellers cheques! What hokum!

While I have a high regard for that guide, they are way out of date on this issue. ATMs are everywhere, even on some islands that don't have banks, e.g. Folegandros. Travellers cheques are increasingly hard to use.

As BLL says, notify your bank before you leave, and you will have no problem using your ATM card in Greece.

Thanks everyone! I have not used travelers checks in ages! ATM's are so convenient. I do give my bank a list of my travel plans, plus I have 2 ATM cards & my husband has 1. I also take 2 credit cards. I always use a money holster.

On his webguide Barratt says ATMs are everywhere and doesn't
mention any negatives associated with them. Guess he got up
to speed on line!

Just got back from Greece last week and there was absolutely no problem finding an ATM. We did not, however, spend any time in any of the smaller islands.

Before we left, I asked my bank to bump up the amount of cash I could withdraw daily. I found that hotels would give a small discount for paying in cash so I tried to use as much cash as possible.

Also, the interest on using a credit card is usually 3% of the amount you charge while your bank will charge you around 1% of the money you withdraw. Greek banks did not charge a separate charge for withdrawing. That might not be true for all of them but none of the ATMs I used had a charge from the Greek bank itself.

Have fun!!!!!

We just returned from 8 nights in Greece (Paros, Santorini, Athens). ATM's were plentiful in all places, and we used our cards several times with no problems. We always take 2 different ATM cards just in case there is a problem with one.