Situated in Southeastern Europe, Greece is a country attracting 26 million tourists in a year. It is home to thousands of islands and is mainly known for its famous architecture. With many temples built to honor each of their Gods, the colossal architectural style of Greece is recognized and admired throughout the world.
Places to avoid in Greece
Although it is not regarded as an unsafe country in all, like any other place in the world, Greece too has locations that can be avoided to ensure one’s security.
Omonia, Kolokotroni, Exarcheia, and Vathi squares have relatively high crime rates and should only be visited during the day. These places can pose a safety threat to visitors as anarchist groups use university campuses as their hubs. Many drug dealers and petty thieves who may also include innocent-looking children have an affinity for these places. Downtown railways stations, along with metropolitan areas and some nightclubs in Glyfada square, are also crime spots associated with orchestrated crimes.
As long as these areas are avoided or visited with care in the company of a local, tourists have nothing to worry about.
How can tourists ensure their safety?
It is a good idea for every tourist to have a functional cellphone, which you can use to make any emergency phone calls. Tourists should enter essential details such as emergency contacts, hotel information, and other significant numbers such as restaurants and tourist attractions to call and check for their business hours. Mobile phones are also required to call a taxi and to use maps to check for alternate routes and accessible areas. For this, tourists must keep their phones charged. Even though paper maps are readily available, they do not provide the GPS tracking service and so using google maps is more preferred.
Tourists should travel light and smart as carrying a large amount of luggage makes the experience more laborious. It is better to have digital backups of any relevant documents and to take your ID card and passport in a backpack with you at all times, along with some other essentials.
Tourists should enroll in the STEP program, which is the smart travel enrollment, as this allows travelers to receive security alerts and messages. It also makes it easy for the embassy of your country to locate and reach to you in case of a mishap.
Getting travel insurance is always an excellent plan, as this allows visitors to count on their insurance companies if needed. It also really helps to learn a few essential words and communicative sentences of the native language before visiting any new country. Not only does this help in communicating with locals and asking for help, but it also assists explorers in making sense of street signs.
Conclusion
All in all, Greece is not an unsafe place to travel to if the right measures and steps are taken beforehand. It is always sensible to research and learn about a place before visiting as this gives tourists some insight on what to do and what to avoid.
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