languages: Greek
capital city: Athens
area: 131,944
population: 10.66 million
currency: Euro
time: GMT: +2
telephone codes: 00 30
electricity: 220V, 50Hz
entry requirements: Greece, a member of the EU, does not require visas for citizens of the United States. A valid passport is sufficient for a three-month stay.
public holidays: New Year's Day; Epiphany; Monday Lent; National Day (25 March); Good Friday; Easter Monday; Labour Day; Whit Monday; Assumption; National Day (28 Oct); Christmas; Boxing Day.

cuisine:
Greek cuisine is simple, its basis being olive oil, bread, wine, and the ability to express, at table, an opinion contrary to any other put forward. A meal, for the Greeks, is not so much a way to fuel the body as the conversation, which is why the thing above all others that will mark you as a foreigner is to eat out alone. To impede the conversation as little as possible, Greek dishes are often served as mezes. Commonly misunderstood to be appetizers, they more appropriately constitute the entire meal. Standards include grilled octopus, dolmades (stuffed grape leaves), tzadziki (yogurt, cucumber, and garlic dip), taramasalata (creamy roe, garlic, and olive oil dip), and moussaka, layers of ground lamb and eggplant. That Greece makes wines other than retsina comes as a pleasant surprise. Look for wines of the Naoussa region, the Nemea of the Peloponnese, and Santorini. The frappé, a cold concoction of instant coffee, milk, and sugar, has essentially replaced ouzo as the Greek national drink. Its chief virtue is that it can sit on the table in front of you at an outdoor café all afternoon while you observe and pronounce judgment on the world and imagine that everyone is probably taking you for a Greek, which, unless there's a wreath of cigarette smoke encircling your head, they are not.

see & do:
Try the local cheese feta, a cold concoction of instant coffee, milk, and sugar, has essentially replaced ouzo as the Greek national drink. Its olive oil is that it can sit on the table in front of you at an outdoor café all afternoon while you observe and pronounce judgment on the world and imagine that everyone is probably taking you for a Greek, which, unless there's a wreath of cigarette smoke encircling your head, they are not.

tips & advice:

• avoid hectic July & August in the islands
• make well in advance hotel reservations, especially in the most cosmopolitan areas
• dont miss the Athens Festival, hosted every summer in the Ancient Theatre of Acropolis.
• tips are never included in the restaurant bill. Leave a 10%, given the service was good. If not, just pay and leave.
• avoid hectic July & August in the islands