Go, but pay attention.
Numbeo's Safety Index puts Athens at 45/100 for crime — that makes it read sketchier than Greece's national picture overall (71/100 vs 75/100).
City page · part of Greece
The one number a country page can't give you
What people who actually live in Athens report
Numbeo aggregates thousands of resident-submitted perception surveys into a per-city Crime Index (higher = worse) and its inverse, a Safety Index — the only real city-granularity crime signal feeding this page, alongside Greece's national advisory, political, health, and police-trust data.
Crime Index
55.0
Safety Index
45.0
Sub-scores
Same real inputs as Greece's national page, with crime swapped for Athens's own Numbeo number above.
Local know-how
Staying safe in Athens, specifically
- • Athens is generally a safe city. There are many police officers and security guards around the city. Many places have CCTV. Street crime is rare. Violent crime against tourists is rare.
- • There are pickpockets on the Metro (especially at the interchanges with the line from the Airport), buses and in other crowded areas, including Plaka.
- • The friendly stranger bar scam has been reported from areas of central Athens frequented by tourists, including Omonia, Syntagma, and Plaka.
- • Demonstrations and riots are common and accepted as part of everyday life and democracy by most Athenians.
Legal status (national law)
Legal since 1951; equal age of consent since 2015+ UN decl. sign.
Source: Wikipedia — LGBTQ rights by country →Pack this, know this
The little things that trip people up
Plug & voltage
C / F · 230V
Driving side
right
Emergency
police: 100 or 112 / ambulance: 166 or 112 / fire: 199 or 112
Tipping
Traditionally tipping in restaurants is not customary in Greece. Rounding of the bill used to work both ways, up or down to the nearest note amount. A tip was considered insulting, and the best way to show appreciation was to come back. In touristy areas this has almost completely vanished, but off the beaten track it is still alive.
SIM / Data
There are no Internet roaming charges for EU citizens, so you can surf the Internet in Greece as normal with your local sim card. For Non-EU citizens, you can either buy a Greek sim card or use a virtual sim cards where you can buy the GB you want as credit at home and then surf the internet anywhere in Greece until the credit is used up. This is easier than buying a Greek sim card.
Cash vs. Card
The euro replaced the drachma in January 2002. In the Greek language, however, its name is pronounced something like EFF-ro. Euro cents are called sent in Cyprus but not in Greece, where they are called lepta (singular lepto).
How this compares to Greece
Numbeo's Safety Index puts Athens at 45/100 for crime — that makes it read sketchier than Greece's national picture overall (71/100 vs 75/100).
See the full Greece page and all receipts →