Tourist Scams in Greece

hey there fellow Travelers Mark here with Walter's world and today we're in Athens Greece and today we're going to talk about are some of the scams you might see when you do come here to Greece but before I get started I got to tell you Greece is a very safe place to visit so there's not a ton of scams you have to worry about but there are some things you should be aware of because some things you think are a scam actually aren't and that's what I want to kind of start with is the the bread and water scam look if you go to a restaurant in Greece they'll bring a bottle of water right away and they'll ask you would you like bread the thing is a lot of people feel that those things should be free we're bringing a bottle of water to the table you asked me if I wanted bread I thought those were free those are not free now they're very affordable they're cheap you can get them no big deal it's not going to put a big huge dent in your budget but realize you will be paying for those things okay and that's why some tourists get upset because they don't realize it's not free it's not a scam they're just offering that to you because oh my gosh it gets so hot here in the summertime you need to stay hydrated so take that water okay and if you don't want the bread just say no thanks we don't want the bread and then you don't have to pay for it because they don't bring it to you now another thing that seems like it might be a scam but really isn't a scam is it some of the apartment rentals you have around Greece they'll actually charge you for the air conditioning or the electricity use while you're there so it's not just the payment to stay there it's also hey we charge a little bit more because you're using the AC I mean it's 41 degrees outside you've got it kicked out to 16 Celsius you're like it's like 105 outside you got to set it 45 you know whatever those things it's not a scam like that is something that is common enough that you should know that if that's on your kind of apartment agreement or your leasing agreement now when you look at actual scam scams kind of things when you're going around Greece honestly most things are going to happen but there's a lot of tourists whether you're walking around Santorini you're in Monastery here in Athens you're in Thessaloniki you have some of the traditional kind of tourist trapping kind of things and one thing I want to tell you if anybody offers to give you anything for free a bracelet oh flower a toy anything just know it's never free okay they're gonna want something for you and they might start with a good conversations hey I like your outfit hey I love what you're doing hey you're looking really good today let me tell you something the just be like no thank you and keep walking because those free things are never free they're going to want a donation they're going to help or something like that and sometimes they can get a little bit ugly when they when they don't get that donation when you take things and do be aware if you have your kids there they might just give it to your kid and your kid grabs everything as we all know I mean they put everything in their mouth so they're gonna do the same thing with that so do be aware of that also just like anywhere else in big cities there's lots of tourists anytime you got a lot of Tours smashed together you're gonna have pickpockets there so whether you're in plaque and here with a tour star or even if you're going to the Acropolis up there when there's so many packed places there's pickpockets up there too so do be aware use the usual Common Sense keep your wall in your front pocket use your wall yeah your money belt these kind of things just make yourself a little bit safer leave stuff at your safe at your hotel so you'll be okay also you may notice in some parts of Greece there will be Beggars there so do be aware of that if you want to give go ahead but the government recommends not to give the Beggars when you are here there are social systems to help the people so something to kind of consider when you're looking to give money at okay now another set of things you might want to look out for is when you go to restaurants and in general like 99.99 of the time going to a Greek restaurant is an amazing experience with insane amounts of food I mean honestly you think you're scamming them by the amount of food they give you when you order food I'm like I only entered one point yet this can feed a large army not a small army but a large army right and some so there's that side of it but one thing I would say is when you get your bill look at the itemized bill because sometimes they forget to bring that Fanta or maybe they charge you for a couple Waters and you only had one just little things like that you just might want to give a heads up on just like anywhere else in the world you want to do that kind of Shrek and greases no stranger through the typical scams you see in other parts of the world when you're looking at taking taxis obviously make sure you always ask for the flag fall to make sure they're actually counting correctly instead of getting an estimated price at the end you know the three card Monty game I've seen play people playing that you're never going to win unless you're like a five-year-old okay so don't fall for those kind of things you know the bird poop scam where they destroy track yourself you got some bird poop on you let me help you out and then next thing you know you put your bag down then they help you and they walk off your bag is gone you want to be aware of that and also I think an important one to mention is the over friendly helpful other tourists when you're here because drinks in general are super helpful and super kind and they're going to want you to have a great time when you're here so you have that Greek Hospitality but sometimes you want to be just aware of that especially if you're going to be going to Santorini Mykonos where there's somebody at a bar that's super friendly and there you go oh let's get some drinks I've had students whose job is actually to inspire people to buy more drinks when they go to bars and restaurants in the islands here in Greece so do be aware of that that maybe that person that wants you to have a good time isn't necessarily doing it because they want you to have a good time it's because they want you to buy more drinks and therefore they make a little commission off of that and some people feel sometimes going to some of the islands feels like a scam like how many tours there are there in Santorini and and all the tours that are Mykonos kind of drives those prices up higher than they should be and it feels kind of scammy and that's why I say look there's other Islands there's dozens of inhabited Islands you can go to here in Greece that are fantastic to visit do your research to make sure you get to the right Island for you because sometimes it feels like a tourist trap kind of scammy kind of Island visit if you're choosing the wrong Island another scam I wanted to warn you about is the phone on top of the table it's not a scam it's just people who have all these great pictures they're taken when they're going around Athens they're going around some of the islands and they leave their phone on top of the table but the problem is you leave your phone on top of the table and there's all the tours going by you don't notice when someone walks by and swipes it okay so make sure you're keeping your phone in your pocket you're keeping it in like near you just to be safe but honestly you come to Greece there's not a lot you really have to worry about because there's not a ton of scams the people are super friendly and super helpful they want to make sure you have a good time so honestly you can kind of chill when you are here when it comes to scams but I just wanted you to know a few of them you might want to look out for anyway I hope you have a great time here in Greece it's a wonderful place bye from Athens

Channel: Wolters World

Views: 100,003

Keywords: travel, europe, wolters world, travel advice, tourist attractions, travel vlogger, honest travel, Walters World

Id: kMssuotbov4

Length: 5min 56sec (356 seconds)

Published: Sat Aug 12 2023