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TimetableThey are rarely posted (or reliable), but it is not uncommon for an establishment to open for breakfast and close late at night... In tourist areas, bar and cafe owners have to cover the summer season to survive all year round: they are open every day from morning to night, and the hours depend on the number of people. Some night bars only open from 6-7pm and stay open until the early hours of the morning. Some traditional kafeneio open early in the morning and again around 6pm but close a few hours after lunch. But most of the time, these places are open continuously: in summer, the waiters just wait for the last customer to leave before closing. This flexibility can be extended out of season, especially on weekends, in the establishments that remain open. In Greece, you will never be pressured to leave an establishment or recommended once you have finished your drink. Unless you ask for the bill, you will be left to enjoy it without necessarily clearing the table. However, it is important to keep your wits about you: if you see that you are the last ones and that the waiters are exhausted, it may be time to leave!
Budget & TipsDrinking coffee is an institution in Greece: you can stay for hours with a freddo or a frappé for a few euros, without having to renew your order. Be careful though: the coffees are not cheap. At 4 € a frappe, sometimes it is understandable that some customers linger...
Age restrictionsAs far as the law is concerned, there is no legal age to consume alcohol in private in Greece. To drink and consume alcohol in a café or public place, you have to be 18 years old, but this law is not followed very much and nobody will ask for an ID card to a young person who orders a glass of alcohol.
What's very localThe traditional café, the kafeneio, is often the heart of local life in the islands. More exactly, it is often the heart of public life and therefore of male life... Indeed, the women still live largely within the home while the men meet at the café to twiddle their thumbs and remake the world, well encased in their armchairs... The kafeneio opens early in the morning, people come to have their first coffee to see the village which is slowly waking up. Sometimes it stays open for lunch, but usually it closes between noon and 5 pm, for the siesta. It reopens at 6pm for a last coffee or a game of tavli at the end of the day. Later, it becomes a ouzerie, where people drink ouzo, beer and raki while sharing small dishes, mezzedes, with the background of rebetiko, the popular Greek music par excellence.
KidsChildren are accepted everywhere, accompanied by their parents. As in restaurants, they are welcome. Children are kings in Greece and their noise level is very well tolerated! As in many places, it is not uncommon to see them busy with a cell phone or a tablet - without headphones - while their parents are busy with their friends in a joyful hubbub.
SmokersThe good weather and the terraces limit the problem in summer. However, it must be conceded that the law against smoking in public spaces has been in place since 2008, but has never really been enforced. Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the conservative Prime Minister elected in July 2019, has promised that the law will now be enforced. Since his election, fines have been put in place to charge both establishments and customers who would not respect the law. It remains to be seen whether this will finally materialize in practice...
Tourist trapsNothing to report except to avoid establishments that need beaters. This is often a bad omen!