Tourist Rules You Need To Know If Visiting Greece This Summer

This year, the Mediterranean is hugely popular with travelers as always, but Greece has never experienced the popularity it is feeling right now. As other countries warn about over-tourism, Greece is attracting millions of visitors to its beautiful shores, making it the trendiest hotspot right now. Meanwhile, the upcoming summer is likely to be busier and more chaotic than ever before. Due to this, the Greek government is taking steps to manage the huge wave of incoming tourists by announcing a new set of tourist rules for those visiting Greece’s beaches this year.

Greece announces new tourist rules to avoid over-tourism

Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Greece’s Prime Minister announced a series of new tourist rules in his latest TikTok post. The post outlined rules to govern Greek beaches to make locals’ and travelers’ lives easier during a busy summer.

Moreover, Mitsotakis stressed that drones will be utilized to enforce the strict new rules on beaches, so if you are heading to Greece this summer, these are the rules you need to know about.

Sunbed-free beaches in Greece

One of the major points of the Prime Minister’s announcement was the importance of keeping Greek beaches accessible to everyone. Starting this summer,  all beaches have to be at least 70 percent free of sunbeds. This allows visitors and locals alike to relax on the beach with their own chairs, sun umbrellas and towels while paying no additional fees for being there.

Meanwhile, those beaches in protected areas need to be at least 85 percent free of sunbeds. Moreover, those ecologically sensitive regions with what is dubbed “untouchable beaches” will be sunbed-free. These are beaches like Marathonisi (Zakynthos), where tourists cannot set up their own beach umbrellas as turtle eggs are buried in the sand during nesting season.

Having fewer sunbeds on the beach is the ideal solution to overcrowding which is mainly created by the number of restaurants and hotels along the shoreline.

Another rule relating to beaches is that sunbeds cannot be set up closer than 4 m (13 ft) from the shoreline, making access to the water easier.

Tourist rules relating to climate tax

Other tourist rules include the payment of climate tax (which Greece refers to as a “climate crisis resilience fee”), which might not seem beneficial to tourists right now. However, the new tax is aimed at making the lives of locals and future visitors that much easier.

The climate tax will be levied on overnight visitors and will range from €1.5 ($1.62) to €10 ($10.82), depending on the type of accommodations. The following will give a rough idea of what you’ll have to pay this summer:

Type of Accommodation	Sustainability Fee (per night)
Apartment, 1- or 2-star hotel	€1.50 ($1.62)
3-star hotel	€3.00 ($3.25)
4-star hotel	€7.00 ($7.58)
5-star hotel	€10.00 ($10.82)

Meanwhile, the new climate tax likely won’t hit the travel budget too badly. However, it is expected to generate more than €300 million, set to help restore climate-damaged infrastructure, particularly in instances like the fires and floods the country has suffered over the years.

Too many businesses vying for tourist money

One of the major reasons for too many tourists on a beach is the number of restaurants, bars and hotels crowding there. In the future, any new businesses might compete in online auctions to buy beachfront space. In the long run, this will drastically decrease the number of businesses vying for travelers’ attention and money.

With all these tourist rules in mind, experience a great vacation on the beaches of Greece this summer.