Working hours and holidays in Greece
As i have experienced in the last 1 year, i am pretty sure that Greek lifestyle is quiet different than my country, so here i will try to explain it in order to inform the future expats, if this is the right country to move.
Working days: Monday-Friday from 08.00 am to 2.30 pm without lunch break ( but generally it is quiet crowded by 2 pm as they will close soon)
On Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday most of the shops are also open between 5 to 8 pm.
Except the public institutions some shops also work half day on Saturday, generally from 10 am to 3 pm.
So as you see there is no way to arrenge or schedule sth for the afternoons in Greece.
As most of the public institutions lack in staff, the proceedings or other kind of operations takes around 30-60 minutes if crowded. And in general even banks can not operate a healthy ordering or rendezvous system.
All weekend people have time to rest and Sundays all places except restaurants and cafes are closed. Not even a mini market can be found open, as this requires a special permit which seems very hard to obtain.
Also during Esaster (Pasxa) and christmas period the shops announce their different working hours and exceptional opening days which you should follow.
Lastly, although they are not as frequent as before, if there is any strike ( apergia ), life quality and all services are badly influenced as during the strikes there are always security precautions and road closings on these dates.
PS. If you ask service or other sectors to work during holidays, you can be sure that it will cost more maybe double than normal.
Just in case you can find the list of public holidays in 2014 here:
