Greece entry requirements, by passport
Greece visa requirements at a glance: 51 of the 81 passports VisaRadar tracks can enter Greece without arranging a visa beforehand — visa-free, with a visa on arrival, or with an electronic travel authorization. The other 30 must obtain a visa before they travel.
Which passport do you hold?
We'll take you straight to the entry requirements for Greece for your nationality.
What we've verified for Greece
Beyond the yes/no matrix, we've checked these against an official primary source (last checked 2026-08-25). The specifics depend on your nationality — open your passport's row in the table for the detail that applies to you.
- Typical processing time
- Required documents (5)
- Required vaccinations
- Health-insurance rules
- Customs limits (cash, alcohol, tobacco)
- Overstay penalties
- Airport transit rules
Sources: migration.gov.gr/en (Ministry of Migration and Asylum); mitos.gov.gr (Greek State's National Registry of Administrative Procedures — €600/€1,200 overstay fine, legal basis Law 3386/2005 Art. 73(5), Joint Ministerial Decision 4000/2/14-ith of 2012, and Law 5038/2023, verified via direct fetch); aade.gr (Greece's Independent Authority for Public Revenue — 200-cigarette air allowance and 40-cigarette land/sea allowance, and alcohol allowance of 1L/2L + 4L wine + 16L beer, confirmed via official AADE documents cited by taxheaven.gr); europa.eu/youreurope (€10,000 cash declaration threshold, EU-harmonized regime, and confirmation that Greece applies the reduced tobacco limit for land/sea travelers); travel-europe.europa.eu/etias (ETIAS "not operational" status, same basis as data/destinations/spain.yml) (checked 25 August 2026).
Greece is part of both the Schengen Area and the European Union, with the same short-stay limit (90 days within any 180-day period) as the rest of the bloc for visa-exempt passports.
This table summarizes the exact entry mechanism for every passport we track — the difference between entering visa-free, with an electronic authorization, with an e-Visa, or with a traditional visa is explained in visa, e-Visa, and electronic authorization: what's the difference. How we verify every row before publishing it is on methodology.
Base entry rules refreshed 2026-09-17. Published: .
| Passport | Requirement | Max. stay |
|---|---|---|
| Free movement | ||
| Austria | Free movement (EU/EEA/Switzerland) | No limit (tourism)* |
| Belgium | Free movement (EU/EEA/Switzerland) | No limit (tourism)* |
| Bulgaria | Free movement (EU/EEA/Switzerland) | No limit (tourism)* |
| Croatia | Free movement (EU/EEA/Switzerland) | No limit (tourism)* |
| Czech Republic | Free movement (EU/EEA/Switzerland) | No limit (tourism)* |
| Denmark | Free movement (EU/EEA/Switzerland) | No limit (tourism)* |
| Finland | Free movement (EU/EEA/Switzerland) | No limit (tourism)* |
| France | Free movement (EU/EEA/Switzerland) | No limit (tourism)* |
| Germany | Free movement (EU/EEA/Switzerland) | No limit (tourism)* |
| Hungary | Free movement (EU/EEA/Switzerland) | No limit (tourism)* |
| Iceland | Free movement (EU/EEA/Switzerland) | No limit (tourism)* |
| Ireland | Free movement (EU/EEA/Switzerland) | No limit (tourism)* |
| Italy | Free movement (EU/EEA/Switzerland) | No limit (tourism)* |
| Malta | Free movement (EU/EEA/Switzerland) | No limit (tourism)* |
| Netherlands | Free movement (EU/EEA/Switzerland) | No limit (tourism)* |
| Norway | Free movement (EU/EEA/Switzerland) | No limit (tourism)* |
| Poland | Free movement (EU/EEA/Switzerland) | No limit (tourism)* |
| Portugal | Free movement (EU/EEA/Switzerland) | No limit (tourism)* |
| Romania | Free movement (EU/EEA/Switzerland) | No limit (tourism)* |
| Spain | Free movement (EU/EEA/Switzerland) | No limit (tourism)* |
| Sweden | Free movement (EU/EEA/Switzerland) | No limit (tourism)* |
| Switzerland | Free movement (EU/EEA/Switzerland) | No limit (tourism)* |
| Visa-free | ||
| Argentina | Visa-free | 90 days |
| Australia | Visa-free | 90 days |
| Brazil | Visa-free | 90 days |
| Canada | Visa-free | 90 days |
| Chile | Visa-free | 90 days |
| Colombia | Visa-free | 90 days |
| Costa Rica | Visa-free | 90 days |
| El Salvador | Visa-free | 90 days |
| Georgia | Visa-free | 90 days |
| Guatemala | Visa-free | 90 days |
| Honduras | Visa-free | 90 days |
| Israel | Visa-free | 90 days |
| Japan | Visa-free | 90 days |
| Malaysia | Visa-free | 90 days |
| Mexico | Visa-free | 90 days |
| Moldova | Visa-free | 90 days |
| New Zealand | Visa-free | 90 days |
| Nicaragua | Visa-free | 90 days |
| Panama | Visa-free | 90 days |
| Paraguay | Visa-free | 90 days |
| Peru | Visa-free | 90 days |
| Singapore | Visa-free | 90 days |
| South Korea | Visa-free | 90 days |
| Ukraine | Visa-free | 90 days |
| United Arab Emirates | Visa-free | 90 days |
| United Kingdom | Visa-free | 90 days |
| United States | Visa-free | 90 days |
| Uruguay | Visa-free | 90 days |
| Venezuela | Visa-free | 90 days |
| Visa required | ||
| Algeria | Visa required | — |
| Bangladesh | Visa required | — |
| Bolivia | Visa required | — |
| Cape Verde | Visa required | — |
| China | Visa required | — |
| Cuba | Visa required | — |
| Dominican Republic | Visa required | — |
| Ecuador | Visa required | — |
| Egypt | Visa required | — |
| Equatorial Guinea | Visa required | — |
| Gambia | Visa required | — |
| Ghana | Visa required | — |
| India | Visa required | — |
| Indonesia | Visa required | — |
| Jordan | Visa required | — |
| Kenya | Visa required | — |
| Mali | Visa required | — |
| Morocco | Visa required | — |
| Nigeria | Visa required | — |
| Pakistan | Visa required | — |
| Philippines | Visa required | — |
| Russia | Visa required | — |
| Saudi Arabia | Visa required | — |
| Senegal | Visa required | — |
| South Africa | Visa required | — |
| Sri Lanka | Visa required | — |
| Thailand | Visa required | — |
| Tunisia | Visa required | — |
| Turkey | Visa required | — |
| Vietnam | Visa required | — |
* EU/EEA/Switzerland free movement: no stay limit for tourism; after 90 days of residence you must register with the destination country's local authorities.
Staying in Greece? Work out your Schengen 90/180-day limit with our calculator →
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Do you need a different visa for Athens, Thessaloniki, or Santorini?
No. Greece sets the requirements, so entering through Athens asks for the same as entering through Thessaloniki or Santorini. If you're arriving overland or through a small border post, check that separately: some countries apply their own rules to specific crossings.
What does change is where you file the application when a visa is needed, and that depends on the country you live in rather than the city you're travelling to.
What draws travelers to Greece
Greece splits between the mainland and the islands. Athens concentrates the Acropolis — a World Heritage site and the country's symbol — and serves as a base for trips to Delphi and the Corinth canal. The Peloponnese, by car, links Mycenae, Epidaurus, Olympia and Nafplio. And the islands cluster by archipelago: the Cyclades (Santorini and its caldera, Mykonos, Naxos), the Dodecanese with Rhodes, and the Ionian islands to the west. Crete, the largest, is almost a country of its own: the Minoan palaces — Knossos among them, inscribed as World Heritage in 2025 — mountains and beaches. Greece has 20 UNESCO World Heritage sites. Ten days cover Athens, the Peloponnese and one or two islands. May-June and September are ideal: July and August bring fierce heat, high prices and packed ferries.
Sources for this section: visitgreece.gr (Greek National Tourism Organisation, GNTO); UNESCO World Heritage List (whc.unesco.org, 20 sites in Greece); UK FCDO travel advice for Greece. Accessed 31 August 2026.
Things to see and do in Greece
Tours, skip-the-line tickets and day trips, most with free cancellation up to 24 hours before.
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Where can Greece passport holders travel visa-free? →
Informational only. Always verify requirements with the official embassy or consulate before you travel.