Greece Travel Guide
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Guide
Greece has a border most visitors never think of as one: the sea. Take a ferry from Kos to Bodrum, or from Rhodes to Marmaris, and you are crossing an external Schengen frontier, with passport control at the port. Sail between two Greek islands and nobody checks anything, because you entered Schengen when you first arrived.
The EU's Entry/Exit System (EES) began a phased introduction on 12 October 2025 and became fully operational at external Schengen borders on 10 April 2026. A non-EU traveler entering for the first time has fingerprints and a photograph taken, and the data is kept for three years. It does not change who needs a visa, only how the entry is recorded. In summer 2026 it also changed how long the lines are: passport control waits of 30 to 60 minutes at Athens airport during peak arrival windows were widely reported, roughly double the summer 2025 baseline, with some reports of waits past 90 minutes in July and August.
ETIAS, the pre-travel authorisation for visa exempt visitors, is not in effect. Reporting through August 2026 says no firm start date exists, after a Q4 2026 target was removed from the official ETIAS website in mid July.
Border crossings
- Evros, the Turkish frontier
Kipoi is a motorway crossing, opposite İpsala in Türkiye, and Kastanies, near Adrianoupolis, is the second. Greek reporting describes the €13 million upgrade at Kipoi as the largest land border project currently under way in the country, and in June 2026 Greece signed a €15 million agreement to relocate the Kastanies station. Both are external Schengen borders.
- Albania and North Macedonia, the two other external land borders
Kakavia and Krystallopigi are the crossings with Albania, and Evzonoi and Niki (linked to Medžitlija on the North Macedonian side) are the ones with North Macedonia. These are external borders, so expect a proper passport check and, since April 2026, EES registration for non-EU travelers.
- Bulgaria, which stopped being a checked border in 2025
The land border with Bulgaria became an internal Schengen one on 1 January 2025, when Bulgaria and Romania fully joined Schengen. Promachonas (facing Kulata) and Ormenio (facing Svilengrad) still exist as road crossings, but routine checks no longer apply.
- Igoumenitsa and Patras, the ferry gates to Italy
Patras has ferry connections to the Italian ports of Ancona, Bari, and Venice, while Igoumenitsa is described as the western gate of Greece and the main port linking Europe with Türkiye and the Middle East. If you arrive by international ferry or cruise ship, EES processing happens at the port.
Transit routes
- Between Greek islands, nothing to check
Domestic island hopping ferries carry no additional border checks, because you are already inside Schengen. The border only appears when a ferry starts in, or ends in, another country.
- Ferries from Türkiye
One ferry booking site lists 20 routes linking Turkish ports with twelve Greek islands, from daily to weekly and about €20 to €60 a ticket. Pairs like Kos and Bodrum, Rhodes and Marmaris, Samos and Kuşadası, Chios and Çeşme, and Lesbos and Ayvalık make short hops that are still full external Schengen crossings, with passport control at the Greek port.
- Athens, and the island airports that fill up in summer
Athens Eleftherios Venizelos handles the highest international volumes, while Mykonos and Santorini are the busiest island airports and some smaller island airports had the longest waits relative to their size. Fraport Greece operates 14 regional airports, among them Rhodes, Corfu, Kos, Mykonos, Santorini, and Chania. One guide suggests allowing three hours for connections.
- Ports have queues too
Piraeus, Heraklion, and Mykonos port were named among the ferry ports with slower EES processing during summer 2026. One suggestion from the same reporting is to book early morning sailings and to check live wait time reports on arrival day.
Entry point notes
- EES replaces the stamp, not the visa rules
It records fingerprints, a facial image, and the dates and places of entry and exit for non-EU travelers. Visa exempt nationalities keep the same 90 days in any 180 day period, and the digital record does the counting a stamp used to do.
- Visa Express is a real, narrow scheme for Turkish citizens only
It gives Turkish citizens a €60 visa for up to seven days on twelve islands, among them Rhodes, Kos, Samos, Lesvos, Chios, Leros, Limnos, Kalymnos, Symi, Kastellorizo, Patmos, and Samothrace. It cannot be extended, and it does not permit travel to the Greek mainland or elsewhere in Schengen. If you see it mentioned, it does not apply to other nationalities.