Greece offers excellent food products and long-standing crafts. Skip mass-produced plastic souvenirs and look instead for village shops, farm cooperatives and craft workshops.
Food products
| Product | Where to buy |
|---|---|
| Extra virgin olive oil | Crete, Peloponnese (Kalamata), Lesbos; cooperatives and mills |
| Olives | Kalamata, Amfissa, Thassos |
| Thyme, pine and chestnut honey | Crete, Cyclades, Thassos, Peloponnese |
| Aged cheeses | Graviera from Crete and Naxos, kefalotyri, kasseri |
| Herbs and teas | Wild oregano, mountain tea (sideritis), Cretan dittany, thyme |
| Mastiha | Chios: natural resin, gum, liqueur, cosmetics |
| Krokos Kozanis saffron | Western Macedonia, PDO |
| Aegina pistachios | Island of Aegina, PDO |
| Capers and fava | Santorini and the Cyclades |
| Ouzo, tsipouro, wine | Lesbos, Thessaly, Santorini, Nemea |
| Sweets | Syros loukoumi, pasteli, spoon sweets |
Crafts
- Ceramics: Sifnos, with its potters' tradition; Skopelos; Rhodes, with Lindos ware; Marousi near Athens; good reproductions of ancient vases in museum shops.
- Textiles and rugs: Crete, Karpathos, Skyros, Arachova near Delphi; the long-pile woollen flokati rugs of Epirus.
- Jewellery: Ioannina silver filigree; jewellery inspired by ancient and Byzantine art in the shops of Athens, Rhodes and Mykonos.
- Handmade leather sandals, in Athens (around Monastiraki and Psyrri) and on the islands.
- Natural sponges from Kalymnos, the island of sponge divers.
- Hand-painted icons in the Byzantine technique, from workshops in Athens, Crete and Mount Athos.
- Komboloi, worry beads, in amber, wood, bone or stone.
- Cretan olive oil soap and natural cosmetics with olive oil, honey and mastiha.
- Olive-wood objects such as boards and spoons.
- The mati, the blue glass eye against the evil eye, on bracelets and key rings.
Markets
- Athens: the Monastiraki flea market, especially on Sundays; the Varvakios central market on Athinas Street for meat, fish, spices and cheese; the laikes, neighbourhood fruit and vegetable markets, in a different district each day.
- Thessaloniki: the covered Kapani (Vlali) and Modiano markets, for spices, olives and sweets.
- Chania and Heraklion: the covered markets and Chania's leather street.
Hours and rules
| Topic | What to know |
|---|---|
| Hours | Outside shopping centres many shops open 9-2 and 5.30-8.30 on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, mornings only on other days; in resorts in summer they stay open late, Sundays included |
| Sales | January-February and July-August |
| Payment | Cards accepted almost everywhere; shops must accept electronic payment |
| Receipts | Always ask for and keep them |
| VAT refund | Only for non-EU residents, with a tax-free form at participating shops |
See also Greek cuisine and travelling to Greece.