Greece has long become more than popular among Russian tourists, as a country with an impeccable level of service and as a place for beach holidays. It is often called the cradle of our European civilization. Many historical and cultural attractions have been preserved here. In addition, this country allows for an unprecedentedly successful shopping experience. They come here to the so-called fur coat tours. Everyone can choose for themselves in this southern European state a corner for spending a cloudless vacation. Wealthy travelers choose the islands of Crete, Mykonos, Rhodes, Corfu. Young people and couples are more attracted to mainland Greece. The time zone in which the country is located must be known. After all, you can get into trouble by being late for a bus or a ferry departing in local time.
So how should we translate the hands on the dial of a flight, having flown to Athens? What is the time zone in Greece? The country lies in the south of the Balkan Peninsula, also covering almost two thousand islands, which, like a crumbling necklace, spread over four seas. Yes, a traveler who arrives in Greece has an amazing opportunity to swim in turns in the Aegean, Ionian, Mediterranean and Cretan seas, and also in the Gulf of Corinth. And that’s all - without leaving the borders of one country.
But time, moving from place to place, does not need to be changed, because the time zone of Greece, unlike the vast Russia, is only one. It is called UTC + 02: 00. This means that in the winter in this country two hours more than the dial of Universal Time of our planet shows. It is calculated according to the Greenwich meridian, which runs not far from London. From late October to the last Sunday of March, the UK lives on this Universal Time. Her time zone is UTC 0.
And what about in the summer? At the end of March,
Foggy Albion, as well as those
EU countries that lie west of it, switch to a time called GMT. According to the rules of the European Union, all its members also move the hands of their dials an hour ahead. Thus, the summer time zone of Greece is called EET. This abbreviation stands for Eastern European Time. Apart from Greece, a number of European countries live along it: Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine, Moldova, Romania, Bulgaria, Cyprus and Turkey.
But time zones extend beyond just one mainland. They cover huge areas stretching from the
North Pole to the South. Therefore, in winter, Jordan, Israel, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria in Asia fall into the time zone of Greece, and in Africa - Burundi, Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, DR Congo, Lesotho, Libya, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Swaziland and South Africa. But these southern countries do not switch to daylight saving time. All year round they live in the UTC + 02: 00 time zone.
So to summarize. Arriving at Athens from Kiev, you have no need to translate the arrows on your wristwatch. In winter and summer, the time in the two countries is the same. It’s more difficult with Russia. The Kremlin, for one reason that it understands, has abandoned true winter time and introduced permanent summer time for the whole country. And the time zone of Greece - EET (or as it is also called GMT + 2) - is changing according to EU rules. Therefore, the calculation of the difference in hours between Moscow and Athens depends on the season of the year. In summer, it is minus one hour, and in winter - two.