Tourists in Acropolis have strongly complained that they cannot find cold water to buy in the middle of the heatwave, “but only juice for 5 euros.” In a report broadcast by Alpha TV on Tuesday, several foreign visitors complained about the situation in the canteens of the most famous archeological site.
“There is only juice for 4-5 euros or water that is not cold,” the Alpha reported started her report.
“They don’t have water, so they can sell us juices for 5 euros,” one tourist said and another stressed “it’s 40 degrees [Celsius] here, so we need cold water. We don’t need that one [juice] that costs 5 euros.”
Some suspected it is not a coincidence.
“They don’t have cold water, because they have to sell it for 50 cents the bottle,” a man told Alpha TV.
Then another tourist said “we paid 2 euros for a bottle of water.”
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It is not the first time that some “smart” businessmen are trying to take advantage even of the extreme heat conditions in order to make a financial profit.
When the price cap of 50 cents was introduced to a 500-ml bottle of water a few years ago, all of a sudden the small bottles seemed to have disappeared.
In airports, ferries, bus stations and ,of course, in the Acropolis -and probably in other archaeological sites- only 750-ml bottles of water were available at a much higher price [sorry I don’t remember how much, maybe €1.50 or €2].
It needed a lot of reports on Greek TV channels and other media quoting angry Greeks and foreigners alike until the government intervened … and back were the small bottles of cold water you can empty in 2-3 large sips on a hot Greek summer day.
It should be recalled that hundreds of tourists climb up to the Sacred Rock of the Acropolis despite the current heatwave.
Trying to cheat those who honor the country is a hubris to the “ancient Greek spirit” and drags down “Greece and its famous hospitality” at international level.
Water from the faucet is potable. There are faucets both in the museum, outside the museum, and ON the Acropolis of Athens. These visitors can easily refill their bottles and stop whining.
Is this an editorial piece as it is very skewed. Regardless, please investigate better before publishing such biased and ill-informed articles.
In this case, I agree with the shop keepers, why should they provide these people with water at a loss? Does the Greek state subsidize the shopkeepers’ rent to provide cheap water at a loss?
If I go to the center of Paris, Milan, London or Madrid, will I be able to buy water for 50c? My friends came from Euro Disney and told me they paid 2.50 for a water!
I suggest to tourists to bring a thermos with water, I have no sympathy for the unprepared. The shop keepers should sell what they want at the price they want, if it’s unacceptable, don’t buy it.
these bottles have a cost of below 15 cents in wholesale.
Paying thousands of Euros or Dollars for their trip and complaining about 5 Euro. Spoiled brats are everywhere. Just bring water with you and stop complaining I would say.
Just because someone is a tourist, doesn’t mean they have a lot of money to spend. There are many budget tourists, and besides, no one likes to feel cheated. If that was the standard price and everyone was paying the same, they would simply say that Greece is an expensive country. But when they know they are being taken advantage of, they get upset.
I have had this happen before and it doesn’t stop with the water. It happens with almost all things tourist related, and definitely with taxis. What’s worse, is that it sets a bad vibe and you don’t want to spend more money, feeling you are being cheated.
taxis! HUAW! another plague. I was asked to pay fare with the price hikes while they were not implemented yet. Not only tourists are cheated but Greeks too.
I have spent in total over 4 months in Athens as a tourist (really like the city) and I still do not enter a taxi unless it’s through Beat/Uber.
Yeah, this is true, but I think the reason is that operator of the vending machines (talking about the ones at Acropolis at least) does not empty the coin compartment hence no the machines do not accept coins (you insert a coin and it just gets ‘released’).