Jet Lag and Arriving in Greece: Time Zone, Adjusting and Your First Day

You step out of the arrivals hall in Athens, blinking, with a body that insists it is the middle of the night while the Greek morning carries on around you: kiosks open, coffee being poured, taxis in line. Flying east from the United States asks more of your body clock than flying west, but a few simple habits make the first days far kinder.

How bad is jet lag going to Greece?

Jet lag on the way to Greece is real and usually noticeable, because you are crossing many time zones and traveling east, the direction travelers find harder. Jet lag is tied to distance travelled along the east-west axis, which is exactly the axis of a flight from North America to Athens. A north-south flight of the same length would hardly trouble your body clock at all.

Greece keeps Eastern European Time, which is UTC+02:00. From the last Sunday in March to the last Sunday in October, clocks move one hour ahead to UTC+03:00. In the Greek calendar, that means the same destination can sit an hour further from home depending on when you fly, so the adjustment you feel in a late-October week is not the one you feel in midsummer.

How long it takes to feel normal

A common rule of thumb is that the body needs about one day per hour of time zone change to fully re-synchronize. Applied to a trip from the United States, that points to several days before your sleep, hunger and energy line up with Greek time. People feel the worst of it in the first couple of nights, with wide-awake hours in the small hours and a heavy slump in the afternoon.

Jet lag can start to appear with a change of three hours or more, though some people notice it after a single hour. A traveler coming from the U.S. West Coast crosses far more than that, so plan for it rather than hope to escape it.

Who feels it most

People over 60 are more sensitive to changes in their body clock, so older travelers may find the first days slower and the sleep more broken. That is a good reason to leave breathing room in the opening stretch of a trip, whatever your age, and to avoid stacking a ferry connection, a rental pickup and a big sightseeing day onto your arrival.

Sleep medication is something to discuss with your own doctor. One study found that zolpidem improved sleep quality and reduced awakenings for people crossing five to nine time zones, but it is a prescription matter and not a travel hack to improvise.

How do you adjust?

You adjust by moving your sleep and wake times toward Greek time as soon as you can, and by letting daylight and mealtimes do the work. The aim is simple: when it is evening in Greece, you are heading toward bed, even if your body protests.

Settle into Greek time on arrival

Set your watch and phone to Greek time on the plane, and start behaving as though you are already there. Eat when the Greeks eat, drink your coffee in the morning, and resist the urge to fall into bed at the first wave of tiredness. Dinner in a taverna with plates of meze, grilled fish or a bowl of fresh salad is a natural way to stay awake until a reasonable hour.

Outdoor light helps the body clock reset, so a walk through the streets, along a seafront or around an old quarter in the first daylight hours is worth more than a nap. Greek days are built around long, late lunches and even later dinners, which suits a traveler who is still catching up.

If your trip is short

This can reduce jet lag when you will be back home before your body would have fully shifted anyway. It takes some planning, since Greece will be going about its day while you are keeping to a different rhythm, so it fits best when your plans are loose and your days are unhurried.

For longer stays, going with local time is the better habit, and the sooner you start the sooner the days settle.

Reading the clock in Greece

In conversation, Greeks use the 12-hour clock, but in writing the 24-hour format appears alongside it, so a ferry ticket or a museum notice may show a time that looks unfamiliar. Minutes are usually written with two digits. Glance twice at any written time before you rely on it, especially when you are tired.

What should you plan for the first day?

Plan a light first day close to where you land, with a late lunch, a long walk in daylight and an ordinary bedtime in Greek time. Keep the schedule open and let the place come to you slowly.

Arriving by air

From April to October, American Airlines, Delta, United Airlines and Air Canada operate seasonal flights from North America to Athens. Travelers therefore begin in the capital, and that is a gentle place to spend a first day. Sit at a café, order a Greek coffee or a frappe, and watch the city go by while your body figures out where it is.

If your trip continues to the islands, remember that during the winter season Greek islands can be reached only by domestic flights via Athens. In summer, popular islands such as Rhodes, Crete, Kos, Corfu, Santorini, Zakynthos and Mykonos are served by direct flights from all over Europe. Thessaloniki Airport is served year-round by direct flights from all over Europe.

Arriving by sea from Italy

Ferries from Italy connect Venice, Ancona, Bari and Brindisi to Patras and Igoumenitsa on the mainland, and several also link Italy with the Ionian Islands, mostly in the summer months. Crossings range from about 8 hours between Brindisi and Igoumenitsa to 26 hours between Venice and Patras.

Step off, find a table with a plate of grilled octopus or souvlaki, and let the first evening be a quiet one.

A sensible shape for the day

Drop your bags, wash your face and head outside. A first afternoon in a market, a square or along the water gives you light and movement without demanding much. Save the big sights, the early boat trips and the long drives for the second or third day, when your sleep has begun to follow Greek time.

Dinner is the anchor. Order slowly, share a few dishes, and stay until a normal bedtime. If you wake in the dark the first night, lie still, read, and let the morning arrive with the first coffee.

Good to know before you go

Greece is a member of the Schengen Agreement, so there are normally no immigration controls between the countries that have signed and implemented the treaty, which matters if your route passes through another European country on the way. Clocks change on the last Sunday in October, so a trip that straddles that weekend means one more hour of difference to absorb. Greek is spoken with warmth and patience toward visitors who try a kalimera in the morning and a kalispera in the evening, and a few words go a long way after a long flight.