Laundry in Greece: Hand Washing, Coin Laundries and Hotel Service

Somewhere around the middle of a Greek island trip, a bag of sandy beach towels and salt-stiff shirts starts to smell like the sea, and the question of laundry arrives. Balconies in Athens and village rooftops alike have clotheslines hung with swimsuits, so the habit is easy to join. Greece offers three ways to get clothes clean: wash a few pieces in the sink, find a coin laundry in town, or hand a bag to the hotel.

How do you do laundry in Greece?

You do it one of three ways: by hand in your room, in a self-service laundry, or through your hotel, and travelers mix them depending on where they are sleeping that night. Washing a few pieces yourself costs nothing and fits any stop. A full load of towels and jeans is the job for a machine.

The Greek vocabulary helps in all three cases. The word plyntirio means a washing machine and, by extension, a laundromat. A katharistirio is a dry cleaner, which handles suits and delicate items but is not where you drop a bag of T-shirts. Keeping the two words apart saves a wasted walk.

Washing by hand in the room

A bathroom sink, a bar of soap or a small tube of travel detergent, and a few minutes of rubbing are all it takes for underwear, socks, a swimsuit and a light shirt. Rinse until the water runs clear, then twist the pieces gently and roll them in a towel to press out the water. Salt from the sea is what you are mostly washing out, and it comes out with plain fresh water.

Quick-drying fabrics such as synthetics and thin cotton blends are the ones that reward this routine. Heavy denim and thick hoodies are better left for a machine. A hotel bathroom is not built for wringing out a pair of jeans, and a dripping bag in a suitcase is no fun.

Drying on balconies and lines

Many rooms in Greece have a balcony or terrace, and a folding drying rack or a line of cord between two chairs turns it into a drying space. Local households do the same, which is why walking through a neighborhood often means ducking under bedsheets. Clothespins are worth carrying, because a breeze can carry off a loose sock.

Keep the wash away from the balcony railing of a room that overlooks a street, and take it in before you go out for the evening. A damp item left for the night can be folded into a plastic bag only once it is fully dry, or it will smell by the time you unpack it.

Planning around the ferry schedule

Laundry fits best into the days when you stay put for a night or two, between islands. Ferry timing can change that rhythm. From January to March, Aegean weather can be extremely rough, and ferries are often kept in port for days at a time, which means a planned departure day may turn into an extra day in the same room.

In August, ferries fill up around the National Holiday on August 15, so travelers should plan ahead. A clean set of clothes ready the evening before a crossing is a small comfort when the schedule shifts, and a laundry bag holding the dirty items keeps them separate from the rest of the suitcase.

Where are coin laundries?

Coin laundries are found mostly in towns and cities rather than in the smallest villages, and the way to find one is to search for the Greek word plyntirio on a map app. The Greek spelling is πλυντήριο, and searching for self-service laundry in English also turns up the ones that cater to visitors. Island ports and larger towns are the places where a traveler is most likely to see one.

What a self-service laundry looks like

A typical self-service laundry is a bright room with a row of front-loading washers, a row of dryers, a folding table and a few plastic chairs. Some have a small counter with an attendant, others run on machines alone, with instructions posted in Greek and often in English. The smell of detergent and warm cotton is the same as anywhere in the world.

Some laundries offer a drop-off service where the staff wash, dry and fold the bag for you. That suits a day when you would rather be at the beach than watching a spin cycle. The laundry the staff handle is usually returned folded in a bag, and the room often doubles as a place for a coffee and a book while the machines run.

How to find one near you

Type plyntirio, laundromat or self-service laundry and look at the photos that other visitors have posted, which show the machines inside. Guesthouse hosts and shopkeepers also know the nearest laundry and will point you toward it, and a Greek word written on a piece of paper helps when the conversation runs out of English.

Dry cleaners sometimes take laundry too, so a shop with katharistirio on the sign may offer to wash a bag, but you should ask first. Pharmacies and minimarkets in a neighborhood sell small packets of detergent and softener if the laundry itself does not.

Using the machines

The steps are the same as at home: sort darks from lights, load the drum, add detergent, choose a program, and pay at the machine or the counter. Payment is by coins, tokens or a card reader, depending on the laundry, and the euro is the currency in every case. Keep a handful of coins in your pocket on laundry day, just in case the machine does not take a card.

Dryers can be hot, so keep swimsuits, stretchy fabrics and anything delicate to a gentler cycle or hang them back at the room. Wool and linen items are better left to dry on a line. When the cycle ends, shake out the clothes and fold them on the table so the wrinkles do not set in the bag.

What about hotel laundry?

Hotel laundry is an option where the property offers it, and the front desk is the place to ask. Larger hotels and some smaller ones take a bag of clothes and return it washed and folded, while many family guesthouses and rented apartments leave you to handle it yourself. Asking at check-in tells you which kind of stay you have.

Asking the front desk

A polite question about a laundry service is routine at a hotel reception, and the staff will explain how it works at that property. Some hotels give you a list or a bag to fill in, others simply take the clothes and tell you when to collect them. Mark your items clearly, and count them when they come back.

Hotel service is handy when you are short on time, or when you have a few good shirts that you would not trust to an unfamiliar machine. If the property does not wash clothes, the staff can often name a laundry nearby, which brings you back to the plyntirio search.

Apartments, rooms and guesthouses

Rental apartments and self-catering studios often have a small washing machine in the kitchen or on the balcony, and a drying rack to go with it. Family-run guesthouses sometimes let guests use the owner’s machine or hang a wash on the shared terrace. Detergent is the one thing to bring or buy at the nearest minimarket.

A small washing machine in a Greek apartment is typically a compact front-loader, so plan for a half load of towels at a time. The dryer is often the sun and the breeze, which is why the line on the terrace is part of the furnishing. Ask the host how the machine works, since the control dials and the program names may be in Greek.

Dry cleaning and delicate items

For a linen jacket, a dress for a wedding or a suit, a katharistirio is the right stop, and the hotel can usually point out the nearest one. Laundry in a machine can shrink or crease these pieces, so they are worth separating from the everyday bag. Mention any stains when you hand the item over.

Keep the receipt or the ticket that the shop gives you, and remember the day the garment will be ready. A sundress that needs pressing before dinner is exactly the kind of small job these shops handle, and it can save a traveler from carrying an iron along on the trip.

Good to know before you go

Greece uses the euro, so keep some coins for a laundry machine, and carry a few clothespins for a balcony line. If a ferry is part of the plan, remember that crossings fill up in August around the National Holiday on August 15, and that from January to March rough Aegean weather often keeps ferries in port for days. On those days the laundry can wait for the next stop, and a clean change of clothes in your day bag makes the delay easier.

Sources

Wikivoyage, Greece (https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Greece), checked October 12, 2026