ACE Money Transfer
ACE Money Transfer
07 May 2026
Planning a Greek holiday in 2026? There are two government-imposed fees you need to know about before you go. This complete guide breaks down the exact rates, who pays, when you pay, and how to budget for both the accommodation-based Climate Resilience Fee and the newer cruise passenger levy.
The main Greece tourist tax in 2026 is the nationwide Climate Crisis Resilience Fee, charged on every paid overnight stay. A separate cruise passenger fee also applies when disembarking at Greek ports.
In 2026, tourist tax ranges from €0.50 to €15 per night, depending on accommodation type, official star rating, and season. Here are the key numbers:
Winter (November–March): €0.50 to €4 per room or property per night
Summer (April–October): €2 to €15 per room or property per night
5-star hotels charge €15 per room per night in peak season, while budget 1–2 star hotels sit at just €2
Short-term rentals are charged €8 per property per night in summer (units under 80 m²)
The tax is charged per room, not per person - a family of four in one room pays the same as a solo traveller
Quick cost examples:
7 nights in a 3-star hotel in July = €5 × 7 = €35 total
10 nights in a short-term rental under 80 m² in May = €8 × 10 = €80 total
4 nights in a 4-star hotel in Athens in February = €3 × 4 = €12 total
New tourist taxes also affect cruise passengers visiting Greece in 2026. The cruise tax ranges from €1 to €20 per person per port call, with the highest fees at Mykonos and Santorini during peak season.
Greece replaced the old accommodation tax with the Climate Crisis Resilience Fee starting 1 January 2024 under Law 5073/2023. This Greek tourist tax is the country's primary visitor levy, and it applies uniformly across all tourist destinations - islands and mainland alike.
The fee is charged per room, apartment, villa, or rental unit per night, not per person. It covers every form of paid accommodation across the country, including:
Hotels (1-star through 5-star)
Rented furnished rooms and apartments
Furnished tourist villas and large holiday homes
Short-term rentals, including Airbnb-style stays
Tourist furnished residences
Greece implements the Climate Crisis Resilience Fee to address climate change impacts such as wildfires, floods, and heatwaves. The fee supports national disaster recovery and infrastructure improvements in Greece, replacing the older overnight stay tax that carried lower rates and narrower coverage.
Most travellers and booking sites still refer to it as the "Greece tourist tax," "accommodation tax," "hotel tax," or "climate tax," even though the official name emphasises climate resilience. Whatever you call it, the tourist tax in Greece is mandatory and legally enforceable - it's not a tip or a suggestion.
The rates below have been in force since the 2025 increases and remain unchanged for 2026, with no announced adjustments. The Climate Resilience Fee varies based on hotel star rating and season, creating a two-tier system: peak and off-peak.
| Accommodation Type | Fee Per Room/Unit Per Night |
|---|---|
| Hotels, 1–2 stars | €2.00 |
| Hotels, 3 stars | €5.00 |
| Hotels, 4 stars | €10.00 |
| Hotels, 5 stars | €15.00 |
| Rented furnished rooms / apartments | €2.00 |
| Short-term rentals under 80 m² | €8.00 |
| Detached villas / houses over 80 m² | €15.00 |
| Accommodation Type | Fee Per Room/Unit Per Night |
|---|---|
| Hotels, 1–2 stars | €0.50 |
| Hotels, 3 stars | €1.50 |
| Hotels, 4 stars | €3.00 |
| Hotels, 5 stars | €4.00 |
| Rented furnished rooms / apartments | €0.50 |
| Short-term rentals under 80 m² | €2.00 |
| Detached villas / houses over 80 m² | €4.00 |
A few things to note: 1–2 star hotels charge €0.50 per room per night in winter, while a 4-star hotel costs €10 per night in peak season and just €3 per night in off-peak. The tourist tax is charged per room per night - one couple in a five star hotel room pays the same accommodation fee as a family of four sharing that room. This makes the Greek tourist tax relatively favourable for families or groups booking multiple rooms.
These climate resilience fees are not subject to VAT. They sit on top of the VAT-inclusive nightly rate shown on booking sites as a separate line item.
The Greek tourist tax is strongly seasonal, reflecting the intense pressure that summer holidays place on infrastructure, emergency services, and natural resources across popular destinations.
The seasons are defined simply under Greek law:
Peak season: 1 April to 31 October
Off-peak / low season: 1 November to 31 March
There is no separate "shoulder" rate between these two bands. Accommodation tax rates in Greece are lower during low season from November to March, and tourist tax rates drop by 67–75% in off-peak months, depending on the accommodation type.
Here's what that looks like in practice:
10 nights in a 4-star hotel: €100 in July vs €30 in February
14 nights in a villa over 80 m² in August: €210 vs €56 in December
Seven nights in furnished rooms in September: €14 vs €3.50 in January
Moving a trip by a single day can make a meaningful difference. Checking in on 1 November rather than 31 October instantly drops the fee applies to your stay by around 70%. If you're combining island stays with cruising, note that cruise passenger fees also have three seasonal bands (peak, shoulder, off-peak), making timing even more impactful.
The Greece tourist tax varies by accommodation type and official star rating rather than by specific island, city, or resort. Here's how it breaks down across the main categories.
Hotels: Star hotel fees range from €2 (1–2 stars) to €15 (5 stars) per room per night in peak season. The fee is tied to the official Greek classification under Law 4276/2014 - not just what appears on a booking website. Staying in higher-rated hotels leads to a larger increase in the tourist fee burden, so it's worth confirming the official star rating if hotel fees seem unexpectedly high.
Furnished rooms and small guesthouses: These fall into slightly lower accommodation fee bands (€2 per night in summer, €0.50 in winter), making them attractive for budget-conscious travellers visiting Greece on a tight budget.
Short-term rentals (Airbnb, Booking.com apartments): Units under 80 m² sit in a mid-band at €8 per night in summer and €2 in winter. This covers most city apartments and small holiday homes listed on platforms.
Villas and large holiday homes: Detached houses and villas over 80 m² pay the highest Climate Resilience Fee - up to €15 per night in summer, matching the rate for a five star hotel. However, large groups sharing a villa still benefit from a low per person cost. Six people splitting a €15 nightly fee pay just €2.50 each.
Exempt categories: Youth hostels, campsites, and free stays where no rent is charged are not subject to the accommodation tax. If you're staying with friends or in your own property at no cost, the fee doesn't apply.
The accommodation fee is almost never included in the headline prices you see on booking platforms. Expect it as an additional charge on arrival or departure.
When you pay: Payment is usually made at check-in or check-out. Hotels and rental properties handle this differently - some add it to your final bill, others ask you to settle it separately. Travellers should budget for additional fees at check-in or check-out for all accommodations.
How you pay: Larger hotels typically add the fee to your card payment alongside the room rate. Smaller guesthouses, family-run rentals, and island properties may ask for cash, paid directly at the desk. You receive a separate receipt for the tourist tax payment - Greek law requires accommodation providers to issue a distinct document for the climate resilience levy, separate from the room rate invoice. Always request and keep this receipt.
Package holidays: For a package holiday, the accommodation fee is sometimes pre-paid and bundled into the total price, but it's often still paid locally. Double check the small print for phrases like "tourist tax payable locally" or "local charges not included." If unclear, contact the provider before you travel.
Airbnb-style bookings: Hosts may collect the accommodation tax on arrival, mention it in house rules, or list it as a separate line item in the booking. Confirm before you travel to avoid surprises. The fee is not included in online booking prices as standard, regardless of platform.
Children do not incur extra charges under the tax, since the fee applies per room, not per person. A family of four in one room pays exactly the same as a solo traveller.
Greece maintains a specific disembarkation levy for cruise passengers, separate from the overnight Climate Resilience Fee. Launched on 21 July 2025 under Law 5162/2024, this cruise tax targets day visitors arriving by ship rather than overnight guests.
The fee is charged per person, per port call, with three seasonal bands and two port tiers:
| Season | Mykonos & Santorini (premium) | Other Greek Ports (standard) |
|---|---|---|
| Peak (1 June – 30 September) | €20 per person | €5 per person |
| Shoulder (1 April – 31 May & 1 Oct – 31 Oct) | €12 per person | €3 per person |
| Off-peak (1 November – 31 March) | €4 per person | €1 per person |
Cruise ship passengers may face fees up to €20.00 during peak months when disembarking at Mykonos or Santorini. At other Greek ports - Rhodes, Corfu, Crete - the standard-tier rate applies.
The fee is normally added by cruise lines to passengers' onboard accounts. Passengers rarely need to pay cash at the port. If you stay on the ship and don't disembark, the fee typically doesn't apply, and some lines refund charges when gangway records confirm no disembarkation.
Exemptions are very limited: crew members and individuals disembarking for medical emergencies. There's no age, nationality, or trip-purpose exemption - families, couples, and solo travellers all pay the same per person rate.
Rate tables are useful, but real-world numbers tell you what to actually expect. Here's what the tourism taxes add up to across common trip types.
Example 1 - Couple in a 3-star hotel, 7 nights in July: Climate Resilience Fee: €5 × 7 = €35 per room. On a typical room rate of €120 per night, that's about 4% of total accommodation cost. Worth budgeting but not a dealbreaker.
Example 2 - Family of four, one 4-star room, 10 nights in August: Fee: €10 × 10 = €100 total. The fee does not increase per child - only per room. Booking multiple rooms would multiply the fee, so keeping the family in one room saves money on the visitor levy.
Example 3 - Group of six, large villa (over 80 m²), 14 nights in August: Fee: €15 × 14 = €210 total, or just €35 per person for two weeks. Night villas at the top rate still work out cheaply when costs are shared - far less per person than two rooms in a star hotel.
Example 4 - Cruise itinerary, peak season (couple): Disembarking at Mykonos (€20), Santorini (€20), and Rhodes (€5) = €45 per person, or €90 for the couple. In off-peak, the same three stops cost just €4 + €4 + €1 = €9 per person - an 80% saving.
Example 5 - City break in Athens, February (4 nights, 4-star hotel): Fee: €3 × 4 = €12 total. Low season makes the Greece tourist tax almost negligible, reinforcing why winter travel remains excellent value.
The Greece tourist tax in 2026 has clear exemptions, and understanding them avoids disputes at check-in or check-out.
What's exempt:
Youth hostels and campsites
Certain heritage buildings used strictly for cultural purposes
Complimentary stays where no rent is charged - the tourist tax does not apply to complimentary stays (e.g., staying with friends, in your own property, or on a genuinely free invitation)
What's not exempt:
Children are not exempt from the tourist tax - but since the fee is per room, children don't trigger additional charges either
No exemptions exist for Greek residents or long stays; the tax applies to all paid accommodations in Greece regardless of nationality or duration
There is no official cap on the number of nights rooms can be taxed; 30 nights in a 5-star hotel in peak season accumulates €450 in climate resilience fees alone
Common myths debunked:
The Greek tourist tax is not optional, cannot be refused, and is not a security deposit. It is a legal climate resilience levy under Greek law. If the fee appears higher than expected, confirm the accommodation's official star rating - listings sometimes display ratings that don't match the legal classification, which determines what the fee applies at.
Always ask for a separate receipt. If a property can't produce one, the correct rate may not have been used, and the accommodation may not be properly reporting to local authorities.
The rebranded Climate Crisis Resilience Fee and the cruise Sustainable Tourism Fee reflect Greece's direct response to escalating climate-linked disasters - wildfires that devastated Rhodes and Evia, floods in Thessaly, and record heatwaves that strain emergency services across the islands every summer.
Tourist tax revenue is earmarked for climate resilience projects. Specifically:
The Climate Resilience Fee generated €368.92 million in its first year (2024), with projections exceeding €570 million by 2025
Revenue flows to the Ministry of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection for disaster preparedness, firefighting capacity, and post-disaster reconstruction
Tourist tax funds beach cleaning and waste management across high-traffic destinations
The tax supports public transport improvements in tourist areas, including ferry terminals and bus networks
Funds from the tax enhance local tourism initiatives, from trail maintenance to visitor information services
There is a transparency gap worth noting. While the fee is branded as supporting climate resilience, there is limited public reporting of specific projects funded. This has led to debate among tourism industry groups, local council representatives, and local government officials about whether the revenue is reaching the communities that bear the heaviest visitor numbers.
Greece positions these new tourist taxes as tools for sustainable tourism and climate change adaptation, but critics within the industry worry about competitiveness given the overall tax burden on accommodation providers.
Greece is far from alone in charging tourism taxes. Almost every major European destination now has some form of accommodation fee, city tax, or visitor levy.
Per-room vs per-person systems: Greece's per-room Climate Resilience Fee structure differs from the per-person city taxes charged in Barcelona (€0.65–€3.50 per person per night), Paris (€0.25–€14.95 per person), and Amsterdam (7% of room rate). Greece's system favours families sharing rooms but can feel heavier for solo travellers in budget hotel stays.
Mediterranean competitors: Spain's Balearic Islands charge a Sustainable Tourism Tax of €1–€4 per person per night. Italy's city tax vary depending on municipality, typically €1–€7 per person. Portugal and Croatia generally charge lower accommodation levies. However, Greece combines a 13% VAT on hotels with its flat per-room Climate Resilience Fee, which can push total hotel fees higher than neighbours.
A direct comparison: A €150 nightly rate at a 4-star hotel room in Greece adds €10 for the climate tax plus 13% VAT - yielding roughly 20% in combined government charges on the room rate. A comparable stay in Rome might carry 10% VAT plus a €6 per-person city tax. For a couple, the total tax burden is similar. For a family of four, Greece compares favourably because the fee doesn't multiply with headcount.
Overall, Greece's hotel tax burden (estimated at around 29.8% of gross room revenue in mid-range scenarios) is higher than some Mediterranean neighbours but below very high-tax cities like Amsterdam. The trend across Europe is clearly toward funding climate resilience and sustainable tourism through these levies.
Here's a quick planning checklist to make sure the accommodation tax and cruise charges don't catch you off guard.
Add a line to your budget. Whether you're booking a week in furnished rooms on Paros or a luxury villa on Crete, include the Climate Resilience Fee and any potential cruise passenger charges in your trip estimate. For long stays or when booking multiple rooms, these local charges add up. Pay depends on accommodation type and season, so calculate accordingly.
Travel in low season for big savings. November through March delivers tourist tax rates that are 67–75% lower than summer. You also benefit from cheaper flights, lower room rates, and fewer crowds. Even shifting summer holidays by a day - arriving 1 November instead of 31 October - triggers immediate savings.
Check your booking confirmation. The fee is not included in online booking prices on most platforms. Look for phrases like "tourist tax payable locally," "local charges," or "climate resilience fee not included." If there's no mention at all, contact the accommodation or package holiday provider directly for official guidance.
Carry some cash. While larger properties accept card payment for the accommodation fee, smaller guesthouses, island rentals, and family-run places may ask for cash paid directly at the desk. A small amount of euros set aside avoids awkward moments at check-out.
Keep your receipts. You're entitled to a separate receipt for the tourist tax. If you're ever charged more than the rates in this guide, having that document helps you query the amount with local authorities or Greek tax officials.
Don't forget ferry tickets and car rentals. The climate resilience fee and cruise tax are the main tourism-specific levies, but your overall budget should also account for ferry tickets between islands and car rentals on larger islands - neither of which includes the accommodation tax but both of which are rising costs for most travellers visiting Greece.
The Greece tourist tax and cruise levies do add up for five star hotel stays and long villa holidays. But for most travellers, they represent a modest share of total trip costs - and they fund the climate resilience, emergency services, and infrastructure that keep Greece one of Europe's most rewarding destinations. Factor them in early, travel smart on timing, and enjoy your Greek holiday without any billing surprises.
