Greece Travel Pharmacy Tips
Pharmacies in Greece are a bit different from what you may be used to back home. What strikes me as most different is that they are so much smaller compared to the USA pharmacies I am used to, like WalMart, CVS, Wahlgreens, Rx., etc which are more like fortresses or part of bigger stores.
In Greece pharmacies are small little places run by one guy or a father-daughter-son type variation. Greece is smaller than the USA of course but has its own pharmaceutical laws and schools which are E. U. regulated to a certain extent. They even manufacture some of the licensed drugs here in Greece too. After all Asklipious and Hippocrates we healing people in Greece millennia ago so why not allow them to manufacture under license today?
Another big difference is the pharmacists aren't worried about getting ripped off by junkies because they don't have any heavy opiates laying around. There are plenty of junkies in Greece though and they'll come in and buy a syringe or two while you are in line. I guess the Greek Police is totally incapable in stemming the irresistible tide of money, I mean drug smuggling, passing them by. But that's not so bad if you are in a hurry because that junky is in a hurry too!
You could instead come in behind a little old lady who has social security paying for her medication and she'll have paper work for 5 or 6 different medications and will have to go over each one with the pharmacist and get them stamped while you just want to buy some ibuprofen for your hangover. (Because you can buy prophylactics, sunscreen and even aspirin at some kiosks, too try them too if they are closer.)
On Saturdays and Sundays Pharmacies are closed.
So to cut down on waiting around you may start to plan when the best time to go to the pharmacy will be. For me, I go first thing in the morning at 8 or 8:30 AM. We don't always have that luxury because on Saturdays and Sundays Pharmacies are closed. That's right! On the busiest day of the week too. Not only are they closed on Saturdays and Sundays but on the rest of the days of the week they all don't keep to the same schedule. See the schedules below.
My pharmacist told me that the pharmacists union passed the resolution not to work on Saturdays or Sundays long ago. Pharmacists in Greece study for 4 or 5 years to get their degrees a lot like dentists and doctors come to think of it. All three of these professions set up wherever they feel like. You could have a dentist or a doctors office next to your apartment. Pharmacies, fortunately, always stick to the more retail ground floor store approach.
So what if its an Emergency and the Pharmacy is closed?
By law they have this work around called the Duty Pharmacy(s) in each neighborhood that is open on weekends but not every weekend and not all day on the one day of the two days that they could be open but only for the one shift of the 3 shifts of that particular day because each day has three shifts.
- Different Pharmacies are Open From
- 8 am to 8 pm
- 8 am to 2 pm and 5 pm to midnight
- 8 am to 2 pm and from 5 pm to 8 am
So how do you find out which pharmacies are open on the weekend?
If you speak Greek you can call this number and listen to the recording: 1434
If you don't speak Greek and its an emergency you can call Doctors S.O.S. at: 1016 and hope that someone there speaks English.
If you can get to a closed Pharmacy there is another law that says they have to have a sign in the window telling people where the Duty Pharmacies are. I hope you brought your glasses because this sign isn't taped to the window for all to see, its just laid up against the glass and may or may not be obscured by a dusty prosthetic device or shoe display. The weekly Athens News is a good source for the duty pharmacy as is the daily Kathimerini English Edition but both are only as good as the information they are given and because its happened to me, I can tell you that the recordings are sometimes wrong and so are the signs in the window. Always try and call ahead to see if that particular pharmacy really is open. Try to take care of your pharmacy needs before they mushroom into major problems.
A good relationship with your pharmacists is nice but not mandatory. Most of them speak English to some extent or have a friend who speaks English or French or German. In general pharmacists are friendly and helpful and if open a good place to buy what you need. Better do it first chance you get too!
Dramamine is a drug for people that get sea sick, its a substance that deadens the nerves in your stomach wall so you don't get seasick. Its cheap and it works within half an hour but only if you take it before you get seasick. It'll take longer if you wait and you will feel sick! Kiosks in ports often sell dramamine too!
For you ladies Pharmacies sell feminine devices and more. They also sell vitamins, prophylactics, orthopedic shoes, toothbrushes and the all natural Greek makeup Kores.