There is a tax on every paid overnight stay in Greece, you almost certainly did not pay it when you booked, and the property will ask you for it when you arrive. It is small. It is also the single commonest unpleasant surprise in Greek travel, because the first anyone hears of it is a hand held out at the front desk.
What it is actually called
The charge is the Climate Crisis Resilience Fee, and in Greek the τέλος ανθεκτικότητας στην κλιματική κρίση, which the trade shortens to TAKK. It replaced the older accommodation tax on 1 January 2024 under article 30 of law 5073/2023, and the rates were raised a year later by law 5162/2024.
You will not see any of those words at the desk. You will hear “the tourist tax”, or “the climate tax”, or nothing at all beyond a number.
What you pay
Two bands: a high season running April to October, and a low season running November to March. Within each, the rate depends on what kind of place you are staying in.
| Where you are staying | April–October | November–March |
|---|---|---|
| Hotel, 1–2 star | €2.00 | €0.50 |
| Hotel, 3 star | €5.00 | €1.50 |
| Hotel, 4 star | €10.00 | €3.00 |
| Hotel, 5 star | €15.00 | €4.00 |
| Rooms to let, furnished rooms and apartments | €2.00 | €0.50 |
| Short-term rental (a flat or a house under 80 m²) | €8.00 | €2.00 |
| Detached house over 80 m², and tourist villas | €15.00 | €4.00 |
The range across the whole scheme is fifty cents to fifteen euros a night. A fortnight in a five-star hotel in July is €210 on top of the room. A fortnight in rooms to let in the same month is €28.
The part that matters more than the rate
It is charged per room, per night - not per person.
This is the detail that changes the sum, and it runs the opposite way to most tourist taxes in Europe. Four people sharing a villa pay what one person in that villa would pay. Four people in two hotel rooms pay twice. If you are travelling as a family or a group, the fee rewards sharing space in a way the room rate usually does not.
A night is a night of use, so the count is the nights you stay, not the days you are in the country.
Why it was not in what you paid online
Because the property collects it, not the booking site. The fee is the guest’s liability in law and the business is the collector: it issues a separate document for it, then declares and pays what it collected to the tax administration, monthly, by the last day of the month after it issued the document.
Booking platforms mostly leave it out of the headline total for exactly that reason - it is not their money and they never touch it. Some surface it as “taxes and fees payable at the property” in the small print of the confirmation. Many do not surface it at all.
So the honest way to think about it: it is not a scam, it is not optional, and it is not part of your room rate. It is a separate small bill with a separate piece of paper.
When and how you pay it
Usually at check-in, sometimes at check-out, and often in cash. Properties vary and the law does not dictate the moment. Smaller places in particular will ask for cash, which matters on islands where you may not have been planning to carry any.
You should be given a document for it. Ask for one if it does not appear, not because you will ever need it, but because a property that issues no paper for a cash charge is worth noticing.
If you are working to a budget, the fee belongs with the other small, certain costs on what a Greece trip costs rather than as a surprise against it, and it is the kind of thing worth having euros in hand for - see money in Greece.
What it is not
It is not VAT, which is already inside your room rate. It is not a deposit, and nothing about it is refundable. It is not a municipal or island-specific charge: it is national, it goes to central government, and the island you are on makes no difference to it.
It is also not a cruise charge. Passengers landing at Mykonos and Santorini pay a separate berth fee that has nothing to do with this one, and a day visitor off a ship pays no accommodation fee at all, because they are not staying anywhere.
Where this leaves you
Budget it, carry cash for it, and expect nobody to mention it until you arrive. On a mid-range two-week trip it is the price of a couple of dinners; in a five-star suite in August it is a real line item. The only way it goes wrong is the way it usually does - as a number you were not expecting at the end of a travel day.
Quick answers
Is there a tourist tax in Greece?
Yes. Every paid overnight stay carries the Climate Crisis Resilience Fee, a national charge that replaced the older accommodation tax in January 2024. It runs from fifty cents to fifteen euros per night depending on the type of property and the season, and the property collects it from you directly.
How much is the tourist tax in Greece?
It depends on where you stay and when. In the April-to-October band it is €2 in rooms to let and one- and two-star hotels, €5 in three-star, €10 in four-star, and €15 in five-star hotels, villas and large houses; short-term rentals under 80 m² are €8. From November to March each of those falls sharply, to between fifty cents and four euros.
Is the Greek tourist tax per person or per room?
Per room, per night. The number of people sharing the room, flat or villa makes no difference to the charge, which is unusual among European tourist taxes and works in favour of families and groups sharing space.
Why was the tourist tax not included in my booking?
Because the accommodation collects it, not the booking platform. In law the fee is the guest’s liability and the property is the collector, issuing its own document and paying the tax administration monthly. Platforms generally leave it out of the headline price because the money never passes through them.
Do you pay the Greek tourist tax in cash?
Often, yes. The law does not specify how, and practice varies, but smaller properties in particular ask for cash at check-in. On islands where cash is less convenient to get hold of, it is worth having the amount ready rather than assuming a card will be taken.