The best bars and cafés NorThern Islands Of The Aegean Sea
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Practical information : Take a break NorThern Islands Of The Aegean Sea
Timetable
The owners and managers of bars and cafes in the North Aegean have to ensure the summer season to survive all year round: they are therefore open every day from morning to night and the hours depend on the number of people. Some night bars only open from 6pm-7pm and stay open until the early morning. Some traditional kafeneia open early in the morning and again around 6pm but close a few hours after lunch. But most of the time, these places are open continuously: in summer, the waiters just wait for the last customer to leave before closing. In the off-season, however, the majority of establishments are closed.
Budget & Tips
Drinking coffee is an institution in Greece: you can stay for hours with a freddo or a frappé for a few euros, without having to reorder.
Age restrictions
There is no legal age to consume alcohol in private in Greece. To drink and consume alcohol in a café or public place you have to be 18 years old, but this law is not very well enforced and no one will ask for an ID card from a young person who orders a glass of alcohol.
What's very local
The traditional café, the kafeneio, is often the heart of local life in the islands. More exactly, it is often the heart of public life and therefore of men's life... Indeed, women still live largely within the home while men meet at the café to twiddle their thumbs and remake the world, well encamped in their armchairs... The kafeneio opens early in the morning, one comes to have his first coffee to see the village which wakes up slowly. Sometimes it stays open for lunch, but usually it closes between noon and 5pm, for the siesta. It reopens at 6pm for a last coffee or a game of tavli at the end of the day. Later, it turns into an ouzeri, where people drink ouzo, beer and raki while sharing small dishes, mezzes, with the background of rebetiko, the popular Greek music par excellence.
Kids
Children are accepted absolutely everywhere, accompanied by their parents.
Smokers
The law against smoking in public spaces has been in place since 2008, but had never been enforced in restaurants and cafes until 2019. It was the government of K. Mitsotakis that ensured that the law was enforced, shortly after his election. Today, smoking is effectively prohibited inside cafes, bars and ouzeries. Smokers will be limited to the terraces.