Current time in Athens, Greece
The current local time in Athens is shown below. Athens observes EET in winter and EEST during daylight saving time.
Daylight saving time
Sunrise & sunset today
Timezone facts
Athens in context
Athens sits in a basin in the Attica region of southeastern Greece, surrounded by mountains on three sides and opening southwest to the Saronic Gulf. The municipal population is around 660,000, but the wider Athens metropolitan area exceeds 3.7 million, making it home to around a third of Greece's total population. The Acropolis hill at the city centre, crowned by the 5th-century BC Parthenon, anchors a dense historic core that gives way to extensive low-rise suburbs across the surrounding plain.
Timezone history of Athens
Athens uses Eastern European Time at UTC+2, switching to Eastern European Summer Time at UTC+3 during DST. Greece shares its offset with Romania, Bulgaria, Finland, and the Baltic states. The city's position toward the western edge of the EET zone means solar noon arrives around 12:35 local time during standard time. The EU's pending decision on DST abolition has been discussed in Greece, but consensus has not emerged on whether to keep standard or summer time permanently.
Working hours in Athens
Athens's working day starts later than most northern European norms, with offices opening at 09:00 or 10:00 and running through to 18:00 or 19:00. The traditional long lunch (often 14:00 to 16:00) has shortened in many private-sector offices but persists in retail and small business. Summer heat regularly exceeds 35°C in July and August, pushing many businesses toward extended morning hours and a longer afternoon break. Public holidays cluster around Orthodox Easter (often a week or more after Western Easter) and the 28 October national holiday.