Entering Greece from outside the EU, an eligible traveller aged 17 or over has an alcohol exemption of 4 litres of still wine and 16 litres of beer, plus 1 litre above 22% ABV or 2 litres of other alcoholic drinks at or below 22%, with proportional mixing of that last pair. EU alcohol categories
Tobacco quantities depend on how you arrive: the cigarette exemption is 200 by air but 40 by other transport. AADE traveller FAQ, April 2026, page 2
These exemptions concern non-commercial goods in personal baggage. Those are arrival-in-Greece rules. If you mean “how much can I bring back from Greece?”, start with your home destination instead. Sources were checked on 26 September 2026.
Write the direction of travel first
Use two separate shopping lists for a return trip: one for entering Greece and one for entering the country you return to. A quantity suitable for the outward journey need not be suitable for the return.
For example, a London–Athens holiday involves an arrival in Greece from outside the EU and a later arrival in Great Britain. Buying the return bottles in a Greek supermarket does not turn the British border into an intra-EU journey.
For tax-paid purchases carried for your own use between EU countries, the EU framework differs from non-EU arrival exemptions. Customs can assess personal use from quantity and other circumstances. This guide's small non-EU quantities are not the worksheet for an ordinary Italy–Greece personal-use journey. Your Europe route distinction
A flight and a ferry can give different tobacco results
For air arrivals from outside the EU, the full tobacco alternatives are 200 cigarettes, 100 cigarillos (no more than 3 g each), 50 cigars or 250 g smoking tobacco. For other transport, they are 40 cigarettes, 20 cigarillos, 10 cigars or 50 g. Mixed products use proportional shares. AADE quantities by transport
Imagine entering Greece directly from Türkiye. Six packs of twenty cigarettes contain 120 cigarettes. That is 60% of the air cigarette allowance but three times the allowance for other transport. A ferry ticket does not receive the air quantity simply because both involve an international terminal.
For a mixed air-arrival example, 60 cigarettes use 60 ÷ 200 = 30%, and 175 g of tobacco uses 175 ÷ 250 = 70%. Together they use 100%.
For a mixed ferry-arrival example, twenty cigarettes use 50%, and 25 g tobacco uses the other 50%. Adding even another 20 g pouch changes the tobacco total to 45 g, making the combined share 50% + 90% = 140%.
These calculations apply to conventional tobacco. Do not treat a cigarette pack count as a verified allowance for heated products or nicotine pouches.
Check the shared alcohol category without losing the wine distinction
Suppose you want a 500 mL bottle labelled 40% ABV and a 750 mL sparkling wine. Their shares are 0.5 ÷ 1 = 50% and 0.75 ÷ 2 = 37.5%. Together they use 87.5% of the shared category.
There is 12.5% left. That corresponds to 125 mL on the stronger-drink side or 250 mL on the lower-strength side. It is not enough for another normal 750 mL sparkling-wine bottle.
Still wine has its separate total. Five 750 mL still wines make 3.75 litres; six make 4.5 litres. The first selection fits the still-wine quantity and the second exceeds it. Unused beer capacity does not repair that result.
Our Greece lower-strength alcohol reference is useful alongside the calculation. Keep the drink type and ABV visible in the inventory instead of grouping everything under “wine”.
What about perfume, electronics and gifts?
AADE gives an other-goods value exemption of €430 for air or sea travellers and €300 for other travellers; for children under fifteen it is €150 regardless of transport. These value figures do not replace alcohol and tobacco quantity tests. AADE traveller FAQ
A planning list containing €120 of perfume and €240 of clothing totals €360. That sits below €430 but above €300. Work through that value list separately from your bottle and cigarette calculations, and ask customs how any excess will be assessed before choosing the nothing-to-declare route.
Bring-back purchases need the destination's rule
For arrival in Great Britain, the corresponding headline alcohol quantities are 18 litres of still wine and 42 litres of beer, plus a shared 4-litre stronger-drink or 9-litre other-drink allowance. GOV.UK Great Britain guidance
Use the Great Britain alcohol calculation guide for that return journey. Northern Ireland needs its own check. Also use the duty-free connection guide before carrying purchased bottles through another security checkpoint. Customs eligibility, airport liquid screening and airline baggage acceptance are separate decisions.