Car rental Greece gives a visitor the freedom to reach beaches, villages and mountain roads that buses and ferries serve only in part. Before booking anything, it helps to know who can drive, where to collect a car and which kind suits the roads, and our tours in Greece page lists the organised options beside self-drive.
This page covers the licence and documents a renter needs, the pick-up places at airports, ports and towns, how to choose a car for narrow island lanes, the road network and the rules of the road, the islands by car and ferry, the road trips that suit a car, and the questions travellers ask.
What does car rental Greece include?
Car rental Greece means you hire a car from a rental company for a set period and drive it yourself. Rental periods run from hours to weeks, and rental offices sit near airports and busy city areas.
Car rental Greece offers a different way to travel from public transport. Intercity and regional buses run under the KTEL name, and ferries link the islands. A hired car follows your own timetable and takes you to places between the bus stops.
Alongside the car, a car rental Greece desk sells extras such as insurance, GPS navigation and child safety seats. The car has to come back in the condition you took it. Companies use your payment card to charge for damage, road tolls, fines or missing fuel.
Cover comes in parts. A collision damage waiver pays for damage to the rental car in a moving accident. Wikipedia adds that European rentals almost always carry an excess. That is the sum the renter pays if the car is damaged. In general, car rental Greece fleets also hold these kinds of car:
- Small and compact cars: rental offices stock a range of vehicle sizes.
- Automatics: an automatic gearbox changes gear for you, so there is no clutch pedal. Manual cars are common in Greece, so reserve an automatic in advance.
- Minibuses: rental offices also list passenger vans for bigger groups.
- Open-top cars: convertibles are on the list of specialist vehicles.
- 4×4 cars: a 4×4 has power going to all four wheels.
What do you need for car rental Greece?
For car rental Greece you need a full, valid driving licence and a payment card. You also show a passport or an identity card. The Greece pages of two rental sites state a minimum age of 21.
Start with the licence. A licence from an EU or EEA country is recognised across the whole EEA. For car rental Greece desks, EU drivers show their own card. Drivers from outside the EU are in general required to hold an International Driving Permit. For more help with the rest of your trip, see our Greece travel information.
An International Driving Permit translates your home licence for use in countries that recognise it. For car rental Greece the permit counts only alongside the home licence. Certain non-EU countries have recognition agreements with Greece. The Greek licence article names nine, among them Canada, Japan and the United States. These agreements change, so check with your home authorities first.
Age is the next check. Car rental Greece companies set a minimum age for insurance reasons. It can sit above the legal driving age. In Greece the licence for cars, category B, starts at 18. That category covers a vehicle of up to 3,500 kg with room for 8 passengers plus the driver.
The desk also asks for a payment card. One rental company lists major credit cards and Visa or Mastercard debit cards. Other companies ask for a cash deposit in place of a card. Our contact page takes questions about the trip, but this site does not rent cars or take car bookings.
Insurance rounds out the list for car rental Greece. Vehicle insurance protects against injury and damage from traffic collisions and against liability, and its terms vary by region. Extra protection packages at the desk are optional. Wikipedia advises renters to check their own car insurance and credit card benefits before they buy more cover.
Where do you collect a car for car rental Greece?
Car rental Greece starts at an airport, a seaport or a town office. The main airport of Athens is 30 km from the centre by road. The Attiki Odos toll highway joins them.
The airport has its own railway station, reached from the terminal by an elevated walkway. Athens Metro line 3 runs there, and so does the suburban railway, the Proastiakos. A visitor who spends the first days in Athens can arrive by train and begin car rental Greece trips later.
Buses serve the airport too. Transport for Athens lines join it to the greater Athens area. KTEL Express buses go to Rafina, Markopoulo, Lavrio, Kalyvia and Keratea. Read about Athens transport before you decide where to start. A car is one choice next to these links, not the only one.
Other regions have their own airports. Thessaloniki Airport serves Chalkidiki as well. You find it in Thermi, 13 km out of the city to the southeast. For car rental Greece in the north, it is the first place to look.
Heraklion Airport handles more traffic than any other on Crete. East of the city, 5 km away, it is the island’s gateway. Resort towns such as Malia and Elounda use it. Rental companies list both airports among their pick-up points, and one company names 14 airport locations in Greece.
Ports work as pick-up places too. Greece’s chief port is Piraeus. It lies 8 km southwest of central Athens and sends ferries to Crete, the Cyclades and the Dodecanese. Car rental Greece also fits a trip by sea. Patras port runs car ferries to the Ionian Islands and to the Adriatic ports of Italy.
Rafina sits 25 km from Athens city centre, on the Attica coast to the east. After Piraeus, it is the next port of Athens, with ferries to the Cyclades.
Which car suits Greek roads?
Car rental Greece offers small cars, convertibles, SUVs and passenger vans, so choose by road and by group. The Old Town of Corfu has narrow streets, the kantounia, where a small car is easier to place.
Rental offices class their cars with a four-letter code. It describes the size, the number of doors, the gearbox type and whether the car has air conditioning. The first letter gives the general class, such as Mini, Economy or Compact. These classes help you read any car rental Greece offer.
Gearbox type matters on car rental Greece trips. An automatic gearbox changes gears by itself and uses a torque converter where a manual gearbox has a clutch. Automatic cars became common in Europe much later than in the United States.
A four-wheel-drive car drives every wheel at the same moment. Its Wikipedia article names gravel and ice as low-traction surfaces. For car rental Greece tracks on loose ground, that is the feature to look for. Convertibles are another specialised type that rental offices list for sunny roads.
Groups look at seats and bags. Rental systems class cars by seat numbers and trunk volume as well. Passenger vans seat more people than a small car. Compare both numbers before your car rental Greece pick-up, so every person and every suitcase fits.
How do the roads work for car rental Greece?
Car rental Greece runs on three kinds of main road: motorways, expressways and national roads. Motorways have the highest speed limit, 130 km/h. They are the only toll roads in Greece, apart from one undersea tunnel.
Motorway numbers start with the letter A, and motorway signs are green. National road numbers start with EO. Expressways sit between the two types, with a limit of 110 km/h, while national roads allow 90 km/h.
On car rental Greece trips, the longest motorway is the A2, the Egnatia Odos. Its main route measures 670 km, from Igoumenitsa harbour to the Turkish border at Kipoi. Drivers pay tolls on it.
The A1 joins Athens and Thessaloniki over about 550 km. The Egnatia Odos runs alongside the ancient Roman Via Egnatia for 360 km, from Evros to Thessaloniki.
Around Greater Athens, the Attiki Odos motorways form the outer ring roads, and drivers pay a toll there. The whole system is 70 km long. Its A6 route joins Eleusis to Athens International Airport.
The Greek mainland is extremely mountainous, so car rental Greece drivers meet tunnels and bridges. Along the six major motorways, builders needed about 150 tunnels. On the A5 Ionia Odos, the Rio–Antirrio Bridge spans the Corinthian Gulf. National roads range from fast dual carriageways to twisting two-lane roads.
Car rental Greece on Crete follows the A90 along the north coast, which links the four major cities. Heraklion, the capital and largest city, lies on that north shore. The A90 bypass sections near Heraklion, Rethymno and Chania are at motorway standard.
Does car rental Greece work on the islands?
Yes, car rental Greece works on the islands. You collect a car on the island where you stay. The rental company’s own terms decide what happens when the car travels on a ferry.
One rental company’s Greek page allows a rental car on a ferry between the Greek islands. The vehicle protections stop on the ferry. The same page does not allow one-way rentals between islands. For a sea trip without a car, see our Greek islands cruises.
Car rental Greece options start with the size of the island. Crete is the biggest Greek island and runs 260 km across, west to east. Corfu belongs to the Ionian Islands, off the west coast. Zakynthos covers 405.55 km² and has one airport, 4.3 km from town. Compare islands on the Greek destinations page.
Small islands need a fuel check. One rental company advises renters to confirm that a petrol station exists before they travel to a small island. For car rental Greece in the Cyclades islands, the list below, which adds Rhodes, shows how much size varies.
- Mykonos has an area of 85.5 km². The largest town, Mykonos, is on the western shore. Chora is another name for it.
- Santorini lies furthest south in the Cyclades and measures roughly 73 km².
- Naxos is bigger than every other Cyclades island. The island capital is Naxos City, known as Chora.
- Paros covers 165 km² and sits 8 km west of Naxos. At Parikia harbour, ferries and catamarans leave each day for Piraeus and other Aegean ports.
- Rhodes measures 79.7 km lengthwise and reaches 38 km across. Diagoras Airport, southwest of Rhodes City, is the fourth biggest in Greece by passenger volume.
Which road trips suit car rental Greece?
Car rental Greece fits trips that link places on one route. Five regions stand out: the Peloponnese, Delphi, Meteora, Chalkidiki and Crete. Each one below comes with plain facts for planning the stops.
The Peloponnese connects to the rest of the mainland through the Isthmus of Corinth. Mount Taygetus, its highest mountain, reaches 2,407 metres. Mycenae, Epidaurus and Olympia rank among its notable archaeological sites, and Olympia hosted the first Ancient Olympic Games.
Nafplio, a town on the Argolic Gulf, was the capital of newly independent Greece. Car rental Greece drivers who stop there find the Palamidi castle and the Bourtzi. The Bourtzi is a fortress set within the harbour itself.
The ancient site of Delphi is in central Greece. Greek National Road 48 passes it, and links the towns of Amfissa and Livadeia. UNESCO recognises the precinct. Its museum displays the Charioteer of Delphi. The Apollo temple ruins date from the fourth century B.C.
Car rental Greece drivers can visit Meteora, a rock formation in Thessaly, in northwestern Greece. Its Greek name means lofty or elevated. Kalabaka is the nearby town, and Kastraki is the nearby village. Four of the six monasteries still standing are run by monks or nuns and welcome visitors.
Chalkidiki is a peninsula with three arms: Kassandra, Sithonia and Athos. To its north lies the regional unit of Thessaloniki. That city, on the Thermaic Gulf, ranks second in size in the country. Its main landmark is the White Tower. Car rental Greece trips can link the peninsula and the city.
Crete is the largest Greek island, stretching 260 km from its western end to its eastern end. A mountain range crosses it, and the Samaria Gorge is a World Biosphere Reserve. The Minoan palace at Knossos stands near Heraklion. Day tours with a licensed tour guide are the alternative to driving, so see our tours and cruises.
Where do you stay on a self-drive trip?
Base a self-drive trip in a town beside your sights, or in an island port town. Car rental Greece trips follow the route you choose, so pick the base first and the hotel second.
Chalkidiki has summer resorts on all three arms. Nikiti and Neos Marmaras lie on Sithonia, Kallithea and Pefkochori lie on Kassandra, and Ouranoupolis sits at Mount Athos. In winter, the village of Arnaia draws visitors with its architecture and mountain scenery.
At Delphi, a small modern town bearing the same name sits beside the ancient precinct. In the Peloponnese, Patras is the largest city, and Kalamata in Messenia ranks next. A car rental Greece plan can use these towns as bases.
Crete has six main ports along its coast. Reading from the west, they are Kissamos, Souda (for Chania), Rethymno, Heraklion, Agios Nikolaos, then Sitia. Heraklion is the capital, home to more than a fourth of Crete’s people. A car rental Greece plan for Crete can start from the port nearest your first stop.
With the base chosen, open the site’s list of hotels in Greece. It sorts hotels by class, from luxury down to two-star. Match the stay to your car rental Greece trip.
What else do travellers ask about car rental Greece?
What is car rental Greece called in Greek?
The Greek words are ενοικιάσεις αυτοκινήτων, which mean car rentals. Greek Wikipedia uses these same words in the name of an international rental company, written as Μπάτζετ Ενοικιάσεις Αυτοκινήτων.
Type the Greek words into a search box or a map app to look for a local office. A second word helps on the road: οδός means road, so Attiki Odos means Attica Road.
Are road signs in Greece in English too?
Yes. Road signs use two languages: Greek written in the Greek alphabet and English written in the Latin alphabet. A driver on a car rental Greece trip can read the English line when the Greek letters look unfamiliar.
Colours help as well. Warning signs have a red border on a yellow background, and prohibitory signs have a red border on white. Mandatory signs are white on blue. Signs for temporary rules can have a bright orange background.
How do you pay the Attiki Odos toll on a car rental Greece trip?
Car rental Greece drivers meet the toll one time, at entry onto the A6, A62 or A621. The sum does not change with the distance. Two things set it: the category of the vehicle and how you pay.
You can pay by cash, by credit or debit card, or with an e-pass transponder. Transponders from other motorways work there under the Greek Interoperable Tolling System, called GRITS.
Are all motorways toll roads in Greece?
No. The A52 Amvrakia Odos is a branch of the A5, and it is fully toll-free. It is 48.6 kilometres long and joins the A5 to the Aktio Undersea Tunnel and to Lefkada, an island. The road serves the region around the Ambracian Gulf.
The A24 Chalkidiki Motorway runs from Thessaloniki to Nea Moudania and Kassandreia. Its builders used expressway standards, so car rental Greece drivers find it toll-free as well. A short spur, the A242, links the A24 with Thessaloniki Airport and is toll-free too. On the Athens system, the A64 and A65 are toll-free.
What does a motorway look like on a car rental Greece trip?
A typical Greek motorway gives each direction two or three lanes and an emergency lane. That makes four to six lanes in all. A central reservation separates the two directions, and the curves and grades are gentle.
A motorway has no traffic lights. Entrances and exits sit at grade-separated junctions only, so car rental Greece drivers never stop at a signal there. The Attiki Odos adds hard shoulders in both directions, dense lighting and fencing. Hundreds of CCTV cameras there connect to a traffic management centre, which sends patrol units to any incident.