Renting a car in Santorini

Was interested in finding out how easy it would be to rent a car for the day in Santorini. I am interested in visiting Oia and the Santo Winery as well as wandering Fira. If anyone has any suggestions that would be great:) We figured renting a car would be the easiest way to see everything we want but if public transportation is easy enough we wouldn't mind that either. We will be there late august so we figured it would probably be very busy.

Thanks for any advice :D

Renting a car is a great way to explore the entire island. Public transit, in the form of island buses, is not always such a great option since the frequency of buses is not so great. With a car can easily go to places like Oia, Akritori, Red Beach, perhaps a winery, etc. all in a port day. There are numerous small rental car agencies located in Fira (Thira) and many of them are small companies. It pays to shop around online and reserve in advance. Most of these agencies are within walking distance from the upper cable car station....but you should ascertain the location and whether its convenient.

Hank

Not sure the size of the ship you are on but there are two important things to take into consideration in Santorini.

1 it's a tender port so unless you have priority disembarking or get up very early it could take quite a while to get off the ship.

2 the queues for the cable car can be terrible or at least they were for us in September.

We took an option that was advised on CC and booked a boat ride directly at the harbour where the tenders dock which took us to Oia and back including a bus up to the town and gave us about 2 hours to look around.You can also choose to take a bus back to Fira instead of the boat and then the cable car back down to the port. This means you get to see both but don't forget all who go up also have to come down so there could be queues there as well. You could also do what we did the first time we went there and that was to walk down, this is not for the faint hearted though it's a lot of steps and you also have to avoid the donkeys and their ¥¥¥¥!

Good luck with your choice it is a beautiful island.

Rosalyn

There's car rental places along the main road, which runs parallel to the cliff road. If you're not used to a gear lever, then order an automatic- there might not be so many around, as they're not often used in Europe, so you'll most likely need to book one. Check the Search button on this page, as people have written about their experiences with booking on here before.

The island is quite small, so you should see much of it in a day.;)

Thank you so much for all of your help. We will be on the celebrity reflection and I'm hoping we can get off the ship early. I would prefer to rent a car and see things at our own pace I am glad to here that there are many car rental places. I will definitely look into booking one online before we leave. If you have any suggestions that would be great. Thanks again :)

DH and I rented a car in Santorini this past fall. Very easy. We visited Oia (before the crowds arrived), three wineries, wine museum and the ruins on the south end of the island and Fira. (The ruins were wonderful.) I studied and printed a map of our route prior to leaving home. We still took wrong turns, but that was half the fun!

I arranged for the car rental company to meet us at the top of the cable car. We were met there, filled out the papers and then walked to the car.

Have a great time!

We rented a car on Santorini and it was a great way to explore the island. We rented with Hertz, a short walk from the cable car. There was also an Avis near by. Thge roads are very good.

We will be in Santorini in mid October and are interested in renting a car, too. Is parking a problem? Any speed traps/targeting of tourist drivers that we need to be aware of? We really appreciate any help you can give us.

We will be in Santorini in mid October and are interested in renting a car, too. Is parking a problem? Any speed traps/targeting of tourist drivers that we need to be aware of? We really appreciate any help you can give us.

Police appear to be quite lax about traffic laws. For instance helmets are compulsory for riders of motorbikes & ATVs, but many don't wear them.

With Santorini's roads & traffic, if you're able to exceed the speed limit you deserve a medal rather than a ticket. :D

BTW, as you've probably gleaned from other posts, renting a vehicle doesn't by-pass lines for the cablecar or donkeys - they're in Fira, at the top of the cliff.

JB :)

We will be there in August and hertz is telling us that they will be closed from the hours of 1:30 to 5:30. Did anyone else have this issue. And did you make it to the ship in time? Thx

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Was interested in finding out how easy it would be to rent a car for the day in Santorini. I am interested in visiting Oia and the Santo Winery as well as wandering Fira. If anyone has any suggestions that would be great:) We figured renting a car would be the easiest way to see everything we want but if public transportation is easy enough we wouldn't mind that either. We will be there late august so we figured it would probably be very busy.

 

Thanks for any advice :D

this post s an interesting read on Santorini..

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1728335

we have reserved an ATV.

We will be there in August and hertz is telling us that they will be closed from the hours of 1:30 to 5:30. Did anyone else have this issue. And did you make it to the ship in time? Thx

 

 

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These are 2 issues. Regarding the closing time....this is not unusual on the island (and elsewhere in Europe) and creates an interesting issue. Most rental car dealers will tell customers to simply drop their car, after hours, and put the keys in a certain place (there is often a keyslot in the office door). What we do not like about this arrangement is that there is nobody to sign-off that your car is returned with no damage and a full tank of gas (if required). When we have returned cars after hours we will sometimes take a group of pictures that would show no damage....but this is not a guarantee of no problems.

Hank

We will be there in August and hertz is telling us that they will be closed from the hours of 1:30 to 5:30. Did anyone else have this issue. And did you make it to the ship in time? Thx

 

 

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We've rented twice from Tony's in Fira, and once again on last month. It's a five minute walk from the cable car, easy to find, very nice family operation and late model car. Do a search for Tony's on this thread and you'll find many recommendations.

Oh....and the day we were in port there were FIVE other ships. We visited Oia, Akrotiri and Santo winery, returned the car and were in the line for the cable car at 3pm for a 6pm departure. It was a mess. We were told later it was a a 1.5 hour wait in line to board the cable car. We were not willing to wait in the heat, so did the donkey path which between even more poop than usual (7000+ visitors on a little island that day) and the slippery surface it was a challenge. Check to see how many ships in port that day and plan ahead.

:D

We've rented twice from Tony's in Fira, and once again on last month. It's a five minute walk from the cable car, easy to find, very nice family operation and late model car. Do a search for Tony's on this thread and you'll find many recommendations.

 

Oh....and the day we were in port there were FIVE other ships. We visited Oia, Akrotiri and Santo winery, returned the car and were in the line for the cable car at 3pm for a 6pm departure. It was a mess. We were told later it was a a 1.5 hour wait in line to board the cable car. We were not willing to wait in the heat, so did the donkey path which between even more poop than usual (7000+ visitors on a little island that day) and the slippery surface it was a challenge. Check to see how many ships in port that day and plan ahead.

We were on the Serenade last Sep and were able to get to Tony's by 8:30. Had an absolutely wonderful day visited Oia, Lighthouse, beach, Santos Winery and Pyrgos (highest village on island). I would recommend getting an International Drivers Permit from AAA (about $15). The rental company said that having it was a good idea. I'm heading back to Santorini this summer for a few days with my daughter and am planning to rent from Tony's again! :p

Renting a car sounds like a good idea... hadn't thought of it before but it seems more of the island can be seen that way and all in our time rather than being on a tour. :)

We were there 10 days ago on the Ruby. We used the local Hertz office, also about a 5 minute walk from the cable car. They were good, nice new car, no issues. Way better than the bus.

Was interested in finding out how easy it would be to rent a car for the day in Santorini. I am interested in visiting Oia and the Santo Winery as well as wandering Fira. If anyone has any suggestions that would be great:) We figured renting a car would be the easiest way to see everything we want but if public transportation is easy enough we wouldn't mind that either. We will be there late august so we figured it would probably be very busy.

 

Thanks for any advice :D

We have just reserved a car from santoriniholidaycars.com They have very reasonable internet booking rates and will meet you at the port and you can deliver the car back to the port.

Hope this helps you.

I'm renting cars in Santorini, Corfu, and Katakolon. My main concern is the insurance. My US auto ins. doesn't cover out of country rentals. Do they generally include the ins. with the car quote. I know that this is probably a very general question but any insight and one on one correspondence would be most helpful.

Thanks,

r.r.eidson@comcast.net

Please double check what port the rental company is going to meet you at. Some times they do not mean at the top of the chair lift. They are talking about the port area the ships tours are tendered to so they can get on the coaches every on else is tendered to the chair lift /stairs area.So please make sure you are very clear where you are meeting the car rental people. If you go up on the chair lift there are many car rental companies on the main road.

The local bus is very cheap and will get you around if you are not wanting to go to the other end of the island.

Please double check what port the rental company is going to meet you at. Some times they do not mean at the top of the chair lift. They are talking about the port area the ships tours are tendered to so they can get on the coaches every on else is tendered to the chair lift /stairs area.So please make sure you are very clear where you are meeting the car rental people. If you go up on the chair lift there are many car rental companies on the main road.

The local bus is very cheap and will get you around if you are not wanting to go to the other end of the island.

Thanks! We are wanting to do more on the island so car rental will work in that regard. I've gone over some of the rental terms and I'm feeling more comfortable with the insurance issue. I've also read some on Rick Steves' and Matt Barrett's websites. I'll do a little more reading and make sure that I communicate to the company the pickup details. Thanks for the "heads up"!

Becky

Not sure the size of the ship you are on but there are two important things to take into consideration in Santorini.

1 it's a tender port so unless you have priority disembarking or get up very early it could take quite a while to get off the ship.

2 the queues for the cable car can be terrible or at least they were for us in September.

We took an option that was advised on CC and booked a boat ride directly at the harbour where the tenders dock which took us to Oia and back including a bus up to the town and gave us about 2 hours to look around.You can also choose to take a bus back to Fira instead of the boat and then the cable car back down to the port. This means you get to see both but don't forget all who go up also have to come down so there could be queues there as well. You could also do what we did the first time we went there and that was to walk down, this is not for the faint hearted though it's a lot of steps and you also have to avoid the donkeys and their ¥¥¥¥!

Good luck with your choice it is a beautiful island.

Rosalyn

We are stopping in Santorini in September 2013 and reading your post, I like the sound of what you arranged - could you please give more information on how you organised this?

Hello,

I'd like to rent a car in Santorini, will you tell which company you choose?

Thank you, Tracie

DH and I rented a car in Santorini this past fall. Very easy. We visited Oia (before the crowds arrived), three wineries, wine museum and the ruins on the south end of the island and Fira. (The ruins were wonderful.) I studied and printed a map of our route prior to leaving home. We still took wrong turns, but that was half the fun!

 

I arranged for the car rental company to meet us at the top of the cable car. We were met there, filled out the papers and then walked to the car.

 

Have a great time!