Car rental at ATH

Its not a surprise you are having a problem finding a car rental company that will let you drop the car off in a different location from the source of the rental. Chance are the rental company does not have a business arrangement with another company to return cars. You are essentially asking them to send two people to the Peloponeese to pick up the car. You are going to have to return the car back to the place where you rented it.

Have you tried the larger international rental companies? Perhaps one of them might have a satellite office near to your destination. There's Enterprise, Budget, Hertz, Avis, AutoUnion, Alamo, Europcar, Budget, Sixt and National. Probably others as well.

Vytina does resemble the 'middle of nowhere' designation. If you cannot find an agency that would let you drop the car at Nafplio. I suspect a one way rental may not be practical.

How do you plan to get back to Athens?

We are going on a bike ride on the peninsula, bike tour company will get us back to Athens for our flight home. Thank you all for your recommendations. I guess I'm a little spoiled from traveling throughout some other countries. I will try the International companies. A phone call is going to be required!!!

bike tour company will get us back to Athens for our flight home

Do they not have a suggestion/solution on how to get there from Athens? It seems unlikely you are their 1st customer to have the problem of getting there

Joe you certainly are expecting a rental option that is not widely available in many modern European countries, not just Greece. And it will not be available through International companies like Budget, Avis, etc. Please try to understand that not every country is lilke the US, with SO many millions dependent on car travel... thus vast networks, with large fleets of cars are constantly shuttling cars back & forth between their many offices. For example, even tho there may be an AVIS in Athens, Nafplio, and THessaloniki -- they may well be LOCALLY-owned franchises, with no agreements to trade cars back & forth with other Avis offices. Thus, to retrieve a car from a distance, it's necessary to send a SECOND car, with 2 drivers in it, to pick it up. As pointed out, this is time-consuming and costly, so the renter must pay a huge drop-off fee, just to break even.

Joe, some people seem to regard this as a "failing" of the Greek economy, which they look down on. Actually, it just reflects common-sense about how a country's transportation works. Nationally, Greece has a very large BUS network (look it up under "KTEL" network), using very modern busses, extending into some of the most distant and quite small towns with regular and dependable service. These airconditioned, comfortable vehicles, with upholstered reserved seats, are used by ALL levels of society in Greece -- unlike the US, where intercity bus (and train) travel has been cut back severely & underfunded, and scorned by many citizens as only fit for the lower class. It is not as convenient of course, to adjust to a timetable ... since the 1950s, Americans have been so accustomed to going wherever they want, whenever they want, that they feel it's a hardship to have to plan ahead. I'm sure that you are not among these people, and can find a way to realize your itinerary. I wish you good luck!

My apologies to Joe -- I meant to address my advice to the Original Poster... Joe shares my assessment that a one-way rental may not be feasible, and suggests a good approach for a solution. Good positive thinking, Joe!

Persistence and patience paid off, travel agent from Tripoli, was able to arrange for a rental car pick up at the port in Athens and Im dropping it off at my hotel in Vytina.

Glad it will work out.