Any recommendations on best way to assure have car rental? We will be in Greece July 11-20 and would like to rent a car in the Athens area (?airport vs downtown) for July 14th return the 19th to drive to Lake Plastiria for a baptism, then Meteora, Ioannina, then back to Athens. We are staying in Athens July 11-14 but have a reservation with Avra Hotel outside of Athens on July 19th with a shuttle to the airport on July 20th late morning for our flight. Any suggestions on best place to rent a car for such? Know it is a bit late....do have a reservation thru SIXT (not yet paid) and have had some correspondence with Eli from Swift car rental but not sure have a reservation with him as he never charged my credit card nor gave me a reservation number....
thanks! brenda
Posted by
France Southwest
1818 posts
If you already have a reservation with Sixt, why are you looking for another car rental company?
Posted by
2 posts
Avoid swift at all costs. Just returned from Athens and I wish I would have stayed with budget/Alamo.
Posted by
OP
NH
6 posts
Was just checking with this forum to see if any other suggestions....thanks about recommending avoiding SWIFT. That was the one mentioned in Rick Steves book on Greece .
Posted by
Nanaimo, BC, Canada
1375 posts
If you want to rent from the airport check out ACR Athens Car Rental. We have used them several times.
Posted by
379 posts
I've had good experiences with Sixt. The 0 excess insurance is worth it
Posted by
Bend, Oregon
259 posts
Rented from SixT this last May at ATH for use in the Peloponnese. Good cost. Efficient operation. Late model Hyundai. Easy airport location. Very good experience. Paid for extra 0 liability insurance.
Posted by
OP
NH
6 posts
thank you all!
Posted by
WA, USA
17 posts
Highly recommend ACR Athens Car Rental. Mother/daughter duo (I add this bc as the sole adult I wasn't sure how logistical details would pan out) - it was super easy, professional, clean, great car, drop off at the airport was a breeze.
Posted by
TX, USA
4080 posts
Another for Athens Car Rental.
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area
79 posts
Hi Brenda,
I just returned from a 3 week trip to Greece. I rented a car a week before my trip with Athens Car Rental and would give them a 5 star rating. Reservations can be made online at their website. I stayed in the Plaka area of Athens and they brought the car to my hotel and upon return met me at the Piraeus port. Very easy and accommodating for my schedule and well worth the extra $70 euro charge for the different pick up and drop off locations. This saved me from having to go back to the airport for the car.
Happy Travels!
Posted by
61 posts
We just reserved a car with ACR, only a week and a half before we need it. This company was recommended to us by my husband's cousin who vacations in Greece every year. We do have to go to the city center office in Athens to pick up the car, we are staying in an Airbnb south/west of the Acropolis. They were willing to pick up our car from the Avra Hotel in Rafina the day before we fly out, so we will take the hotel's free shuttle to the airport. They keep a 5 year or newer fleet of vehicles and the prices are pretty good.
Posted by
Seattle
31 posts
We just returned from an overnight trip to Delphi and rented our car through Swift because we didn’t want to drive in the city. Their office is only a five minute walk from our apartment but 20 minutes of sheer driving terror. Great communication with Elias in setting up the rental via email. Eleftheria communicated with us via WhatsApp to arrange the pick up. She picked us up at our front door, drove to the main avenue, gave incredibly clear directions and sent us on our way. (“Don’t follow Google maps. Their route is shorter but not easier”). Her route was a straight shot to the main highway. Easy peasy. She also gave us clear directions for returning the car to their office on the main avenue. We pulled up, Elias hopped in, drove us back to our apartment and said good bye. Couldn’t have been easier and was very well priced. Super nice people. We will definitely use them again. Our other option to avoid driving in the city? Take the metro out to the airport with our luggage and rent a car there. I don’t have time for that when I am on vacation.
Posted by
Seattle
117 posts
I've also use Swift. Athens traffic is a nightmare. They will drive you to the outskirts of Athens and give you great directions from the drop off point. No other car rental agency does this.