Car Rental recommendations in Athens

Since you plan to return it to the airport you'll have a much easier time of it if you take the Metro out to the airport and pick up your car there. If you live outside the EU or UK be sure to bring an International Driving Permit. Greek law requires it even if a rental company doesn't ask you for it.

I won't be much help but we are using Athens Car Rental for our trip this summer and have liked the service so far (prompt and helpful emails, flexible planning, etc). They bring the car to you, so its possible you could have them bring it to you downtown, and then return it to them at the airport....

I have also heard good things about Swift Rent a Car, but have not used them personally yet. They will also bring the car to you and escort you out of town to help negotiate the Athens traffic. Hope that helps!

Hi, I've also used Kosmos Rent a Car plenty of times. It is based in Athens.

We have used ACR Athens car rental in the past. They offered full insurance with no deductible in their rates. They are a local company and do not have an airport location. Instead they bring the car and meet you at the arrivals gate. They take you to the car do the paperwork on the hood of the car give you a tour of the vehicle and away you go. On return they meet you at departures finish the paperwork. Both procedures are done in less than 10 minutes.

Local companies work hard for your business and whenever possible we rent locally. On our trip we got a flight change and we sent ACR an e mail requesting the car for an additional 4 hours. They said yes and didn't even charge us for the extra time.

One other tidbit we learned last year even with the full insurance coverage that covers you for damage to the vehicle and damage to the other vehicle in the event you are at fault. If the other guy is at fault his insurance covers him and damage to your car. You need to take pictures of the scene the other car and your car plus get insurance info if possible from the other guy. I always thought we were covered fully in any circumstance, not so.

Also the rental insurance does not cover you for liability unless you buy that separately. We have a rider to our homeowners policy to cover liability in a rental car. Much less expensive than buying from the rental agency.

Oh I forgot. Note the comment from Lee about getting to the airport and renting from there. He is very experienced ansd knows its best to drive from the airport than trying to drive in Athens traffic. From the airport you are immediately on the major highway and you by pass Athens.

Ditto what Lee said--best to rent from and return to the airport location. All major international car comapanies are there with extended hours and you can book online from home.

Also consider Pop's car rental, recommended in Rick Steves' guidebook. We're using them net month, but haven't used them before, so no direct experience yet Their rates, were, however, the best we found.

Thanks. I will look at these places. We are staying in the Plaka area for several days before we are getting a car. There are 4 of us, so do you think its best to go back to airport and leave from there instead of leaving from our hotel?

Anne--I would say that is a time/money issue: your hotel might have a nightly parking fee if you bring your car from the airport, but you would have it for any drives in the city (Athens can be hot for some people to walk around in June) and you would save the time of having to go to the rental agency in the city (cab fare to get there possibly) or back to the airport. When on vacation, I usually spend the money to save the time.