There are 4 of us that will be travelling from Nafplio to Athens in late May in a car we plan to get from Pops car rental in Ermioni. Their website says they have two return sites: one in central Athens and one at the airport. They do not show the location of the return site in central Athens. I have requested this information from them but have had no response yet. Does anyone know where this is? We will be staying in the area near the Hotel Hera and the airport is a long way in the opposite direction from which we are travelling. Is there an alternative other than Pops that I should consider? Many thanks!!
Posted by
Edmonds, WA 🌨 ☂
11187 posts
The only location I see on their website is in Koropi, which is near the airport.
There appears to be a Europcar and an Avis location a few blocks from Hotel Hera.
You may wish to explore those agencies for you car needs
Posted by
OP
Edmonds
85 posts
I checked and you are right there is a return near the hotel. Unfortunately they have no rental site in Ermioni.
Posted by
OP
Edmonds
85 posts
I also did some reading on Trip Advisor from someone who was trying to do the same things. Evidently Pops car rental is the only agency that will do this one way rental for a reasonable price and they went with them but the car was questionably safe and went flat on the freeway. We may have to rethink our itinerary unless someone out there has a magical solution. Thanks!
Posted by
Philadelphia, PA, USA
3320 posts
I do not think there is an alternative to Pops. If you want advice on a somewhat alternative scenario .. please be specific about what happens before and after this proposed Ermioni stop. What is the purpose? Are you proposing to dock at Ermioni because you will be in Spetses or Hydra and don't want to return to Athens?? (BTW, if you have been to several cyclades islands, my personal opinion is, don't expend time on Saronic Bay islands, use the time otherwise).
If Athens or Piraeus or Airport is start-point & Hotel Hera is end-point for Argolid trip, 2 other options:
• Rent at Airport, seaport or central Ath, drive to argolid & bck; several choices of where to drop car
• Take KTEL Bus from Athen to Nafplio, rent car THERE for exploring the area, then return to ATH by bus.
HOwever, unless we know your itinerary, we cannot know why Ermioni. Please share more.
Posted by
Colorado Mountains, USA
7377 posts
My 2 cents worth: this past weekend we booked with Pops and will be doing the same one-way return as you this Spring, and we just figured on turning it in near the airport (avoiding in-city traffic and navigation hassles), then using public transport to get to our hotel. As noted earlier, other rental companies (Europcar, Sixt, Hertz) either didn't have an Ermioni pick-up location, or charged a fortune as a one-way return fee. Any car we wind up getting from Pops can't be as bad as the old VW station wagon we rented in Bulgaria for two weeks back in 2004, so I won't be dissuaded by a Trip Advisor review or two. Have a great time in Greece!
Posted by
Seattle, WA, US
1005 posts
Driving in Athens is a nightmare. Drop your car off at the airport and take the clean, efficient subway to your hotel.