Ikaria Island

Regarding the IDP — better safe than sorry.

We brought an IDP with us on two trips to Greece & never needed it. So on the third trip we did not get one & yep, we needed it. We cobbled together taxis & buses & still had a great time. But a car would have given us more freedom.

Greece passed a law that allows only your local driver's license to rent a car.

The rental company would know more and if they say you don't need one you are all set.

I get a Greek SIM card when I arrive and use that for talk, text and data and Google Maps works fine.

I'm not sure if it works off-line.

I recommend using some type of navigation system and Google Maps works great and comes in very handy finding the right roads to get to where you are going.

You'll get a map from the rental agency which helps but I feel more comfortable using Google Maps.

I used Lemay Car Rental and they were wonderful. Great service and they are located at the Ikaria Airport.

We visited Greece in 2023 and 2024 both times Athens and islands. We rented cars on all the islands we visited and, knowing the law, I didn’t have or need an IDP. One time an agent asked if I had it and I showed him a printout of the law in English and Greek. Once he saw that I knew the law his tune changed. I get an IDP anyway while on vacation in the EU because we always go to Italy as well to visit family and friends and there’s always a car for me to use as my father-in-law has kept his 13 old year old Fiat Seidici for us to use so I need to be prepared, just in case I’m pulled over, but, in 25 years of driving in Italy I’ve never been pulled over.

Thank you all for your responses. The car rental company informed me that my US driver's license was good enough, so I will not get an international license. Could someone advise me on which eSim to get? I need it for a week. Many thanks

I use Cosmote SIM card and it worked great even in the mountains and in rural areas.