Is a car necessary for Nafplio area

We had our own rental car. We were very glad we had our own transportation. Parking in town was easy and also easy to drive out of town.

It depends on how long you have and what you want to see--it is certainly possible, but I was very glad to have a car. We drove straight from ATH (this very much depends on your flight schedule/ what condition you will arrive in re sleep deprivation), but we found the two-hour drive easy. We rented an apartment just outside the old town, so parking was not a problem. The car stayed parked at night when we walked to town for dinner. We had two full days: one day we went to Epidaurus, the other we went to Mycenae. There was plenty to entertain us in town otherwise, and we could have filled more days in the area with day trips if we had time. The day we left for Kardamyli, we stopped at Tyrins. When we returned to ATH, we stopped at Nemea. ArcoCorinth is one I would have liked to include but ran out of time.
If you are returning to Athens and not continuing to explore the Peloponnese, a car may be less vital, but you'll have to scope out the public transport plus options for getting to any day trips via taxi or small tours or public transport.
if you are going to have time to get to beaches (something I'd prefer in September over May when we were there), I would go with the car for sure!

There is so much to see in the areas around Napflio. We were very glad we had a rental car to explore this part of Greece and think you would miss a lot without having a car there.

There's also a "hybrid option"... depending again on length of stay, and sightseeing ambitions. The Town itself (plus Palamidi) is worth at least a day and a half, NOT using car. If u want to Get to Mycenae, Epidaurus, Tiryns, Nemea -- some of best known ancient sites -- a car would be handy. There IS bus service to these sites, but not scheduled to enable you to do 2 (or more) in one day. This can be especially important if some sites close early (3 pm) -- not supposed to happen til Nov, but does happen earlier on minor sites.

Its easy & scenic and stress-free to reach Nafplio via modern Intercity KTEL Bus (€14?fare), takes 2.5 hrs, express, goes about every other hour these days. Have Athens hotel telephone KTEL #for departure times. U take taxi (€12-14)from Central Athens to Kifissou Terminal, get there about 30 mins before departure & buy tickets. Ask for seats on LH side of bus for most scenic view outbound (by the sea much of the way). On arrival, check timetable for return options, u must buy ticket for specific bus. I have done this a number of times when traveling solo to Nafplio.

Once in Nafplio, plan your stay -- when explore town & surrounds, when to do ancient sites, and rent a car for a day (or more?) to do the latter. To assure availability of a rental (VERY important if you need an automatic), you might contact your hotel & ask them to arrange a rental or recommend an agency to call. I have done this several times & it worked out well.

I strongly recommend renting a car for the Nafplio portion of your trip. I would not want to rely on public transportation. That really slows you down and limits you. We drove everywhere, to Mistras, to Epidaurus, to Mycenae, down the Argolid Peninsula. We were very happy to have the car, and it is very easy driving. And we always found a parking space in the municipal parking lot in Nafplio.

I agree. Rent the car in Nafplio when you start to visit the nearby sites. That is a less expensive option and more practical.

Just returned. We were very happy that we rented a car.

Thank you for all the very helpful insights! We ended up deciding to rent a car based on everything we read here. Thanks, again!

Glad to hear it, but DO rent from the Airport... driving within central Athens itself is a nightmare ... a car service like Welcome Pickups charges same as taxi, gets u quickly to airport, and -- as this map shows -- https://tinyurl.com/zekuft9 -- you immediately go onto modern multilane intercity divided highway, & don't make a turn & barely tap your brake until C0rinth Canal area...

Thank you for that tip, Janet. Excellent advice. We have read about the crazy Athens traffic and want to avoid that. I used the recommendation in Rick Steves' Greece guidebook and made a reservation with Elias at Swift Car Rentals. For an additional 15 euros fee, his staff is going to meet us at the Athens airport with our car since we will be flying in from Rhodes that day. Then, when we drive back from Nafplio, we are going to meet Elias' staff at Piraeus port, dock #8, so we can hand over the keys to the car and walk on to the ferry headed to Hydra. That's another additional 15 euros fee that is well worth it, considering the convenience. Elias at Swift Car Rentals was very responsive and friendly over email. Once we committed to renting a car, he helped us figure out that it made more sense to drive RT to Nafplio from Athens and then walk on to a ferry to Hydra from Piraeus port, rather than paying a larger fee to drop off the rental car at one of the Peloponnese ferry ports. Thanks again for the advice - we really appreciate it!

It is good to avoid driving within the city limits ... but Swift is taking a bit of advantage of you.. there are several agencies where u can pick up a car at Airport or seaport without extra charge. I"m guessing that Swift doesn't have a facility at either place.

Yes, it is handy to drop car & step right onto a ferry ... but I must warn you, that the drive in to Piraeus, after you take the RIght-hand (seafront) fork on the biggie highway is NO picnic. (see map link on my previous post). It's the Main Drag for tractor-trailers into the port -- miles and miles wedged between 16-wheelers! I can speak from experience.... one time, when 4 of us were in a rental, aiming for the airport, our driver kept RIGHT instead of going Left (N), and we were stuck for ages, trying to find a LH exit! So, just be aware that u'll be with trucks awhile.

Thanks to a RS recommendation, we used Swift Car Rentals in Athens to rent a car in Greece for a week. We worked with Elias Manoua who was very responsive in securing the booking, answering our questions and confirming the pick up.

That’s where the positives of booking a car with Swift Car Rental ended.

On the agreed-upon date, a car was delivered to our hotel. Instead of the compact car we had requested and been confirmed, we were given a sedan. Naturally, we were then asked to pay the higher rate for the sedan.

Thankfully, we had emails to show our requests, confirmations and all agreed-upon rates, including for drop-off at the airport, which they wanted a higher rate.

What wasn’t clear in any of the pre-booking info or Rick Steves’ info was that Swift contracts with another rental company, CaRent.D. So, you think you’re renting from a small operation, but essentially it’s a large-scale rental company with very little regard for customer service and poor communication between their employees.

After sorting out the billing, and resigning ourselves to the fact that we wouldn’t be getting a compact car, the car wouldn’t start. Dead battery.

We waited another 30 minutes for another car to arrive. Meanwhile, I spoke with the manager via phone to confirm that the second car they were sending would be a compact. I was assured we were getting “a great car, no problem,” etc.

Thirty minutes later, a Peugot 508 arrives. It was roughly the size of a Chrysler 300 (longer than a Jeep Grand Cherokee) with comparable fuel efficiency. Not exactly a compact that will help lessen the sting of $8.50/gallon gas in Europe.

Telling the manager – again – that we had requested a compact car only to be sent two sedans, we were told not to worry, that we wouldn’t be charged the sedan price…that it was essentially a free upgrade. What wasn’t being heard – or was being ignored – was that we didn’t want large luxury…we wanted small and nimble, something essential for driving through small towns throughout the Peloponese.

Ninety minutes after we were supposed to be on the road, we settled for the Peugot in order to meet reservations in neighboring Nafplio.

A big reason we chose to take Rick Steves’ advice and book with Swift/CaRent.D. was the promise that they would drive you from your hotel out of busy Athens and close to a main road taking you to the national highway.

That didn’t happen.

No one we spoke with (delivery driver, repair guy, manager on the phone) was willing to drive us out of downtown Athens. In fact, no one seemed to know that was part of the deal and a major selling point for booking with Swift. In the end, the repair guy that delivered a new battery for car #1 gave us rough directions to the national road, and then we were on our own.

The real kicker came days later, though, when we parked the car in a lot in the mountain town of Arachova. While were at dinner, someone grazed the front end of the Peugot. Despite being perfectly parked in the spot (2 inches of clearance between the rear bumper and a wall), a part of the grill was chipped off and the license plate was clipped. Needless to say, had we been given the compact that we were promised, the car would have never been in a position to get hit.

Naturally, we were charged the 180 euro for the damage. Efforts to explain the fact that, had we been given the car we had agreed upon, we wouldn’t be in this position only fell on deaf ears.

After renting cars in the UK, Ireland, France, Australia and New Zealand, I can say that this was the worst customer service and experience we’ve ever had, despite doing all that we could to document, confirm and reconfirm every aspect of the booking.

I won’t recommend Swift Car Rental or CaRent.D. to anyone. In fact, I caution anyone else from considering using them.

Regarding Swift... all too often, "GUide Websites" like this have recommendations that are out of date. Rick is not the only one ... there's a website by Matt Barrett that for a long time touted the "Swift Advantage" of delivering you thru chaotic Athens traffic right to the on-ramp of the intercity highway... its main selling point vs. other agencies. The only way to be sure is to google some reviews. At least 10yrs ago I saw reviews complaining about old & defective cars from Swift & began warning against using them. I hate to say, always be skeptical, but in this case, Google is your friend. SO sorry for your troublesome (and costly) experience, Jya.

I was in Greece in June.

I went to Naplio and found a car very helpful.

Driving from Athens AIRPORT was very easy and not complicated at all. (I would not have driven in town after reading these boards. And I wouldn't want to drive to the port at Piraeus after seeing the traffic while RIDING there)

I rented my car through an American outfit called Gemut, which works with Auto Europe. This is who I book through any time I need a vehicle in Europe. It gives you an American contact to work with if there are any deviations from the rental contract or other issues you need dealt with.
I've never needed that assistance, but it's nice to have that backing you up..
The rental cost is pay at time of booking, BUT they have free cancellation within a few days of picking up the vehicle.

The rental car company that provided the vehicle - auto Union, in this case - is near the Athens airport and has a shuttle to take you there.
I just took hotel shuttle to get to the airport and auto Union shuttle took me the the rental office, about 5 minute's drive from ATH arrivals area.

The prices have always been competitive, if not lower than others, making me wonder the first few times if I was setting myself up for subpar service. I've never had a difficulty.

In fact, I left my (prescription) sunglasses in the rental when I returned it and realized it on the way back to the airport. I called them about it and expected maybe they'd put them on their next scheduled shuttle. They sent a driver in an otherwise empty shuttle so I would not miss my next travel connection.

I have NO hesitation using or recommending Getmut to get your rental in Europe

Thank you very much for the warnings about Swift. I just requested a quote from Gemut. I will also look at other options. Thanks, again!