One way rentals in Greece

One way rentals are always expensive, not just in Greece either.

We're renting from Pop's Car rental agency next month, recommended in Rick Steves' guidebook, but starting at a different town. Their one-way fee was the lowest best we found, and it appears they may rent from Thessaloniki. Check out their Website and see if they will meet your needs.

Thanks for the info! Exactly what I was looking for. I will look into it.

One way rentals are always expensive, not just in Greece either.

I have rented from Europcar in Spain, France, Switzerland and Germany and never been charged a one-way fee for single-country rentals. Cross-border one-way rentals, on the other hand, and crazy expensive.

Last I heard, the Pop's Car Rentals only offered 1-way with low pick-up fee to/from locations in the Argolid section of the Peloponnese, plus its nearby islands like Spetses & Hydra. Recent posts on this topic have said that some of the bigger international car-hire companies are doing better on this score, such as Avis, Hertz etc. Dupree, the reason local company have to be quite pricey for this service is simple if you just think about it ... Greece is not like USA. They do not have huge fleets of cars based all over, constantly moving from state to state or even across the country. Therefore, if you take a car from a small Thessaloniki company and drop it in Athens, the company has to send a SECOND car, with TWO drivers in it, to fetch your vehicle... at the very least, an all-day task, not to mention the road miles, petrol, tolls, and salaries. So, no wonder!

We have always done one way rentals in Greece and yes, it is more expensive for the different drop off location, but well worth it for having the itinerary you want. Using an established international co. that has lots of locations and an online web reservation system makes it even easier. Alamo, Avis, and Hertz from SKG have all been just fine on our travels.

I totally understand that aspect janet. I guess I was asking if there were Greek car companies that were located in multiple areas in Greece, making one ways possible. Stephb I totally agree, much more than public transit, but on a trip you either have time or you have money. We are only there for 2 weeks and are spending one week on the islands, so we don't really want to mess around too much with public busses. I've looked into the bus routes from Thessaloniki to Meteora, which are simple and direct. However, the busses from Meteora to Delphi and onward to Pelopennese are long with lots of connections. We don't want to waste time on a bus :)

dupree,

You may already be aware of this, but be sure that each driver listed on the rental form has the compulsory International Driver's Permit, which is used in conjunction with your home D.L. The IDP's are available from any AAA / CAA office for a small fee, and are valid for one year. Especially if you're involved in any kind of "motor vehicle incident", failure to produce an IDP will have severe consequences, which won't be a happy holiday memory.

Thanks for the info Ken! I wasn't sure if it was needed, but good to know!