Looking to rent a car while in Greece this Fall. Flying into Athens, so I’m assuming it would be best to pick one up at the airport. Just wondering which rental car companies are recommended?
Posted by
Atlanta, GA area (USA)
196 posts
I think all the major international brands have locations at the airport. You can use a site like Kayak to check rates across multiple companies and then research the specific company that looks best. There may also be smaller Greek companies that don’t appear there but I’m not familiar with them. In the past we have rented from Avis and Hertz in Europe and had good experiences - no outright theft like some have reported with other companies - but it’s been about 10 years since we were in Greece. Good luck with the trip!
Posted by
France Southwest
2579 posts
All car rental companies in Athens have an office on Syggrou Avenue.
A few of them also have an office at the airport. However, most of them that do not have an office at the airport can still arrange a pick-up and drop-off at the airport or at your hotel.
See this map centered on Syggrou Avenue with car rental search results:
Posted by
OP
14 posts
JoLui,
We are getting into the airport in Athens around 5am, and then headed straight for Napflio. 7 days later we’ll return to Athens, drop off the rental car, and stay 3 nights in Athens before returning to the airport for our flight home. Is it possible to pick up the rental car at the airport and then drop it off at Syggrou Avenue, just so we can avoid driving back to the airport to drop off the car and paying for a service to bring us to our downtown Athens accommodations? What would you suggest?
Posted by
OP
14 posts
Have you ever heard of this company? It looks like they have locations at the airport and downtown Athens.
Posted by
France Southwest
2579 posts
lajoiedp62
Whether you return the car at the airport or downtown is up to you. Just look on their websites to see what options the rental companies offer.
If you stay in a hotel near the Acropolis Museum, you will be right next to Syggrou Avenue where the car rental companies are located.
It is very easy to get from the airport to the city center by public transport, bus or metro, but it may depend on the exact location where you will stay which may require more or less walking from the metro or bus station.
Metro: 9€, express bus to Syntagma Square: 5.50€
The taxi ride Airport↔Athens is a flat rate of 40€ from 5 am to midnight. You can use Uber but you will have a traditional taxi driver anyway since private drivers without a taxi license are not allowed to operate as a taxi in Greece.
About ACR, I think I read that many people on this forum suggest ACR, they should be able to confirm that's a good choice (or not) if they read this thread.
Personally I have never rented with them.
Posted by
OP
14 posts
One last question, how’s the WiFi in Greece? Wondering if I can just use Google Maps on my iPhone for navigation or if it’s wise to pay extra for the rental GPS?
Posted by
France Southwest
2579 posts
I assume you mean the 4G (or 5G) network and not Wifi.
Most of the time it works very well. In my opinion, it is useless to take an optional GPS.
To avoid consuming too much data when you are in the car and therefore not connected to Wifi, you can use Google Maps by pre-downloading the parts of maps that interest you.
The disadvantage with Google Maps is that you can only pre-download small areas of a map, so you have to know exactly where you are going to drive.
Personally, I have no data limit or roaming charges in Europe with my French plan but I use other applications which allow me to go anywhere even if the 4G/5G reception is weak or non-existent.
The apps are free
HERE WeGo which can work completely "offline" because the entire maps of the countries are pre-downloaded.
OsmAnd which works the same way but has additional features for hiking