Which rental car company should I use in Oia /Santorini

My go-to method for finding a car rental company on a Greek island is to use Google Maps and center the map on the island—specifically the most built-up area, like the port or the capital.

Then, I search for "rent a car" (moving the map around and refreshing the search if needed to see more results ).

Next, I check out the websites of the listed companies and run some test bookings.

• I never book with major rental chains, only with local Greek companies.

• I avoid companies that require online prepayment or a credit card number.

• I only stick with companies where you can book through a website form or via email.

• I always read the Terms & Conditions.

In Santorini, I never looked up anything in advance. We just rented a car there twice for a single day. The first time, there was this tiny rental company near our accomodation that wasn't even listed on Google. We just walked in and said (in broken Greek), "Hello, we'd like to rent a car for the day." . That's where we rented, and we did the exact same thing the second time.

Why make it harder than it needs to be?

Now it’s your turn to give it a try, adding your specific criteria for automatic transmission and pickup/drop-off locations.

Best resource would be to ask your hotel who they usually deal with. They can even make the booking for you. We rented in Santorini, but from the airport, not town.

Jo Lui’s approach is hard for us Americans to comprehend but it works. I haven’t quite managed making myself leave things till I get there, but in many places and situations it totally works. Especially since you don’t want the car till after you arrive at your lodging. I have used the Google Maps method (in Greece) several times, the exception being when I rented from Athens Rental Cars from the airport based on forum recommendations. In 2021 I used Vazeos on Santorini and had no issues.

We were in Oia in May and rented a small manual transmission car with Filippas Car Rental. Everything worked out great. It is a family operation, we met the mother, son and his sister. We rented for 24 hours and it cost approx 35 euros. They dropped the car off at our hotel in the morning and picked it up at night. One day was enough to go to many of the attractions on the island. Parking can be tough so rent a small car. I would recommend Filippas

we did exactly what Darren suggested. We asked our hotel to book a rental car for us. The company delivered the car right to our hotel. The locals will not be recommending big name companies they will recommend local small rental agencies.