You probably need santorini car hire for three days rather than seven. Buses reach Oia, the beaches and the airport; a car is for Ancient Thira, the wineries, the lighthouse and the inland villages. Check whether your licence needs an International Driving Permit before you fly.
Santorini car hire
Santorini Tours and Santorini transfers is the best way to travel around the famous volcano island of Cyclades. Take your family or your best friends with you, pick up some stuff and prepare to live the most romantic and adventurous experience you will ever have!
The wild beauty of Santorini
Santorini is a special island. You can feel it every time you step on its rocks and letting yourself feel the energy it breeds at the same time that your eye is trying to fit the landscape’s magnitude, the overwhelming blue on a white background. Santorini overflows with romance, wild beauty and mysterious magic.
The southest island of the Cyclades, with the uniqueness of the volcano that has established its fate, keeps the sights of the wild and together the tremendous interest of the travelers. You let yourself to the charm of the island.
Travel by car to all villages on Santorini
You can taste the last ice cream of the day or the first cocktail of the night at Fira, the capital of Santorini, built on the rock, 300 meters above sea level. Pebble alleys, white domed houses, blue domes and a magical view of the Caldera. Restaurants, bars, tourist shops form a web of tradition along with whitewashed stairs and picturesque churches.
Book now Private Transfers to All Villages on Santorini!
Follow the route from Firostefani, like an eyebrow on the cliff, to Imerovigli – locations ideal for enjoying the famous sunset. Numerous tourists waiting around to capture the magical moments given by the purple sun disk when diving and extinguishing at the waters of the Aegean Sea.
Many claim that from Oia, the traditional settlement that hangs on the north end of the island, with the cave dwellings in the volcanic rocks, the sunset is even more beautiful, more romantic.
Book now a Private Transfer to Oia!
Travel by car to the beaches of Santorini
The beach of Perissa with fine black sand is organized with umbrellas, water park and diving center and you can visit this beach by taking a tour of Santorini. It is followed by the cosmic beach of Perivolos with thick black sand. Kamari is a famous organized beach that surrounds Mesa Vouno, where the ancient Thira is built.
The charming Red Beach combines black pebbles and red sand and offers a unique experience. Being less crowded than other beaches, is the picturesque beach of Monolithos and Vlychada. Smaller beaches are Vourvoulos, Baxedes, Pori, Karterados. Great for swimming is the secluded beach of Ammoudi in Oia’s “feet”, descending the stairs.
See more about Santorini island:
- Red beach in the most most spectacular colorful beaches in the world
- Luxury vacations in Santorini
- Beach wedding in Santorini
- Spring destinations: Why Santorini is at the top of the list?
Santorini Car Hire: The Short Answer
You probably need santorini car hire for three days rather than seven. The island is eighteen kilometres long, the two villages you most want to see are the two hardest to park in, and the sightseeing that actually needs a vehicle – Ancient Thira, the wineries, the lighthouse, the inland villages – fits comfortably into two or three days.
Book ahead for July and August, because the island genuinely runs out. Check whether your licence needs an International Driving Permit before you fly, because many non-EU licences do and it is checked at the desk. Expect a credit card in the main driver’s name for the deposit, and read what the basic insurance actually covers.
Santorini car hire is cheap out of season and reasonable in it. What costs you is parking in Fira and Oia in high summer, and the fact that nobody can drink at a winery.
Below: what it costs, the licence rules, where to collect, what the roads are like, and when a driver is the better answer.
Do You Actually Need Santorini Car Hire?
You do if
You want Ancient Thira, the Akrotiri lighthouse, the wineries, the inland villages or the north coast. You are staying inland or on the south coast. You have children and luggage. You are here for a week or more.
You do not if
You are staying in Fira or Firostefani and here for three nights. You want the caldera villages, a beach and a sunset, all of which the buses reach. You are on a honeymoon and would rather neither of you drove.
The middle answer
Three days of santorini car hire rather than seven. Buses and walking for the caldera villages and the beaches, a car for the two or three days with real sightseeing in them, and a driver for the wine day. That combination costs less than a week of rental plus paid parking and it misses nothing. Santorini bus.
What a car does not solve
Parking in Oia at seven in the evening. Reaching the old port – there is no road. Drinking at a winery. The cable car queue.
What it does solve
Santorini car hire solves Ancient Thira before it closes, three wineries at your own pace, the lighthouse at sunset, an early start at Oia, and getting to a beach with a cool box and a pushchair.
What Does Santorini Car Hire Cost?
Bands rather than prices, because santorini car hire swings enormously with the season.
Low season, October to April. The cheapest car rental in Greece, and availability without booking.
Shoulder, May, June and September. Reasonable, and worth booking a week or two ahead.
High season, July and August. Santorini car hire at its most expensive and its scarcest. Two to three times the shoulder rate, and the island runs out. Book months ahead.
Small manual hatchback. The best santorini car hire choice on these roads. The cheapest and, on these roads, genuinely the most practical.
Automatic. A significant santorini car hire premium here and in short supply. Book early if you need one.
Compact SUV. More expensive and harder to park. The roads do not require it.
Convertible or jeep. A holiday choice rather than a practical one.
Fuel. Petrol on an island is more expensive than the mainland, and you will use very little – the whole island is eighteen kilometres long.
Parking. Mostly free outside Fira and Oia, mostly paid or impossible inside them in season.
Extras. Child seats, additional drivers and airport delivery all add. Ask what is included rather than assuming.
The deposit. Held on a credit card in the main driver’s name. Debit cards are frequently refused, and this catches people out more than anything else about santorini car hire.
What About Santorini Car Hire Insurance?
What is usually included
Basic third-party cover and a collision damage waiver with a substantial excess. That excess is the number that matters, not the daily rate.
Full cover
Sold at the santorini car hire desk as a daily add-on that reduces or removes the excess. Expensive, and it is what the low headline rates are designed to sell.
Third-party excess insurance
Bought separately before you travel, usually far cheaper. The rental company still blocks the excess on your card and you claim it back afterwards, so you need the credit limit either way.
What is almost never covered
Tyres, glass, the underside of the car, roof damage, and anything that happens on an unpaved road. On Santorini the underside and the tyres are the realistic risks, because of gravel and rough tracks to beaches and viewpoints.
Quads and scooters
Insurance is thinner than on santorini car hire and injuries are common. A great many travel policies exclude them entirely. Check before you rent one, not after.
What to do at pickup
Photograph every panel, the wheels, the windscreen and the interior before you drive away, with the date visible. Five minutes, and it settles every santorini car hire dispute there is.
Fuel policy
Full-to-full is the fair santorini car hire policy. Anything else is a way to charge you for fuel you did not use.
What Licence Do You Need?
EU and EEA licences
Valid for santorini car hire as they are. Nothing else required.
UK licences
Accepted for santorini car hire. Carry the photocard.
Non-EU licences
Many require an International Driving Permit alongside the national licence – US, Canadian, Australian and a number of others among them. Greek rental desks and police do check it, and it is the most common reason a santorini car hire booking falls apart at the counter.
Where to get an IDP
In your own country, before you travel. It cannot be issued in Greece and it usually takes days rather than minutes.
Minimum age
Typically twenty-one to twenty-five depending on the company and the category, with a young driver surcharge below twenty-five. Some companies set a minimum period since the licence was issued as well.
The credit card
In the main driver’s name, with enough available credit for the excess block. Debit cards and cards in another name are frequently refused.
Additional drivers
Usually chargeable on santorini car hire, and only insured if named on the contract. An unnamed driver at the wheel voids the cover entirely.
Where Do You Pick Up Santorini Car Hire?
The airport
The most common santorini car hire pickup. Desks in and beside the terminal, and most companies will bring the car to you. Convenient, and the terminal is small and chaotic when several flights land together.
Athinios port
Santorini car hire companies will meet ferry arrivals on the quay by arrangement. Useful, and the quay is crowded when a large ferry unloads – agree exactly where before you sail. Athinios port.
Fira and the villages
Local offices in Fira, Kamari, Perissa and Oia. Fine if you are staying nearby and want the car for part of the trip only, which is the sensible santorini car hire strategy anyway.
Hotel delivery
Most local companies will bring the car to your accommodation and collect it afterwards, often at no extra charge. This is the best option if your hotel is on the caldera rim, where the vehicle can only reach the nearest road.
The old port
No. There is no road to it at all. Cruise passengers come up by cable car and every vehicle waits at the top in Fira. Cruise guide.
International versus local
The international names have desks at the airport and standard terms. The local companies are usually cheaper, more flexible about delivery and collection, and easier to deal with when something goes wrong. Both are fine; read the excess either way.
What Is the Driving Like?
The roads
Narrow, well-surfaced on the main routes and rough on the tracks to some beaches and viewpoints. The road up to Ancient Thira is a series of tight hairpins and the road out of Athinios port climbs eight of them.
Traffic
Light except around Fira, where it congeals in the late afternoon and at the sunset hour.
Hazards
Gravel washed onto bends after rain, no hard shoulder, no lighting outside the villages, quad riders with no experience, and coaches taking the whole road on a hairpin. None of it is dangerous at a sensible speed and all of it catches out people driving as they would at home.
Signage
Adequate, in Greek and Latin script, and occasionally optimistic about distances. Navigation apps work well.
Fuel stations
Several around Fira, Karterados, Messaria and the main roads. Not open late, and not on the far south or north coasts.
Driving on the right
Greece drives on the right. Obvious, and worth stating for UK and Irish visitors picking up a manual car.
Speed
Limits are low and appropriate. Nothing on this island rewards hurrying.
Alcohol
Greek limits are strict and enforced. This is the practical argument against a santorini car hire day that includes a winery. This is the practical argument against a santorini car hire day that includes a winery.
Where Do You Park?
Fira
Difficult in season and mostly paid. The worst santorini car hire problem on the island. There are car parks on the edge of town and a good deal of walking from them. In August, at sunset, expect to circle.
Oia
Worse. A car park at the entrance to the village, full from mid-afternoon, and no vehicle access into the village at all. Parking at Oia for sunset is the single hardest thing about santorini car hire.
Imerovigli and Firostefani
Limited roadside space and stepped lanes down to most hotels.
Ammoudi
A small area at the bottom of the switchback road, full at dinner time.
Kamari, Perissa and Perivolos
Easy and mostly free santorini car hire parking, with space behind the beach fronts.
Vlychada, Monolithos and Akrotiri
Straightforward, with proper car parks.
The inland villages
Pyrgos, Megalochori and Emporio all have parking on the edge and stepped lanes inside. Park and walk in.
The rule
Everything except Fira and Oia is easy. Those two are exactly where you most want to be, which is the whole argument for using buses or a driver for the caldera villages.
Car, Quad, Scooter or Driver?
A small car
The sensible santorini car hire default. Air-conditioned, safe, holds luggage and children, and reaches everything except the old port. The only real drawbacks are parking and the drink-driving problem.
A quad or ATV
Cheap, fun and responsible for a great many holiday injuries every summer. Narrow unlit roads, gravel on the bends, no protection, and travel insurance that often excludes them. We would not.
A scooter
Same objections, with less stability on gravel. Helmets are compulsory and licences are checked.
Buses
Cheap and frequent to Oia, Kamari, Perissa, Akrotiri and the airport, and every route changes in Fira. They finish early and they do not reach the wineries, Ancient Thira or the lighthouse.
Taxis
Around thirty for the whole island. Not a plan, at any hour.
A private driver
Priced per vehicle rather than per person, with hotel pickup and none of the santorini car hire parking problem. The obvious answer for the wine day, for a sunset when Oia is full, and for any day where you would rather look out of the window than at the road. Personalised tour.
What most people end up doing
A transfer in from the airport or port, buses for the beaches, three days of santorini car hire for the sightseeing, and a driver for the wineries. That combination is cheaper than a week of rental and it solves every problem on this page.
When Should You Book Santorini Car Hire?
July and August. Months ahead. The island genuinely runs out of cars, and automatics go first.
June and September. A few weeks ahead is comfortable.
May and October. A week or two.
November to April. Walk-up is usually fine, and rates are the lowest of the year.
What to book early regardless. Automatics, seven-seaters, child seats and anything with a specific pickup time at the port.
Cancellation terms. Free cancellation is common with local companies and worth having, because ferry delays move arrival times.
Paying. A deposit online and the balance at pickup is normal. Read whether the excess is blocked on top.
Length of hire. Three days beats seven for most itineraries. Nothing about santorini car hire rewards keeping a car you are not using.
What Mistakes Do People Make?
Twelve santorini car hire mistakes, all avoidable.
Arriving without an International Driving Permit. The commonest santorini car hire failure, and it cannot be fixed on the island.
Turning up with a debit card. The excess block usually needs a credit card in the main driver’s name.
Not photographing the car at pickup. Five minutes that settles every dispute.
Booking seven days. Then paying to park it for four of them.
Planning a winery day with a hire car. Somebody is not drinking.
Driving to Oia for sunset in August. The car park fills from mid-afternoon.
Taking a quad instead. Cheaper, and a great many people go home with gravel injuries.
Assuming the basic cover is cover. The excess is the number that matters.
Driving on a rough track to a beach. Undercarriage damage is almost never covered.
Booking in August at the last minute. There will be nothing left.
Expecting to drive to the old port. There is no road.
Not adding the second driver. An unnamed driver voids the insurance completely.
Santorini Car Hire: Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a car in Santorini? For three days rather than seven. The buses reach Oia, the beaches and the airport; a car is for Ancient Thira, the wineries, the lighthouse and the inland villages.
Do I need an International Driving Permit? Many non-EU licences require one alongside the national licence, and it is checked at the desk. Get it before you travel; it cannot be issued in Greece.
What is the minimum age? Typically twenty-one to twenty-five depending on company and category, with a surcharge below twenty-five.
Can I pay with a debit card? Frequently not. Most companies block the insurance excess on a credit card in the main driver’s name.
How much does santorini car hire cost? Cheap from October to April, reasonable in the shoulder months and two to three times that in July and August, when the island also runs out of cars.
Is the driving difficult? Not at a sensible speed. Narrow roads, tight hairpins to Ancient Thira and the port, gravel on bends after rain, and no lighting outside the villages.
Is parking a problem? In Fira and Oia in season, yes, and it is the main argument against keeping a car all week. Everywhere else is easy.
Should I rent a quad instead? We would not. Narrow unlit roads, gravel, no protection, and many travel policies exclude them.
Can I collect at the port? Yes, by arrangement at Athinios. Agree exactly where before you sail, because the quay is crowded on arrival.
Can a car reach the old port below Fira? No. There is no road; it is the cable car, the 588 steps or a donkey.
Should I book an automatic? If you need one, book early. They are scarce here and carry a premium.
What insurance should I take? Understand the excess first. Third-party excess cover bought before you travel is usually far cheaper than the desk upsell.
When a Driver Is Better
We run private tours and transfers in our own vehicles, and we will tell you honestly when you do not need us.
Take santorini car hire for the days you want to wander. Book a driver for the airport and port runs with luggage, for the wine day when nobody should be driving, and for a sunset evening when parking in Oia is the only thing standing between you and the view.
Prices are per vehicle rather than per person, so a family of four pays what a couple pays. Hotel pickup anywhere on the island is included, flights and ferries are tracked rather than assumed, child seats are available on request, we guide in twelve languages, and an 80 EUR deposit confirms a date.
See transfers, the wine tours, the full list of tours, or the FAQ.
Every Village and Site on the Island
Any of these can be built into a private day. Each has its own page with what to see and how long to allow.
Caldera villages: Fira · Firostefani · Imerovigli · Oia · Finikia · Baxedes
Inland villages: Pyrgos · Megalochori · Emporio · Mesaria · Karterados · Vothonas · Vourvoulos · Exo Gonia · Mesa Gonia · Pigadia
Beaches: Perissa · Perivolos · Kamari · Vlychada · Monolithos · Red Beach · White Beach · Agios Georgios · Agia Paraskevi
Sites and landmarks: Akrotiri · Ancient Thira · Akrotiri Lighthouse · Nea Kameni · Palia Kameni · Thirasia · Athinios Port
All our tours: All Santorini tours · Full day tour · Sightseeing tour · Personalised tour · North part tour · Horse riding · South part tour · Sunset tour · Shore excursion · Caldera tour · Food experience · Wine tour · Historical tour · Small group tour
Planning and services: Famous sights tour · Private transfers · Transfers to Oia and Finikia · Transfers to other villages · Villages of Santorini · History of Santorini · Tours near you · Languages we guide in · Food and fun tours · Gay friendly tours · Our tour buses · Daily tours · Day tours · FAQ · Gallery · Tour photo gallery · About us · Contact · Blog
