Project Description

The average cost of a one-day car rental. The number is calculated based on the bookings of the previous three years. It takes into account the rental of cars across all classes.

You’ll have more fun and comfort if you rent a car for your vacation.

A rental car can solve many problems during your stay in Greece. Beach recreation can be perfectly combined with the viewing of historical sites at your own pace. Greece is famous for its ancient buildings and structures. You’ll be able to visit the three legs of the famous Poseidon’s trident in Chalkidiki and see Skala Fourka. Driving along the coast of the Ionian Sea, you’ll check out its beaches and visit picturesque places like Parga, Meteora, etc.

Car rental in Greece gives you the freedom to explore all the landmarks and make stops where you want without limitations of tourist routes or bus schedules.Car rental in Greece works well away from the central areas and in the islands with insufficient public transport. Moreover, travelling by hire car has an added value because it’s more interesting, more comfortable, and way more affordable than a guided tour.

Renting a car in Greece is effortless. A driver must be at least 25 years old and have driving experience of at least 3 years.

You’ll need:

  • Foreign passport
  • Driver’s license
  • Bankcard

You can use the insurance included in the rental cost. Generally, you’ll be offered Third-Party Liability Insurance (TPL) or Collision Damage Waiver (CDW) in Greece.

The occupancy rate of the car rental fleets by month. For example, most cars are being rented in August, which means that this month has the smallest amount of available vehicles. The higher the percentage of the car fleet workload, the earlier it is worth booking a car to choosing the best option at the best price.

In Greece, fuel stations are generally located in cities and towns. You’ll not see many of them on highways. However, there’s always a town or city nearby, so you’ll never run out of petrol.

On highways, fuel prices are higher by 15-20 euro cents per litre than at the rest of filling stations. And fuel stations near shopping centres of the cheapest petrol of guaranteed quality.

The fuel stations are plentiful and conveniently located in Greece. The roads have signs indicating the distance to the nearest filling station so you can decide whether or not to start worrying. It is not legally allowed to transport petrol in portable fuel containers in vehicles.

Fuel types in Greece

The fuel quality is excellent in Greece. Filling stations offer unleaded petrol 95, 98 and even 100 (except for 92), two types of diesel, and liquefied petrol gas (LPG) or AutoGas.There are many branded petrol stations in Greece. The most common brands are BP, Shell, REVOIL, EKO, JETOIL, AEGEAN.
Their attendants often try to gently talk their clients into buying more expensive fuel. To save money, you should stay aware and resist persuasion attempts.
Some stations are designated with a “АП” sign that stands for “Independent Filling Stations”. This means that the owner can contract or re-contract with any supplier that offers the best terms at the moment. The fuel quality can vary at such stations.

Petrol

Petrol names you’ll see at filling stations in Greece:

  • Unleaded 95 or 98 is regular petrol
  • Unleaded 100 (Super) is petrol for high-performance luxury sports cars. Your hire car will gladly consume regular Unleaded 95
  • Super LRP is lead-replacement petrol for older cars. It is rarely available. As a rule, owners of such vehicles go to one station and buy a full tank. It costs more than Unleaded 95. Please don’t fill up your rental car with this type of fuel
  • V-Power is unleaded petrol 95 or 98 with additives; it is more expensive than regular gasoline. It is available at BP and Shell petrol stations.

Diesel

All fuel stations sell diesel, both regular and more expensive “refined” diesel fuel. Petrol and diesel are in the same price range, but diesel is cheaper for longer mileages.How to identify the proper diesel nozzle:

  • Diesel – This is regular diesel fuel (for tractors)
  • Diesel Premium, Diesel Super, Diesel Ultimate – This is diesel fuel for passenger cars.

Fuel prices

  • 95 〜 €1.75
  • 98 〜 €1.91
  • Diesel 〜 €1.50
  • LPG 〜 €0.99

Highway petrol stations can charge 10% to 20% more for fuel. The cheapest fuel is near large shopping centres. Both petrol and diesel are less expensive in Athens and Thessaloniki than the national average.

At first, the prices at Greek filling stations can baffle you because the currency is not indicated. In fact, everything is simple — the prices are in euro with three decimal digits. However, the Greeks do not think it necessary to include the decimal point.

Filling up in Greece

Filling stations employ specially trained attendants. They meet vehicles near fuel dispensers or come to you shortly after you arrive.You need to say what type of fuel and how much you need. First, the operator fills up your car, then you pay. If you have cash, you pay to the operator, or you can pay by card at the office.
Small rural filling stations might not accept card payments, so you should always have some cash to be on the safe side.
At night petrol stations are operated manually (there’s no on-site staff). You can pay in paper money or by card.

You’ll undoubtedly face a parking problem in cities of Greece. Traffic police ensure that drivers park their vehicles only at proper places.

Parking spaces are marked in colour in Greece. Notably, the colour marking in Athens is different from the rest of the country.

Parking can be problematic in any large city in Greece. Like anywhere else in Europe, you can easily park your car free of charge on the outskirts of large cities and in small towns or villages. The closer to the city centre, the more likely it is that you’ll need to pay for parking.The parking rules in Athens are slightly different from those used in other Greek cities.

Free and paid parking

Parking spaces are designated with “P” signs and divided into zones marked with colour marking on the asphalt:

  • Blue — paid parking
  • Yellow — parking for commercial, police or government vehicles
  • White — free of charge parking

Parking rates can vary significantly between the cities in Greece, so don’t be surprised. Parking prices range from €3.5 per hour in Thessaloniki to free of charge in Crete. On the island of Rhodes, you will find paid car parks (€1.5-3 per hour) only in the town of Rhodes and in the village of Lindos, and you can park for free anywhere else on the island.

Many parking facilities do not charge for parking at night and on holidays. Free parking periods will be displayed in the panel below the sign.

Free parking in Athens

Unlike the rest of the country, “white” parking spaces are metered in Athens. You can park free of charge in a white zone:

  • Monday to Friday from 9:00pm to 8:00am
  • Saturday from 4:00pm to 8:00am
  • Sunday day and night.

There’s a free parking lot near Katechaki (Κατεχάκη) metro station. Parking areas near Ethniki Amyna (Εθνική Άμυνα) and Doukissis Plakentias (Δουκίσσης Πλακεντίας) metro stations used to be free, but now they are metered.

You can park free of charge on the side of the streets and near residential buildings in the suburbs.

Paid parking in Athens

There are surface parking lots, underground parking garages, and incentive parking facilities (Park & Ride).

Surface parking lots

It can be a specially equipped car park or a parking space on the side of the road. All of them are metered. The parking time limit is 3 hours.Parking facilities are marked on the ground as follows:

  • The blue zone is reserved for locals who live in the area
  • The yellow zone is for commercial use only
  • The white zone is for visitors to the city.
You can pay for parking only with a special ticket that can be bought at newsagents, shops, and cafes.
To pay for parking, insert the ticket into the nearest parking meter, enter your parking period, and press OK. The meter will give you a receipt. You have to place your receipt on the dashboard so that the police can see it well.Parking rates vary from place to place in the capital city of Greece. Average prices:

  • 1 hour — €0.5-1
  • 2 hours — €2-3
  • 3 hours — €4-6.

Underground parking garages

There are many underground parking garages in Athens. They have multiple floors densely packed with vehicles. You can find multi-storey car parks near famous landmarks, large shopping centres, and markets, i.e. where they are most needed. There’s a large and affordable parking garage near every seaport.They do not use toll gates but have a parking attendant who knows on which floor there are vacant parking spots. All levels are numbered to avoid confusion. Drive to the necessary floor and park your vehicle.How to pay for parking. At a multilevel parking garage, you pay for the time you use. Use the payment terminal that accepts paper money and gives the change, so you don’t need to look for coins. If something is not clear, ask the parking attendant.Multi-storey parking rates are highly dependent on the location. The average fee is €25 per day.

Incentive parking

Park and rides are generally located in the suburbs of metropolitan areas near metro stations, e.g. SYNGROU-FIX Station, NOMISMATOKOPIO Station, HALANDRI Station.These are guarded parking lots where you can leave your car for the whole day without worrying about it.Park and rides will cost you only €10-15 per day.

Parking fines

The Hellenic Police can only tuck a €40-80 penalty charge notice (PCN) under the windshield wiper of your car for illegal parking. But they are empowered to remove your license plates if your parking session has expired or your vehicle obstructs the traffic or causes other problems.Tickets can be paid at any bank branch or post office from 7:00am till 2:00pm. In particular, at the office in Diliyani Street (Karaiskaki metro station) in Athens.
If you pay the fine within 10 days, you can get a 50% discount.
If you don’t pay the fine, the PCN will be sent to the rent-a-car company and withdrawn from your card or deducted from your deposit amount. Your car hire company will also charge you the “service” fee.If you have already departed from Greece by that time, you can be blacklisted as an untrustworthy tourist and offender who tries to evade responsibility. You had better pay the fine to get a visa without problems next time.

Seizure of license plates

If it happens with your hire car, you will find a PCN with the phone number. Use it to contact an officer who speaks English.If you only violated the parking rules, it will cost you only 50% of the parking fine. Go to the police department with your PCN to get your license plates back. You will need to install them on the vehicle yourself.

If you decide to rent a car in Greece, you’ll need to learn local traffic regulations.

Traffic police do not like drink-driving a lot. Drunk drivers are issued a fine up to €2,000 and banned from driving.

Before getting behind the wheel in Greece, make sure to read and observe the local traffic regulations because motoring offences can result in severe fines.

Features of traffic rules in Greece

On the whole, they are the same as in other European countries. Speed limits are also similar: 30mph (50km/h) in urban areas, 55mph (90km/h) outside urban areas, 70mph (110km/h) on expressways, and 80mph (130km/h) on motorways.All occupants must wear seat belts. Children under the age of 12 are not allowed in the front seat without a special child seat.There are also differences:

  • Low beam is advised (only advised) in low visibility conditions, such as fog, heavy rain or snow shower, while high beam is explicitly prohibited in good visibility conditions
  • Cell phone use is not allowed while driving
  • Radar jammer use is illegal and can result in a fine of up to €2,000 and driving ban, without indulgence to foreign drivers in hire cars, and there have been many cases where driving licenses have been confiscated for this violation
  • Road signs are the same as everywhere in Europe, but if a sign includes text, it is written in Greek. That said, you can use the pictograms on the signs, and if you need to find your way around on the road, we recommend that you use your navigation rather than road signs.

Fines for driving offences

If you haven’t been to Greece for the last 10 years, then you should read this section attentively. The penalties for violations of traffic rules have continuously been revised upwards, and the current fines are as follows:

  • Speeding fines: €40 for exceeding up to 20km/h over the posted speed limit, €100 for up to 20km/h over the limit, €350 and driving ban for 2 months when speed is more than 30km/h above the limit
  • Seat belt fine: Road users that choose not to wear a seat belt can be issued with a fine of €350 (as a rule, it is €80 for the first offence)
  • Fine for illegal overtaking: €700 for passing after “No overtaking” road sign or on a bridge
  • If you go through the red light or disregard a “STOP” sign, you will be issued with a fine of €700
  • A driver that hasn’t slowed down or stopped to let a pedestrian cross on a zebra crossing risks to get a fine of €200.

Drink driving offences and penalties

Drunk driving can result in strict punishment. The blood alcohol limit is 0.2 permille. If the blood alcohol test shows more, you can be issued a fine of €200 to €2,000, banned from driving or even imprisoned for up to six months in case of repeat drink driving offences or serious consequences.

How to pay the fine

Traffic officers are not allowed to collect fines. They can only issue a ticket to be paid at any bank. If you do it within 10 days after the driving offence, you can be given a 50% discount (net of collection costs).

Road police

Traffic officers are few in number. You can drive hundreds of miles along the coast or in rural areas until you see a traffic police officer. There are more traffic officers in Athens, and they are very serious about their job.
Police officers are friendly to foreigners. Excuses like “I did not see, did not understand or missed the sign because I was so delighted with beautiful Greece” still works well. Especially, if you try to speak Greek a little, at least to say hello. Of course, this trick works only in case of minor offences.
If you are caught drink driving, even reciting the Iliad will not save you from the penalty. Drunk drivers are punished severely in Greece.

Toll roads

Toll roads cover the whole territory of Greece. To use or not to use them, that is up to you. There is always an alternative.The surface of toll roads is of high quality in Greece.
The main rule is not to miss your U-turn. The distances between U-turns are up to 50km, and it is physically impossible to turn to the opposite lane on the expressway because the lanes are divided by a median strip with trees.
There are filling stations with a cafe, WC, and even shower (€2-3). The petrol prices are much higher, approximately by €0.40, than at the stations on public highways.

The toll is charged per kilometre. Toll rates do not differ because the road surface is better or worse. Stretches of toll roads are managed by various companies that set prices at their own discretion. Anyway, you will not be unaware as there is a notification of the collection of tolls at entry points to the toll highway. Roughly speaking, each passenger vehicle pays €1.5 to €2.8 at every toll booth. Tolling stations are located every 30-50km and at exit points from expressways.

Additional rate is charged for passage through the Aktio-Preveza Undersea Tunnel (€3) and Rio–Antirrio Bridge (€13.80).

Roads may be narrow here and there, but they have an excellent surface, and the traffic police control is not very strict. There are only six toll roads in Greece.

And they are easy to use. Approaching the toll road, you’ll see a “Diodia” sign followed by a toll gate. You drive to the toll booth and pay €2-4, then the operator gives you a ticket and opens the gate.

It’s scorching in summer here so you can make your lifelong dream come true and drive a convertible. You can rent a convertible for a day or two and visit the most beautiful places, then it will not cost you as much as when you hire it for the whole period of your stay, but you’ll have a wonderful experience.

Car rental in Greece on our website is your chance to make your lifelong dream come true.