Athens Travel Forum

Hello,

My family and I (two adults, one thirteen year old) will be flying into Athens later this month, and plan on renting a car and driving around the Peloponnese peninsula for ten day. My questions are --

1) Has anyone had a good experience with any particular car rental outfit? I've read that some outfits are not actually located at the airport, so it's a nuisance to return the car, and that some will actually deliver the car to your hotel. All the variations are a little overwhelming, and I'd really like to avoid hassles and unpleasant surprises.

2) Upon returning the car in Athens in the morning, we'd like to go visit the archeology museum in the afternoon before flying out that evening. Does anyone know if it's possible to check luggage at the airport seven or so hours in advance of the flight?

thanks!

Avoid Holiday Autos - we tanked our car up to the brim and still got charged Euros 30 for not having a full tank - form was completed in Greek - and despite arguing in UK we were told tough luck!

about question 2: check-in counters usually open 2-3 hrs before the flight. Depending on where you deliver the car, you have some options for a left luggage service.
There is left luggage at the airport and there are also lockers at the monastiraki metro station, which is in the heart of athens archaeological sights area.

On a second thought, check-in in advance may be possible for air couriers who have many flights from Athens and keep counters open for all flights. Which is the air courrier you are flying with?

Avoid Axon Lease also. I had rented my car from them for quite a long time, but recently their service has become outrageous and unreliable and toooooooo expensive! So, I have now just started renting my car from a very nice rental business called Pegasus Car Rentals. www.pegasuscars.gr So far, I have found the owner, Costa, to be polite and very helpful and most importantly, I have found the prices here to be by far the cheapest I have found so far! When I asked for the same car at Hertz and Europe Cars at the Airport, they both quoted me prices 200Euros more per month! A huge difference in prices.
You can arrange for the car to be brought to the airport. Their representative will be waiting for you when you come out with your luggage. This is usually much cheaper to rent a car this way than to get one at the counters at the airport.
Send an e-mail and see what deals you can find. Shop around, you may find better deals, but as I have said, I have not found anything better.
Make sure that you have complete coverage. This is very important in Greece.
Good luck.

thanks so much! I'll definitely keep that in mind as I look at rentals

We're flying Air Italia - I think they only have three flights from Athens to Rome that day, 7 AM, 1 PM and 7:30 PM. I don't think they operate many other flights out of Athens - flighs to other locations in Italy seem to have two legs, Athens to Rome and then Rome to other cities.

Thanks so much!

Do you have any idea how long it takes to get from the airport to the downtown area around the National Archeology museum?

Give yourself around one hour for the first time driving from the airport to the downtown area and museum. Also, traffic can vary, depending on time of day and day, plus finding parking nearby museum will be tricky. You may have to walk a bit even after you park, assuming you find a place to park!

Regarding a car rental company:

I just got a price all inclusive, incl. Tax, CDW, etc. for 1 week in July, smallest car catefory from pegasuscars.gr : 290,00 Euro

I looked at the website of rideanddrive.gr as well: Price including VAT, CDW with 450 deductible, etc. 1 week, smallest car category: 250 Euro.

I rented from "ride and drive" in Thessaloniki last year once with no problems, but I don't know how it would turn out in case of an accident or something.

I recommend Ride and Drive therefore. Are any other good, cheap local companies known?

Regards, Phil

with Pegasus, I have a 300Euro deductible. All the fine print items vary with each company. It's all just a matter of luck I think and having a good experience with each company. Some guys are really good and polite; others can be real stinkers. I like Pegasus so far, but I have not given them any reason to be nasty with me; I have not had any accidents! With Axon, everything was fine until someone else hit me. Then they gave me their oldest most unreliable car and I was still paying the same amount. So, you must finally decide for yourself if you are getting what you expect for the money you are paying.