You can get around the local area by bus, bicycle or taxi.  The journey into Athens city centre is usually much easier by public transport than by car.

You can take organised coach trips at weekends.

Overall, you probably won't need a car unless you're planning to head off to more distant archaeological or religious sites, or if you want to go rock climbing (in which case a four wheel drive car will help).  

If you do decide to drive and if you are not familiar with Greek driving habits, please first read our "On the Roads" page.

We recommend that cars should be hired at the airport.  There is now one small company in Nea Makri. One of our guests had a good experience in January 2023 but a local resident a very bad experience in March 2023 after her own car broke down.  The company's request to be paid in cash with a 400 Euro deposit is unacceptable, indeed it is illegal.

The six big international companies with offices at the airport are:

Avis

Budget

Enterprise

Hertz

Sixt  

Europcar

There is a local company with an office in the arrivals area and with cars at the airport, Avance. However, please be warned that, on the day they left us to travel around Greece, our guests were given a relatively old car with a broken tailgate mechanism that meant the door had to be held open. Also the passenger door only opened from the inside. We phoned their head office to complain and the lady was very sympathetic.  However, unless our guests have failed to update us, nothing has happened since.

There are many smaller companies that will transfer you to their offices that are up to 15 minutes drive from the airport.  Rental agencies such as Holiday Autos often offer good prices for such companies but please be aware that they are not all completely reliable when meeting incoming guests.  Even if they do turn up on time please be aware that the start of your holiday will be subject to some delay. Example: our guests arrived at the airport on Sunday evening with no flight delay, the car hire company failed to arrive and failed to answer their phone, our guests had to pay very expensive last minute rates from a company with offices at the airport.

One exception that has consistently been recommended by our visitors is Dirent a Car.  Their offices are just two minutes drive from the airport and, if you insist, they will usually deliver your car to the airport as an alternative to being met and taken to their offices.

INSURANCE - Excess charges when hiring cars can be very high, as can the hire companies' insurance for reducing the excess.  It is possible to  very cheaply insure against all potential extra charges by the rental company, including damage excess as well as any charges relating to broken glass or damage to tyres or the underbody (the last three are not normally covered by rental companies' damage insurance).  The best that we have found is a British company, Worldwide Travel Insurance who offer daily and annual policies.