Car rental Athens Airport: pick-up, deposit and day trips

Athens is a city where you are best off leaving the car parked, but the region around it cries out for a road trip. From the capital you drive in an hour to the Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion, in two and a half hours to the oracle of Delphi, or into the Peloponnese with Mycenae, Nafplio and Epidaurus. This guide to car rental at Athens Airport helps you start smart: where to pick up, which routes are worth it, and the practical things that surprise visitors most.

Do you need a car in Athens?

Not in the city itself. The metro links the airport directly to the centre, you do the Acropolis and the old quarters on foot, and parking is difficult and crowded. A car comes into its own outside the city: for the coast of the Athens Riviera, for Cape Sounion at sunset, and for the classic loops through the Peloponnese or up to Delphi. Many travellers therefore combine a few car-free city days with a rental car for the excursions.

Picking up at Athens Airport (ATH)

Athens International (ATH) lies about 30 km east of the centre. All the major and many local companies have a desk or shuttle there. From the airport you drive straight onto the Attiki Odos toll motorway, which carries you smoothly around the city to the coast or the Peloponnese. Book ahead in high season, as the choice is then thinner and pricier.

At pick-up, watch the fuel policy (full-to-full is fairest), photograph any existing damage before you drive off, and ask how the toll and any extras are settled.

Car rental at Athens Airport: which companies and where you pick up

Search for car hire at Athens Airport and you mostly get long lists of brand names. In our search on Vrooem on 30 September 2026 (seven days in November), three companies supplied cars at Athens Airport: Green Motion, Surprice and Let’s Drive. All three work the same way. None of them has a desk in the terminal; a representative or a shuttle meets you at an exit of the arrivals hall instead, and takes you to the company’s own office close to the airport, where your car is waiting. Your booking shows which company supplies your car, and the line-up can change with your dates.

So once you have your bags, open your voucher before you walk out. For Green Motion you stay inside at Exit 4; for Surprice and Let’s Drive you go outside at Exit 5. Save the branch phone number from your confirmation before you fly, as Green Motion’s location page asks you to call if you need help on arrival. Every Vrooem booking includes a free travel eSIM, so you have mobile data the moment you land to ring the branch or pull up your voucher.

Green Motion and Surprice are run by local franchisees, and the rules below come from their Greek terms. For a booking made through Vrooem, the conditions on your voucher have the final word. Our guides to Green Motion, Surprice and Let’s Drive cover each brand in more depth.

Landing late or delayed

The office hours in the table decide whether someone is there for you. Under Green Motion’s Greek terms, a reservation is held for 2.5 hours after the booked pick-up time when you have given a flight number, as long as the branch is still open. Without a flight number it is held for 2 hours or until closing time, whichever comes first. Let’s Drive’s terms add a fixed out-of-hours charge per rental for collecting or returning the car between 22:00 and 08:00. Surprice also charges for out-of-hours service in Greece, and there a booking counts as a no-show when you are more than 4 hours late without phoning. Add your flight number when you book, and call the branch yourself if your flight is delayed.

Which card for the deposit

Looking for car rental at Athens Airport without a credit card? With these three companies the deposit needs one. All three block it on a credit card in the main driver’s name, and the details differ:

• Green Motion (Greece): Visa or Mastercard. A debit card, prepaid card, American Express or Diners is not accepted for the deposit. The card must stay valid for at least two months after the return date.
• Surprice (Greek terms): only a Visa or Mastercard credit card, valid for at least one month after you return the car.
• Let’s Drive: Visa or Mastercard. Cash, debit cards, Diners and American Express are not accepted for the deposit.

Check the available limit on your card before you travel too, because the deposit sits on top of your other holiday spending. Our guide to deposit and excess on a rental car explains how the two are linked.

Mileage, fuel and ferries

Many visitors pair Athens with an island, and plenty plan long days out to Delphi or the Peloponnese. These rules matter for both:

• Ferries: Surprice does not allow its cars on a ferry in Greece. Let’s Drive allows it only with written permission. Green Motion Greece allows it only after written approval, and its terms say that taking a ferry without notice voids the insurance. With an island on the plan, the simple route is to travel as a foot passenger and rent again on arrival, as our guide to renting a car in Greece explains.
• Borders: with Green Motion and Surprice the car stays in Greece; with Let’s Drive it does too unless you have written permission.
• Mileage: at Green Motion it depends on the package you choose. Basic allows up to 150 km a day, Plus up to 250 km a day, and Premium and Premium Plus are unlimited. Surprice works with unlimited mileage in Greece. If you plan long day trips, factor that into your choice.
• Fuel: under the terms of all three, you return the car with the same level as at pick-up, which is not always a full tank. In our Vrooem search, though, Green Motion’s Premium and Premium Plus packages at Athens were listed as full to full, so check the fuel policy on your voucher. Photograph the gauge before you drive off. Our fuel policy guide has more.
• Roads: Let’s Drive cars may only be driven on paved roads. If a beach is reached by a dirt track, park on the asphalt and walk the rest.

Returning the car

With Let’s Drive you return the car at the office, and the shuttle then takes you to the airport. Let’s Drive gives its address as Koropiou Markopoulou Avenue 167-173; Green Motion lists 10 km Peanias-Markopoulou. For Surprice, the address and return point are on your voucher. Allow time for the vehicle check and the shuttle ride before you head to check-in. Return during opening hours if you can: under Green Motion’s Greek terms, damage to a car returned out of hours remains the hirer’s responsibility until the branch has checked it in. Take photos of the car and the fuel gauge when you hand it back as well.

Checked on 30 September and 1 October 2026: Green Motion Athens International Airport, Green Motion Greece terms, the Greek “Full rental terms” on the official Surprice booking site (requested for Heraklion, and including the Athens arrival instructions), Let’s Drive Athens airport and Let’s Drive terms and conditions. The Surprice and Let’s Drive pick-up instructions come from their own booking systems, as also shown on Vrooem.

The best routes from Athens

The classic is Cape Sounion at sunset, with the marble temple high above the Aegean. If you have more time, drive into the Peloponnese to atmospheric Nafplio, with Mycenae and the theatre of Epidaurus nearby. Delphi is a beautiful day trip into the mountains. Allow generous travel times, as the finest stretches take time by themselves.

How does the toll work in Greece?

Greek motorways use classic toll booths (diodia), where you pay per passage by cash or card, with no electronic system. From the airport you drive straight onto the Attiki Odos, and the routes to the Peloponnese and Delphi partly run on toll roads too. So keep some coins and small notes handy, plus a card as backup. Off the motorways you drive toll-free.

When is renting in Athens cheapest?

Prices follow the tourist season. In winter and early spring daily rates are lowest; from May it rises, peaking in July and August. If you are flexible, rent outside the summer holidays and book a few weeks ahead, when choice is widest and the price softest. Exact rates vary by period, category and company, so always compare live for your dates.

Documents, insurance and deposit

You need a valid driving licence, your ID card or passport and a credit card in the main driver’s name. The deposit is blocked on that credit card at pick-up and released after you return the car. Look closely at the excess on the basic cover: you can reduce it with the rental company’s own cover or package, or with a separate excess insurance policy. Check what each one covers before you travel. Make that choice deliberately, beforehand.