Do You Need a Car on Santorini
 

We are planning trip to Greece next Sept and were wondering if we would need to rent a car on Santorini if we want to do some touring or stay in different locations. What is the driving like? Thanks.

You don't need a car unless you want to squeeze in several different destinations in one day. There's a good public bus system that will take you from Fira or Oia to most or all of the places you are likely to want to visit.

We had a car in Santorini, but we arrived with it by Ferry from Pireaus. It was wonderful to drive around and see the other parts of the island, but parking in Fira is difficult and the bus transportation is excellent. A car in not necessary, but always handy if you want to go at your own pace and see as much as possible.

What they said. :)

Thanks for the advice. Would prefer not to rent a car there is not needed. I have heard that Crete is a different story that you do need a car to see several places.

We were in Santorini for several days and decided after a couple days to get a one day car rental which we did right in Fira. It was nice. We drove to Akitori to visit the fascinating ruins, had late morning OJ's on the red beach at a rustic beachside taverna, drove out to the lighthouse with fantastic views, visited a couple of the beaches, had lunch at Kamari, drove to Oia in the late afternoon and stayed for sunset (less spectacular than seeing it sitting on our terrace at Fira), and then back to Fira. It was a wonderful day and a whole lot more than we could have possibly done by public transportation.

The hub of the bus system on Santorini is the bus station at Fira, so if you're based there, it is less of a problem to get about by public transport. We were based at Perissa and hired a car for 3 days out of the week. This enabled us to visit all the nooks and crannies of the island at our own pace and so was worth it but we certainly didn't need one for the whole week.

We were in Santorini only as a day stop off a cruise so we wanted to see as much as possible in minimal time. We hired a jeep with driver which turned out to be perfect. He knew exactly where to take us and what roads to use, etc. Also left my husband free to enjoy the ride for a change. His name was Johnny and we suspected he was hiding from the law for some reason so I can't give you particulars on how to get hold of him.