I just received an email from Ikies offering us options on our arrival, they said tehy could arrange for a car rental (43 EUR) or a private taxi (40EUR) or shared ride (25EUR)

It seems that car rental is a good deal...however how difficult is in to "find your way" and drive on this island? I would think it could be convenient to have a car for a day, simply to drive around the island....

i'm there 3 nights.....late september.....we were planning:

1 day - explore - pool - relaxe at hotel
1 day - walk to Fira/volcano cruise
1 day - explore winery tour

If you're arriving at the port, you might want someone else driving you up the cliff and to the hotel. After that you could decide if you want to rent a car for a day or more. We did not rent a car (never rent cars in Europe) and used public buses. They are not terribly frequent so a car might have been nice at times. Not a whole lot of roads, so you probably wouldn't get lost. (The road up the cliff -- switchbacks -- would do me in, but it depends what you are used to.)

Well, there's basically only one main road on the island with some branches, so getting around isn't that difficult. You could easily navigate, but the thing is you just don't need a car for your entire trip. Since you are only there for three nights, I'd recommend either switching your itinerary around and doing the winery tour on Day 1 (after renting a car at the airport for your transfer) or taking a taxi and renting a car only on day 3 (again, for the winery tour).

Parking can be a problem in Oia or Fira, less so in other places. Also, you may not be able to get that close to your hotel even if you rent a car. Oia is pedestrian-only in many places. I'm not sure where Ikies is, but most of the accommodations are deep into town along the caldera, and it might be worth it to have a transfer just to have someone to wrangle your luggage to the hotel.

But frankly, I don't recall spending even nearly 25 euros per person for the airport transfer. I might wait and just take a taxi at the airport. I can't imagine you'd do worse, and you could probably do better. Perhaps it's because you're staying in Oia and it's farther from the airport than most other places.

If you're coming by port, I can't help there. We flew and had hotel arrange taxi (about 30E for 3 of us as I recall). We rented a car for a day and thought it was very worthwhile. Easy to explore the island and we wanted to see a fair amount and didn't want to wait for buses. As Doug says, there's one main road but several off roads and back roads. Signs are pretty decent, but do get a good map if you want to go off the beaten path.

Thanks for all the quick responses! To clarify, we will arrive by plane.

We rented a car for a day and had a great time. We parked near Oia, wandered around, had lunch then drove to Kemara (sp?) beach, which was restful and beautiful.

Driving wasn't difficult and it's unlikely you'll get lost.

Upon your arrival take the shared ride option or a private taxi. The price is the same, €25. The entrance to Ikies (ee-KEE-ess) is right on the main road at the beginning of Oia so your driver will know exactly where to drop you off. Most likely you won't need a car the first day since you'll be getting acclimated and wandering around Oia. Once you're settled in, on your 2nd day you can find a rental from Vazeos in Oia. If you're from the U.S. or Canada be sure to bring an International Driving Permit from your local AAA/CAA office, no test required.

Since you will be there just for 3 days, better avoid the public transportation – so as not to lose time. Renting a car for a day and driving around sounds perfect to me. At least, I found it really convenient when I was there. As I was not the driver, I cannot really tell you if it is easy or difficult to drive in Santorini (didn’t seem that hard, though!), but I found this video, you can check it out http://www.santorini-hotels.info/thi...riving-to-oia/ and see what the road looks like.

You have received good info here. In summary the option to rent a car at the airport is too expensive and you can do much better booking directly with a rental agency later in your stay if you decide you want to explore the island. The taxi or shared ride is your best bet.

It is pretty easy to drive on Santorini. The roads are narrow but quite amnagable and speeds are low. Just stay out of Fira where parking will be a problem.

While exploring, look for Pyrgos, it is seldom mentioned but it has a medieval wall and great view over the island.
With the car you can easily visit the beaches at Kamari, Perissa and even the Red beach near Akrotiri.
The car is good to get you up the switchback road to ancient Thira as well.
Have fun.
Here are some pictures.
http://travel.webshots.com/album/563832695pKqudI