Car & ATV Rental in Santorini

Picking up in Fira suits you if you arrived some other way, or only want a car for part of your stay. You can't drive to a hotel on the caldera edge. The cliff-side lanes of Fira, Firostefani, Imerovigli and Oia are footpaths and steps, and most hotels there have no parking of their own.

The supplier brings the car to your hotel or sends you directions to their office, and confirms which after booking. If you're staying on the caldera, the handover is at the nearest point a car can reach, at the edge of your village, and you walk in.

Fira is also where most cruise passengers come ashore. Tenders land at the old port, and the way up is the cable car or the Karavolades steps, which reopened on 3 August 2026 after a wall beside them collapsed. At the top, in Fira, follow the supplier's directions to their office.

Parking

• Caldera villages: the cliff-side lanes are car-free. Fira, Firostefani, Imerovigli and Oia each have one or more public car parks just before the village, marked with a blue "P" sign.
• Fira: the public car parks are on the edge of the centre, including one by the high school and others at the south end of town. They fill up on summer evenings, so take the first reasonable space rather than circling.
• Oia: the main car parks are at the eastern entrance, by Agios Georgios church, and near the post office. Some car parks may charge, so check the signs. In July and August they fill quickly as sunset approaches, so arrive by midday or come by bus.
• Imerovigli: small car parks that take patience in summer. There is no parking at the Skaros trailhead.
• Elsewhere on the island, parking is rarely a problem.
• Street parking is allowed unless a sign says otherwise, but never stop where you'd block a bus.

On the road

• The main roads from Fira to the airport, the south of the island and Oia are wide and easy. The narrow parts are the caldera-edge stretch through Imerovigli towards Oia and the village lanes.
• The Athinios road zigzags down the cliff face and is busy with coaches and lorries whenever a ferry is due. Take the hairpins slowly, in a low gear on the way down.
• Buses run from Fira to the villages, the beaches, the airport and the port, on the same narrow roads you use. Where the road narrows, pull in and let them through.
• Sunset: in July and August the road into Oia jams in the hours before sunset, and again when everyone leaves.
• Cruise days: with ships in the caldera, Fira's centre and the Oia road are at their busiest. Up to 30% of cruise passengers are landed at Athinios and taken on by coach, which adds to the port road's traffic.
• ATVs and scooters are everywhere, and many riders are on one for the first time. Give them room.
• At night there is hardly any street lighting outside the villages.
• Fuel: most stations are around Fira and along the road to the airport and Kamari. Fill up the evening before an early flight or ferry.