I’m travelling to Santorini with my partner in October, but will only be there for 3 days. I’m from the UK and we drive on the left, and I’m worried about driving on the right hand side of the road (not something I would usually do!). But, I want to be able to go to the Red beach and Perissa, as well as the light house, and from what I’ve read the busses are not that frequent and it will be hard to get around to all these places in 3 days without a car. Does anyone have experience in hiring a car in Santorni and driving around? What are the roads and drivers like there, is it hectic or fairly releaxed? Also, any advice on the best places to visit outside the main tourist hub is welcome!
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Instead of a car we rented an ATV. It was a great price, easy to gas up and we took it all over the island! Red beach, Perissa, Oia, everywhere! We stayed outside of the tourist area, so we needed a way to get back to Oia for sunsets and shopping sometimes. Highly recommend!
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I had the exact same concern @william! And i planned to take busses instead of renting a car for exactly this reason, but on day one, I went to the local bus stop to get to Oia, and the bus never showed up!
I was only there for 3 days too, so I asked the hotel reception about car hire, because from what I could see the driving didn’t look too bad, and they dropped one off the next morning, a little Fiat 500 convertible, which was easy to drive! The price was very good and super easy to arrange (so you could wait and see until you get there).
The speed limit across most of the island is 50km/h (about 30mph), although for sure some locals were driving faster, but it’s nothing too crazy. There is a one way system round the north of the island, so its easy to drive along, the views are stunning and there are loads of places to pull in and admire the views (non caldera side). It meant I got to see pretty much the whole island, which was great. I think being stuck close to the tourists hubs wouldn’t give you the same sense of Santorini, as it was at it’s best when you’re out in Perissa at the beach, or the Red beach, or checking out Akrotiri (ancient ruins with a 4000 year old toilet - must see!) and the sunset from the lighthouse.
If you have someone with you who can help navigate and double check things, like, when you come to a crossroads, make sure you’re looking at the traffic in the right direction etc it definitely helps. I actually found driving very easy, even when going through Fira, you just have to go slow, be aware there are some one way roads, pull over to let drivers pass where possible, and don’t stress if you take a wrong turn.
Parking on the other hand, could be a bit harder. Especially going to the lighthouse at sunset as parking is limited, luckily in the tiny car we had we found a spot - so get there early. Perissa and Red beach was easy, Oia we parked quite out of town and walked in - so it’s definitely doable, but plan in advance where the big car parks to save driving around hoping to find a space.
Hope it works out for you, Im sure you’ll love it there!
Omg I love this idea, never thought about it! How easy is it to find parking and how many days did you drive?
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