Jeep Rentals in Santorini and/or Mykonos

[uvadover]

Looking to rent a Jeep in Santorini and/or Mykonos when we are there on the Odyssey of the Seas next month.  25 years ago we rented ATVs, but with kids we now need a Jeep.  Back in the day, we just walked into town and found a place to rent one - left our passport as "collateral" and paid via cash.  Are Jeep rentals easy to come by by walking into town?  Or is there a site to reserve one to rent for the day?  Would love to spend the time driving around the island and enjoying the beaches.

[marazul]

9 hours ago, uvadover said:

Looking to rent a Jeep in Santorini and/or Mykonos when we are there on the Odyssey of the Seas next month.  25 years ago we rented ATVs, but with kids we now need a Jeep.  Back in the day, we just walked into town and found a place to rent one - left our passport as "collateral" and paid via cash.  Are Jeep rentals easy to come by by walking into town?  Or is there a site to reserve one to rent for the day?  Would love to spend the time driving around the island and enjoying the beaches.

There are companies that do jeep safaris in Mykonos.  You drive your own jeep and they take you through the back roads all around the island.  They stop at several beaches. It is a lot of fun.

[Hlitner]

Renting a car (of any kind) in Santorini, during the main tourist season, can be somewhat of a hassle (we have done it a few times).  I have no clue if you would be able to find a jeep, but you can try.  Fira has quite a few small rental car offices (located about a 15 minute walk from the top cable car station) many of which are local companies.  Last year, when we went back to Santorini, I spent over an hour just trying to reserve a one-day rental car.  Even booking months in advance, most agencies were either sold-out or did not want to do a one-day rental.  We did finally find a car which meant walking about 10 minutes to a local travel agency office, doing the paperwork, and then walking another few blocks to a large parking lot where we eventually found our beat-up old car!  Also keep in mind that most cars rented in Greece are stick shift (a problem for many folks who do not know how handle manual shift).  We have often seen unhappy fellow Americans at rental car offices who are surprised that they cannot get an automatic!  

 

My advice is simple.  Immediately get online and look for a rental car that meets your needs.  You are already late to the game...but perhaps it will be your lucky day.  Also keep in mind you are on a very large ship and it will take some time (perhaps hours) to get tendered ashore and up the cliff (by cable car or donkey) into Fira.  Lets look at the math.  Your ship will have about 4000 souls.  Assume that only half decide to go ashore on their own (not on an excursion).  That is 2000 souls and it would take the cable car more than 3 hours to move that many up to Fira.  And that assumes there are no other passengers from other ships.  As much as DW and I like Santorini, it is hard to use the word "charming" when arriving by a large ship in the high season.

 

Hank