Recommendations for car rental from Athens Airport

On 2011-06-25 06:42:11 -0500, Tom P said:

If Dan wants to rent a car at Athens airport, then let him rent a car
at Athens airport for heaven's sake.

I can't think of many things more mind-blowingly stupid than wasting
half a day dragging my luggage through the strike-ridden mysteries of
Greek public transport to get to a car rental depot somewhere on the
other side of Greece when I could just walked into a car rental office
at the airport. Not to mention doing the whole thing in reverse at the
end of the trip.

LOL
--
Dan Stephenson
http://web.mac.com/stepheda
Travel pages for Europe and the U.S.A. (and New Zealand too)

On 2011-06-25 07:57:44 -0500, Alexander Arnakis said:

BTW, having a mobile phone in Greece is a must, and is cheap. Just
bring your own GSM phone and get a local prepaid SIM card from
Vodafone or Wind. Mobile telephony is one of the few things that work
really well in Greece. (The SIM cards can be "topped off" at any
kiosk.) If you are a couple and have two phones, and get the SIM cards
from the same company, calls between you are free. Also, all incoming
calls are free. You get charged for air time only if *you* place the
call.

I have CDMA Verizon iPhone 4; I hear the iPhone 5 due in October will
have both CDMA and GSM. If so, it might be worth getting for overseas
use. The Google Translate app is JUST AMAZING. Now I have a chance at
the locals understanding me when I inquire on the location of ancient
ruins. I can pre-save a number of translations, but anything
on-the-fly needs the network.
--
Dan Stephenson
http://web.mac.com/stepheda
Travel pages for Europe and the U.S.A. (and New Zealand too)

On 2011-06-23 12:36:15 -0500, Tom P said:

On 06/19/2011 03:24 AM, Dan Stephenson wrote:
Hello, in the Fall I will travel to Greece, flying into Athens and
heading to the Pelopponese by car, for maybe 10 days.

There are several car rental places at the airport: Avis, Budget, Hertz,
National/Alamo and Sixt.

Can anyone recommend one more than the rest? I wouldn't be buying the
high-dollar collision damage waiver.

Thanks,

I can't speak for Athens, but what you might want to consider are
- does the company have an on-airport depot or do you have to wait
for the courtesy bus and even worse, find the depot again when you
return the car. Off-airport depots are a lot cheaper, but driving round
at night in the back streets of some industry park looking for the
depot while the time for your check-in ticks away is no fun.

That is a good point. Sometimes "airport" car hire is something
off-site, though somewhat nearby.

Hey I just said "car hire" instead of "car rental", without thinking
about that. I'm already getting in the travel mindset! whoo hoo!


- do the airline and car rental company have a big fly&drive deal, in
which case you may be standing in line for hours with all the other pax
that booked fly&drive.

What is fly&drive? and if I made a reservation -- I would expect the
car to be there
--
Dan Stephenson
http://web.mac.com/stepheda
Travel pages for Europe and the U.S.A. (and New Zealand too)

On 2011-07-03 12:46:05 -0500, tim.... said:

"Dan Stephenson" wrote in message
news:2011070312175065200-stephedanospam@maccom...

I will have to look into this, thanks for the tip. I would also like
to avoid the hassle of getting to and from Pieraeus from the airport,
but the ferry time might be competitive with the drive time.

Don't see how it can be.

The drive to Argos is going to be a little over an hour. It will take
you this long to get to Piraeus on the bus

tim

Hmm, that could well be true. I must say, I am impressed with the new
motorway from Athens to Argos. It is just the American Interestate
Highway System, but with tolls.

The big problem came at Tripoli, when the motorway stopped and you had
to crawl through the super-packed streets. I seem to recall building
in-work, maybe for a bypass. Anyone know to what extent the motorway
has been extended? I suppose Google Maps might tell me too...

--
Dan Stephenson
http://web.mac.com/stepheda
Travel pages for Europe and the U.S.A. (and New Zealand too)

Dan Stephenson wrote on Jul 3, 2011:

On 2011-06-23 02:54:25 -0500, Mike Lane said:

Dan Stephenson wrote on Jun 19, 2011:

Hello, in the Fall I will travel to Greece, flying into Athens and
heading to the Pelopponese by car, for maybe 10 days.

There are several car rental places at the airport: Avis, Budget,
Hertz, National/Alamo and Sixt.

Can anyone recommend one more than the rest? I wouldn't be buying the
high-dollar collision damage waiver.

Thanks,


Wouldn't you be better off travelling to the Peloponnese by public transport
and renting a car from there? That's what I did a few years ago. You would
save yourself the trouble and expense of driving through Athens which is a
place to be avoided these days as far as possible.

Well, the rental would not be from Athens per se, but from the airport,
which is outside the city and near the big motor. I would avoid Athens
by circuiting it on the motorway, over to Corinth, then south to Argos.


I took a ferry from Piraeus to Porto Heli - a small place on the east coast
of the Peloponnese near Spetses - and hired a car there for a week. It was a
very relaxed experience compared to the hassle of Athens.

I will have to look into this, thanks for the tip. I would also like
to avoid the hassle of getting to and from Pieraeus from the airport,
but the ferry time might be competitive with the drive time.

To me the time taken is not important - I actually enjoy the travelling. What
I don't enjoy is driving through the surroundings of airports and large towns
like Athens.

Getting to Piraeus is no hassle. You get on a bus at the airport and get off
at the harbour

--
Mike Lane
UK North Yorkshire
mike_lane at mac dot com

"Dan Stephenson" wrote in message
news:2011070312452797074-stephedanospam@maccom...
On 2011-06-24 16:39:16 -0500, Martin said:


ATM skyscanner is showing flights from London to Kalamata

Again you assume somebody is flying from London.

Actually I will travel through London, as I intend to spend a few days
there, to visit the British Museum again, and to visit more out-of-the-way
places. I hear the Mayor is going to create a tourist scheme where you
can visit along the Thames waterline to see some historical sights that
have been blocked off from normal access. Anyone know more about this?

But on the original suggestion: going through Athens has cost and
logistical advantages.... I will into Kalamata, indeed, but the hardest
part of the driving is about the same, since until Tripoli the driving is
super-easy on the motorway. I don't suppose anybody knows if the bypass
is finished yet?

Both my maps show the by-pass as completed, but only one shows the road
through the mountains to Kalamata as complete.

But if you're going to Sparta you won't need that bit

tim

In article 2011070312581922832-stephedanospam@maccom,
Dan Stephenson wrote:

On 2011-06-25 07:57:44 -0500, Alexander Arnakis said:

BTW, having a mobile phone in Greece is a must, and is cheap. Just
bring your own GSM phone and get a local prepaid SIM card from
Vodafone or Wind. Mobile telephony is one of the few things that work
really well in Greece. (The SIM cards can be "topped off" at any
kiosk.) If you are a couple and have two phones, and get the SIM cards
from the same company, calls between you are free. Also, all incoming
calls are free. You get charged for air time only if *you* place the
call.

I have CDMA Verizon iPhone 4; I hear the iPhone 5 due in October will
have both CDMA and GSM. If so, it might be worth getting for overseas
use. The Google Translate app is JUST AMAZING. Now I have a chance at
the locals understanding me when I inquire on the location of ancient
ruins. I can pre-save a number of translations, but anything
on-the-fly needs the network.

Unless you plan to use mobile data, you can just use the iPhone 4 in
Wifi mode.

How will Google Translate handle the Greek alphabet? Or are you talking
about letting it speak the translation for you?

Martin wrote on Jul 3, 2011:

On Sun, 3 Jul 2011 22:48:13 +0100, Mike Lane
wrote:

Dan Stephenson wrote on Jul 3, 2011:

On 2011-06-23 02:54:25 -0500, Mike Lane said:

Dan Stephenson wrote on Jun 19, 2011:

Hello, in the Fall I will travel to Greece, flying into Athens and
heading to the Pelopponese by car, for maybe 10 days.

There are several car rental places at the airport: Avis, Budget,
Hertz, National/Alamo and Sixt.

Can anyone recommend one more than the rest? I wouldn't be buying the
high-dollar collision damage waiver.

Thanks,


Wouldn't you be better off travelling to the Peloponnese by public
transport
and renting a car from there? That's what I did a few years ago. You would
save yourself the trouble and expense of driving through Athens which is a
place to be avoided these days as far as possible.

Well, the rental would not be from Athens per se, but from the airport,
which is outside the city and near the big motor. I would avoid Athens
by circuiting it on the motorway, over to Corinth, then south to Argos.


I took a ferry from Piraeus to Porto Heli - a small place on the east
coast
of the Peloponnese near Spetses - and hired a car there for a week. It
was a
very relaxed experience compared to the hassle of Athens.

I will have to look into this, thanks for the tip. I would also like
to avoid the hassle of getting to and from Pieraeus from the airport,
but the ferry time might be competitive with the drive time.

To me the time taken is not important - I actually enjoy the travelling.
What
I don't enjoy is driving through the surroundings of airports and large
towns
like Athens.

Getting to Piraeus is no hassle. You get on a bus at the airport and get
off
at the harbour

What happened to the old airport?

I believe it still remains largely undeveloped.

It seems to be the usual story in Greece - several opposing groups all see
the opportunity to make a considerable amount of money from a prime site, so
the bickering continues and nothing is done. The latest I heard is that a
Qatari group of companies are interested:
http://tinyurl.com/692lhm4


--
Mike Lane
UK North Yorkshire
mike_lane at mac dot com

tim.... wrote on Jul 3, 2011:


"Dan Stephenson" wrote in message
news:2011070312452797074-stephedanospam@maccom...
On 2011-06-24 16:39:16 -0500, Martin said:


ATM skyscanner is showing flights from London to Kalamata

Again you assume somebody is flying from London.

Actually I will travel through London, as I intend to spend a few days
there, to visit the British Museum again, and to visit more out-of-the-way
places. I hear the Mayor is going to create a tourist scheme where you
can visit along the Thames waterline to see some historical sights that
have been blocked off from normal access. Anyone know more about this?

But on the original suggestion: going through Athens has cost and
logistical advantages.... I will into Kalamata, indeed, but the hardest
part of the driving is about the same, since until Tripoli the driving is
super-easy on the motorway. I don't suppose anybody knows if the bypass
is finished yet?

Both my maps show the by-pass as completed, but only one shows the road
through the mountains to Kalamata as complete.

But if you're going to Sparta you won't need that bit


There's no particular reason to visit Sparta itself. It's a small modern town
with very little (apart from the name) to connect it to the ancient
city-state. The Spartans didn't go in for building much, it seems - too busy
war-mongering I suppose.

I stayed there after visiting Mystra which isn't far away.


--
Mike Lane
UK North Yorkshire
mike_lane at mac dot com

Martin wrote on Jul 4, 2011:

On Mon, 4 Jul 2011 09:00:17 +0100, Mike Lane
wrote:

Martin wrote on Jul 3, 2011:

On Sun, 3 Jul 2011 22:48:13 +0100, Mike Lane
wrote:

Dan Stephenson wrote on Jul 3, 2011:

On 2011-06-23 02:54:25 -0500, Mike Lane said:

Dan Stephenson wrote on Jun 19, 2011:

Hello, in the Fall I will travel to Greece, flying into Athens and
heading to the Pelopponese by car, for maybe 10 days.

There are several car rental places at the airport: Avis, Budget,
Hertz, National/Alamo and Sixt.

Can anyone recommend one more than the rest? I wouldn't be buying the
high-dollar collision damage waiver.

Thanks,


Wouldn't you be better off travelling to the Peloponnese by public
transport
and renting a car from there? That's what I did a few years ago. You
would
save yourself the trouble and expense of driving through Athens which
is a
place to be avoided these days as far as possible.

Well, the rental would not be from Athens per se, but from the airport,
which is outside the city and near the big motor. I would avoid Athens
by circuiting it on the motorway, over to Corinth, then south to Argos.


I took a ferry from Piraeus to Porto Heli - a small place on the east
coast
of the Peloponnese near Spetses - and hired a car there for a week. It
was a
very relaxed experience compared to the hassle of Athens.

I will have to look into this, thanks for the tip. I would also like
to avoid the hassle of getting to and from Pieraeus from the airport,
but the ferry time might be competitive with the drive time.

To me the time taken is not important - I actually enjoy the travelling.
What
I don't enjoy is driving through the surroundings of airports and large
towns
like Athens.

Getting to Piraeus is no hassle. You get on a bus at the airport and get
off
at the harbour

What happened to the old airport?

I believe it still remains largely undeveloped.

It seems to be the usual story in Greece - several opposing groups all see
the opportunity to make a considerable amount of money from a prime site,
so
the bickering continues and nothing is done. The latest I heard is that a
Qatari group of companies are interested:
http://tinyurl.com/692lhm4

Ten years already. It was very convenient for Piraeus.

Yes, indeed - I greatly regretted its passing. The new airport must be one of
the worst designed ever. There's no attempt to separate internal from
international flights, and a chronic shortage of toilets, seats, hotels -
everything necessary for a modern airport.

--
Mike Lane
UK North Yorkshire
mike_lane at mac dot com