Why It's Important to Rent A Car In Crete & How To Do It

Crete is a beautiful place to visit in the Summer. My recommendation is to go in the off season such as May or September just to avoid the major crowds. It is definitely worth doing both some exploring but also some relaxing. Greek people are very friendly and we had such an amazing time. I would definitely go back again sometime.

Why it's important to rent a car in Crete

• Crete is big island. In order to be able to see the different cities, it's a lot easier to get around by car
• Elafonisi beach. Also known as the pink beach is definitely worth the visit and can be accessed by car. You can also take a tour bus trip but it's a totally different travel experience
• You'll miss out on all the beauty of Crete as you'll have limited movements without a car
• The views on the way from Heraklion to Crete are beautiful

How to Rent a Car in Crete

When we visited Crete, we stayed there for 5 days and had planned to visit Hersonissos, Heraklion, Rethymnon, Chania & Elafonisi. That's quite a bit of movement, so we rented a car. In every city, the locals have their own habits and ways of driving, so this should definitely be taken into account. I recommend to always drive in the right lane if there are double lanes, and where there are not, stay as close or over the white lane on the right as possible because locals drive really fast.

When you're choosing what rental car service to pick, here are a few things to consider:

• Check your travel plans and make sure there is a pickup and drip off that's comfortable for you. We picked up the car at the airport in Heraklion and dropped it off at the port because we were taking the ferry to Santorini.
• Make sure to take full insurance in case anything happens as you'll be driving on unknown roads and some roads are very small
• Choose a small car. It'll be easier to get around because of some of the said small roads you might have to take depending were you go.

The car rental we chose was RentalCarsCrete.gr and we were very happy with their service. They have multiple pickup and drop off locations, and the full price plus complete insurance for 5 days was approximately 125 EUR for the car we picked.

You can check out my post on What to do on a short trip to Chania for recommendations on how to spend a day in Chania and the top things to see.

Have you already visited Crete or any other Greek Islands? Do you have any tips to add?