Not everyone who visits Santorini wants to arrive on two wheels or four open ones. Some people prefer a roof. Some are traveling with more luggage than a scooter can carry. Some simply want the option of air conditioning when the August heat reaches the point where the caldera shimmer is more oppressive than beautiful.
For these people, the answer is a small rental car — and the emphasis on small is not optional.
If I were planning a car-based exploration of Santorini, I’d go directly to Iakovos Rentals in Perivolos and look at two options: the Fiat Panda and the Smart For Two 453. Here’s why both of them make more sense on this island than anything larger.
Why Size Matters More Here Than Anywhere Else
Santorini’s villages were not designed with cars in mind. They were designed to keep pirates out — layered, confusing, narrow by intention. Emporio’s medieval center. The back streets of Pyrgos. The approach roads to Akrotiri village. These are not places you want to discover you’re in with a full-size SUV and no way to turn around.
The streets that look passable on Google Maps satellite view are occasionally passable for one vehicle at a time if both drivers are calm and one of them is willing to reverse fifty meters to a passing point. This is fine when you’re in a small car. It is not fine when you’re in anything larger.
Beyond the village streets, Santorini’s main roads have pullouts, passing places, and sections where the road narrows to a width that two reasonable vehicles can share — provided both are reasonably sized. A compact car fits comfortably. A large SUV fits nervously. A seven-seat people carrier fits not at all in several places, which is information that some rental companies at the airport seem to have forgotten to communicate.
The Fiat Panda
The Fiat Panda seats five, which makes it the family or group option of the Iakovos Rentals fleet. It’s practical without being boring, handles Santorini’s roads without any anxiety, and parks in gaps that would defeat anything with more ambition. Five people in a Panda is snug but achievable. Four people with luggage is comfortable.
It’s also an honest car — it doesn’t pretend to be something it isn’t. It will get you everywhere on the island efficiently, and it will do so without requiring any particular skill or attention beyond normal driving.
The Smart For Two 453
The Smart For Two is a different kind of argument entirely. Two seats, a turning circle that borders on theatrical, and dimensions that make the village streets of Santorini feel wide. It’s not a car for people who need practicality above all else — it’s a car for two people who want to move through the island with minimum friction and maximum entertainment.
Parking in Fira during peak season in a Smart is not just possible, it’s almost enjoyable. You fit in spaces that other drivers have already written off. You navigate the Oia approach road with confidence rather than hope. And the general aesthetic of a Small smart car parked against a whitewashed Cycladic wall, caldera in the background, is genuinely satisfying.
For couples who want a car rather than a scooter, the Smart is the correct answer almost every time.
What a Car Gives You That a Scooter Doesn’t
The obvious answers are shelter from weather and space for luggage. But there’s a less obvious one: confidence for drivers who aren’t experienced riders. Not everyone is comfortable on a scooter, and Santorini’s roads — despite being manageable — are not the place to discover this for the first time. A car removes that variable entirely and lets you focus on the island rather than the mechanics of staying upright.
Free delivery is available from Iakovos Rentals, so the car arrives at your accommodation. Combined with free helmets on the scooter and ATV side of the operation, the approach is clearly oriented toward making the rental experience as uncomplicated as possible — which is exactly what you want when you’re on holiday and the priority is the caldera, not the logistics.