Car Hire in Fiscardo

If you are staying in the village of Fiscardo, then most local amenities are easily reached on foot and you’ll only need a car if you wish to go exploring.  However, if you are staying in one of the excellent villas or apartments in a nearby village, then a car becomes essential.

Fiscardo, is a great place from which to explore other parts of Kefalonia by car and there are some lovely places to visit just a short drive away. There are three car rental companies  based in Fiscardo.

If you are travelling with an Electric Vehicle,  you may like to check our EV Driving in Greece page.

Car hire is such an essential part of your holiday that you do need to take some care when arranging this. Fortunately, on Kefalonia, the car hire companies are generally very reliable. Please check out the advice below which is most relevant to your requirements

If you are staying in the village or close by, it is unlikely you’ll need a car for your whole stay as you can probably get to most places on foot.
So, if you only require a car on a casual basis, perhaps just a day or so to do some extra exploring, you are best advised to source your car from one of the Fiscardo based car rental companies. It is not usually possible to make a firm booking for a hire period of less than 3 days although you may well be able to pick a car up on spec. If you have some advance notion of when you’ll need a car, it’s a good idea to visit their office and ask about availability. Pama Travel are usually quite happy to put your name down so you will then get a car on the day, should one be available. Obviously though, priority is given to those requiring the longer hire periods.

If you are booking your own travel and accommodation, you can either book your car rental locally in Fiscardo or from one of the car hire companies based at the airport. The advantage of collecting your car from the airport is that you would save the cost of a taxi which is currently around 85 euro each way. Thus, the saving on return taxi fares would make a good contribution to the cost of your hire car for the duration of your stay!

If you have booked an inclusive package through a tour operator, car hire, if necessary, is included in the cost of your holiday. The supplier of your car will be contracted by your tour operator and may be based in Fiscardo or in Argostoli. Either way, you can sometimes choose whether you take a coach provided by the tour operator and have your car delivered locally or collect you car at the airport and drive yourself to your accommodation. Driving directions are usually provided and the route is fairly easy.There may be a surcharge for either choice but this depends entirely on your tour operator and which providers they have an arrangement with.

Car rental always comes with basic insurance. This means you are covered for any accident or injury you may cause to a third party whilst in charge of the car.  What is not usually fully covered is any damage to your rental car.  This is where the ‘excess’ comes in.  Although this amount may vary by company and car model, the excess is the amount you will have to pay towards any damage. Generally speaking, if you hire a car with an excess of 800 euro and completely destroyed the car, you would have to pay 800 euro and the rest of the damage would be covered by the insurance company or absorbed by the car rental company. If you had a minor damage, perhaps a dent in a wing, then you would be charged the cost of repairing this. This could well be less than the agreed excess amount and could not exceed the 800 euro. Still, an unpleasant and possibly large dent in your holiday budget!  There is a way around this and we would strongly suggest you take one of the two following courses of action.

Solution one is to take the ‘full damage waiver’ offered by the car hire company. This is in reality a secondary insurance that covers you for all or part of the excess. The cost is usually calculated on a daily basis and again varies depending on the model of car and which company offering the policy.  Pama Travel in Fiscardo have a very reasonable policy which covers everything except damage to the undercarriage, and loss or damage to the keys.

Solution two, is to buy a dedicated ‘Car Hire insurance excess policy’ These are available online and extremely reasonable. For around GBP 49 you can get a years cover. This usually covers multiple holidays as long as each hire period does not exceed 14 days (some allow longer but depends on who you purchase from) The benefit of this solution is that these policies usually cover the excess amount without any exceptions, so keys and undercarriage are usually covered. The one drawback is that, in the unfortunate event of a mishap, you would have to settle locally and immediately and then claim from your insurance company on your return home. In order to do this, you will need receipts and any relevant documentation from your car rental company