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Originally Posted by TN20CQ5187

1. How easy is it to take a self driving car, the documentation process and the cost involved.?
2. How well can we survive in Greece with English for communication, or do we need to hire a local guide?

Thank you for your kind words. Regarding your questions,

1. You just need to have your driver's license (in English), passport and a credit card in your name. Some places in Europe ask for an IDP (International Driver's Permit) as well, but so far, out of the dozen or so times I have done a car hire in Europe, only one place in London asked for it. I just get an IDP on all my trips just in case because all my trips are road trips.

This time, I wanted to drive good cars and hence hired a BMW 116i for the first leg (5 days) and a Jeep Compass petrol for the 2nd leg(3 days) with a small hatchback (Pugeout 208) for the Santorini leg of the trip (2 days). The BMW cost 17k INR for 5 days, the Jeep cost 8k INR for 3 days and the hatchback in Santorini cost 4k odd for 2 days. Cars for hire are very cheap in Europe. If you go for basic hatchbacks, it gets even cheaper but you would not be able to enjoy the brilliant roads with smaller hatchbacks. I have made the mistake of hiring a couple of underpowered cars earlier and the price difference is barely 4-5k between a hatchback and a good medium sized car.

2. Greece is like the Thailand of Europe with a large dependence on tourism. So everyone speaks passable English. Barely any instances where we came across people who couldn't speak even passable English and all road signs are in Greek as well as English. I don't think hiring a local guide is necessary.