Full Guide to Renting a Motorbike in Rhodes, Greece

August 23, 2025
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One of the best ways to explore Rhodes is by renting a scooter or motorbike, but how does it work and is it safe? I rented one on my recent trip to the Greek Island and have all the details, as well as tips and tricks to make the most of your rental!

When I was considering renting a motorbike on Rhodes, Greece to better explore the island, I had a lot of questions and concerns. I almost decided against renting one as I was too worried about things like insurance and parking, but decided to go for it in the end.

It was honestly the best decision and I had an amazing day driving around the island. If you are also pondering whether it is worth renting one, here are all the answers to the questions I had and my experience of renting a motorbike on Rhodes as a solo, female traveller.

Related article: Where to Stay in Rhodes Town, Greece

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Table of Contents

Everything you need to know about renting a motorbike in Rhodes, Greece

Quick facts about renting a motorbike on Rhodes

I rented a 50cc scooter for one day from Elephant Rent a Moto in Faliraki. I had a mixed experience with them, which I will explain below. Overall, I had a great time with my scooter and was able to hit the main spots I wanted to see as well as explore some quieter beaches. I am an experienced rider and own a 50cc scooter, plus used to have a 125cc license in the UK a few years ago.

What scooter/motorbike can I rent?
Note that if you have a normal car driver’s license (AM,M), you will only be able to rent a 50cc bike. These are pretty slow and best ridden by only one person. For other machines you would need these kind of licenses:

Up to 125cc: A1
Up to 400cc: A2
Over 400cc: A

How much is rental for the day?
Most places are around 25€ for a 50cc machine, around 30€ for a 125cc and then exponentially more for faster machines.

How much is fuel?
For my 50cc, I spent only about 5€ and drove slightly more than 90km.

Is it safe?
Overall, I’d say the main roads are pretty safe but you need to have experience riding a scooter or motorbike. Make sure you are given a good fitting and condition helmet!

Is there free parking?
I managed to find free parking in all the spots I wanted to visit, with Lindos being the most complicated. Check the parking section below for tips on free parking in the main spots.

How to find a good shop for the rental?

I went with Elephant Rent a Moto after doing a lot of research. While my pickup in Faliraki was amazing, with kind staff who went out of their way to help me and a good quality bike, the drop off in Rhodes Town was the opposite. I chose them specifically as I could pick up and drop off in different locations.

From the moment I arrived at the Rhodes Town office to drop my bike off, the experience felt off. No one told me what to do, they kept talking over me in Greek and when I tried to ask what was wrong as one of the guys kept wiping at one spot on the motorbike, he went super condescendingly: “Oh, so you had a fall?”.

Which I didn’t. As I was able to show from the video I took when picking up the bike, this scratch was already there. They also took a video, so could have confirmed this themselves before accusing me.

He then accused me of not filling up the fuel, even though I just had. When I tried to explain that I noticed throughout the day that whenever I turned on the machine, for around 2 minutes it showed one bar lower than the fuel was and then corrected itself, I was once again interrupted and talked over.

I don’t know if the fuel gauge is a simple fault or something that could be done on purpose, but the drop-off experience left me feeling awful after such a nice day.

With the many positive reviews they have, I do wonder if I just caught the guy on a bad day or if he made rushed judgements based on me being a solo, young woman. Which is frustrating, especially as I have been riding scooters and bikes for years and rented them in countless countries without these kind of issues.

Overall, I would recommend the Faliraki branch but not the one in Rhodes Town and probably would look into alternative rental options.

Options in Rhodes Town with high reviews are Rider Moto Rentals and Anna ’s Rent a Car – Motorbikes/Mopeds. In Faliraki good options are Moto Zone and FALIRAKI MOTO ROLL & TRANSFER VIP. I’d recommend you do your own research and check reviews from several sites too.

As always, make sure you take a video of the scooter before leaving any shop that shows all pre-existing faults! This can save you A TON of money in unjust charges.

What about insurance?

Most rental places will have third party insurance included. This is a legal requirement in most countries and covers damages or injuries you cause to other people or their property.

Some will have the option to add on insurance to cover you in case of accident and the rental motorbike in case of damages. If it is possible to add this, I would always recommend you do.

Some travel insurances also cover scooter rental, though most don’t. If you are unsure, just get in touch with your insurance prior to your trip. If it is included, that is the best case scenario.

Third party insurance is technically enough and what I had included in my rental, though is something happens you could still have a lot of charges coming your way such as the loss of the rental deposit (300€+) and possible hospital costs. Hence make sure you have good travel insurance to ensure your medical fees are covered.

As mentioned, if you can add further insurance, that is ideal and I would only recommend renting a scooter if you are an experienced rider.

Is there free parking on Rhodes?

If you look at parking guides for Rhodes, it will often say to look at the line colour. Like blue is paid and white free. When I asked about this when renting my motorbike, they told me this doesn’t really exist anymore and to check the signs for parking costs.

I was most worried about parking in Lindos as blogs said costs there were high and my rental agency wasn’t sure about any free parking. When I arrived, most car parks I saw were 7€ for the day. I even tried going down the road to the beach which was chaotic and I would not recommend.

In the end, I found a free car park by accident here. It is right next to a paid car park and looks like a dirt lot, but I asked several people and all said you could stay there for free. If you walk to the end of the dirt road, there is a set of stairs that goes straight to Lindos town centre (they look worse than they are).

All the other areas I visited were easy regarding free parking. Anthony Quinn Bay for example had a packed but free car park – finding a space with my small scooter was simple, with a car it looked impossible.

All beaches I visited along the coast also had free parking. In Faliraki, most people just parked along the roadside.

I saw a ton of free scooter parking by the outside walls of Rhodes Town near the harbour, the road is called Pl. Eleftherias. Akantia harbour also has free parking and is only a 15-minute walk to the town centre.

How much is fuel for the day?

I used about 3/4 of the tank of my 50cc scooter and it cost 5€ to fill up. With that, I managed to go from Faliraki to Lindos and then Lindos to Rhodes Town with several stops along the way.

I think even if you go further or have two people on the bike, fuel wouldn’t be much more than 10€, so it is super affordable with scooter rental costing around 25-30€ per day.

Take a photo of the fuel gauge before you leave the shop to ensure you know how much to fill it up and be able to show proof to the shop that you filled it up to the same level.

Are the roads safe to drive on, especially with a 50cc machine?

The thing about a 50cc machine is that it won’t go super fast and hence if you are on the bigger roads, you will often be the slowest person. I was quite worried about that before starting my trip, but it was honestly fine.

The vast majority of drivers overtook with plenty of space and I didn’t feel rushed at any point. The journey from Faliraki to Lindos took about 1.5 hours with plenty of stops and a refuel.

The machine is also pretty light, which makes it easy to maneouver even if you are a smaller woman. The roads were fine, though the smaller roads to viewpoints could get pretty steep and bumpy. I would only head up them if you are an experienced driver!

An issue I encountered on the day I rented were very high winds. I have ridden lots of motorbikes before, so I knew how to handle this but it is something to watch out for on the day you want to rent.

My overall experience

Overall, I would say renting a motorbike/scooter is 100% worth it. It’s affordable, easy to park anywhere and you will get to see so much more of the island than exploring by bus.

I would recommend that you have driven a scooter before for safety reasons and have a good travel insurance in place. Also research your rental company and routes before setting off and remember to take videos of every corner when picking the rental up.

Feel free to leave a comment below if you have any further questions 🙂

Is Rhodes worth visiting?

Yes, in my opinion Rhodes is definitely worth visiting.

I honestly just chose it as it had the cheapest last minute flights, but the Old Town is so beautiful, the beaches and water SO stunning and places like Lindos and Anthony Quinn Bay are absolute highlights.

It’s the perfect mix of some sightseeing and incredible beaches.

How many days do you need in Rhodes?

I’d say you don’t need more than 1-2 days to explore Rhodes including the Old Town. I’d recommend to stay 5-7 days in total on the island and booking a hotel near the beach for the rest of the days. That could be in Rhodes town itself, though Faliraki and Lindos are great options too!