Does Fast Motor Rental Naxos rent scooters?

No. We rent cars only. We used to run scooters, ATVs and buggies and stopped deliberately — on an island this windy, with long unlit mountain roads, the injury rate on open vehicles was not something we wanted to be part of. If you want a scooter, rent from a specialist operator who maintains them properly.

What licence do you need for a scooter in Naxos?

A 50cc scooter needs at least category AM. EU car licences issued from 2013 onwards normally carry AM automatically, but older licences and many non-EU licences do not. Anything above 50cc — including every 125cc you would actually want on Naxos hills — requires category A1 or higher. Renting on the wrong category voids the insurance completely.

How much does scooter rental cost in Naxos?

Indicatively €20–30 a day for a 50cc and €30–45 for a 125cc in shoulder season, rising in July and August. A small car is roughly €30–45 shoulder and €45–70 peak, so the gap is smaller than most people assume once two people are travelling.

Is it safe to ride a scooter in Naxos?

It depends heavily on when and where. The paved west-coast road in June is fine for an experienced rider. The same road in August with 6–7 Beaufort of meltemi is genuinely dangerous, and the mountain route to Apeiranthos and Apollonas is long, unlit and full of switchbacks. Naxos sits in the windiest corridor of the Cyclades, which is the factor visitors most consistently underestimate.

Do you rent ATVs, quads or buggies in Naxos?

No, and we stopped for the same reasons as the scooters. A quad also needs a category B licence at minimum, and A1 above 50cc — the rule follows engine size, not wheel count. They are excluded from every soft-sand track on the island by the rental agreement, so they reach exactly the same beach car parks a small car reaches.

Can a scooter reach all the Naxos beaches?

It reaches the same paved car parks a car does — Agios Prokopios, Agia Anna, Plaka, Mikri Vigla, Alyko. The soft-sand tracks beyond those car parks are excluded from every rental agreement on Naxos, for scooters, ATVs and cars alike. Nothing legally goes further than the signed parking.

Scooter or car in Naxos?

A scooter suits two people travelling light, on a coastal itinerary, in calm weather, with the right licence. A car suits everyone else — luggage, children, mountain villages, air conditioning, night driving and any day the meltemi is up. Most visitors staying four nights or more end up wanting the car.

Scooter rental in Naxos 2026: licence rules, costs and when a car wins

Fast Motor Rental Naxos rents cars only. We ran scooters, ATVs and buggies for years and stopped deliberately. This page is not a product listing — it is what we tell guests who ask us about scooters, and it is honest about when one is the right call.

Why we stopped renting two-wheelers

Naxos sits in the windiest corridor of the Cyclades. Between mid-July and late August the meltemi routinely blows 6–7 Beaufort for days at a time, and the exposed west-coast road from Agios Prokopios down to Pyrgaki — the road every visitor uses to reach the beaches — is the worst of it. On a 125cc carrying two people and a beach bag, a sustained crosswind of that strength is frightening and objectively dangerous. Add unlit mountain roads, goats, and riders on holiday who have not been on two wheels since last summer, and the pattern became clear enough that we took the decision. We would rather lose the booking.

Check the wind before you book anything

If your dates fall between 15 July and 25 August, look at a wind forecast for Naxos before deciding. Under 5 Beaufort, a scooter on the coastal road is pleasant. Over 6, it is not, and there is nowhere on the west coast to escape it.

The licence rules, accurately

This is where most of the misinformation online sits. In Greece a 50cc scooter requires at least an AM category entitlement. A full car licence issued in an EU country from 2013 onwards normally carries AM automatically, but older licences and many non-EU licences do not. Anything above 50cc — which includes every 125cc you would actually want for the hills here — requires category A1 or higher. Renting on the wrong category is not a technicality: it voids the insurance completely, so a single slide on gravel becomes a bill you pay in full. Non-EU licence holders also need an International Driving Permit alongside the home licence.

Read the full IDP rules by country

Where a scooter genuinely makes sense

Two people travelling with a daypack each, staying in or near Chora, with a coastal itinerary — Agios Prokopios, Agia Anna, Plaka — in June or September when the wind has eased. Parking in Chora in August is genuinely difficult for a car and trivial for a scooter, which is a real advantage we are not going to pretend away. If that describes your trip and you hold the right licence, rent from a specialist operator who services their fleet properly, and wear the helmet.

Where it does not

Apeiranthos, Apollonas and the Tragea. The climb to Apeiranthos is 25 minutes of continuous switchbacks; Apollonas is an hour each way on a road that is single-lane in places with no lighting and no barrier. A 50cc will not hold a reasonable speed on those gradients, and a 125cc with a pillion is working hard. Add luggage, children, a forecast with any weather in it, or an arrival after dark, and the answer is a car. That is also, not coincidentally, half of what makes Naxos worth visiting.

ATVs, quads and buggies: the same answer, more emphatically

We are asked about these as often as scooters, so: we do not rent them either, and we stopped for the same reasons plus one more. A quad feels stable to a first-time rider in a way a scooter does not, which is precisely the problem — it invites speed on gravel, where it is the least forgiving vehicle on the island. In Greece a quad or buggy needs a category B car licence at minimum, and above 50cc it needs the same A1 you would need for the equivalent motorcycle; the rule is about engine size, not wheel count. They are also excluded from every soft-sand track on Naxos by the rental agreement, so they cannot legally take you anywhere a car cannot. Alyko, Hawaii, Pyrgaki and Kastraki all end at the same signed parking regardless of what you drove there. If the appeal is open-air, a convertible does it at half the risk.

Scooter, quad or car?

Scooter, quad and small car on Naxos, compared on the things that actually change the decision
	50–125cc scooter	Quad / buggy	Small car
Licence needed	AM up to 50cc, A1 above	B minimum, A1 above 50cc	B
Meltemi at 6–7 Beaufort	Dangerous on the west coast	Unstable and very exposed	Unaffected
Mountain villages	Slow and tiring two-up	Slow, loud, hot	Comfortable
Luggage or children	No	No	Yes
Beach access beyond the car park	None — excluded by contract	None — excluded by contract	None — same signed parking
Parking in Chora in August	Easy	Awkward	Hard — park outside and walk
Night driving	Poor on unlit roads	Poor on unlit roads	Fine

Common questions

Does Fast Motor Rental Naxos rent scooters?: No. We rent cars only. We used to run scooters, ATVs and buggies and stopped deliberately — on an island this windy, with long unlit mountain roads, the injury rate on open vehicles was not something we wanted to be part of. If you want a scooter, rent from a specialist operator who maintains them properly.
What licence do you need for a scooter in Naxos?: A 50cc scooter needs at least category AM. EU car licences issued from 2013 onwards normally carry AM automatically, but older licences and many non-EU licences do not. Anything above 50cc — including every 125cc you would actually want on Naxos hills — requires category A1 or higher. Renting on the wrong category voids the insurance completely.
How much does scooter rental cost in Naxos?: Indicatively €20–30 a day for a 50cc and €30–45 for a 125cc in shoulder season, rising in July and August. A small car is roughly €30–45 shoulder and €45–70 peak, so the gap is smaller than most people assume once two people are travelling.
Is it safe to ride a scooter in Naxos?: It depends heavily on when and where. The paved west-coast road in June is fine for an experienced rider. The same road in August with 6–7 Beaufort of meltemi is genuinely dangerous, and the mountain route to Apeiranthos and Apollonas is long, unlit and full of switchbacks. Naxos sits in the windiest corridor of the Cyclades, which is the factor visitors most consistently underestimate.
Do you rent ATVs, quads or buggies in Naxos?: No, and we stopped for the same reasons as the scooters. A quad also needs a category B licence at minimum, and A1 above 50cc — the rule follows engine size, not wheel count. They are excluded from every soft-sand track on the island by the rental agreement, so they reach exactly the same beach car parks a small car reaches.
Can a scooter reach all the Naxos beaches?: It reaches the same paved car parks a car does — Agios Prokopios, Agia Anna, Plaka, Mikri Vigla, Alyko. The soft-sand tracks beyond those car parks are excluded from every rental agreement on Naxos, for scooters, ATVs and cars alike. Nothing legally goes further than the signed parking.
Scooter or car in Naxos?: A scooter suits two people travelling light, on a coastal itinerary, in calm weather, with the right licence. A car suits everyone else — luggage, children, mountain villages, air conditioning, night driving and any day the meltemi is up. Most visitors staying four nights or more end up wanting the car.