One of these does not exist on the island at all, one is simpler than people expect, and one can cost far more than a fine — because it is not a fine, it is your insurance.
You can drive from Kissamos in the west to Sitia in the east without passing a toll booth. The main road along the north coast — the one every visitor uses — is free for its whole length, and so is every road that leaves it. Greece does have toll motorways, but they are all on the mainland. If you have budgeted for tolls, spend the money on fuel instead: you will need more of that than you think.
Unless a sign says otherwise: 50 km/h in built-up areas, 90 km/h on open roads outside them. The north-coast road is fast and wide and feels like a motorway, but for most of its length it is not one and it is signed 90. Signs override all of this, and on Crete they change more often than you would like — through villages, at junctions, and in the tunnels. Read them rather than the road.
Less by fixed cameras than by police with a mobile radar, parked on a straight stretch or just past a bend. You will see them on the north-coast road, near the airport, and at the entrances to towns. There is no app that reliably predicts where they are, and unlike a camera a patrol stops you there and then. The practical advice is unglamorous: drive at the signed limit and the question never comes up.
The notice goes to the registered keeper, which is us, and it can arrive weeks or months after you have flown home. Our rental terms say plainly that the renter is responsible for traffic violations and fines incurred during the rental. In practice that means we will contact you with the notice and the details, and you settle it. Nothing is deducted from a deposit, for the simple reason that we never held one.
This is the part worth reading twice, because the cost is not a fine — it is the whole repair bill. Our insurance, like every insurance in this business, does not cover damage caused while driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, and does not cover damage from driving on unpaved or prohibited roads. Greece's alcohol limit is low, around 0.5 grams per litre for most drivers and lower for new ones, which is roughly one drink and not a comfortable margin. And Crete is full of tempting dirt tracks that end at a beach nobody else has found. A rental car on one of those is uninsured for as long as it is on it.
Call us, and call the police. Both, and before the car is moved: an insurance claim in Greece needs the police report, and a car that has been moved makes that report harder to write. Our number is +30 695 923 3080, it is also WhatsApp, and someone answers it at any hour — we are not a call centre that closes.
No. The island has none. Every road on Crete, including the main north-coast road from Kissamos to Sitia, is free to drive. Greece's toll motorways are all on the mainland.
Generally 90 km/h, and 50 through built-up sections — but the signs are what count, and they change frequently. It is wide and fast enough to feel like a motorway, which is exactly how people end up above the limit without noticing.
The notice reaches us as the registered keeper, sometimes months later, and we pass it to you with the details. Under our terms the renter is responsible for it. Nothing comes out of a deposit — we do not hold one.
You can, but the car is not insured while you do. Damage from driving on unpaved roads is excluded, and that exclusion is in every rental contract in Crete, not only ours. If a road turns to gravel, the sensible move is to park and walk the rest.
Related: which licence you need in Crete and how deposits work here. Anything about the roads on your route, just ask — info@paulcar.gr or +30 695 923 3080.