E-scooters in Heraklion: renting a Lime, Greece’s helmet law, and where you may ride and park

Which e-scooter app works in Heraklion?

At 1:57 pm on Monday 2 November 2026, Greek time, the Heraklion map showed about 280 Lime scooters as last counted. The map shows the nearest scooter and the walk to it, and a button opens the app.

You unlock a scooter with your phone and pay in the app. Check the price before you unlock, and read where you may end the ride.

New to shared scooters? See how to rent an e-scooter.

Heraklion’s rules: national law, and a council act from 2019

National law sets the riding and parking rules everywhere in Greece, and the sections below set them out. Some Greek cities add a rulebook of their own on top: Thessaloniki’s council first approved one in December 2024 (decision 835/2024) and Athens’s in November 2025 (decision 717/2025), both published on Diavgeia, the state’s transparency site. Greek law counts e-scooters among Ε.Π.Η.Ο., light personal electric vehicles, the name in both regulations’ titles.

In Heraklion the subject reached the council years earlier. Act 852/2019 of the Municipal Council, dated 14 October 2019 and posted on Diavgeia on 4 November 2019, is titled as a recommendation to the council on the problems caused by putting electric scooters into circulation. The act is in Greek, and its title doesn’t say what came of the recommendation.

For a visitor the practical rule is simple: ride by national law, end a ride only where the app allows, and read its map before you park.

National law applies on every ride. The Highway Code sets the age, helmet, speed, parking limits and fines for every rider in Heraklion, as in every Greek town.

Can you ride an e-scooter in Heraklion? Age, helmet and licence

Yes, and you need no driving licence. The rules below come from the Highway Code (KOK, law 5209/2025, published in the Government Gazette, ΦΕΚ Α΄ 100, on 13 June 2025) as amended by law 5322/2026, published in the Government Gazette (ΦΕΚ Α΄ 117) and in force since 24 July 2026.

• Age: 17 or over. Riding younger is a €150 fine. The app may set a higher age.
• Helmet: compulsory at any age, adults included: an approved helmet, fastened, or €30. Bring your own.
• ID: carry a passport or ID card when you ride. The operator’s insurance certificate can stay in the app.
• Passengers: one rider only (€150).
• Phone and headphones: no phone in your hand and no headphones while riding: €350 and 30 days’ licence removal.
• After dark: wear reflective clothing or gear (€30).

Since July 2026 third-party insurance has been compulsory for every e-scooter; on a shared scooter it’s the operator’s.

Where can you ride an e-scooter in Heraklion?

Greek law treats an e-scooter rather like a bicycle, with three rules that matter most in a city:

• Cycle lane first. Where a road has a cycle lane, you must ride in it (€30 if you don’t).
• No fast roads. E-scooters are banned on any road where the limit is over 50 km/h (€350); a 50 km/h road is allowed. Where a big road’s signs show a limit over 50 km/h, take a quieter parallel street.
• No pavements, squares or pedestrian streets. Riding on them costs €350 and 30 days’ licence removal. Get off and walk the scooter across a square or along a pedestrian street.

The top speed is 25 km/h: €30 for riding up to 35 km/h, €150 above that.

As for cyclists, the Highway Code asks you to ride in single file, never two or more abreast, and to keep both hands on the handlebar unless you are giving a signal. Don’t let another vehicle tow you, and don’t carry anything that gets in the way of riding. Each is a €30 fine. Where you are in pedestrians’ way or putting them at risk, the law says to get off and walk the scooter.

On a steep street, brake early on the way down; on smooth paving, which turns slippery in the rain, slow right down or walk.

Where can you park a rental e-scooter in Heraklion?

End your ride only where the app allows: its map shows where a ride may end.

National law adds limits wherever you stop:

Stand the scooter upright, out of the walking line, and take a photo if the app asks for one.

Greece’s e-scooter rules and fines in one table

These are the national rules that apply in Heraklion, as in Thessaloniki, Athens, Rhodes and Kos.

The Highway Code’s fines are national, so the same offence costs the same in Heraklion as in Athens or on Rhodes. The July 2026 law raised several of them, set the minimum age at 17 and made third-party insurance compulsory.

Drinking, heat and night rides

• Alcohol. The limit is the drivers’ one, 0.5 g/l in the blood or 0.25 mg/l in breath, and the fine starts at €350. After an evening out, walk or take a taxi.
• Heat. On a hot Cretan day, ride early or late, carry water, and remember that the helmet rule still applies.
• At night. Wear something reflective, as the law requires, and keep to lit streets you know.

Bus stops and the ferry port

A shared e-scooter is for the street. End your ride near the stop, in a spot the app allows, and walk the rest; at a bus stop, leave it at least 12 metres away, as the law asks.

Heading for a ferry? End the ride where the app allows before the quay and walk to the boat: the law bans parking in port zones where passengers board. Coming off a boat, open the Heraklion map to find the nearest Lime once you are out of the port.

Elsewhere on Crete and the islands

Our map also covers Chania and Rethymno. The same national rules apply there. Each town’s rules apply only within its borders, so check the map and the app again in each one.

Island-hopping? See our guides to Rhodes and Kos, where the same Highway Code applies.

Did you know?

• Early on the agenda. Act 852/2019 of Heraklion’s Municipal Council, a recommendation on the problems caused by e-scooters, is dated 14 October 2019: more than five years before Thessaloniki’s council approved its regulation, on 16 December 2024.
• A different word in 2019. Greek law files e-scooters under Ε.Π.Η.Ο., short for Ελαφρύ Προσωπικό Ηλεκτρικό Όχημα, a light personal electric vehicle. The title of Heraklion’s 2019 act uses another term, ηλεκτροκίνητα τροχοπέδιλα, with πατίνια, the everyday Greek word for scooters, in brackets.
• Signal with your arm. If your scooter has no indicators, Greek law asks you to give a hand signal before you change direction, just as on a bicycle.