Greek Cruise & Tentative Excursions

Below are the ports we will visit during our Greek Cruise. Based on my research via TA, CC and the internet, here are the things I am considering (all DIY).

1. Are any of these ports hiring a tour guide is highly recommended instead of DIY?
   
2. Any must see, breathtaking, idea that I may not have found during my research?
   

• Brindisi - Any suggestions?
  
• Olympia - Take the train and visit the Ancient Olympia
  
• Santorini - Rent a car and visit: Oia, Akrotiri ruins and Santos winery. Or is the bus system pretty good to get to these POI?
  
• Athens - Train to visit Acropolis, Agora, Plaka
  
• Corfu - Self guided walking tours of Old Town Corfu
  
• Kotor - Self guided walking tours of Old Kotor
  

We will be going to Athens, Katakolon, and Corfu of those ports next month.

Athens we did the Hop on hop off bus last time, found it pretty disorganised, crowds waiting to get on so we didn't feel we could get off at many stops as we would end up amongst those crowds trying to get back on. This time I have booked with Piraeus express bus.

Friends used them 2 years ago at several ports and were very happy. They usually take ships excursions so were happy to save a fortune!!!

Katakolon they also have an express bus, same company but as we have been to Olympia previously and know its easy to do we will just take a shuttle bus available at the port. Have you researched the train? I would prefer the train but haven't been able to find out much about timetable for the train. Have emailed them and got a reply the first train is 8.40 am and they put on an extra train 1 hour after ship docks. Return train is 1 hr prior to departure, which is not early enough for my liking. I suspect there is a language difficulty with my questions and their answers.

The shuttle buses seem to give 2 hours at the site, I would prefer about 4 so I can check out the museum too which we missed last time.

Corfu - yes self guided is fine.

Kotor - same as above, we were really surprised by Kotor, loved the entry into the port, loved wandering around the town, almost 3rd world in the way of bare electrical wires all around the town, not looking too safe. Felt it was a real gem and would be very happy to have a port stop there again.

Santorini, we went with others in our roll call hired a car and drove to Oia etc but if I did it again I would get the boat from where the tender lands, it takes you around to Oia, spend a few hours there then get the public bus back to the main area. Just allow heaps of time to get back. Friends did that and had a great day. We drove with a lady from USA who was happy to do the driving but it was pretty hard going for her, and the van was questionable in regard to safety/roadworthy etc.

We will be going to Athens, Katakolon, and Corfu of those ports next month.

 

Athens we did the Hop on hop off bus last time, found it pretty disorganised, crowds waiting to get on so we didn't feel we could get off at many stops as we would end up amongst those crowds trying to get back on. This time I have booked with Piraeus express bus.

Friends used them 2 years ago at several ports and were very happy. They usually take ships excursions so were happy to save a fortune!!!

Katakolon they also have an express bus, same company but as we have been to Olympia previously and know its easy to do we will just take a shuttle bus available at the port. Have you researched the train? I would prefer the train but haven't been able to find out much about timetable for the train. Have emailed them and got a reply the first train is 8.40 am and they put on an extra train 1 hour after ship docks. Return train is 1 hr prior to departure, which is not early enough for my liking. I suspect there is a language difficulty with my questions and their answers.

The shuttle buses seem to give 2 hours at the site, I would prefer about 4 so I can check out the museum too which we missed last time.

Corfu - yes self guided is fine.

Kotor - same as above, we were really surprised by Kotor, loved the entry into the port, loved wandering around the town, almost 3rd world in the way of bare electrical wires all around the town, not looking too safe. Felt it was a real gem and would be very happy to have a port stop there again.

Santorini, we went with others in our roll call hired a car and drove to Oia etc but if I did it again I would get the boat from where the tender lands, it takes you around to Oia, spend a few hours there then get the public bus back to the main area. Just allow heaps of time to get back. Friends did that and had a great day. We drove with a lady from USA who was happy to do the driving but it was pretty hard going for her, and the van was questionable in regard to safety/roadworthy etc.

Thanks for this info! Esp re Corfu, Kotor and Santorini. From my research, it seems most people were surprised, in a good way, with Kotor.

Here is the info I found re: the train:

http://www.olympia-greece.org/katakolon-train-bus.html

We are visiting 3 of the ports on your itinerary. I have already visited Olympia once and Athens twice. We rented a car in Olympia and took a private tour to the Acropolis as well as the X80 bus from port to Athens.

We had seen the Katakolon Express company sitting dockside and did some inquiries. We have booked with them on a 3 city guided tour package for $90eu. Reserve online and pay at the first tour city. I don't see how you can beat guided tours in Olympia Athens and santorini for $90eu. They also have an escorted package for a few dollars less which is basically just transportation. I think it's worth a few extra dollars for the guided commentary at Olympia and the Acropolis. As DW says "without the guide, it's just a pile of rocks" to her

https://www.katakolon-express.com/packagedeal.htm

We are visiting 3 of the ports on your itinerary. I have already visited Olympia once and Athens twice. We rented a car in Olympia and took a private tour to the Acropolis as well as the X80 bus from port to Athens.

We had seen the Katakolon Express company sitting dockside and did some inquiries. We have booked with them on a 3 city guided tour package for $90eu. Reserve online and pay at the first tour city. I don't see how you can beat guided tours in Olympia Athens and santorini for $90eu. They also have an escorted package for a few dollars less which is basically just transportation. I think it's worth a few extra dollars for the guided commentary at Olympia and the Acropolis. As DW says "without the guide, it's just a pile of rocks" to her ��

 

https://www.katakolon-express.com/packagedeal.htm

Love your DW's quote! Our DD said that on our vacation in June to Athens and Rome. lol

I did come across Katakolon Express during my research. we prefer not taking bus tours - 50 people is just too much for us. Typically we like to hire private tours .

Thanks for the link, certainly more info than I could get from them.

We are due to dock at 8 am so doubt we will get the 8.25 train, so will probably end up getting one of the many shuttle buses as waiting for the next train wont give us long at the site. Taking the public bus would be time consuming too. Will just take it as it comes, having been previously I am not worried.

Just editing this as I note across the top of the screen the info is dated 2007, wondering how current it is.

Thanks for the link, certainly more info than I could get from them.

We are due to dock at 8 am so doubt we will get the 8.25 train, so will probably end up getting one of the many shuttle buses as waiting for the next train wont give us long at the site. Taking the public bus would be time consuming too. Will just take it as it comes, having been previously I am not worried.

 

Just editing this as I note across the top of the screen the info is dated 2007, wondering how current it is.

Good catch! I didn't even see that.

Take a look at this one: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2380003v

We are in Athens 26th August 17. Hoping we dock a Terminal "A" so that we can walk to o'connells bar for the football. Is getting out of the terminal on foot pretty easy? :cool:

Athens HoHo bus network is excellent, inexpensive, frequent and they get you from the ship. The companies all know when a where the cruise ships are docked and schedule accordingly.

In Olympia, don't miss the museum

It's not huge, but very, very well presented. Excellent lunch spot at a restaurant called "Aegean" in Olympia village!

For Kotor DO NOT MISS the sail in through the fjord.

At the pier, engage a private taxi for a tour. The drive over the mountains is breathtaking. Great views! Taco drivers will stand around holding home made posters that show you what tours they offer. Well worth it!

We paid something like 50 Euro for a few hours.

Athens HoHo bus network is excellent, inexpensive, frequent and they get you from the ship. The companies all know when a where the cruise ships are docked and schedule accordingly.

 

In Olympia, don't miss the museum

It's not huge, but very, very well presented. Excellent lunch spot at a restaurant called "Aegean" in Olympia village!

 

For Kotor DO NOT MISS the sail in through the fjord.

At the pier, engage a private taxi for a tour. The drive over the mountains is breathtaking. Great views! Taco drivers will stand around holding home made posters that show you what tours they offer. Well worth it!

We paid something like 50 Euro for a few hours.

We were in Athens this past June for 3 days. Surprisingly that was still not enough time. For this cruise we will visit the Agora and the Panathenaic.

Thank you for the info on Kotor.

1. I did not know there are fjords there.

2. What are taco drivers?

3. We are a group of 6 - are cars in Kotor large enough to carry us all?

4. What city are the fjords in?

5. We are docked for a very short time (7am-1pm). Will we have enough time for this? Upon learning this, I really want to do this! :-)

We were in Athens this past June for 3 days. Surprisingly that was still not enough time. For this cruise we will visit the Agora and the Panathenaic.

 

Thank you for the info on Kotor.

 

1. I did not know there are fjords there.

2. What are taco drivers?

A:

TAXI drivers! @#$%% auto correct! ☺

3. We are a group of 6 - are cars in Kotor large enough to carry us all?

A:

There may be a few mini buses but I mostly noticed regular Mercedes cars.

4. What city are the fjords in?

A: Kotor. By fjords I mean the loooooong passage from the open sea into Kotir bay. Google earth search Kotir, and you get the idea. Passage takes a good few hours and is truly wonderful.

5. We are docked for a very short time (7am-1pm). Will we have enough time for this? Upon learning this, I really want to do this! :-

A: The drivers will be very aware of how long the ships are in port and tailor a tour accordingly.

It's not a very BIG place. A 2 or 3 hour tour is plenty! Hey, and in the cathedral in town they have some spectacularly ugly mummified Saint lady!