loisftax

DH and I visited Santorini this past fall on a Celebrity cruise. We rented a car from Santorini Holiday Cars. We were on the island most of the day (8A - 4P). The car rental company met us at the top of the cable car at 9A. Very quickly we were off to Oia.

 

We spent about an hour and a half in Oia. Not too many tourist there at the time. By the time we left Oia, the bus loads were arriving. We then went to the ruins at Akortiri. No one was there. I found it very interesting. No, not as impressive at Delos or Ephesus, but you felt like you were in the middle of an excavation site (which you are!).

 

On to Santos Winery where we sampled a wine flight and had snacks with it. We live in a California wine appellation and know winery owners, are members of wine clubs, etc. So we try to explore wine areas throughout the world. We then tried to visit a winery/gallery. Unbeknownst to us, it had closed for the season. However, the owner was there doing work. When we told him we had travel a long way to see his winery, he gave us a private tour and tasting. We bought a bottle of sweet wine for our 20 something yr. old son. The we visited a wine museum (history of wine making in Santorini) and tasted their wines. All in all, the wines on Santorini are OK, but not great. However their vineyards are fascinating. They grow the grape vines in circles (like a basket) with the grapes in the middle. It is to protect the grapes and vines from the wind.

 

We finished up in Fira. We returned the car and walked around the town. We were back on the ship by 4:15P.

 

We had a blast. We covered quite a bit of the island. We sat on our cabin balcony drinking California wine while watching the sun set as the ship sailed from Santorini.

Do you recall about how much the car rental was? Was it difficult driving in Santorini?