Walking at Greek Isles ports

We'll be visiting Corfu, Chania, Mykonos, and Santorini while sailing aboard the Crown Princess next spring. We have a few concerns about walking uphill (up steps) to get into the towns where we disembark as well as when we travel around each island - mainly because of the photos we've seen of those islands. Will this be a problem or is it just my imagination?

The only island I've been to is Santorini. The ship will be anchoring there, as the port is really shallow...in fact it's where many believe Atlantis is! There are 3 ways you can get to the town after you tender in: walking 6K+ steps, taking a gondola, or taking a donkey. If you are afraid of heights, I would not recommend taking the donkey! Here's why:

My sister is afraid of heights, and while the rest of my family and I took the gondola up, she took the donkey. At the bottom of the crater, they have you mount the donkey, slap him on the rear, and he just goes up. He knows where he's going. Every time he took a turn however, all my sister could see was ocean! So my sister yelled at the donkey to make him slow down....which only made him go faster! Then the guy behind her was also afraid of heights and also yelling at his donkey to slow down, which only made it go faster! Then, my sister starts yelling at the guy to stop yelling at his donkey, which is only making her donkey go faster! Pretty soon the donkeys are racing each other up the side of the crater! Needless to say, she took the gondola back down!

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Mykonos town doesn’t have a lot of steps and is fairly flat. They tender you into town or bus from the port about a mile away. Your best bet in Santorini is to take the cable car.

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We'll be visiting Corfu, Chania, Mykonos, and Santorini while sailing aboard the Crown Princess next spring. We have a few concerns about walking uphill (up steps) to get into the towns where we disembark as well as when we travel around each island - mainly because of the photos we've seen of those islands. Will this be a problem or is it just my imagination?

You've been looking at too many photos of the cliff path on Santorini. :D

Most folk would pale at that climb. :eek:

So take the cablecar up to Fira, or a donkey (mule) up that path, or a boat from the tender jetty to Oia where the road comes down to the jetty and a bus up to Oia village is (certainly was) included.

And if walking downhill is also a problem for you, you'll need to be at the top cablecar station an hour or more ahead of time to allow for lines for the return to the tender jetty.

I can't think of anywhere else that'd be problematic unless you want to explore a castle or whatever. Mykonos & Curfu are both pretty level & don't involve significant steps. I don't know Chania

JB :)

We'll be visiting Corfu, Chania, Mykonos, and Santorini while sailing aboard the Crown Princess next spring. We have a few concerns about walking uphill (up steps) to get into the towns where we disembark as well as when we travel around each island - mainly because of the photos we've seen of those islands. Will this be a problem or is it just my imagination?

Corfu: Fairly flat in Corfu town. Ships usually run a shuttle into town from the port as otherwise it's a bit of a walk. Even with the shuttle I seem to recall a lengthy (but flat) stretch of walk along the pier to where our ship docked. We were only there a few hours so did not venture anywhere else on the island.

Chania: Ships dock in Souda, a long way from Chania. Generally there is either a ship shuttle or a special local bus for a small charge to take you into the town. From the drop-off point (local market), there is a gentle sloping walk down to the harbor (and a corresponding uphill slope coming back).

Mykonos: Ships may anchor and use tenders to take you right to the center of the town, which spreads out along the shore. Or they may dock a bit further away -- again a shuttle is usually available and preferable to walking. Apparently there is also a sort of water taxi also available from the pier to the town. Walking around town isn't too bad but if you venture up some of the windy roads off the main street or two, you may run into some inclines and some short sets of steps.

Santorini: This is a tender port. If you take a ship tour, you'll be tendered to the spot where you board your bus, no significant steps. If you do not take a ship tour you'll be tendered to a different place at the foot of a high cliff where you can take the cable car to the village at the top or you can walk or ride a donkey up the very long set of steps. Both Fira (the town at the top of the cliff) and Oia (a charming town many go to either by bus, taxi or on a shore excursion) involve some inclines and a few steps here and there due to the hilly terrain. One option some people use is taking a boat from the independent tender stop directly around the island to Oia. I haven't done it, so I'm not sure how one gets from the dock at Oia up to the town.

I've been to all those ports and you will be fine provided you don't have serious mobility issues. They all have little ups and downs but are generally reasonably flat. In Santorini the trip from the tender port to Oia and back to Fira involves getting the boat to Oia where they take you from the port up to the town in a coach. Once in Oia you'll be fine. The price of the ticket includes a coach from Oia to Fira where you can get the cable car down to the tender boat for your ship.

Mykonos is a tender port and they drop you right into the town. In Corfu and Chania the ports are about ten minutes by bus into the town. The hilliest bit of Corfu is the castle but you can still go in but just don't attempt to get to the top. Don't worry, you'll have a great time in all of the ports.

Mykonos is a tender port and they drop you right into the town.

Mykonos is not always a tender port. There is a pier that can take about 2 ships. As noted above, it's a fair distance from this pier into town and not a pleasant walk -- best to take the shuttle or the water taxi.

Mykonos is not always a tender port. There is a pier that can take about 2 ships. As noted above, it's a fair distance from this pier into town and not a pleasant walk -- best to take the shuttle or the water taxi.

Yes, I’ve been to Mykonos a few times and have never tendered. There has always been another ship tendering though.

It can work either way.

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