Santorini Help! Beach & Seeing the Town

[bellebride116]

We are itnerested in walking around town {seeing the white buildings} and going to the beach. Can someone recommend what to do? Our ship offers an excursion to Perissa Beach... is this the nicest beach or are there nicer? Can we still go to town from here?

[Susan-M]

We stopped at Kamari Beach for a quick swim...it's very close to Perissa with similar black volcanic pebble/sand. Here's a site with info/photos on Santorini beaches. Also, this site provides some interesting info ... scroll through the index on the left for details on other aspects of Santorini, plus maps.

 

We rented a car and toured much of the island, but you could take a bus (from Fira to either Kamari or Perissa). You can get bus schedules from this site by clicking on 'Services' and 'Timetables'. If you click on 'show me the route' just above each schedule, it shows a route map.

 

If you do the ship's tour, often they end in Fira where you'll have a chance to have some free time and that's one place where you'll see the white painted buildings on the caldera. (Oia and Imerovigli are also popular towns to visit, but further north of Fira, whereas the beaches are south). Here's a map for reference.

 

When will you be visiting Santorini and what hours are you in port for?

[bellebride116]

So helpful thank you! We are going in August... time in port is 2-10PM.

 

How are the taxi's there? Is it realistic to think we can get one at the port and take us to the beach... then another cab to take us back to the port where we can walk around and shop and see all the white buildings or is this in a different area?

[Susan-M]

So helpful thank you! We are going in August... time in port is 2-10PM.

 

How are the taxi's there? Is it realistic to think we can get one at the port and take us to the beach... then another cab to take us back to the port where we can walk around and shop and see all the white buildings or is this in a different area?

 

I'm not sure about availability of taxis; personally I would take the bus for 1 euro each if doing it on my own vs. a taxi.

 

However, with a 2 p.m. arrival, you may be a while before getting to the beach if you go on your own. At Santorini, those on ships' excursions are usually tendered first (to Athinios, where the buses can meet them). Those not on ships' excursions are then tendered to Skala Fira (to the cable car). This process can take a while, so it could be 3:30 or later by the time you make it to the top of the cable car ... then another half hour or more to make your way to the beach via taxi or bus. (These times can vary a lot depending on how large your ship is, when you get off in relation to others, and if you are competing with passengers from other ships for the cable car.)

 

If you take the ship's excursion, you'll be off the ship faster and likely at the beach much sooner than if you DIY.

 

How long does the shore ex last? Just curious as I think it's nice to see the beaches on Santorini and have a quick swim, but if you plan to stay for any length of time, I think you'll need to rent chairs as a pebble beach isn't the best for sitting or laying on a towel.:)

[sunsetbeachgal]

Just went to Santorini on a wonderful Med Cruise...when you say see the "white buildings" the really gorgeous ones perched on the side of the mountian are in the town of Oia...the ships tender into the town of Fira (actually Fira is right at the top of the funicular or donkey ride). It is cute with shops, restaurants, but if you really want to see the wonderful picture postcard town you need to go to Oia. We took a public bus over there and walked around-seems as if it took around 20 minutes. I saw lots of taxis everywhere-have no idea of the amount. The bus was only a couple of euros per person each way.

 

Not sure how your timing is, but I wouldn't miss Oia!! ;)

[zqvol]

We are itnerested in walking around town {seeing the white buildings} and going to the beach. Can someone recommend what to do? Our ship offers an excursion to Perissa Beach... is this the nicest beach or are there nicer? Can we still go to town from here?

 

You should probably get a written guide to the Greek Islands and do some more research. What you want to do is on opposite ends of the island, and involves quiet a bit of travel. You are going to be there at the height of tourist season and the island will be packed.

 

If I were you with the limited amount of time that you are going to have on the island I would find a ships tour that does what you want, and make sure that it includes OIA.

[bellebride116]

Thanks for all the advice. So we def. want to go to Oia then! There is a 3 1/2 hr tour that goes there for $72 pp and leaves pretty much right when the boat docks at 2pm. We are docked until 10pm.... the tour concludes in Fira.... do you think it would then be possible to visit a beach after that or no?

[Cornishpastyman1]

Thanks for all the advice. So we def. want to go to Oia then! There is a 3 1/2 hr tour that goes there for $72 pp and leaves pretty much right when the boat docks at 2pm. We are docked until 10pm.... the tour concludes in Fira.... do you think it would then be possible to visit a beach after that or no?

 

There's a brief glimpse of Perissa Beach at around 0.20 on this

 

We got there by bus from Fira and the trip took about 30 minutes.

 

If your tour finishes at around 6 pm you clearly have time to get to the beach if the buses are still running then and more crucially will get you back by say 9 pm. Are you hoping to go for a swim ? Maybe you could do it the other way round, i.e. beach first by bus and then Oia by bus.

 

Whatever, I hope you have a great day there (and everywhere on the cruise :))

 

Tony

[screwcork]

If this is your only trip to Santorini I would forget about the beach - probably you'll have the chance during your cruise to see nicer beaches than the ones you can see in Santorini. I would start with Fira and go from there to Oía to see the sunset. You only have 8 hours in total meaning that you only have 6 hours to experience Fira and Oía. Good luck!

 

Screwcork

[Hlitner]

We think the best beach (by far) on Santorini is Red Beach. Fortunately, there are no "excursions" that go to Red Beach, no tour buses, and the best part is there are not any large crowds. This beach works for those with a rental car who do not mind the short hike from parking lot to beach. As to Perissa it is a pretty decent beach for those that want to be near facilities and lots of people.

 

Hank

[4774Papa]

If this is your only trip to Santorini I would forget about the beach - probably you'll have the chance during your cruise to see nicer beaches than the ones you can see in Santorini. I would start with Fira and go from there to Oía to see the sunset. You only have 8 hours in total meaning that you only have 6 hours to experience Fira and Oía. Good luck!

 

Screwcork

 

 

Are you also going to Mykonos? If so, that is the place to go to the beach. Santorini is my favorite Greek island, and we took an NCL excursion to maximize our time on the island. We saw a lot of the island, even though we arrived there at 4PM. I realize that others have different choices, but Santorini is very special, and deserves to be explored.

NCL did have excurisions were you could swim in the caldera, which sounded inviting.