Santorini DIY - possible? And questions

[Infi]

We will be in Santorini on June 25 on the Crown Princess from 7am-6pm. There are only two other ships scheduled to be in port that day: a small Windstar ship and a larger MSC ship that arrives mid-afternoon. I'm not very worried about lines for the cable car (should I be?) but the buses are my concern. Lately I've read a lot of horror stories about the crowded buses between Fira and Oia, people pushing and shoving to get on or off. I don't think the morning will be a problem with only one ship in port, but how bad will it be to get back to Fira in the afternoon?

 

Here is my tentative DIY plan:

Tender off ship as close to 8am as possible, take cable car up

8:30am-11am: explore Fira and visit museum of prehistoric Thira

11:15am: Take bus to Oia

Noon: Arrive in Oia and have lunch

1-3pm: Wander Oia

3:30pm: Catch bus back to Fira

4pm: Take cable car back down, tender back to ship

 

A few questions:

1. Is this DIY feasible? If there's anything I should noteworthy I should add or delete, please let me know.

2. Taxis: How much is a taxi fare between Fira and Oia? Where is the taxi depot located in Oia?

3. Any recommendations for an inexpensive to moderately priced restaurant in Oia with a nice view?

4. Any recommendations for a good printable map of Fira and Oia, or a self guided walking tour?

 

Thanks in advance for your help!

[paul929207]

If possible, I would do Oia first. That way you can always cut of the time in Fira if you are running late or have trouble with the bus.

[texancruzer]

First rule of travel when doing DIY:

 

"Always head to the furthest point first and work your way back towards the ship."

 

Just good travel sense.

[zqvol]

We will be in Santorini on June 25 on the Crown Princess from 7am-6pm. There are only two other ships scheduled to be in port that day: a small Windstar ship and a larger MSC ship that arrives mid-afternoon. I'm not very worried about lines for the cable car (should I be?) but the buses are my concern. Lately I've read a lot of horror stories about the crowded buses between Fira and Oia, people pushing and shoving to get on or off. I don't think the morning will be a problem with only one ship in port, but how bad will it be to get back to Fira in the afternoon?

 

Here is my tentative DIY plan:

Tender off ship as close to 8am as possible, take cable car up

8:30am-11am: explore Fira and visit museum of prehistoric Thira

11:15am: Take bus to Oia

Noon: Arrive in Oia and have lunch

1-3pm: Wander Oia

3:30pm: Catch bus back to Fira

4pm: Take cable car back down, tender back to ship

 

A few questions:

1. Is this DIY feasible? If there's anything I should noteworthy I should add or delete, please let me know.

2. Taxis: How much is a taxi fare between Fira and Oia? Where is the taxi depot located in Oia?

3. Any recommendations for an inexpensive to moderately priced restaurant in Oia with a nice view?

4. Any recommendations for a good printable map of Fira and Oia, or a self guided walking tour?

 

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

First don't count on your list of ships being correct. I know that in addition to the ships you list Sea Dream will be there and you can expect at lest 3 or 4 more large ships on lines that you have never heard of. Two years ago we were there supposedly with two other ships and there were 14 there that day.

 

 

You schedule will work just fine, though you may not get to Thira until about 9:00. It takes longer to get tendered in and off the ship than you think, especially if your ship drops the tours off first and then moves to start tendering.

 

I have never seen any tours of either Thira or Oia and maps are spartan at best. Remember that these are tiny towns with only a couple of streets. There is nothing particular to see other than the views themselves, except for the cathedral.

 

 

 

 

Dig around here for more pictures of Santorini

 

[cruisin'tex]

We will be in Santorini on June 25 on the Crown Princess from 7am-6pm. There are only two other ships scheduled to be in port that day: a small Windstar ship and a larger MSC ship that arrives mid-afternoon. I'm not very worried about lines for the cable car (should I be?) but the buses are my concern. Lately I've read a lot of horror stories about the crowded buses between Fira and Oia, people pushing and shoving to get on or off. I don't think the morning will be a problem with only one ship in port, but how bad will it be to get back to Fira in the afternoon?

 

Here is my tentative DIY plan:

Tender off ship as close to 8am as possible, take cable car up

8:30am-11am: explore Fira and visit museum of prehistoric Thira

11:15am: Take bus to Oia

Noon: Arrive in Oia and have lunch

1-3pm: Wander Oia

3:30pm: Catch bus back to Fira

4pm: Take cable car back down, tender back to ship

 

A few questions:

1. Is this DIY feasible? If there's anything I should noteworthy I should add or delete, please let me know.

2. Taxis: How much is a taxi fare between Fira and Oia? Where is the taxi depot located in Oia?

3. Any recommendations for an inexpensive to moderately priced restaurant in Oia with a nice view?

4. Any recommendations for a good printable map of Fira and Oia, or a self guided walking tour?

 

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

Sounds like your hours in Santorini are very comparable to what we did on April 13 HAL Prinsendam. Port time for our ship was 8 AM to 4 PM.

 

DIY is very possible but I would head to Oia first. We were the only ship there; so knew there wouldn't be a problem with getting on a bus. But we wanted to avoid ship's tours.

 

We were on one of the first tenders (after shore excursions disembarked). Once off tender, we took a cable car (I believe it was 5 Euros p.p. - but can't find specifically in my notes) to top of Thira. From cable car station, we walked right and downhill towards bus station (stopping once for directions) and got there shortly before 9:30 AM. We boarded a bus and paid the driver - 1,60 Euro p.p. one way. Even though the posted bus schedule said departure was at 10 AM, we actually left at 9:50. Drive was gorgeous.

 

Oia is an amazing cliff-side town. We wandered around there for approximately 1 1/2 hours. And then we returned to Thira on the 11:35 AM bus. Once again 1,60 Euro p.p. paid on bus.

 

After spending some time in Thira, we braved the walk (rather than cable car) back down to the tender port to get some amazing photos. Walk wasn't bad and since Thira wasn't packed with tourists/ships passengers, the donkeys hadn't been used much. So the walk/steps were not littered from droppings as we had expected.

 

Enjoy....it's a beautiful place to visit!

[Infi]

First don't count on your list of ships being correct. I know that in addition to the ships you list Sea Dream will be there and you can expect at lest 3 or 4 more large ships on lines that you have never heard of. Two years ago we were there supposedly with two other ships and there were 14 there that day.

 

Where are you getting this information from? My info is from cruisetimetables. I was not able to find a port website for Santorini (where one can usually get accurate info about those "large ships on lines you have never heard of" :rolleyes:), so would be curious as to how you know this additional info.

[Infi]

Thank you to all for your helpful input, I greatly appreciate it. I know the conventional wisdom to start out far and work your way back, but I figured since these towns aren't too far apart it wouldn't be a big issue. If worse came to worse with the bus, I would just grab a cab back to Fira. But, since everyone seems to think switching Oia to morning is best, I'll give it a shot.

 

Will I miss anything by heading to Oia in the morning and Fira in the afternoon? Was under the impression that afternoon was a better time to explore Oia, have lunch, etc. Will Fira be more crowded in the afternoon with all the returning excursions?

[Suzieanna]

We stood in a queue for an hour and a half to get into one of those cable car things at Santorini, but I think that could have been because there were a few ships "in" that day. I would have liked to have gone on a donkey but I heard that they are naughty and they try to scrape your knees against walls! (this could be inaccurate, my husband likes to tell me fibs!)

 

If you do Fira first, you can always tailor that part of the morning to account for how long you had to queue, plus it means you get to be "outside" in the afternoon

 

Santorini is so pretty!

[texancruzer]

Thank you to all for your helpful input, I greatly appreciate it. I know the conventional wisdom to start out far and work your way back, but I figured since these towns aren't too far apart it wouldn't be a big issue. If worse came to worse with the bus, I would just grab a cab back to Fira. But, since everyone seems to think switching Oia to morning is best, I'll give it a shot.

 

Will I miss anything by heading to Oia in the morning and Fira in the afternoon? Was under the impression that afternoon was a better time to explore Oia, have lunch, etc. Will Fira be more crowded in the afternoon with all the returning excursions?

 

I always use Cruisecal for checking ports..... it is $3.00 per month for a subscription (I enroll for 1 month - check my ports - then let subscription expire) as they seem to have the most accurate info.

 

As for just figuring these towns aren't that far apart...... that is how you can get in trouble. As for getting a taxi in Oia, you must figure that you will not be the only one with this idea....... so don't assume there will be one for you.

 

Depending on how many (accurate count) ships there will be - Oia AND Fira could be crowded......morning and afternoon. Some ships arrive early - some later in the day. When we visited we had a 2pm - 10 pm timeframe (screwy at best is how I would describe it)

 

We stood in a queue for an hour and a half to get into one of those cable car things at Santorini, but I think that could have been because there were a few ships "in" that day. I would have liked to have gone on a donkey but I heard that they are naughty and they try to scrape your knees against walls! (this could be inaccurate, my husband likes to tell me fibs!)

 

If you do Fira first, you can always tailor that part of the morning to account for how long you had to queue, plus it means you get to be "outside" in the afternoon

 

Santorini is so pretty!

 

Yes, the donkeys can "act up" a bit.....mine headed toward the wall once - but I kicked away from it and he got the idea that I wasn't going to allow that ! It was an experience I will remember always - along with the picture they took on the way up :D

[lanceholt]

We did a DIY last week in Santorini. Our ship docked at 1pm and left at 10pm. We were in a suite so were on the first tender. We used the cable car both ways and the line was not bad either way, about 30 minutes each time.

 

We headed toward Oia first. Walked to the bus station and then waited a bit for a bus. The buses are newish, very clean and comfortable. The bus to Oia was very crowded with some people standing. You pay the fare on the bus. The buses are often 10 minutes or so later than the timetables state. The drive is just spectacular and takes about 30 minutes or so. I have heard that the taxi drivers can be a bit dicier than the buses. Our concierge recommended it as quite an experience and he was right.

 

We walked around in Oia for about 90 minutes, very crowded and very hot sun. The whole thing is the view and then the shops. When we got back to Fira, we did likewise. I think it is really best to do Oia first as so many points of this port can take a bit longer and once back in Fira later in the day you don't have to worry about when to leave for the ship again.

 

We had a drink before leaving Fira at Franco's Bar, with a drop dead view of the caldera, quiet classical music, and for the price of a not so cheap drink you can sit as long as you like. It was our favorite part of our day.

 

We were a little worried starting out as there were so many points in the journey, but all went smoothly.

[zqvol]

Where are you getting this information from? My info is from cruisetimetables. I was not able to find a port website for Santorini (where one can usually get accurate info about those "large ships on lines you have never heard of" :rolleyes:), so would be curious as to how you know this additional info.

 

 

I know about Sea Dream because I checked their website since I know where their ships are sailing this time of year. I did not look at Seaborne, Crystal, or Regent which are also in the area this time of year. The European lines never show up on the web sites because they are designed for US cruisers and they don't pick up the European lines, and the ferries which run 8 - 10 times per day and carry large numbers of people never show up on those sites either.

 

As far as the accuracy of the sites, we cruise 3 - 4 times a year, and while I check the sites, I have never once found them to be 100% accurate.

[Lolotte]

We have been twice to Santorini and the second time we got smarter, we went to Oia first !!!! The Cabs in oia are often waiting for the people they brought over so not many are open to new customers.

We rode the bus to Oia at 9H30 and walked back to Fira. Wonderful trail.

[Infi]

As far as the accuracy of the sites, we cruise 3 - 4 times a year, and while I check the sites, I have never once found them to be 100% accurate.

 

Thank you for your information. I only cruise 5 times each year, and was not aware of such things. :rolleyes:

 

Considering it is a free service, Cruisetimetables gives a ballpark figure of ships that is more than sufficient.

[Infi]

Thank you to all those who were helpful and shared their experiences with this port. I will switch our schedule to Oia in the morning and Fira in the afternoon because that is the popular opinion here. As for how many ships will be in port, time will tell better than predictions on the internet from CCers. ;)

[May B]

Santorini has been said to have the best sunset "in the world". Dramatic, I know, but I sure was hoping to be on a ship that stayed in port late enough for me to see the sunset!

 

For late June, it would still be difficult with a 10 pm departure, as sunset is close to 9 pm. For some of the rest of the year, it would be easier.

 

With a 6 pm departure, I'll just have to enjoy sunset from the ship ... during dinner!

[tom_uk]

Just musing, and not very helpfully at that, but it is of course possible that it's Cruise Critic that's responsible for the problems getting back from Oia. 6+ years ago there were fewer ships in the E Med, and those that there were, were smaller than now. Some brave souls did their own thing and wrote about it, here, and on other sites. Now many people have read how to do Oia on their own, are trying to do so, and basically the infrastructure is over loaded.

 

I don't know what the solution is. Other than cut back the number of ships calling there, and in other crowded places.

[CruiserBruce]

I agree with the comments to go to Oia first.

 

Cab should be 20 euro.

 

Your plan is doable- it is similar to the plan- with the suggested changes- we did.

[Travelcat2]

Just a side note..... Sea Dream will also be in Santorini that day but they do not have that many passengers.

 

Also agree -- do Oia first and as early as possible. Shops open around 9:00 a.m.

[crafter188]

 

Dig around here for more pictures of Santorini

 

 

Oh my, these are beautiful pictures!! We are going to be on Santorini in September and I can hardly wait to see this beautiful setting for myself. I hope my pictures turn out half as good as yours are!

[kestrel]

Yes, go to Oia first. It doesn't take many cruises to get the cable car line queued up. The day when we were in Santorini, our cruise was the only one there. Cable car ride in the morning was short. However, when we reached the cabin car station in the afternoon, we heard the waiting line was about an hour! It seems that everyone planned to return at the same time. We decided to walk down. It was a nice walk except that we needed to share the path with donkeys. If you spend the afternoon in Fira, you can check the cable car queue from time to time.

[Aquahound]

Thank you to all those who were helpful and shared their experiences with this port. I will switch our schedule to Oia in the morning and Fira in the afternoon because that is the popular opinion here. As for how many ships will be in port, time will tell better than predictions on the internet from CCers. ;)

 

Good idea. I was there on a cruise May 17. We walked the couple blocks to the bus station and paid the 1.60 Euros each. It was only about a 20 minute ride.

 

After returning from Oia, we were much less impressed with Fira. Oia is where you go for all the post card photos.

 

For ships in port, you can check www.cruisett.com

 

Here are a couple of my Oia pics:

 

 

 

[Mexfolkart]

Do check first as to what time the Museum you want to see is open. I believe it has odd hours..like only until 230pm or some such..double check that..otherwise I also vote for Oia in the AM..MUCH better and easier.

Sherry

[Travel Writing Mary]

MAKE SURE the busses are not on strike. Last year the cab drivers were on strike but luckily the bus drivers weren't. There were 7 ships in port and Fira was a zoo. We loved hiking from Fira to Oia. Then we took the bus back. Yes it was crowded. No, not really pushing and shoving and anyhow a second bus showed up about two seconds after everyone tried to cram on the first one. But this was in part due to there being no cabs. People took cabs to Oia and THEN all the cab drivers went on strike. What a country. I agree; go to Oia first.

[wassup4565]

I've been reading so much about this place, and now I'm just thinking I'll stay on the ship. It sounds like everything is overrun by tourists, hour-long lineups or biting pooping donkeys as an alternative. Could somebody give me any idea why I would subject myself to this? So I can achieve some kind of fabulous view? Puh-leese.

 

This place sounds like a nightmare to me.

[ucfknight07]

First don't count on your list of ships being correct. I know that in addition to the ships you list Sea Dream will be there and you can expect at lest 3 or 4 more large ships on lines that you have never heard of. Two years ago we were there supposedly with two other ships and there were 14 there that day.

 

 

You schedule will work just fine, though you may not get to Thira until about 9:00. It takes longer to get tendered in and off the ship than you think, especially if your ship drops the tours off first and then moves to start tendering.

 

I have never seen any tours of either Thira or Oia and maps are spartan at best. Remember that these are tiny towns with only a couple of streets. There is nothing particular to see other than the views themselves, except for the cathedral.

 

 

 

 

Dig around here for more pictures of Santorini

 

 

This may be a silly question, but was conservative dress (shoulders and knees covered) required to enter the churches? And which church is that in your picture? I'd love to see it, but being that we will be there in the end of July, I planned to wear shorts that day.