Our DIY Santorini Report

[prish]

StartrainDD, you were indeed lucky to be the only ship in port and by the looks of it you had a wonderful day! We'll be in Santorini next June and am debating between either renting a car for the four of us or putting together a group from our RC and taking a tour of the island. From what you say parking isn't too bad in Oia, we'll probably return the car once we get to Fira and then wander around in town. I see you didn't visit Akrotiri, any particular reason, is it hard to get there?

[StartrainDD]

StartrainDD, you were indeed lucky to be the only ship in port and by the looks of it you had a wonderful day! We'll be in Santorini next June and am debating between either renting a car for the four of us or putting together a group from our RC and taking a tour of the island. From what you say parking isn't too bad in Oia, we'll probably return the car once we get to Fira and then wander around in town. I see you didn't visit Akrotiri, any particular reason, is it hard to get there?

 

If there are one or two ships in port the car rental should work fine. Parking in Oia was no issue at all, there is a large car lot near the bus station. Of course, we were early, and the only ship. Even when we left Oia there was still plenty of spots.

 

We passed signs pointing towards Akrotiri. We had Ephesus and Athens on this trip, and just weren't really interested in seeing more ruins while on Santorini.

 

The trip to Santos wines is worth it even if you have no interest in wine. They have an incredible "Perch" on a high spot of the Caldera. When we were back on board it was easy to pick out where we had been at Santos from the ship.

 

In June there will be much more activity at the beach - that could be a nice break too so long as you watch your time.

[prish]

Thanks StartrainDD, guess we'll most probably give Akritiri a miss as DH gets "ruined out" pretty fast! And yes, the views from the Santo winery are to die for, the wines aren't bad either, makes for a good mid-afternoon break:)

[Raschueler]

This report is fabulous! Thank you for posting it. I was wondering if they allow two people on the four wheelers? I'd rather just rent one and ride on the back like we do at home.

[pinkroses]

After reading this thread we were able to create our own DIY of Santorini in June of 2013.we rented a car from Tony's where we were treated like family. It is a short walk from the cable car. We toured Fira and Oia heading to Oia first because it was early. We ended the day on a black sand beach. There are many places that rent beach chairs and umbrellas for the day or half day. It was truly a spectacular day. One that I will repeat one day!

Edited February 6, 2014 by pinkroses

[prish]

After reading this thread we were able to create our own DIY of Santorini in June of 2013.we rented a car from Tony's where we were treated like family. It is a short walk from the cable car. We toured Fira and Oia heading to Oia first because it was early. We ended the day on a black sand beach. There are many places that rent beach chairs and umbrellas for the day or half day. It was truly a spectacular day. One that I will repeat one day!

 

We've decided to go DIY too this June, have just booked a car with Tony's. The Equinox tenders at 7am, so we'll try and get off the ship asap to beat the crowds at the cable car. We're all Elite, so hopefully it shouldn't be too hard. Would like to spend a couple of hours in Oia in the morning, then head to Santo around noon. Can't wait to get there...:)

[LIMPIT]

Hi,

great review and photo`s.

We are visiting in June on the Celebrity Reflection (7am-6pm) and always do diy.

We were planning the speedboat, mini bus option to Oia but after reading your review the Mule,ATV option looks loads more fun :)

I have reserved the Kymco MXU 300cc from Markos which hopefully should have sufficient power to get myself and DW around the Island without holding up following traffic. What is the fuel policy that Markos employ, full tank on collection return with full tank ?

Plan to collect at approx 9.30am subject to time we arrive by tender, visit Oia, visit the Winery, visit the restaurant that you recommend and try to squeeze in a short visit to one of the beaches for a swim and drink before returning back to Fira to look round.

Really looking forward to this Port.

[wanderlust35]

Hi, I have a couple questions!

 

My husband and I will be visiting Santorini on our upcoming cruise. My brother, an avid traveler, recommended renting a scooter/moped to see the island, but we have a few questions.

 

Our ship doesn't leave port until 10:00 PM. If we have a moped/ATV, would we have enough time to watch the sunset in Oia, then return to our boat? My understanding is that sunset is at 7:30?

4) My husband is 6'7". Will he even fit on a moped/ATV? It is likely he will not fit in a smart car, and neither of us can drive standard well.

[eptice]

Hi, I have a couple questions!

 

My husband and I will be visiting Santorini on our upcoming cruise. My brother, an avid traveler, recommended renting a scooter/moped to see the island, but we have a few questions.

 

Our ship doesn't leave port until 10:00 PM. If we have a moped/ATV, would we have enough time to watch the sunset in Oia, then return to our boat? My understanding is that sunset is at 7:30?

4) My husband is 6'7". Will he even fit on a moped/ATV? It is likely he will not fit in a smart car, and neither of us can drive standard well.

 

Hello Wanderlust, I believe I am on the same ship as you (Jade from 1:30-10:00pm). We are sailing in early October. As I have not sailed in Santorini yet, I will give you the advice I have found on CC and doing other research on my own.

 

1- If sunset is at 7:30, you should finish your meal in Fira or Imerovigli around 8pm in order to queue to the ship in enough time.

 

2- I have a hard time believing someone 6'7" is going to fit on a moped, however an ATV could be the way to go. Just be careful, as MANY tourists have problems on the windy, hilly roads, and are not used to driving ATV's. Another alternative may be renting a jeep - we used tonys car rentals in Fira and have had great communication with them (although I cannot tell you how they are until I actually take the trip). We have an automatic car booked with them.

 

Hope some of this info helps! :)

[wanderlust35]

Hello Wanderlust, I believe I am on the same ship as you (Jade from 1:30-10:00pm). We are sailing in early October. As I have not sailed in Santorini yet, I will give you the advice I have found on CC and doing other research on my own.

 

1- If sunset is at 7:30, you should finish your meal in Fira or Imerovigli around 8pm in order to queue to the ship in enough time.

 

2- I have a hard time believing someone 6'7" is going to fit on a moped, however an ATV could be the way to go. Just be careful, as MANY tourists have problems on the windy, hilly roads, and are not used to driving ATV's. Another alternative may be renting a jeep - we used tonys car rentals in Fira and have had great communication with them (although I cannot tell you how they are until I actually take the trip). We have an automatic car booked with them.

 

Hope some of this info helps! :)

 

Thank you! We are also looking into the boat/bus option that several people have mentioned.

[randych]

We just returned from our cruise, and had a great experience with Tony's car rental. The location is a short walk from the top of the tram, and filling out the paperwork was quick and easy. The car was almost new and in great shape. It was definitely a small car, and it was a manual shift, but I'm pretty sure they had larger automatics available as well.

 

Driving around Santorini was reasonably easy. There are quite a few large tour buses to watch out for, but other than that, driving and parking was a breeze. I'm glad we did it.

[Ewoodspark]

We just returned from our cruise, and had a great experience with Tony's car rental. The location is a short walk from the top of the tram, and filling out the paperwork was quick and easy. The car was almost new and in great shape.

Can you please advise the cost of the rental for a few hours and the make of car? Did you have to fill up with any more petrol?

[randych]

Can you please advise the cost of the rental for a few hours and the make of car? Did you have to fill up with any more petrol?

 

I think it was a Hyundai i10, and almost new -- around 4,000 km on the odometer. We paid 47 Euro total, and they ask that you bring it back with the same amount of petrol as when you picked it up. I ended up putting just a couple of liters in the car before returning it.

[Kathryn23]

Would you be able to email me your post with the pictures? For some reason they aren't showing up on my computer on this forum. My email address is airbarren@yahoo.com. My mom and I are going to Santorini next week and we can't wait!

[rdt10]

We were in Santorini two weeks ago and used Marko's ATV. We had reserved 2 atv's for the 3 of us. I was not impressed with Marko's. It was difficult to find as there was no sign and the map on the website didn't help me or the several people I asked to find it. I was told they recently moved. If you have a reservation with them go to the main street from the cable car, turn right down the hill. Before you get to the left turn there is a small alley on the right side with atv's lined up next to a bakery. That's Marko's. We finally found them around 8:30 but they weren't open and the person there didn't speak English or know about our reservation other to say they didn't have the large atv I reserved. He made a phone call and about 15 minutes later someone drove up in an atv with our reservation. We gave him our drivers licenses and took the atv he came in and another. The fuel tank is empty so you need to go to the gas station before you can leave town. I asked for a map but they didn't have any. They said follow the road to the gas station and then back toward Oia. The atv's worked but were far from new. We had a nice time going to Oia. Returned around 2:30. The person in charge was again not there so they called him and about 15 minutes later he arrived with our licenses and took our money. It seemed that this was a temporary or overflow location for one of the several atv rental shops closer to the cable car exit. If I had not reserved the atv's and was worried about getting hit with a no show charge on my credit card I would have rented from one of the rental shops close to the cable car. There were several and their equipment looked nicer.

 

If I do it again I would not reserve an atv, at least with Marko's. Rather than speed things up it slowed it way down and wasted a lot of time. There are several rental shops right on the main street as you exit the cable car. Plan ahead and have directions in hand to where you want to go. The parking in Oia was easy to find as it is at the end of the road.

 

Other than the frustration with Marko's we had a nice time in Santorini and Oia. There were 4 ships in port so it was crowded but the cable car wasn't too bad. We headed back to the ship a little early and had a 30 minute wait for the cable car which didn't seem too bad.

[VirtualRain]

Would you be able to email me your post with the pictures? For some reason they aren't showing up on my computer on this forum. My email address is airbarren@yahoo.com. My mom and I are going to Santorini next week and we can't wait!

 

 

Unfortunately this forum doesn't allow people to edit posts after a short time, so when I changed photo hosting providers, all the links went dead, and I couldn't update them.

 

Anyway, you can find them on my Flickr account here, if you or anyone else is interested...

 

[80sGirl]

Thank you for posting your DIY VirtualRain! Having lived in Vancouver many years ago (plus a dozen years in Victoria), I appreciate virtual rain much more than actual rain! :D

 

Thanks also for the addition of the Flickr link to your photos. So incredibly beautiful.

 

We're on Nieuw Amsterdam in June when there will be 4 ships total in port. And, 3 of them (including us) arrive at 7:00. OY! It should be an interesting day!

[Oliver Wilson]

Virtual Rain, if I haven't said it before you write very inspiring DIYs. We've referred to your posts on multiple trips and although we haven't hit all you've done in one, we ultimately will :). Thanks for some of the very best posts on CC.

[VirtualRain]

Thank you for posting your DIY VirtualRain! Having lived in Vancouver many years ago (plus a dozen years in Victoria), I appreciate virtual rain much more than actual rain! :D

 

Thanks also for the addition of the Flickr link to your photos. So incredibly beautiful.

 

We're on Nieuw Amsterdam in June when there will be 4 ships total in port. And, 3 of them (including us) arrive at 7:00. OY! It should be an interesting day!

 

Virtual Rain, if I haven't said it before you write very inspiring DIYs. We've referred to your posts on multiple trips and although we haven't hit all you've done in one, we ultimately will :). Thanks for some of the very best posts on CC.

 

Wow thanks. Great to see this thread is still active after all this time.

 

We're actually booked on a June Princess Emerald cruise that will be stopping here again... I can't wait to get back to Santorini. Not sure what we will do this time, but we may very well do the same things.

[4cats4me]

Love your pictures. We will be here in October on the Vision of the Seas. Can't wait. We will be arriving by water taxi and returning by water taxi

[Oliver Wilson]

Wow thanks. Great to see this thread is still active after all this time.

 

 

 

We're actually booked on a June Princess Emerald cruise that will be stopping here again... I can't wait to get back to Santorini. Not sure what we will do this time, but we may very well do the same things.

 

 

You're so good I check all your posts to see if you've been where we're going [emoji3]. We did the boring ship trip in Santorini last year, but this June we're renting a car from Tony's. We're also following your Athens tips! We were on the Emerald for New Years as we're from Houston - you're a Princess guy so as you can imagine, Crown Grill was our favorite. Thanks again for the invaluable information. It's right on point [emoji3]

[VirtualRain]

Love your pictures. We will be here in October on the Vision of the Seas. Can't wait. We will be arriving by water taxi and returning by water taxi

 

You're so good I check all your posts to see if you've been where we're going [emoji3]. We did the boring ship trip in Santorini last year, but this June we're renting a car from Tony's. We're also following your Athens tips! We were on the Emerald for New Years as we're from Houston - you're a Princess guy so as you can imagine, Crown Grill was our favorite. Thanks again for the invaluable information. It's right on point [emoji3]

 

Haha... thanks! I can't wait to get back to Santorini. :D

[fabrome]

We were in costa cruises last October(8adults+children) and stopped in Santorini for 5 hours.We didn't want to drive so we took a private tour with english speaking driver from Gold Street Travel.

 

We visited Santo wines winnery ,the monastery in the top of the mountain(very beautiful view),the red and the black beach and Oia villagio which we loved! We were really satisfied by their service and accuracy on our timetable(we had to be back at 15.00pm)We had a great time hope I have the chance to visit Santorini again sometime in the future

.

[roothy123]

Unfortunately this forum doesn't allow people to edit posts after a short time, so when I changed photo hosting providers, all the links went dead, and I couldn't update them.

 

Anyway, you can find them on my Flickr account here, if you or anyone else is interested...

 

 

Thanks so much for this (old but fabulous) thread. So many people just post photos without telling (or even knowing, probably) where the shots were taken. I like to do a lot of research before I go and posts like yours will give me a headstart on finding beautiful scenes to photograph. Wewere on Santorini in 2006, and while I got some fabulous shots just by wandering, including shots of a bride posing on one of the walls, I want to maximize my time there in September.

 

I was wondering if you'd be willing to give me a couple clues as to what I'm looking at on your flickr account. I'm particularly interested in seeing the church in Firostefani, but I'm not sure how to match the 17 photos on Flickr to the ones you mention in your narrative, and particularly those you've marked on your map (thanks!!) Obviously I can pick out the view from the top of the cable car (although did you have to walk to get there, or is the view right there?) and the mule, but after that things get really fuzzy for me.

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Now I'm off to look at your post for Athens, as we will be going there, too. Your photos are wonderful, and while I don't have the knowledge, software and gear to get the same ones, I am learning, and knowing about the port I'll be visiting is the first step!

[paradiselivin1]

Unfortunately this forum doesn't allow people to edit posts after a short time, so when I changed photo hosting providers, all the links went dead, and I couldn't update them.

 

Anyway, you can find them on my Flickr account here, if you or anyone else is interested...

 

 

Thank you for posting the link. Your photos are beautiful and hope we have just as great weather as you seemed to have when we go in late August. I hope you post more when you visit again next month.