Santorini

[Hlitner]

Could any past travellers please tell me if there are taxi drivers or mini buses waiting to offer tours of island when you arrive. Not pre booked. This way you do not have to nominate a time but it is pot luck with the tour. Other option is can you catch a public bus to most places on island

 

You need to understand the topography. When you arrive you are tendered into a small area that lies below the city of Fira (Thira). There are no roads into this small area and the only way our is to go up the cliff on a donkey, on the cable car, or by walking (on the trail covered with Donkey Doo). Another alternative would be to get a boat to some other part of the island (such as Oia). Once at the top there are no taxi stands in sight. But if you walk to the main taxi area (located right before the bus station) there are always some taxis and you can negotiate a deal for a tour. There is also a public bus system that does go to many places (not all) on the island. But the buses do not run as often as most tourists would like. Using buses to actually tour the island is not very efficient. Another option is to simply rent a car (they are pretty inexpensive) and drive yourself to wherever you please.

 

Hank

[roothy123]

Agree with Hank on this - it's not really a place where tours are widely offered, and if they are, you pretty much have to find them unless you just hire a taxi. If you want more info on the lay of the land, including the public buses (say, to Oia) I would look at the Santorini guide located on this site: tomsportguides.com. The author does a good job in writing his guides specifically for cruisers, although by now some of the info is old. As for renting a car, we found it pretty easy when we rented a 4 wheeler in 2006. The roads are small but decent (for main destinations, anyway - perhaps not to the beaches), it's fairly easy to navigate, and ATV and car rentals aren't expensive. If you just want an ATV (4 wheeler) there are numerous places in Fira, the town at the top of the cliff (cable car & mule path) and you probably won't need a reservation. We found one on the way to the car rental place in Fira, decided to try the ATV, and cancelled our reservation for the car. No international driver's license needed for those things. While it wasn't very comfortable for me at the back, my husband loved it. It was a bit slower than a car but easy to just pull up and park.

[Gourmet Gal]

Is it possible to take a boat from Oia back to the Fira tender dock?

[roothy123]

Don't think so, however the boat trip includes a bus ride to Fir a where you take the cable car down. See other posts about Santorini for more info.

 

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