Wine tour on Mykonos OR Santorini?

[vanchelle]

Help! I’ve gone from “take it easy and don’t book All of the things!” To finding myself almost having something booked on every day of our cruise.

We have a heavy itinerary in Athens pre-cruise and my tentative plan is below. I’d appreciate ANY insight or suggestions regarding which island would be the better wine tour if I decide to scale back and stay ON the ship one port. 
 

mykonos date and times in port :

Wednesday June 22, 7-4 

*considering a 2 hour tour/tasting that we need to book a taxi for. 
 

Santorini date and times in port:

Saturday June 25, 12:30-9:30 

I haven’t decided but have seen many wine tour offerings

 

*first time here - we love water, local tours, beach, relaxation and some activity but we aren’t extremely active. We prefer a balance of tours, with culture, sightseeing and relaxation.  While we want to see as much as possible, we’ve learned that we need some down time*

————————————————

the rest of our plans, I think. I’m solid on my Rhodes excursion. The others are getting firmed up tomorrow. 
 

sunday: leave Athens 

 

Monday: split itinerary between Kusadasi and Patmos. Zero plans.

 

Tuesday: Rhodes 8-6

booking a 6 hour boat excursion on the Romanticka visiting 3 bays, swim, lunch etc. 

 

Wednesday: 7-4 Mykonos

*on the fence might stay on ship based on advice above

 

Thursday: Argostoli 10-6

visiting the caves/lakes and a stop at beach

 

Friday: Corfu 7-3

tour with local product tasting 

 

Saturday: Santorini 12:30-9:30 

*on the fence 

 

I SO appreciate any tips!

 

[Hlitner]

If we were advising just on Santorini and Mykonos we would suggest using Mykonos as a beach/shopping day and arranging a wine tour on Santorini.  Our reasoning is that Mykonos has some excellent beaches (much nicer than the Santorini beaches) and Santorini has a better developed wine growing industry than you will find on Mykonos.

 

Hank

[MeHeartCruising]

Even if you really, really need "downtime", I would not do it on the ship.  At least get off the ship and find a nice cafe/waterfront/shady location/whatever on these wonderful islands to sit and do nothing.  Or take casual, non-intensive strolls.   These are memorable locations and I would not want to miss them by staying on the ship.

[vanchelle]

8 hours ago, MeHeartCruising said:

Even if you really, really need "downtime", I would not do it on the ship.  At least get off the ship and find a nice cafe/waterfront/shady location/whatever on these wonderful islands to sit and do nothing.  Or take casual, non-intensive strolls.   These are memorable locations and I would not want to miss them by staying on the ship.

After some reflection we think the “down time” will indeed me the Mykonos day and we can stroll and hit a cafe. 

[cruisemom42]

A little off topic but if I read your schedule right, you're not doing anything in Kusadasi?  I really would advise you re-think that and visit the ruins at Ephesus. They are among the most spectacular in the Mediterranean.

 

[edinburgher]

Sorry to say, but not sure we ourselves  would make any effort to do a wine tour anywhere in Greece, as we have yet to find one to our taste and we tried everything from cheaper, to medium price to the lower end of quite expensive.  There are other European countries where a tour might be more worthy of consideration, but we have different tastes from others as we actually enjoy Greek ouzo, especially alongside a bowl of pistacchios on a hot day......

 

Given a choice of getting off in either Santorini or Mykonos, I would choose Santorini mostly because Oia is stunningly beautiful, but also because photos of there can be seen across the country in travel books, postcards, posters, calendars, etc etc.  And the "Santorini blue" in those images is even better in reality.

 

Enjoy your days in both doing whatever appeals to you most.

Edited June 14, 2022 by edinburgher

[vanchelle]

On 6/13/2022 at 10:38 PM, cruisemom42 said:

A little off topic but if I read your schedule right, you're not doing anything in Kusadasi?  I really would advise you re-think that and visit the ruins at Ephesus. They are among the most spectacular in the Mediterranean.

 

We are completely playing Kusadasi by ear! It’s. 6:30AM- Noon stop so as long as we are rested we do plan to walk off the ship and wander a bit. We just don’t have any “plans” per se. From what I’ve read, that port is fairly easy to DIY? Thanks for your insight! I’ve heard it’s lovely!

[vanchelle]

I deduced to not book anything at all for Mykonos…if we wander, we will and if we feel inclined to just rest on the ship that’s ok too! 
I did reserve a 4 hour Santorini private tour with a local! So I love that we can now find a few highlights on our own:)

[cruisemom42]

1 hour ago, vanchelle said:

We are completely playing Kusadasi by ear! It’s. 6:30AM- Noon stop so as long as we are rested we do plan to walk off the ship and wander a bit. We just don’t have any “plans” per se. From what I’ve read, that port is fairly easy to DIY? Thanks for your insight! I’ve heard it’s lovely!

 

Ephesus is a half hour by vehicle from the port in Kusadasi. Again, I really urge you to consider getting to this wonderful site. So many people come back after a cruise and say that this was the surprise highlight for them. Not sure why it is not better known. (That doesn't mean it's not crowded though...)  

 

Here are a few photos:

 

 

 

[marazul]

I second cruisemom's advise.  Kusadasi is a tacky souvenir port.  Ephesus is a wonderful historical and artistic experience.  The only reason for a port stop at Kusadasi is to go to Ephesus. 

[MeHeartCruising]

I'll concur with those urging you to plan ahead and go to Ephesus instead of just wandering around Kusadasi.  Because it is a short day, I think you should probably purchase a ship excursion to Ephesus.  When I looked at this itinerary, they were not offering the optional Ephesus tours that included the Terrace Houses, but they still were offering tours to see the rest of Ephesus.  

 

Many would consider Ephesus to be the crown jewel of this itinerary.

 

Edited June 15, 2022 by MeHeartCruising

[Hlitner]

7 hours ago, marazul said:

I second cruisemom's advise.  Kusadasi is a tacky souvenir port.  Ephesus is a wonderful historical and artistic experience.  The only reason for a port stop at Kusadasi is to go to Ephesus. 

Oh come on!  You mean "Real Fake Watches" is tacky?  Surely you jest :).

 

Hank