Recommendations for Santorini

[4 cruisers]

Sadly, that is the same information I got. It would be a shame to waste time going there and not be able to get in.

[YAC]

Check out this thread on Santorini car rentals. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=310815 I put a post about renting a van through Kosmos. There were a quite a few car rental places at the top - including Avis. Akrorini was closed but Ancient Thera was open - you need to be up there before 2:00 pm because it closed at 3:00 pm. I ended up getting an International DL because we did a road trip through Austria before the cruise. Car rental places stated that you really didn't need one in Santorini. It was a very easy drive and parking was not an issue - even down at Ammoudi Beach and Oia! Santorini's website www.santorini.com. Have a great trip!:cool:

[zeldaone]

Oia is a very picturesque area where we and many other tourists watched sunset. We sat in one of the many oceanfront casual restaurant. This place (Oia) also had many interesting tourist/artisan shops.

 

We had a private driver-guide who took us to many places on the island: Akrotiri, Pyrgo, Black Beach, Volcano View Villas, Wineries, Oia, Thira, etc...With each of the ship tour, we would have only been able to go to a few of these places. Our guide (Nikos) happens to also be a professional photographer and took many nice photos for us using both our cameras and his professional cameras. All the photos were given to us at the end of the day as a momento of our visit.

 

We highly recommend visiting all above places, especially Oia.

 

Do you have contact info. for the driver you liked in Santorini?

[janohara]

I got an email from santoriniweddings.com on 3/19 for a 4 hours private tour for 500 euro for 6 people plus 60 euro for each additional person. I then send an email to santoriniprivatetours.com (highly recommended on other threads) and got an email from the same people quoting 800 euro for 7 people!!! This is more than we are spending for 9 hours in Rome.... We are going to rent a 7 passenger van instead for 65 euros for the whole day.

[katiebeth]

Does anyone know if Santorini Private Tours or Santorini Weddings are licensed tour providers?

 

How do you research and/or find out if a tour company is reputable, has a good safety record and is licensed in the country they provide service?

 

Any comments would be appreciated.

 

Nancy

[sarahmac]

We were on the Millie in October '04 (our honeymoon) and Santorini was our favourite port of about 7 we LOVED. You will adore it.

 

By all means -- do not miss Oia. I have to say, though -- I took the inexpensive and convenient local bus and it wasn't really all that scary. I mean -- I've been on scarier routes as a tourist in the US (e.g. Pacific coast highway in Northern CA, the 'Phantom Canyon Road' in Colorado). It is a fun, cheap option.

 

As for restaurants in Oia, we went to an amazing place called Skala after asking for advice from a shop keeper. The food was wonderful and the view was AMAZING -- we kept pinching ourselves because it was so surreal. It is a lovely spot to relax.

 

Have a wonderful time!

[4 cruisers]

Katiebeth, I've been thinking the same thing. Hope someone will have answers for us. We sent our small group deposit the same day the Millenium's group had their accident. We've never been afraid of booking our tours independently and have had some HORRIBLE taxi rides in our travels...we just can't let it stop us from seeing the world, though!;)

[JXOPF]

I can't decide whether to book a private tour for the two of us or rent a car or hire a taxi when we get there.

 

It's possible we might meet up with others on the ship that might want to share a tour which would help cut costs, but won't know until then.

 

It appears there's only one other ship in port the day we're there so maybe a taxi might be the way to go? Suggestions? Opinions?

[cccruiser59]

We rented ATV's & did the whole island. It was a blast. Great beaches. Have fun.

[Hlitner]

Maybe we are crazy to have been doing most of our travel touring on our own (for more than 25 years), but seeing these private guide prices makes me a confirmed "do it on your own" addict. Sanotorini is not a very large island, and you can rent a car for the day for less than $100. With the use of a simple map (there are not a lot of roads on Santorini) you can easily drive around and see the beaches, a couple of vineyards, and stop at Oia. Perhaps I am ignorant, but I cannot figure how a guide could earn $500+ plus on this island.

 

Hank

[cathi]

I'm with Hlitner! Those prices for private tours are insane! This is a very small island. A local bus to Oia is 1 E and they go quite frequently. We did use a taxi who charged us 10E and then picked up another couple who also paid the 10E. Silly me thought we were going to get a break and split the cab fare. Don't worry about finding a cab back after you have spent some time in Oia as right where the cab drops you off is the bus stop and cab stand. If there are no cabs there when you want to go back just ask they will find one for you.

We did the volcano hike and hot springs swim in the morning of our stay on Santorini with a ship's tour. We loved it! Then in the afternoon rode the donkeys to the top shopped our way to the bus/taxi stand walked all over Oia cabbed back and stood in line for the cable cars since there were 4 ships in the harbour that day!!! Still the one Greek island I would go back to!!

[Susan-M]

Sadly, that is the same information I got. It would be a shame to waste time going there and not be able to get in.

 

Akrotiri is at the same end of the island where the Red Beach is, as well as the road to the lighthouse - you won't be able to see anything of Akrotiri if the gate is closed, but if you want to go to the Red Beach and the lighthouse (both highly recommended) then you will be in the vicinity and can check to see if Akrotiri has re-opened. Here is a map of Santorini: http://www.frommers.com/images/destinations/maps/jpg/1647_santorini.jpg The lighthouse is on the S/W tip of the island (to the left of Akrotiri on the map.)

 

There is also lots of great info on the island on: http://www.frommers.com/destinations/santorini/1647010001.html

If you go through the index panel on the left of the page, it will give you enough tour info for your day there.

 

For those considering renting a car ... we had a wonderful day exploring on our own. It's an easy island to get around on and very inexpensive for car rentals.

[chica]

cc cruiser---

 

Did you have them reserved or just get the ATV's when you got there? What did it cost?

[cccruiser59]

Check out this site. We didn't prebook.

http://www.santorini.us/santorini_rent_a_scooter.htm

Have a great time.

[margaret a]

Here's the tour we have decided on.

 

***********************

Private Tours

Santorini Greece

Tel:+30-22860-24994

Fax:+30-22860-28389

Cell:+30-69447-58650

***********************

 

-----Original Message-----

From: Dimitrios Nikolaidis [mailto:info@oceanwavetours.com]

Dimitris Nikolaidis

 

Hi Nanette,

 

I have just booked Dimitris for Sept 2007. Since you will be going long before I will be - could you let me know how you liked him?

email is margaretagnello@yahoo.com

 

Thanks - hope you have a good trip!

[JXOPF]

We sail in 5 days and I still haven't booked anything for Santorini. Private tours were just too expensive, so I guess we'll consider renting a car.

 

Has anyone rented a car without making prior reservations, upon arrival?

 

OR...(thoughts, please)

 

For us first timers, should we let someone else do the driving (as in taxi or bus)?

[canyousayvacation]

If we want to go to the volcano on our own, are there 'public' boats at Fira or Athinios that will take you over without having to be on a tour?

[producegirl]

I just booked with Anna of Santoriniprivatetours.com

Heard some good things on the boards and am using a sister

company in Athens.

Hope this helps.

[Susan-M]

We sail in 5 days and I still haven't booked anything for Santorini. Private tours were just too expensive, so I guess we'll consider renting a car.

 

When you get off the cable car and walk 2 or 3 streets away from the water/cable car, there are quite a number of rental agencies. (See map below for streets around the cable car.)

 

We had a reservation, but I've read posts from others who have just rented on the spot (and some have mentioned negotiating a lower price than originally quoted.) Rentals are inexpensive on Santorini - for a compact standard, we paid $35E, plus $10E for insurance and $10E for gas. This was from a local owner (Tony's) so some of the chains (Budget, etc.) might charge a bit more. Some places require an International Driver's License, but we didn't need one.

 

There aren't a lot of roads on the island, and it's a small island, so it's hard to get lost. And we never had problems finding free parking. If you have rented a car anywhere, then you should have no problem here.

 

Not sure if you've seen maps of Santorini, but these ones give you an idea of the road system, and where the cable car is in Fira:

http://www.frommers.com/images/destinations/maps/jpg-2006/1647_santorini.jpg

http://www.frommers.com/images/destinations/maps/jpg-2006/1647_firaaccomodations.jpg

 

Also - if you scroll down on this page to "Getting Around in Santorini" - there's some useful info on Car rentals, buses and taxis." http://www.frommers.com/destinations/santorini/1647010002.html

 

 

Enjoy your cruise!

[Paparam]

What side of the road do they drive on?

Al

[Susan-M]

What side of the road do they drive on?

Al

Right.