med port Questions

[jodee]

We are planning on doing Santorini, Mykonos and possibly Rhodes on our own. We just want to walk, sightsee have lunch and casually do whatever comes are way. We plan to take a taxi to Oia as well. We are in each of these ports for 10 hours.

My question is about how long does it take to visit these ports ? I know that it is different for everyone and depends on what they do, but just a basic estimate with what I listed above would be great.

I just want to plan our time wisely and not rush off the ship first thing in the morning just to find out we could have spent our morning hours on the ship enjoying other things ( my morning workouts or a nice breakfast )

and still had plenty of time in port.

Also in your opinion is Rhodes an on your own port or do you need a tour?

Any advice or tips on these port would be great.

 

THanks

Jodee

[Hlitner]

Wow. Spend a morning working out on the ship when you are in the Greek Islands. You sure have a lot more disipline than moi. Each of the ports you mention can be as much or as little as you want...but there is more than enough in each of these places to fill a day. On Santorini if you want to limit yourself to only Fira, than you could take the tender late in the morning and spend 3 hours exploring the town. Of course there is also Oia and the remainder of the island where there are beaches, wineries, etc (we often rent a small car on this island). We consider Mykonos a beach day because the island has some excellent sandy beaches (a rare thing in much of Europe). The town also has some nice shops (excellent quality jewelry) and waterfront cafes. You are correct that both of these islands can be done on your own. Rhodes is a pretty large island (over 500 square miles) and a major beach resort destination for many Brits and Germans. Rhodes Town has an old and new town (both within easy walking distance from the pier) and is worth a few hours. Many like to go see the ruins at Lindos...and if you do this on your own you would need to hire a taxi or rent a car. There are also some excellent beaches (with facilities) on the island...but you would need a taxi, rental car, or the local buses to get to the good beaches. All of these islands are very tourist-friendly and many of the Greeks speak some English.

 

Hank

[tom_uk]

We recently visited both Mykonos & Santorini. At Mykonos we were docked & went ashore after lunch, explored the town for an hour, took a bus to a beach, lazed for a couple of hours, then (after a bus back to the town) had a couple of drinks in Katerina's bar in Little Venice, looking across the water to the windmills. A really good lazy relaxing day, and perfectly do-able on your own. The only tricky thing was finding the bus stop, which is not in the main part of town by the harbour, it's up at the back of town where the narrow little alleys meet a couple of actual roads.

 

On Santorini we did a morning excursion to Oia. This has some advantages: first seeing this beautiful village in the quiet before too many people arrived: we were walking around and we could feel the place waking up. Wonderful. Second, the trip to Oia tenders you to a different landing quay (not the one below Fira) where you get picked up by a coach. So you miss all the 'donkey vs. cable-car' hassle, and the wait for the cable-car. Our excursion ended in Fira town, and included a ticket for a cable-car ride down. After the excursion we wandered around Fira town for a while, lunched in a restaurant overlooking the caldera, visited the Archeaological Museum, looked into the Cathedral, wandered some more, and ended up in another bar overlooking the caldera. We were back on the ship for about 4:30 or so. So Santorini was a bit more energetic than Mykonos, but mainly because of the early start.

 

Other people who went to Santorini spoke approvingly of the 'volcano & hot springs' excursion, so that also seems to be a good one. I didn't meet anyone who'd been to Akrotiri. But I'll remember the quiet morning stroll around Oia for a long time.

[Queenk2]

Santorini and Mykonos are doable on your own, however I would suggest a walking tour of Rhodes to get the feel of the history there. We did just tha kast summer and then went on to have avery nice lunch and sone shpping in the PM

Karen

[jodee]

Thanks everyone for the info, it will come in handy in planning our time.

I know being in the Greek Isles and choosing to have my morning workout may seem silly but I feel so good starting my day this way. I LOVE to eat and this allows it without the guilt.

 

thanks agian

Jodee