Santorini - shore excursion or independent

[startpacking]

I am travelling on Celebrity Cruise to the Greek Islands. I am concerned that there will be limited time on shore in Santorini, since we will be tendered. Those who do not join the shore excursions will have to take a number to disembark, and will be tendered to the base of the cable car station. The ship isn't in port for too long, we arrive at 8 am and set sail at 4 pm. I would definitely like to see Oia, but the buses are hourly and take approxiamtely 20 mins. Could cc member please comment on how doable Santorini is in a 5 or 6 hour time frame. As a first time visitor, am I better off joining the shore excursion given the time constraints.

 

Thanks in advance.

[jstducky]

I did Santorini on my own when I was there. But we were the only ship in town, so we didn't have to worry about crowds or lines. I was the first tender off the boat. There were no lines for the cable car at all. We walked to the bus station and got right on the bus. I arrived at Oia before the shore ex passengers. By the time they got there to Oia, it was kind of crowded. But remember, when you are on a cruise ship shore excursion you go by their schedule and your time in Oia may be limited. I stayed in Oia until past lunch time. By that time the shore excursion passengers had come and gone. It was nice to have the town to myself again. We took the bus back to Fira and then spent the afternoon there. When it was time to take the cable car back down to the tender pier, there was no line and we hoped right on.

 

enjoy Santorini, it's amazing!

[prophotogirl]

Per Alisa's advice on another site (I used her review as my "Bible" for my cruise). I did Santorini on my own. Loved every minute. There were 4 ships in port (just over a week ago LOL).

 

1st- Get off the ship ASAP. Take the first tender if you can. (I got off at 8am)

2nd - High tail it to the Bus Station (there are maps on the road) get out to the 1st street with cars that you come to after getting off the Cable Cars. Turn Right. Walk til just after the street is no longer a 1 way (it's only a 1 way for a little bit). There is a Taxi stand there. Turn Left and go through the Taxi stand there are steps down to the right near the back of the lot. They take you to the Bus Station. The Bus to Oia leaves at 9:15am.

3rd - sit on the right hand side of the bus on the way to Oia for wonderfull views

4th- Enjoy your time in Oia and spend as much time there as you want. I spent just over 2 hours I could have stayed another hour.

5- The Bus schedule is posted on the window of the Info Office (accross the street where the bus drops you off).

 

I took the 11:20 bus back to Thira. Walked through the shops back to the Cable Car and was back onboard by 12:45. No lines at all for the Cable Car either way. DON'T wait to get off the ship til after 11am at that point there will be long lines for the cable car. Everyone else in my group did that. I was the only one that got farther than the cable car station (and I had a high ankle sprain!)everyone else saw the line and decided to get back on the ship or wait got up to the top had lunch shopped right there and came back via the donkey path.

[clrohr]

Take an early tender! There is only a few ways to get up the hill to Fira, Santorini-near where the ships dock. One is by donkey/mule--it's very smelly and several people had bites from animal fleas! Another is to walk the mule path--it's smelly as you walk the same path as the donkeys. Lastly, and the only way I would go up is the cable cars. The problem is that there are only 7 cars, holding 6 people going up at a time. This makes for long lines.

 

Once at the top, take a right and head to the public buses. It's about a half hour ride to Oia--and it's worth every minute. We lunched and shopped in Oia--lots to see!

 

When you go with an excursion, it takes forever to get anywhere and you miss everything. We heard many come back from ship excursions disappointed in their travels on Santorini because they limit you so! Santorini is very easy to navigate by yourself.

[jstducky]

Per Alisa's advice on another site (I used her review as my "Bible" for my cruise). I did Santorini on my own. Loved every minute. There were 4 ships in port (just over a week ago LOL).

 

Hey Heather! It's been a long time!

 

I'm glad that my review helped you out!

[Bobal]

I would definitely do it on your own - and Prophotogirl has given some great tips about how to do it :)

 

The only trip we've ever done with the ship was Santorini and we did it thinking we would benefit from getting off the ship first - big mistake:eek: Whilst we did get off first we spent all the time being herded around like sheep. Oia was packed shoulder to shoulder with over 20 coaches worth of people milling around (there were 3 ships in that day). We were one of the last coaches to leave Oia and bitterly regretted not doing our own thing as the village was thinning out to barely no-one by the time we left (around midday), but we had to keep to the coach deadline.

 

Just be aware that the lines for the cable car are long but you'll get there eventually. If you have our experience coming back (hundreds of people trying to descend by cable car and no queue control at all) I would suggest descending by foot. We left our friends in Fira to take the kids back to the ship and literally had to fight our way to maintain our place in line - a whole 1.5 hours. Meanwhile the friends did some shopping, had a drink in a bar and walked down - to arrive at the same tender we caught :rolleyes:

[2Hoyas]

Hi,

We did Santorini on our own in May...unfortunately, the bus drivers were on strike the day we arrived. Cabs were very few & far between (we saw 2 cabs total in the space of 30 minutes) and we decided not to risk going to Oia and getting stuck there with limited means to get home. Another couple traveling with us did a tour through the cruise line and did get to Oia...

 

That said, we had a fantastic time in Fira - it gave us plenty of time to explore and have a leisurely lunch in a beautiful spot. Knowing what I know now, I'm still not sure I'd take the ship's tour but it definitely would have gotten us to Oia...

 

Happy travels!

[Moonlion]

Six of us, ranging in age from college-aged to mid 60s, did Santorini on our own in August. We caught one of the first tenders off the ship a little after 8 am. There were no lines at either the cable car or to ride the donkeys up the hill. A couple in our group took the cable car up to Fira and the rest of us took the donkeys (I'm not sure why I agreed to the donkeys except that they say everyone should ride the donkeys at least once in their lifetime...). The donkeys really weren't that bad and were actually kind of fun - no major injuries. We headed to the bus stop but just missed the bus to Oia. We ended up renting quad (4 wheel) mopeds and had a blast!!! We rode to Oia (2 px per moped) and got there before the crowds - almost had the place to ourselves for awhile. Oia is absolutely beautiful and not to be missed. We found this little cafe at the edge of the cliffs overlooking the ocean and had an early lunch - some of the best food (and views) we had on our trip. We rode the quads around the island including to the village of Pyrgos (the highest elevation in Santorin) and enjoyed spectacular views of the island. The mopeds were really a great way to see the island. Although there were 4 other ships in port that day, it didn't feel that crowed maybe because of the timing and how we toured. Santorini was by far one of our favorite ports of the cruise.

[seapenarth]

We were in Santorini on a small ship Wed Sept 3. Unfortunately there were 5 other ships anchored including to awful monsters. Our passengers on trips took the first tenders then we went ashore and did not get off the tender but returned. The line to the cable car was so long it was taking people over an hour to get a cable car. The passengers on trips were dropped in Fira for the return and waited over an hour to get back to the ship as some of the monsters were leaving early. It all depends on the number of ships tendering. :(

[jmomma]

We've been to Santorini twice and both times took the ship's tour. We loved it!! First we drove to Oia and spent some time on our own (since it was so hot, it was just the right amount of time). Then drove to a wine tasting shop where you can purchase various items and take pictures of the beautiful view, lastly we were dropped off in Fira - which is the town by the port. You can spend as little or as much time as you like. This was a perfect stressfree way to see this beautiful island.

[syesmar]

Was there just a few weeks ago and did Santorini independently. I wouldn't change a thing! We had about 5 more hours than you in port, however we went back to the ship in the 5 o'clock hour, so relatively speaking our time frames aren't too different.

 

Take everyone's advice about tendering early! All fears about the tenders & cable cars were unfounded, in my case. Incidentally, there were upwards of 9,000 visitors that day! We got off about 7:30 am and were welcomed w/ absolutely no lines. Of course, I can't guarantee what will happen for you, but I do know the earlier the better.

 

Let me give you a general run-down of what my husband & I had time for that day, and we absolutely never felt rushed:

1) arrived in Fira about 7:45am. Enjoyed the town before it "woke up".

2) went to Museum of Pre-historic Thera about 8:15am.

3) took a bus to Kamari and then paid for a mini van (10 EUR each/ RT) to the top of Ancient Thera. Was there for 1 hour. took bus from Kamari back to Fira station.

4) Ate a quick bite, and took bus to Oia around 1pm. Stayed there a while before heading back to Fira.

5) Shopped and relaxed in Fira Town before taking cable car down & tender to ship.

 

Although our bus to Oia was jammed, I heard from a friend that they summoned another bus when the first one got full. I would do it again in a heartbeat. The ride did take a bit longer than I originally thought, as I recall.

 

This is one port of call you will never forget. Honestly, some who took the ship's tour were disappointed. But it's up to you.

[micruiser2002]

moonlion, Do you remember who you rented the quads from? Also what did you do with them in Oia? We were there a couple of years ago and I remember a main parking area but my son stayed with them while I looked for a restroom. Can they just be parked there and left while we walk around? Thanks.

[GoinToTheWell]

You could also consider renting a car - we did this summer. Driving around the island was very easy - we saw so much in a day. We went to Oia, the beach, Thera and continued around most of the island. We had plenty of time for Fira and lining up for the cable car ride down at the of the day. Too maximize your time, you need to be on the first tender off the ship. You can search the boards for various car rental companies. It was about 50E for the day and maybe 10E in gas.

[Don527]

We were there in June 2006 and it is absolutely fantastic.

 

Like everyone says, get off the ship early. as I remember, it was a 10 minute walk to the bus station from the Cable car to go to Oia. (you can ask any local if you get confused on where the bus station is)

 

Once in Oia, the views are absolutely incredible. we stayed until after lunch, then got back in Fira and walked around for a while. The line for the cable car to go down to the ships was incredibly long, so we all walked down. we were all in our 40's and 50's and it was no trouble for any of us. You just have to look out for the donkey poo. My guess it was 20 minutes to walk down. I am deathly afraid of heights and I had no trouble walking down.

 

Santorini was by far all of our favorite port !!!

 

Good luck.... Don

[Moonlion]

moonlion, Do you remember who you rented the quads from? Also what did you do with them in Oia? We were there a couple of years ago and I remember a main parking area but my son stayed with them while I looked for a restroom. Can they just be parked there and left while we walk around? Thanks.

 

There were several moped rental places along the main road in Fira. I think we paid 25 Euro per quad plus gas - well worth the cost in our opinion. We had no problem finding parking in Oia, at least when we arrived around 10 am or so. There seemed to be several small parking areas.

[mickfoxland]

we got off the tender and looked at the queues/lines, and then we noticed a cafe selling boat trips

we booked one got on and it took us to the volcano, hot springs(luke warm) and back to the dock for about 30euro

our fellow cruisers were on the same boat as us out to the volcano and they were on a ship purchased excursion that cost 3 times as much as we had paid

I am almost sure that ther was some kind of water taxi/bus moored at the dock that went to other places on the island

when we got back to the cable cars all the queues/lines had gone

we got into fria town itself about midday

http://good-times.webshots.com/album/563665541ggCJsB

[CintiPam]

Santorini is easy to explore on your own. We were there just over a week ago. After our 40-minute cable car wait at about 10 AM, we dodged through the multitude of shoppers and visited the two museums in Fira first. I particularly recommend the newer, larger museum with the wonderfully displayed Akrotiri finds, the one farther from the cable car station. Then we rented a car (about 40 Euros, gas included) and drove to Oia (Ia) for several hours of strolling, lunch, enjoying the views. Parking is easy; there are several clearly marked parking areas. Then we drove back to Fira along the eastern side, with several wineries and great water views.

[syesmar]

I should add a note to the previous poster. If you do go to the Museum of Prehistoric Thera and also wish to take a bus out of Fira Town, the bus station is across the street from the Museum. You can't see it at first but if you cross and look downward it's there.