Greek Isles Do It Yourself help, please

[SandG]

Your experience will be largely effected by how many other ships are in port that day. We were sharing Mykonos with the Ruby and the streets were pretty crowded. The Ruby left before we did and the town was so much more pleasant after they left. (Please take no offense Ruby readers!! :)) In Santorini we had the island to ourselves and the horror stories of long lines for the cable car, etc. just never happened.

 

For Santorini: Oia is a must! One of the highlights of my cruise. We took the bus and it was a little crowded, not too bad, but we were the only ship in town. It was really convenient and cheap though. When in Oia, be sure to go down the little alleys from the main street and you will be rewarded with amazing views. Don't stay too late. My friends were going to rely on a taxi back but there are not many on the island. They did eventually settle for the bus but made it back with only 5 minutes to spare.

[SandG]

For Athens, you could consider sharing a minivan with others in your rollcall and contracting a private driver as we did. Originally we were just going to take the metro but between the temperature forecasts and the good rate we got from sharing the ride, it was a really good decision. We used Paul's taxi (athenstaxi) and our driver took us in a nice A/C minivan to all the major sites - no worries about finding our way around. Also, you negotiate the price before the cruise and the driver picks you up right at the ship.

 

Sue

[hcat]

Santorini also is an easy DIY port. Last September, we took the cabel car up to Fira, and first visited the two archaelogical museums there. I highly recommend you spend an hour at the wonderful modern Museum of Prehistoric Fira near the bus station - the home of a well-organized chronolocial collection of Akrotiri artifacts with all the information now known about these ancient Aegean people, including wall paintings, etc. plus great a/c and good bathrooms.

 

If we only have time for one museum is it the Museum of Pre-Historic Fira that would be preferred for items from Akrotiri? How far a walk is it from the cable car area?Thanks

[CintiPam]

If we only have time for one museum is it the Museum of Pre-Historic Fira that would be preferred for items from Akrotiri? How far a walk is it from the cable car area?Thanks

 

Yes, the Museum of Prehistoric Fira definitely is the one you will want to visit. Very modern, with lovely well-captioned displays, several wall paintings a lovely small solid gold goat. Unfortunately, the Akrotiri site itself remains closed.

 

It is about a 10-minute walk downhill to your right from the cable car terminus, below the Cathedral and above the taxi/bus station. The only other place to view Akrotiri artifacts is the small exhibit at the National Archeological Museum in Athens. (If your cruise is stopping in Athens, that is the greatest repository of Greek antiquities and art in the entire world, with wonderful rooms of Mycenean (many gold) artifacts, Greek statues and pottery.)

 

BTW, all the government-run sites, including this museum, are closed on Mondays. Hope your visit to Santorini is there a different day of the week! (Although I understand that cruise ships often pay for special visitation privileges here as well as Delos.)

 

Enjoy!

[PenelopeCorelli]

Don't know if Corfu is still a question, but we rented a Jiimmy and had a blast. We never went to Corfu Old Town because it was suggested to take a taxi or public transport - parking is an issue - so we drove around the Island and discovered Old Town Perithia. A ghost town of sorts, but with 5 restaurants (I counted). We thought we were alone there and were surprised in this old village to see a cute open air restaurant. So we stopped & had lunch - very good - and then came a caravan of SUVs on a tour. they stopped for about 30 minutes and left. The owner said it's like that every day. I'll write more about it when I review our Corfu day, but wanted to let the Corfu cruisers know in case they are thinking about renting a car.:)

[kimiheart]

In Santorini last Nov. we used Dimitrios Nikolaidis at info@oceanwavetours.com . There were 8 of us in our group and we booked about a month before the cruise. I highly recommend this company and Dimitrios is the owner. This was one of our most memorable excursions as he gave us the most out of our short time while on the island. Picked us up at the top of the cable car exit in Fira on time, very comfy mercedes van, took our time in Oia, wine tasting at a beautiful winery, took us around the whole island, wonderful greek lunch at a secluded little restaruant at Black beach ( it was just us and a couple locals) .. The experience, I will never forget!! Got back to Fira in plenty of time and never felt rushed! We paid around 54 euros pp.. well worth it!

[happy_travellers]

Just booked a 2 week b2b through Med.& Greek Isles for next May. Was just a spur of the moment decision to do one of our dream vacations now and not wait till retirement. So this info has been so great!

 

One question we are only in Santorini from 4pm to 11pm any suggestions! Is there a place right in town for a great sunset?

 

Any info on Crete would be helpful also.

 

Thanks Karen

[Hlitner]

The best place for sunsets on Santorini is the town of Oia. Since you are leaving at 11, you would be able to go to Oia for the sunset but you would need to carefully check the bus schedule for return buses. If the buses do not work you would probably be smart to arrange for a taxi since many will go to Oia at sunset and there could be a shortage of taxis to return to Fira (where you need to get the cable car down to the tender pier).

 

Hank

[travelgrandpa]

Was the old synagogue in or near Old Town in Corfu?

[CintiPam]

Was the old synagogue in or near Old Town in Corfu?

 

It is in Old Town Corfu itself, very close to the New Fortress.

[Sav'h Gal]

Plan to spend 2 weeks touring Greek Isles after our cruise next May. We plan to spend 2 night in Corfu, 3 night in Santorini, 3 in Naxos, 3 in Paros and 3 in Folegandros. Looking for hotels on these islands and wondering if anyone has suggestions.

Also any comments on these islands or suggestions of other islands instead of these would be appreciated. We will visit Mykonos and Santorini while on the cruise.

Reading this board has helped a lot, now to remember it all by next May.

Susan