santorini

[jms2362]

If you just plan to visit Oia, certainly taking the bus is fine and cost-efficient. We wanted to explore other parts of the island as well and not worry about bus schedules or crowds back from Oia.

 

Also, in Fira itself (where the cable car terminus is), the Museum of Prehistoric Thira is a wonderful stop. It is near the bus station and contains the story of what is known today of the Aegean civilization that inhabited Akrotiri and other Greek islands, as ancient to the Classical Age Greeks as those Greeks are to us. Modern building, modern bathrooms, and excellent a/c, as well as great chronological galleries with good English captions, not to mention gorgeous Akrotiri wall paintings.

 

BTW, you purchase an international drivers permit at your local AAA office (not some kind of visa you need to apply for). Takes just a few minutes of your time and costs $15 if you are a member.

 

Enjoy Santorini; it absolutely will bowl you over with the beautiful views of the caldera. Have a great trip!

To get information on any of the ports we will be at just Google the port name and country, you can read for days of things to see and do. Also Trip Advisor.com is great for information and reviews from people who have been there. Good luck

[BarbRN]

If you need an automatic car, you really need to reserve ahead of time. Last month, several customers were turned away at Tony's when I was there because all the automatics were reserved. If you drive a stick shift, no problem at all.

 

BTW, a miss at Santorini is much more unusual than a miss of Mykonos.

 

 

I can drive anything, heck I even ride motorcycles in the States.

[CintiPam]

I can drive anything, heck I even ride motorcycles in the States.

 

In that case, those ATV's so popular on Santorini will seem like lawnmowers to you!:D

[pixigrl375]

hello!

 

this is my first post on cruisecritic and I'm looking forward to hearing all of your advice!

 

Anyone have any advice on how to get around Santorini in a large group? (total of 18 ppl) We're considering hiring a private tour to get all of us around to avoid the hassle of keeping everyone together. however, having read a large majority of posts, it looks like it might just be better to try and get to Fira early and beat the crowds up and back down?

 

any thoughts? :o

 

Much appreciated!

[CintiPam]

hello!

 

this is my first post on cruisecritic and I'm looking forward to hearing all of your advice!

 

Anyone have any advice on how to get around Santorini in a large group? (total of 18 ppl) We're considering hiring a private tour to get all of us around to avoid the hassle of keeping everyone together. however, having read a large majority of posts, it looks like it might just be better to try and get to Fira early and beat the crowds up and back down?

 

any thoughts? :o

 

Much appreciated!

 

For 18, a private tour definitely sounds like the best option.

 

It is really hard to advise about beating the crowds because it all depends on the ships in port that day, their size, and when they are arriving and leaving. Last September, it took us 40 minutes to get up the cable car, but zero minutes getting down because the large ships left early in the afternoon. In June, we absolutely had no wait either way because the the only large ship was scheduled to arrive at 1 PM (we saw them coming in late around 2 PM from our gorgeous perch at a lovely restaurant in Oia).

 

Here is the link for the most accurate way to tell what ships will be in Santorini on the day of your visit. The problem with this actual port schedule is that it is only posted for the current month, so if going in September, let's say, you could not access it until September 1:

 

www.santorini.infor/cruiseboats. The other cruiseport websites, such as cruisett, just do not provide complete information.

 

Enjoy your trip!

[jms2362]

hello!

 

this is my first post on cruisecritic and I'm looking forward to hearing all of your advice!

 

Anyone have any advice on how to get around Santorini in a large group? (total of 18 ppl) We're considering hiring a private tour to get all of us around to avoid the hassle of keeping everyone together. however, having read a large majority of posts, it looks like it might just be better to try and get to Fira early and beat the crowds up and back down?

 

any thoughts? :o

 

Much appreciated!

Get out early and go directly to the bus station. Google Santorini and you can see their bus schedule, It costs a couple of Euros and was fun, met alot of people on the bus. We are going to rent a car this time and see the island.

[lulubell]

Thank you so much for all the responses!

However... I couldn't use any of the ideas because the day before we were supposed to arrive two crew members were gravely injured,so the ship had to turn around and go back to Kasadasi.

We ended up having less than 4 hours on Santorini,with no real time left to explore.Hopefully the injured crew members will be OK and as for us,that might be a reason to take another cruise:)

[Papillon]

We will be in Santorini mid-september on the Noordam. We toured Fira and Oia two years ago. Are there any boat tours leaving at the dock where our tender will drop us?

We want to avoid the ride up and down to Fira and take a boat to the volcano island.

Thanks

 

John

[jubilada]

Capt. Canuck you are terrific! Checked the Santorini port schedule and the Royal is the only ship docking that day!

 

Thanks,

Tanya

[Captain Canuck]

no problem...you should have a great time with your newest and bestest friends and shipmates in one of the worlds prettiest places

[nparmelee]

Are there any boat tours leaving at the dock where our tender will drop us?

 

The tenders, all local boats, will drop you off in the pier area at the bottom of the hill and there were tour offices down there for boat rides and such.

[vbfamily]

we are just back from our second stop in Santorini....both times we did the cable car up...I think it was 6 euros..we walked along the coast about half way to Oia...there is a bus from the town to Oia but only about once every couple of hours....its a smaller town and quaint but there is lots to see just walking around the town and the cliff edge..hundreds of pictures..we took the path down walking....huge line for the cable car...lots of other people did it too which made it easier passing the donkeys...

 

no need to take a tour

 

My husband and I would like to visit Oia and we would like to walk at least part of the footpath for the views. I am thinking of taking the bus to Oia first thing, touring there for a couple of hours, catching the bus back to Imerovigly, and then walking the rest of the way to Fira. What do you think? Is it easy to find the footpath?

[CintiPam]

My husband and I would like to visit Oia and we would like to walk at least part of the footpath for the views. I am thinking of taking the bus to Oia first thing, touring there for a couple of hours, catching the bus back to Imerovigly, and then walking the rest of the way to Fira. What do you think? Is it easy to find the footpath?

 

Imerovigli is very close to Fira, so sounds good. On our second day-visit to Santorini this past June (June 8), we tendered back to our ship at 5 PM with two young men who are experienced hikers. They chose to hike the entire six-mile path from Fira to Oia, and reported that it was very difficult in the hot weather, with a lot of climbing involved. These guys were in great shape, but were utterly wiped out from this trek, so a shorter hike sounds advisable.

[vbfamily]

Thank you. It sounded like the whole way would be too much, but we want to do some of it. We leave in 2 weeks and are really looking forward to our stop in Santorini.

[evgal/nj]

we'll be in santorini 4PM-11PM 1o/26/10, any idea what time it gets dark in santorini that time of the yr. has anyone been in santorini @ nite? had planned to rent a car but @ nite not too excited about site-seeing!

do the roads have street lights ? rented a car in corfu not sure i'd like to drive up to the monestery @ nite lol. too early to see what the ship is offering.

how are the streets in oia & fira dh uses wheelchair, we'll have a scooter with us also but i guess thats out of the question, lol

do the pax's that take the ships ours have to use the cable cars to come down or are they tendered from where they were dropped off.

[roothy123]

I can't really answer your questions, since we were there in September during the day, did not do an excursion, and did not have to use a wheelchair! However, I'll add my two cents' worth, and maybe someone with more specific information will chime in. I personally think that being there at night would be wonderful, as the sunsets are supposed to be great. If I ever make it back, I'd love to sip a drink on one of those terraces in Oia while watching the sunset! While we loved renting a four-wheeler, I would probably pass on the car, although I'm guessing you could get up the hill and drive around the island for at least a couple hours before it got really dark. To rent a car, I'm pretty sure that you would have to get yourself up the hill after being tendered, which might not be easy in a wheelchair. Then you have to find the car rental place (not hard, but not easy either - and a few of those narrow cobblestone alleys to contend with!) Given that your husband is in a wheelchair, and that you're there the hours you are, you may find it a lot easier to do a ship's excursion - which can be a perfectly wonderful experience! Wheelchair accessibility might be tough in Oia, as there are a lot of narrow alleys, many with cobblestones. It's a little better in Fira, but not a whole lot! At least with a ship's excursion, they'll tell you what's involved, and make it as easy as they can for you. I know a lot of people on this board are very adventuresome and do their own thing (as my husband and I do!), but I'm sure there will be at least one or two excursions that will give you a great experience on this wonderful island!