Scooters on Santorini?

Hi there,

My husband and I will be visiting Santorini on our upcoming cruise. My brother, an avid traveler, recommended renting a scooter/moped to see the island, but we have a few questions.

1) I've read that the port requires a cable car trip? Would we avoid that by renting the moped?

2) Do you need anything more than a valid driver's license in order to rent the moped?

3) Our ship doesn't leave port until 10:00 PM. If we have a moped, would we have enough time to watch the sunset in Oia, then return to our boat? My understanding is that sunset is at 7:30?

4) My husband is 6'7". Will he even fit on a moped? It is likely he will not fit in a smart car, and neither of us can drive standard well.

Hi there,

 

My husband and I will be visiting Santorini on our upcoming cruise. My brother, an avid traveler, recommended renting a scooter/moped to see the island, but we have a few questions.

 

1) I've read that the port requires a cable car trip? Would we avoid that by renting the moped?

2) Do you need anything more than a valid driver's license in order to rent the moped?

3) Our ship doesn't leave port until 10:00 PM. If we have a moped, would we have enough time to watch the sunset in Oia, then return to our boat? My understanding is that sunset is at 7:30?

4) My husband is 6'7". Will he even fit on a moped? It is likely he will not fit in a smart car, and neither of us can drive standard well.

Sorry can't help with all your questions but yes, unless you go on a ship's excursion you will be tendered off to a berthing point at the base of the cliff where the cable car is located. You can walk up to Thira, the town at the top, if you are prepared to cope with the donkeys which use the same cobbled route (not advisable) but there is no road from the dock to the top so you wouldn't be able to use a moped to get to town.

Oia is only about a 15 minute journey from Thira so I think seeing the sunset and getting back to Thira would be quite possible but remember you have to factor in time to get the cable car down to the dock then the tender back to your ship too (all ships have to use tenders as there is no dock large enough for cruise ships).

When we were in Santorini we needed a motorcycle license and intl drivers license to rent a scooter. We did not have a motorcycle license so they would only rent us an ATV or a car. The day before in Mykonos we were able to rent a scooter. All depends on who you are renting from. See my post about our day in Santorini and Mykonos at my blog

Winenchocolate dot com

You easily can rent an automatic transmission car on Santorini. We twice have rented from Tony's, the last time in May. His place is a short walk from the cable car terminus. IMO the ATV's are very dangerous and tippy and certainly do not have the power to climb up hills very easily.