Santorini DIY questions

Hello. I will be tendering in Santorini (supposedly the only ship there for the day) in October from 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.. I was thinking about renting a car, which I'm pretty sure I get at the top after taking the cable car up to Fira. I would like to then drive to Oia to see the views and then drive to Ancient Akrotiri to see the ruins. I'm hoping I'll have enough time to accomplish all of this and then return the car and see the views from Fira before heading back down on the cable car. My questions are as follows:

Can anyone tell me if I'm correct about where to rent the car and if I should try to do this from home in advance or just get a car when I arrive, and if it's a lengthy process once arriving to get the car rental? Also, do you think the car rental will provide maps to get to Oia and Akrotiri? Lastly, does my timing seem right, will I have enough time to do what I'm planning? Thanks in advance to anyone who may be able to help!

AS regards car rental, this one is highly recommended.

Tony's

Rent A Car & Moto

Firostefani -Santorini-Greece

Tell 0030---2286022863 Fax 0030--2286024113

http://www.santorini.com/rentals/tonys

http://www.travel-to-santorini.com/hotels/fira/hotelthira

email thiragr@otenet.gr

owner: Dacoronias Antonis

We can offer you new model four door car for...

Manual ,Category A (Chevrolet Matiz, Toyota Aygo)for 30 euro .

Manual, Category B (kia picanto, Hyundai Atos, Hyundai i10)for 35 euro

Manual, Jeep with open roof (Suzuki Jimny) for 40 euro

Automatic, Category B (kia picanto, Nissan Micra) for 40 euro

All prices, included taxes and liability to third persons.( third party of insurance.)

We like to inform you how to find our office .

Your ship will arrive at Santorini's old port and you have to get the cable

car to the Top station.

TONY'S Rent A Car & Moto is located approximately 200 meters from the Top cable Car station.

As you exit the Cable car terminal, turn left (north) at the Museum ,up a small path ,until you reach Tony's rent a car .

10 hours in Santorini would be plenty of time to see the island. However, I would suggest you contact tony to see what time he opens up. Docking at 7.00am would get into Fira at about 8.000am, providing you get an early tender. I am sure he would put you a map in the car if you asked, but it is pretty hard to get lost too much.

We have reserved our car with Tony's Rent a Car for our day in Santorini in a couple weeks. He is very nice to deal with as we have had many conversations on the telephone. He does provide maps.

Have a great time.

Another vote for Tony's. I always reserve in advance because I require an automatic car. He also will supply a good map. The whole process took about 10 minutes, including a good lookover of the car to mark any pre-existing damage. We had a new car with lots of horsepower, which we appreciated when going up the endless hairpin turns to Ancient Thira.

I think you have plenty of time for your planned itinerary. In May, we first went to Ancient Thira (on top of the mountain overlooking a beach) and then to Ancient Akrotiri, and still had time to purchase a lovely Akrotiri wall painting at the store on the corner of the main north-south road the road west to Akrotiri.

We loved Akrotiri. There are excellent guides right there who will provide a tour if you can get 10 people. We toured for almost 1-1/2 hours and learned so much; a fantastic site.

Thank you all for the advice. We only have four people in our party so I hope there will be six more people at Ancient Akrotiri so we will get to see it. I sent an e-mail to Tony's and he replied. I responded letting him know which car we would like to reserve, but haven't heard back from him yet. It hasn't been quite 24 hours yet so maybe I should be more patient. In his first reply he didn't ask for any down payment. I'm just wondering if payment is required in advance.

We have used Tony's twice, the last time in August and he is very reliable. Maybe re-send your email if you don't hear soon? He normally responds very quickly. We did not pay anything before we got to Santorini - he doesn't seem to require a deposit which is fantastic.

The walk is a short distance from the top of the cable car and he had our vehicle ready for us. You have quite a lot of time so you should be fine, and if you are the only ship in Santorini then you probably won't have the horrendous time getting back down the cliff.

Each time we have been we have had a very long wait to get back down to the tender, last time was over an hour in blistering heat.

However, do allow enough time just in case there is a queue.

Hope you have a great time!

Thank you all for the advice. We only have four people in our party so I hope there will be six more people at Ancient Akrotiri so we will get to see it. I sent an e-mail to Tony's and he replied. I responded letting him know which car we would like to reserve, but haven't heard back from him yet. It hasn't been quite 24 hours yet so maybe I should be more patient. In his first reply he didn't ask for any down payment. I'm just wondering if payment is required in advance.

There only were the two of us at Akrotiri but it took less than 10 minutes to get up to 12 as I asked people to join us.

We did not make any payment in advance to Tony.

Check how many other ships are in port that day but more importantly check the times they are in port. Although there were two other ships in port the day we visited in May, the first arrived much earlier and the second much later than our ship so we had no wait at all at the cable car.

I've heard from Tony. Last time he replied much quicker, but still quick enough this time....I was just being impatient! Thanks to all for the advice. We are supposed to be the only ship there that day. Hoping for a great visit in Santorini!

Hi, my wife, her mother, and our kids did basically the same day in Santorini on a cruise stop in May 2004 and we loved every minute of it. Not sure how much has changed in 10 years, but they love to preserve their heritage.

Took the cable car to the top, walked down the main street and found a car rental place, and rented a small 4dr yellow car (they only had manual shift transmissions in stock back then). I recall it didn't cost a lot (60 for the day).

Drove all around the island - saw covered dig site (Akrotiri) - which was free admission for us because it was a Sunday....(strange, I know - but we didn't argue)

Drove out to Oia and had lunch, then looked out at the most beautiful view.

Driving was really easy there because there wasn't much traffic, and it was a small island (hard to get lost). The views were world class.

Here's my pics of the trip: ( - lots of other pics, but scroll down 1/3 of the way for Santorini)

Enjoy your trip!

Graham

Thanks. Your pictures are great! We leave tomorrow! Santorini is definitely one of the places I am most looking forward to and we've got the car already rented in advance!

I had no experience renting a car. However, I found the buses incredibly easy to use. We took the bus from Thira to Oia, back to Oia, and then to Akrotiri and back. The roads (especially to Oia) are pretty terrifying, so I was glad to not be behidn the wheel. However, given that beatiful views, driving around there could be a lot of fun.

We just returned from our Greek Isles cruise. Santorini was spectacular. Tony's Rent A Car is highly recommended. Tony and his wife are excellent to deal with. We were the last to return our car and Tony was waiting for us with baklava that his wife had baked. The island is small and a car will allow you the flexibility to see all that you want for the time that you want. And yes, the driving is fun.

Yes, we just got back and we were very happy with the rent-a-car from Tony. I had a blast playing with his adorable puppy while my husband filled out the paperwork to get the car! I would like to mention it was a little scary with interpreting the street signs. We actually went down a one-way road the wrong way by the winery which was down the other end of the island from Oia on our way back from Akrotiri. It wasn't just a small road, either, it was a pretty fast highway! Thank goodness we figured it out and turned around before anything bad happened. Also for anyone else heading there soon, just to let you know there were no guides available for Akrotiri. I had read on-line that you could hire an English-speaking guide at the site but that was not the case. It may be because it's getting out of season for tourists there or maybe the fact that it was a Sunday, I don't know, but I was a little disappointed because it's just not the same without a guide to explain what you are looking at. They did give us a pamphlet to read upon entering that explained it somewhat, though, and it is an incredibly interesting site to visit.

Just another vote for Tony's Rentacar in Santorini. We used him last week. They gave us a Toyoto which was usually 45 euros for 35 euros for the day. We put in 12 euros worth of petrol. They were pleasant to deal with and I agree the puppy is lovely. Would recommend.

We reserved a car (forget the company) but then while walking to the rental company, saw a three-wheeler (ATV I think?) for rent and my husband wanted to do that instead. We drove around the island, and while the ATV was not very comfortable for the passenger in the back (me) after about an hour, it WAS fun and easy. Once you get out of Fira it is pretty easy to get around, with not much traffic, and in Oia you simply park and walk around. We spent the good part of the day just toodling around, plus stopping for lunch and then stopping at a shop that sold about 40 types of baklava. Oia the highlight. I don't think we made it to Akritiri.

There's a fairly decent map of Fira in Tom's Port Guides (http://www.tomsportguides.com - go to Greece section). I'm not sure if it shows Tony's, but it definitely shows a bunch of other car rental places, bus station, gas stations, etc.

If you're the only ship there, that should make the lines at the cable car shorter. Enjoy.

Wrote my response and then realized the poster has already left on the cruise. Oh well, here's what I wrote; maybe it will help someone else:

We reserved a car (forget the company) but then while walking to the rental company, saw a three-wheeler (ATV I think?) for rent and my husband wanted to do that instead. We drove around the island, and while the ATV was not very comfortable for the passenger in the back (me) after about an hour, it WAS fun and easy. Once you get out of Fira it is pretty easy to get around, with not much traffic, and in Oia you simply park and walk around. We spent the good part of the day just toodling around, plus stopping for lunch and then stopping at a shop that sold about 40 types of baklava. Oia the highlight. I don't think we made it to Akritiri.

There's a fairly decent map of Fira in Tom's Port Guides (http://www.tomsportguides.com - go to Greece section). I'm not sure if it shows Tony's, but it definitely shows a bunch of other car rental places, bus station, gas stations, etc.