Tours for Greek islands

Can someone please advise. Heading to Greek Island in May....Santorini, Mykanos, Rhodes etc... is it worth booking a tour for any of these islands and if so what itinerary and which reasonable company to book with. Many thanks.

Hi, if you go to the main boards page and look further down you will see a ports section. It you click on the right area you will find Europe and after that, you can click on Greece. You will find a ton of info. Use the search function on the right to get specifics.

If you google Tom's port guides you will find great info on both Mykonos and Santorini...not sure about Rhodes.

Also suggest you look on the roll calls for your ship. People post info and tours they are doing, sometimes looking for others to join. A good place to share info.

Hope this helps!

We did not book tours in any of those ports. We found all of them nice for a wander and lunch. We used one of the companies right off the dock in santorini. They tendered us to the port where the buses picked up. Busses us to oia and then had return buses to thira in the afternoon. Rhodes is a quaint forted city, not sure where a tour might take you. In Mykonos we took a ferry to Delos and explored the ruins.

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We were at each of these ports last summer. In Rhodes, I highly recommend Rhodes Private Tours and definitely do the optional lunch at the seaside restaurant. It was great.

In Mykonos we took the ferry over to Delos. In Santorini we did the boat Oia described above.

For Mykonos, go to Delos for sure. For Santorini, we did a great tour that covered the entire island including a winery.

Delos is great if you have lots of time, but the MUST is to explore and get lost in the maze of the small streets of town and enjoy a drink in little Venice for the sunset if timing allows.

In Santorini, get to Oia - beautiful and you'll get all the iconic greek photos. I would suggest an island tour of Santorini since you have so little time there. See the little towns and a winery tour and the black sand beaches. My favourite island!

Rhodes is great to explore on foot. Years ago we did the Lindos trip and it was very nice.

Yes, please do post your inquiry here:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=594

We did private tours in almost every port (no ship's excursions).

One of the very best tours of the entire trip was with Hellenic Private Tours. Frank, the owner, is very responsive, the guide was phenomenal, and the cost so reasonable. They will custom tailor the day to your liking. I highly recommend them.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g189400-d3138366-Reviews-H_P_Tours_Hellenic_Private_Tours-Athens_Attica.html

For us this was a once in a lifetime trip. We did all private tours vs ships tours. We traveled with another couple, so were able to share expenses. You really need to do your homework.

Rollie

For us this was a once in a lifetime trip. We did all private tours vs ships tours. We traveled with another couple, so were able to share expenses. You really need to do your homework.

 

Rollie

What tour companies did you use?

What tour companies did you use?

If you are in decent shape, the hike along the volcanic ridge from Fira to Oui was amazing! It’s only 5 or 6 miles. Reasonably flat (no huge inclines). We took our sweet time stopping for lots of photo ops and it took around 4 hours. Some of the most amazing scenery!! Highly recommend. It was hot (July) so bring water. A beer in oia tasted so good with plenty of time to hit some behind the scenes streets for great pics. Bus back to Fira was very cheap. It was an incredible day for us.

I’ve been to Mykonos several times. Just walking around the town offers great photos. We did a day sail w/ mykonosonboard too. They make a fantastic lunch onboard. Great sailing (Mykonos is always windy).

I haven’t had the pleasure of Rhodes.

Hope this helps

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What tour companies did you use?

Which ports?

Ashland, it’s been a few years since our Med cruise, and can’t remember all the tour operators. That’s where the homework’s comes in. Search Cruise Critic threads for more information than you can handle. Heck, we felt that was part of the fun of the trip.

Rollie

In Santorini, I recommend not pre-booking anything. When your tender gets to shore, walk to the left and you’ll hear locals shouting for tours to Oia. It’s only about 15 euros pp to take a hydrofoil to Oia (beautiful scenery enroute), a bus up the cliff to Oia, and then return bussing to Fira (port town). You get a few hours of free time in Oia to explore; Oia is where so many calendar shots have been taken with the beautiful white and blue. Then explore Fira, lots of good food there, and take the cable car back down to the tender for about 5-8 Euros pp.

In Mykonos, it’s very easy to explore Mykonos on your own. Just take the cruise line shuttle for 10-15 Euros pp or the local ferry for about 2 Euros pp and walk from there. I personally don’t recommend taking the ferry, though, because we witnessed 4 Pax nearly missing the ship due to it being late. The captain waited an extra 30 min for them, but not all captains would do that. The iconic windmills are at the far end of town, and from those, you get a gorgeous view of the Little Venice of Mykonos Town. Again, the food is delicious. Happy sailing; we ❤️ the Greek Isles!

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We spent an AMAZING day in Santorini! We booked a tour through Santorini Private Day Tours. Our guide, Spiros, was so friendly and knowledgeable. We went to Imerovigli, Oia, a monastery, a wine tasting and still got to spend an hour at a black sand beach before dropping us back in Fira where we still had time to wander around.

Mykonos is a great place to wander around on your own but if you are a beach person, this island has some good ones. We took the cruise line transfer to the beach which gave us a discount on chairs. We only found this out when a couple we met told us what they paid when they did it on there own. Keep in mind that there are very few taxis in Mykonos so transportation could be an issue if you don't plan ahead.

In Rhodes we did a Segway tour that brought us around the old town and the new town. It's a wonderful island!

Have a great vacation!

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If you are in decent shape, the hike along the volcanic ridge from Fira to Oui was amazing! It’s only 5 or 6 miles. Reasonably flat (no huge inclines). We took our sweet time stopping for lots of photo ops and it took around 4 hours. Some of the most amazing scenery!! Highly recommend. It was hot (July) so bring water. A beer in oia tasted so good with plenty of time to hit some behind the scenes streets for great pics. Bus back to Fira was very cheap. It was an incredible day for us.

 

I’ve been to Mykonos several times. Just walking around the town offers great photos. We did a day sail w/ mykonosonboard too. They make a fantastic lunch onboard. Great sailing (Mykonos is always windy).

 

I haven’t had the pleasure of Rhodes.

 

Hope this helps

 

 

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Thank you so much.

Which ports?

Leaving from Barcelona then our ports are Cannes, Florence, Rome (we've been to all of these)...Athens, Mykonos, Santorini, Valletta are new for us.

We spent an AMAZING day in Santorini! We booked a tour through Santorini Private Day Tours. Our guide, Spiros, was so friendly and knowledgeable. We went to Imerovigli, Oia, a monastery, a wine tasting and still got to spend an hour at a black sand beach before dropping us back in Fira where we still had time to wander around.

 

Mykonos is a great place to wander around on your own but if you are a beach person, this island has some good ones. We took the cruise line transfer to the beach which gave us a discount on chairs. We only found this out when a couple we met told us what they paid when they did it on there own. Keep in mind that there are very few taxis in Mykonos so transportation could be an issue if you don't plan ahead.

 

In Rhodes we did a Segway tour that brought us around the old town and the new town. It's a wonderful island!

 

Have a great vacation!

 

 

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Thank you so much.

In Santorini, I recommend not pre-booking anything. When your tender gets to shore, walk to the left and you’ll hear locals shouting for tours to Oia. It’s only about 15 euros pp to take a hydrofoil to Oia (beautiful scenery enroute), a bus up the cliff to Oia, and then return bussing to Fira (port town). You get a few hours of free time in Oia to explore; Oia is where so many calendar shots have been taken with the beautiful white and blue. Then explore Fira, lots of good food there, and take the cable car back down to the tender for about 5-8 Euros pp.

 

In Mykonos, it’s very easy to explore Mykonos on your own. Just take the cruise line shuttle for 10-15 Euros pp or the local ferry for about 2 Euros pp and walk from there. I personally don’t recommend taking the ferry, though, because we witnessed 4 Pax nearly missing the ship due to it being late. The captain waited an extra 30 min for them, but not all captains would do that. The iconic windmills are at the far end of town, and from those, you get a gorgeous view of the Little Venice of Mykonos Town. Again, the food is delicious. Happy sailing; we ❤️ the Greek Isles!

 

 

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Thank you so very much..very helpful.

In Rhodes, you can easily walk to the old town. Since it was early, the shops were just opening and the streets were nearly empty. It was beautiful. We happened to end up at the castle and exploded on our own. As we exited, the tours arrived and we then visited the town which was filled with tourists.

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OP, I'm not sure if you read this or not, but I did a review of my Italy and Greek Isles cruise last September on the Reflection. If you scroll down, you will see what we did in each Greek port. It may or may not be helpful. I can give you more specifics, if needed. You are in for a treat! We just got our photo album back and reviewed it together last night - I still can't believe the sights that we saw! :D

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2548786

Have not been to Rhodes, but have been to Santorini 3 times and each time we rented a car. Last time I drove and it was 4 "blondes" who had a great time! In Mykonos, been there 3 times as well and just enjoyed the town. Last year we took the ferry to Delos and made sure we left on the next-to-last ferry back to Mykonos. Both islands are easy to do on your own. As suggested by another person, do check out Tom Sheridan's Tom's Port Guides. He has a lot of information and we've enjoyed Santorini with him and Mary.

As one who has contributed thousands of posts on handling ports DIY, we have learned a few things in our old age :). All cruisers/travelers are different and each has their own level of comfort along with their personal risk tolerance. So while DW and I are very happy going off on our own at nearly every port in the world, we have met folks who would not even think about stepping off a cruise ship at any port..unless they were on a cruise line excursion. We are both right...because we are both doing what fits our own level of comfort.

So with this in mind, we DIY on all of those Greek ports (and most other European ports). We join the chorus advising the OP to come over to the appropriate CC Ports of Call boards where you can usually get lots of opinions on DIY, private tours, and cruise line excursions.

Hank

Hank,

You have a very democratic writing style. Nicely worded.

Santorini and Mykonos are typically tender ports, so make sure you plan for that.

For Santorini - If you are up for DIY get early ticket for tender to get off ship early and take tram up before long line gets backed up.

You can take the local bus to Oia.(bring small euro it was between $2 and $3 euro in 2014) and be prepared for colorful bus ticket handler.

If you are okay with steps/stairs

Oia is full to walk around.

If it’s summer bring water, hat and be prepared for sun.