Santorini - vendors at the dock?

[deadzone1003]

We will be aboard the Westerdam and visiting Santorini from 11am-6pm.

I guess my effective touring time will be from 12pm-4pm. We are wondering if there are always vendors at the dock offering private tours of Santorini that will fit the cruiseship schedule?

[Hlitner]

I guess a question would be what kind of tours? At the tender pier (you tender into Santorini which further shortens your time in port) there are few tour operators other than those who have boat tours around the island. From this area you can take either the funicular or donkeys up the hill to the main town of Thira (Fira) where everything is very walkable. If this is your first visit to the island you might find yourself quite happy to just spend your time in the town. Remember that there will be a queue to get back down to the tender pier late in the afternoon, so time is always an issue. You could also take a taxi (or local bus) to Oia, which is another town you can see off in the distance. If you want to further explore the island you should probably consider arranging for a private tour on-line or taking a cruise ship tour (can't believe I would ever recommend a cruise ship tour :)

 

Hank

[suesie]

Another alternative would be to hire a car. We did last summer and arranged it over the internet before we got there and they waited for us at the top by the funicular in Fira.

We ahd a lovely day exploring on our own - almost impossible to get lost and so much more to see than just Fira and of course probably much cheaper than a ships tour.

They drive on the right and the roads aren't as big/straight as maybe you're used to but I would hughly recommend it. We were able to have lunch somewhere that wasn't quite so much a tourist trap ( although that is quite hard in Santorini). :)

[deadzone1003]

I was hoping that I didn't have to sign up for a ship's tour, but the time contrainsts may force us to. Thanks for your advice.

[texancruzer]

We learned our lesson last cruise......... BE SURE AND GET IN LINE FOR YOUR TENDER TICKETS EARLY !!!!

 

We didnt and even though our port stop was 2pm -10pm we didnt get off the ship (tender) until almost 4 pm :eek::eek:

 

We took the donkeys up (that was a blast !) and then walked thru town to the main road. Hired a taxi (nice new Mercedes) who took us to Oia and waited for us (about 2-2.25 hrs) and then back to Thira. We then walked around a bit - window shopped and found a nice table with a view of the sunset and had a bite to eat and a Greek beer. Then stood in line to ride the cable car down and tendered back to the ship.

[D4]

Someone mentioned that the town at the top of the cliff is very walkable. That is true, unless you have problems with steps. It seems like you go a few stores and then there are steps up or down. Turn almost any corner and there's another flight of steps.

 

I just post this because some people have mobility problems. That includes my DH and it was hard to find out that kind of information in advance for most of the places we were visiting in Europe. People that don't have those issues don't notice the obstacles that cause problems for those that do.

[texancruzer]

Someone mentioned that the town at the top of the cliff is very walkable. That is true, unless you have problems with steps. It seems like you go a few stores and then there are steps up or down. Turn almost any corner and there's another flight of steps.

 

I just post this because some people have mobility problems. That includes my DH and it was hard to find out that kind of information in advance for most of the places we were visiting in Europe. People that don't have those issues don't notice the obstacles that cause problems for those that do.

 

 

So true......Europe is ALL STEPS ! Everywhere. And not alot of wheelchair accessability or ramps. Many hotels have very small elevators but only AFTER you have a series of steps to get into the hotel....... Neither dh nor I have any mobility issues (except we could both lose some weight and not huff-n-puff going up the steps) but we did notice this.

[Studman]

Ride the donkeys up, great fun

we rented atv's and rode to Oia, shopped a bit then off on the ATV's to the other end and had lunch. There was a ton of cars just sitting and waiting which we were able to just buzz by them. also the parking is very limited so the ATV's worked out great.

The cable car line was over an hour wait so we walked down. the smell is bad and you have to watch for the herd of donkeys heading back up the hill to get more people. They just go on their own!

[Nor Cal Gal]

Studman, the ATV's sound fun! Did you reserve those in advance or rent them when you arrived? What was the cost?

 

~Kathleen

[watcha]

We are in Santorini from 2.00 till 10.00 and would love the trip to Oia that you did.There will only be 2 of us , so I was wondering if you could tell me how much your taxi was .Are taxis readily available or has anyone any other ideas how we can get there easily ? We did Fira last time . Thanks .