Find it Here: Santorini, Firá, and Oia Q & A

[mapleleaves]

On 10/13/2023 at 12:21 PM, Tranquility Base said:

Santorini.

 

Would anyone know if the ferry from the Old Port to Oia is still operating ?

If it is, would it be operating during the first week of December ?

How might I find out ?

 

Thanks.

It's a pretty loose little business. They have a c few large signs to advertise their business and they have a couple of guys handing out fliers along the cable car line, but nothing provides a phone number or business name. 

So it's hard to know if they'll be operational on your port day, and no way to find out.  If there are several ships in port that day, you have a better chance than if your ship is the one and only.

OTOH, if your ship is the one and only, the cable car won't be a bottleneck.

Good luck !

[Tranquility Base]

On 10/15/2023 at 10:46 AM, mapleleaves said:

OTOH, if your ship is the one and only, the cable car won't be a bottleneck.

Good luck !

Thanks.

The other problem is that as far as I can find out the cable car doesn’t operate between 9am & 4pm in December……yikes.

[herbanrenewal]

Copied from a post on another website. I assume the same would be true in December, but you can contact Santorini-view.com to verify off-peak hours.

 

[mapleleaves]

9 hours ago, Tranquility Base said:

Thanks.

The other problem is that as far as I can find out the cable car doesn’t operate between 9am & 4pm in December……yikes.

 

Yikes is right ! 

Here's the schedule from the cable car web site.    Cable Car Timetable (scc.gr)

 

For the month of Dec it runs 7:30am - 9am, then 3p - 4pm, BUT, it will run 9am - 3pm if maintenance progress allows.  So, there's hope! 

 

Good luck !

 

[UncleNonie]

And I saw the following about the cable car in this document: https://www.scc.gr/notifications/maintenance/recent_maintenance_schedule.pdf

[Seininya]

Our cruiseship, NCL Dawn is in port November 19, which I believe is the only ship in port that day. However, we don't dock/tender until 10:30, but the cable car in the morning appears to stop at 10:30?

[bonsai3s]

1 hour ago, Seininya said:

Our cruiseship, NCL Dawn is in port November 19, which I believe is the only ship in port that day. However, we don't dock/tender until 10:30, but the cable car in the morning appears to stop at 10:30?

Hopefully the cable car operators will adjust their hours of operation for your ship.

 

Otherwise, the only way directly up to Fira is to walk (can be difficult), or ride the donkey.

 

* If you are heading to Oia, taking the boat from the dock is another option.

Those going on ship excursions typically are tendered at another dock to meet the bus.

[Seininya]

13 minutes ago, bonsai3s said:

Hopefully the cable car operators will adjust their hours of operation for your ship.

 

Otherwise, the only way directly up to Fira is to walk (can be difficult), or ride the donkey.

 

* If you are heading to Oia, taking the boat from the dock is another option.

Those going on ship excursions typically are tendered at another dock to meet the bus.

I’ve sent an email to Santorini Views, hopefully they can provide some insight. 
Thank you for suggesting the other options!

[Seininya]

Santorini Views got back to me - so they are saying there is no cable car from 10:30-14:30, on the other hand, they gave me several water taxi #s, but they are saying the season for water taxis are over. May have to hoof it up the path. On the other hand, there is one other ship at the port same time as us, maybe the ferry would run?

[H2OfordCruiser]

We are looking at a private tour in Santorini that will pick us up at either the Athinios Ferry Port or at the Cable Car Station. I'd prefer to avoid the cable car if we could (I realize we will need it for the end of our excursion). Is there a water taxi that we can take to Athinios Ferry Port?

[marazul]

Here is a view of the donkey path down to the tender port:

 

 

 

 

Edited February 2 by marazul

[bgyoshi]

Hi all, this 2 port thing is a little confusing to me.  I'm looking at a cruise sponsored excursion and it says "Your final stop in the bustling capital city of Fira lets you snap some memorable photos before the journey back to Athinios port."  Is that the newer port where the tour buses go?  So we won't be needing the cable car back down to old port to tender?

[debbie2000]

5 hours ago, bgyoshi said:

Hi all, this 2 port thing is a little confusing to me.  I'm looking at a cruise sponsored excursion and it says "Your final stop in the bustling capital city of Fira lets you snap some memorable photos before the journey back to Athinios port."  Is that the newer port where the tour buses go?  So we won't be needing the cable car back down to old port to tender?

The Athinios port is the port that the excursions use, so it looks like they will transport you back there to tender to the ship

[debbie2000]

On 2/2/2024 at 2:46 PM, marazul said:

Here is a view of the donkey path down to the tender port:

 

 

 

 

Wow! We won't be walking that path!

 

[Anyislandwilldo]

Does anyone have a very easy to follow map to the local bus station?  TIA

[mapleleaves]

On 3/17/2024 at 12:38 PM, Anyislandwilldo said:

Does anyone have a very easy to follow map to the local bus station?  TIA

in which town ?

Look down the page for " Getting around Santorini by Bus"  

Santorini Public Bus - Routes, Schedules, Tickets, Map (santorinidave.com)

 

Edited March 25 by mapleleaves

[Anyislandwilldo]

8 hours ago, mapleleaves said:

in which town ?

Look down the page for " Getting around Santorini by Bus"  

Santorini Public Bus - Routes, Schedules, Tickets, Map (santorinidave.com)

 

Thank you!

[sunshinem1987]

We really enjoy the flexibility of setting your own pace and schedule on our trips,that's why we booked a private tour.Our guide was waiting us at the cable car exit( we were lucky enough to be the only cruiseship that day )so we went directly to the car. Visited the most famous spots within 4 hours! 

[New Floridian]

any tours that skip the cable car lines?

 

[Jayhoaps]

Hello everyone, I will be cruising to Santorini, OIA, FIRA in September. My question is do they have a lot of public restrooms there? Or is the restrooms only in restaurants? Any guidance on this manner, would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance. Best Regards. 

[bonsai3s]

12 hours ago, Jayhoaps said:

Hello everyone, I will be cruising to Santorini, OIA, FIRA in September. My question is do they have a lot of public restrooms there? Or is the restrooms only in restaurants? Any guidance on this manner, would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance. Best Regards. 

 

In Oia, there's a nice restroom across the street fron where the local bus stops. Happy sailing!

[PurpleTraveller]

13 hours ago, Jayhoaps said:

Hello everyone, I will be cruising to Santorini, OIA, FIRA in September. My question is do they have a lot of public restrooms there? Or is the restrooms only in restaurants? Any guidance on this manner, would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance. Best Regards. 

 

I have only seen 2 public restrooms on my two previous visits to Oia and Fira. The one at the local bus stop at Oia mentioned by bonsai3s, is a western restroom and was clean when I used it. The other was just outside the bus station in Fira and was dirty with a hole in the floor (admittedly a few years ago and may have been upgraded since then). Your best bet may be in a bar or restaurant or possibly a museum.

 

I will be there again in June and would be interested if anyone else has any extra public restrooms to add to these as I won't be going to Oia.

 

[txtechmk]

Good to know that the buses take cash only and when you board.  However, I read somewhere that you can get a combo ticket (I think at the port) for a boat to Oia that includes a bus ride to Fira.  ??  I wanted to make sure this isn't a gimmick for the boat people to collect extra money.  Should we purchase everything separately? 

[bonsai3s]

38 minutes ago, txtechmk said:

Good to know that the buses take cash only and when you board.  However, I read somewhere that you can get a combo ticket (I think at the port) for a boat to Oia that includes a bus ride to Fira.  ??  I wanted to make sure this isn't a gimmick for the boat people to collect extra money.  Should we purchase everything separately? 

 

Boats from below Fira to Oia drops you off the dock below Oia and you have to take a bus up to Oia. I'm guessing this may be the bus they are referring to.

 

* Local buses to and from Fira and Oia cost us €1.60 per person each way (current price may be higher now, but it's still cheap). The bus ride takes about 1/2 hour with 5 stops. Most of the passengers on the bus goes straight to Oia or back to Fira...so it can even be faster. Happy sailing!

[Travelntrike]

On 9/6/2023 at 3:03 PM, mapleleaves said:

the boats don't do a return trip; it's just one-way. .

 

Google Santorini Port to see how many ships will be in port with you, plus their arrival/departure times, and # of pax.  That information will help gauge the situation but it's not a guarantee. 

ie our ship (2800 pax) arrived at 1:30pm and the only other ship (2700) was 7am-4pm.  I assumed the other ship's pax would have gone to Fira hours earlier so there would be no line for us at the cabl car. WRONG!  We stood 2 hrs. The other ship left at 4, so there was NO ONE in line when we returned to the ship around 6:30 or so.  

I found this on the scc.gr cable car company website   Santorini's Cable Car serves 1200 persons per hour total.

 

So that line may have been all from your ship. I'm researching alternate options as I'll be on a ship with 4200,and 2 other smaller ships in port. That's the bummer of traveling in the high season!