bus travel on Santorini

[cherylterr]

Hello,

 

During our May cruise we will be in Santorini for about 11 hours, 7am to 6pm. Rather than do a ship excursion we hope to take the bus to Oia in the morning, then back to Fira by early afternoon and then take the bus to the Red Beach near Akrotiri. We want to see the cliffs, take some photos, walk around for an hour or so and head back to Fira.

 

To any who may have done this (taken the bus 2 different directions on the same day) does this seem possible?

 

thanks for any input

[Hlitner]

We have been to Red Beach and it is one of the better beaches on the island. However, it is quite a distance from Fira. We did the beach by simply renting a car for the day which avoided spending time waiting for buses (even the bus to Oia only runs about once an hour). We are not sure about the bus all the way out to Red Beach, but we suspect it would not be an efficient use of your time. In your case you might want to rent a car, drive to Oia, than back past Fira and to Red Beach (and perhaps a few other places) and than drop your car back in Fira a few hours early and finally enjoy exploring Fira on foot (the only way to explore Fira) before taking the cable car down to the tender pier. Driving on Santorini is relatively easy, and for going as far as Red Beach it does make a lot of sense.

 

Hank

[CintiPam]

Hank is right; best to rent a car. It only costs 40 Euros for the day, and it will save you loads of waiting time and angst. Parking is easy everywhere but in downtown Fira, and there is very little traffic except for downtown Fira.

 

We have rented a car on both of our port days in Santorini and really enjoyed driving around the island at our own pace.