Santorini From 7-3PM

[cmavino]

Cruise ship arrives in Santorini at 7am and departs at 3PM. Friends tell me to go to Oia. best to take a private car or cab? Wish I had more time in Santorini. How can I utilize my time to the max. I do want to sit and have lunch overlooking the city and take some pcitures.

[KirkNC]

I think it is criminal to have such a short stop in Santorini. We were late arriving last summer (10:30 instead of 8 due to an injury to a crew member) and had originally planned to rent a car, go to Oia, eat lunch and than come back and hang out in Fira but by the time they got everyone off for the HAL excursions and tendered us little people to the dock it was 11:30. Than you have to get to the top which takes another 15 minutes (no compliants on that it just ate into our already shorted time). We were scheduled to leave at 5 which meant we needed to be at the tender by 4:30, given the mad rush to get back down the cable cars I figured we need to get in line by 4:00. That left us about four hours so we skipped the car and Oia and shopped and ate lunch in Fira. I was very disappointed as Santorini is so beautiful. The only good news was the crew member did recover from his injuries.

 

I wish one of the lines would do an overnight in Santorini, I would signup for that one ;).

 

So now to the OP's question, you will need to assume a minimum of 30 minutes and possibly one hour to get from the ship to Fira so that gives you 6 hours. I think I would take a taxi and have him wait for you while you check out Oia. A car is around $100 for the day, maybe a bit less but you have the time to find the car rental, fill out forms etc. Santorini is not very big so the ride to Oia is pretty short, there is a small fishing area just past Oia where you can eat right on the water. It is where the movie "Sisterhood of the Pants" (or whatever that movie is called) was shot. It has a few restaurants, parking in Oia can be challenging as well. Have fun!

 

Kirk

[tartanexile81]

A car is around $100 for the day, maybe a bit less but you have the time to find the car rental, fill out forms etc. Santorini is not very big so the ride to Oia is pretty short, there is a small fishing area just past Oia where you can eat right on the water. It is where the movie "Sisterhood of the Pants" (or whatever that movie is called) was shot. It has a few restaurants, parking in Oia can be challenging as well. Have fun!

 

Kirk

 

We've just hired a car for 40 euros in high season and sure paperwork won't take that long if you have all the documents ready. Santorini is small and with a car you'd get a good flavour of it even if you haven't got too long..... but as other posters say you DO have to allow time to get to and from ship on tender and up and down cable car.

[KathyU]

We had the same short port call in Santorini and hired a guide with a car. It was a miserable experience, as the guide was only interested in driving us to Oia and dumping us for 2 hours. We saw little of the island and got virtually no information from our guide. It was the biggest waste of 120 Euro. Our guide was named Fortis from santorinicarhire.com. I recommend taking a bus or cab to Oia for such a short stay. There are a few resturants open for early lunch, so you should be able to find some place, before you have to head back to ship.

[pacmom]

Just returned from 3 days on Santorini. We used the bus to go back and forth to Fira from Oia. The bus runs every 1/2 hour and takes about 1/2 hour to make the run. Oia is so beautiful, lots of small shops, art gallerys and restaurants. The businesses always know when a ship is in and open accordingly. If it is a busy port day, Fira can be very congested, but that is part of the fun. The bus cost is 1,40 Euro and you pay on the bus--really convenient. The bus station is about 3 blocks up from the cable car. The small vilage mentioned is a climb like the donkeys make. There are restaurants in both Oia and Fira with wonderful water views. Enjoy. Pat

[cmavino]

Thanks for all your suggestions