How Long are Lineups for Cable Car in Santorini?

[gemz]

A friend just returned from a July cruise to Santorini and said that the lineup for the cable car ride up was over an hour and the donkey smell was so overwhelming that you can smell it from the ship's tender. We'll be in Santorini on a Sunday in late September so would the crowds be a lot less? Why would the donkey smell be so strong first thing in the morning? Don't they clean the steps every evening?

[kruisejunkie]

We were in Santorini in June. See my trip report.

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=70352

[zqvol]

A friend just returned from a July cruise to Santorini and said that the lineup for the cable car ride up was over an hour and the donkey smell was so overwhelming that you can smell it from the ship's tender. We'll be in Santorini on a Sunday in late September so would the crowds be a lot less? Why would the donkey smell be so strong first thing in the morning? Don't they clean the steps every evening?

 

Late September is after high tourist season but it is still cruise season. You might encounter lines for the cable car, but they should not be too bad. As far as cleaning the steps every evening the answer is no, in fact they probably never "clean" them.

[labeachcomber]

We used the cable cars to get to the top and were there by 7:30 or 7:45 am. We saw a huge procession of donkeys - probably at least 100 of them - brought in by individual handlers probably ten at a time. The street after these donkeys past was littered with donkey poop. Just because it's early in the morning doesn't mean those donkeys don't poop!

 

I think somebody is responsible for cleaning up the poop on the street at the top of the cable car, because it certainly wasn't there at the end of the day.

 

We used the cable cars to leave Fira at 2 pm and the line wound all around the entire area at the top. Despite the length of the line, it does move rather quickly and we were probably at the bottom within 30 minutes.

[tom_uk]

The cable cars can move around 700 people an hour, in one direction. There are 6 cars per train and each car can hold 6 people, so that's 36 people per train. Then a single journey takes about 3 minutes, maybe a bit less: that's 20 journeys an hour, maybe one or two more. So 36 x 20 = 720 people in an hour.

 

The quoted capacity is often given as 1200 people an hour, but that assumes full trains in both directions simultaneously: i.e. when 36 people are going down, another 36 are coming up. The actual usage of the system isn't generally like that, of course.

[dileep]

Take the cable car up and walk down.

[gemz]

Thank you everyone! Think I will take the advice for cable car up and walk down but watch where I'm stepping. I'll also bring a little vial of perfume to smell to mask the donkey smell. Donkey poo yuk! Hope it won't ruin my memories of beautiful Santorini.

[BigGuy25]

We used the "donkeys" ... the historical way of getting up the cliff. I believe it was 5 euro. It was really fun and I'm glad we experienced it. Great photo ops!!! They did have people cleaning the steps the entire way up. But, with the number of donkeys, they can never really keep up with it. We took the cable car back down.

 

If you do decide to walk up or down the steps, there are several obstacles to be aware of: 1) it is a pretty long walk with lots of steps, 2) you do need to keep looking down so that you "don't step in it!" and 3) at several places (near the bottom and the top) the "waiting" donkeys all congregate (unsupervised) waiting for a handler to come and get them. If you're walking you need to make your way through the herd that goes all the way across the pathway for quite a distance.

[Rocket4Oh]

A friend just returned from a July cruise to Santorini and said that the lineup for the cable car ride up was over an hour and the donkey smell was so overwhelming that you can smell it from the ship's tender. We'll be in Santorini on a Sunday in late September so would the crowds be a lot less? Why would the donkey smell be so strong first thing in the morning? Don't they clean the steps every evening?

I would think that the wait time for the cable cars is also dependent upon how many ships are in port that same day. You can check out which ships are anchoring at Santorini on the day you are there at this website: http://cruisett.com/ships.php

[PC168]

We were there a couple weeks ago. There were 3 ships in town, it took us over an hour to wait in line to get down at around noon time. For walking, I would not recomended, it is very slippery and donkeys everwhere, some of them don't watch people.

[zqvol]

We were there a couple weeks ago. There were 3 ships in town, it took us over an hour to wait in line to get down at around noon time. For walking, I would not recomended, it is very slippery and donkeys everwhere, some of them don't watch people.

 

If you waited an hour to ride down how do you know it was slippery. We walked down in June and it was not slippery at all. Yes, there are lots of animals, and they own the right of way but it is great fun.

[PC168]

If you waited an hour to ride down how do you know it was slippery. We walked down in June and it was not slippery at all. Yes, there are lots of animals, and they own the right of way but it is great fun.

 

Because we rode the donkeys up.

[suec12]

I am surprised that no one has posted how cruel it is to ride the donkeys - well it won't be me, I tend to think they have been pack animals for hundreds of years. But I was surprised at how rambunctious a ride it was - I thought it was going to be a slow plod up the hill - oh no. My donkey took off as is it were a race, passing other donkeys, getting very close to the pedestrians, other donkeys (I was nervous about being kicked) and the very rough stone walls. I had the reigns but not in a literal sense - there was no controlling that animal. It was more of an adventure than I had anticipated but alot of fun too. But I really don't know about walking - we saw two of the most dignified passengers on our ship walking up those steps where there was ALOT of donkey droppings, it would be very difficult to avoid at least some contamination - I think your shoes would be pretty nasty! I'll save my walking for up at the top.

[Sandylee]

We took the cable car up and walked down. It was very hot weather so the donkey poop was all dry and didn't stick to our shoes at all. However the steps themselves are quite smooth and slippery from years of wear so I had to walk quite slowly to be sure I wouldn't fall. Took me about 30 minutes, but very scenic. The donkeys/mules just smell of donkey, I can't see what the fuss is about really, but you do need to be confident about pushing past them where they're bunched up waiting. The animals are in good condition but their equipment is poor. Many had only a thin rope for a girth to tie the saddle on, and as a result had sores or bad scarring in the girth area. I couldn't see any water for them to drink at their rest stops either even though it was very hot.

[Hlitner]

I will not get into the animal issues regarding the donkeys,,but leave that issue for others. But, getting back to the OP question on waiting time for the cable car, the answer is that it totally depends on the time of day and how crowded the island is on that particular day (cruise ships represent only a portion of the tourist crowds). You will usually find that there are little or no lines around mid-day for the cable cars. But, as you get into mid-afternoon the lines will start to get longer since most folks tend to take return boats in mid to late afternoon. If there are several large cruise ships in Naples and/or Sorrento than that will contribute to those lines as the passengers all need to get back to their port about the same time. It would not be unusual to have lines as long as 30 -45 min during the 2 - 3:30 time of day so you do need to plan accordingly.

 

Hank

[Susan-M]

If there are several large cruise ships in Naples and/or Sorrento than that will contribute to those lines as the passengers all need to get back to their port about the same time.

 

Referring to Capri, Italy?

[ddonalds]

When we were in Santorini - we walked down, and it was pretty exciting dodging the donkeys and their..... leftovers.... BUT - it was slick. I had on great walking shoes, but the day we were there - people were sliding around.... It sounds like it must just depend on the day and the weather. We were there in May........ But - however you get up and down - that is one picturesque island!!!!!

[Hlitner]

Referring to Capri, Italy?

 

Oops. Drinking too much of that good Italian wine (or Lemoncello) I guess. Or then again perhaps it was that wine from the Boutari Vineyard on Santorini :) Too many islands and too many bottles but I am truly sorry. The situation in Santorini is a lot better then Capri for getting down because we have noticed that most of the cruise ships will have one of the cruise staff watching at the upper cable car station to check out the queues. We have always wondered if they would actually hold a ship if they noticed many stuck at the top (have no idea of the answer). On the other hand, getting stuck on Santorini might not be such a bad thing :)

 

Hank

[KirkNC]

On our trip last summer there was not much of a wait going up but it was 20-30 minutes going down.

 

Kirk

[J&Jtravelcouple]

We were just there in August. We got a pretty early start, leaving the ship at around 8:00. There was no line for the tram, in fact, we waited on the tram probably 10 minutes for others to arrive to fill up the cars. For the ride down, there was a good line going out the door of the tram entrance, but we probably waited only 20 mins. or so. As others stated, the line moves quickly as it's 36 per trip. There are two sets of cars, as one goes up the other goes down, then they reverse. Animal smells don't overwhelem me, but I have to say the smell in the elevators back on the ship from those who walked down (who weren't even in the elevator but had been it it) was quite strong. I imagine they sheduled carpet shampoos for right after Santorini!

[screwcork]

We have been in Santorini 4 times since 2003 and have taken the donkeys up and have walked down every year we have been there. You never have to wait more than 5 min. for a donkey, the smell is not too bad and riding up has never been a problem (going down on a donkey is more complicated!). Walking down takes 10 - 15 min. and the donkey traffic in the afternoon is OK, meaning that you don't meet many donkeys coming up.

 

Screwcork

[numbersix]

We were just there in mid August, off the Ruby Princess, and, after two prior visits, were expecting the worst. We picked up our tender tickets a few minutes after the announcement, and literally walked through the dining room and down on to the tender, and breezed into the cable car, and right up! We wera amazed!

 

Agree with Rocket4 to check on other ships in the same day, as that is probably the main factor.

 

Santorini is a fabulous island--have a great day!

 

Kevin

[luvtocook]

We will be there 11/19/10 and there are 2 ships in Santorini that day--Star Princess & Brilliance OTS.

We meet a private guide @ 9:30, what do all you seasoned Santorini people thing the lines will be like and what time do you recommend we try to get to the tender? 1st time on Princess, so we don't know their tender pattern.

ALSO, you mention the walk down slippery--are there hand rails? Why is it slippery, the poop????

 

Thanks!

[Cornishpastyman1]

The main reason it's slippery is that the steps are polished stone, but it's not an ice skating rink and if you allow 30 minutes for it you'll be fine.

[4774Papa]

We were in Santorini in July on the Norwegian Gem, which arrives at Santorini at 4PM. We wanted to maximize our time on the island, so we took the Oia and Winery excursion, and it was worth the cost. We tendered to the port South of the cable car/donkeys, then took a bus to the Winery, (great wine samples and views of island) then the bus ride to Oia took us over most of the island. After Oia, the bus took us to Fira, and at the end gave us a voucher for a cable car down (it was dark by then). Some in our party only went up cable car or donkey and only had time for Fira.

Make the most of Santorini, it is unbelieveable.