Santorini (getting up the hill)

[Ewoodspark]

Looking at the options of getting to the top of the hill to Thira, I see that there are 3 options. Going on a donkey (which must be the cruellest option available to the poor donkeys), waiting in a queue for the cable car or walking up.

Therefore can anybody please advise the length of time it takes to walk up to the town and approximately how far it is. I have tried to look at Google maps but it is very unclear.

[MeHeartCruising]

Looking at the options of getting to the top of the hill to Thira, I see that there are 3 options. Going on a donkey (which must be the cruellest option available to the poor donkeys), waiting in a queue for the cable car or walking up.

Therefore can anybody please advise the length of time it takes to walk up to the town and approximately how far it is. I have tried to look at Google maps but it is very unclear.

 

Another option is to take some form of ship excursion that takes you by bus up to the top... does its thing... then drops you off in Thira where you can do more things and then find your way back down hill.

 

I did not walk UP, but I can tell you it took me about 15 minutes to walk down. So I would guess maybe 20-30 to walk up. It would depend on your ability to walk up hill. It is not individual small steps. It is more like step up one...walk 10-20 feet on a slight uphill, then step up again...walk 10-20 feet.... step up again. Of course, you want to stop every now and then to soak in the sites and also to avoid donkeys coming up and down beside you.

Edited February 18, 2014 by MeHeartCruising

[markf]

keep in mind the sun factor--it can get very hot -and tak a toll when you think you can walk--the cable car works--!!

[puppycanducruise]

We walked up, and took the cable car down.

When we arrived, we heard that the wait for the cable car was approximately 1 hour. (I'm not sure how that was determined, but it seemed like there were hundreds of people in line).

It took us a little over 30 minutes. It is a fairly steep climb, and you have to dodge donkeys and donkey poo (watch your step!). But we got some nice pictures.

It was quite warm when we were there, by afternoon, it was in the low 30s.

I don't think I would walk up again - I'd probably book an excursion through the cruise ship.

[Ewoodspark]

We walked up, and took the cable car down.

When we arrived, we heard that the wait for the cable car was approximately 1 hour. (I'm not sure how that was determined, but it seemed like there were hundreds of people in line).

It took us a little over 30 minutes. It is a fairly steep climb, and you have to dodge donkeys and donkey poo (watch your step!). But we got some nice pictures.

It was quite warm when we were there, by afternoon, it was in the low 30s.

I don't think I would walk up again - I'd probably book an excursion through the cruise ship.

Thanks for that. If I could get into the NCL website and actually look up excursions, I would be able to look. The link does not seem to work.

[HokiePoq]

Another option is to take some form of ship excursion that takes you by bus up to the top... does its thing... then drops you off in Thira where you can do more things and then find your way back down hill.

 

I did not walk UP, but I can tell you it took me about 15 minutes to walk down. So I would guess maybe 20-30 to walk up. It would depend on your ability to walk up hill. It is not individual small steps. It is more like step up one...walk 10-20 feet on a slight uphill, then step up again...walk 10-20 feet.... step up again. Of course, you want to stop every now and then to soak in the sites and also to avoid donkeys coming up and down beside you.

 

We took an excursion to Oui (spelling???), the town where the famous picture was taken and then had a good bit of time to shop and a ticket for the return cable car. This worked really well.

[Alliezona09]

This post made me think of Ron White (comedian~Ya Can't Fix Stupid) talking about Santorini~ you can take the tram or you can take the donkey, it is the same price~! lol~:D

[Beth 2001]

We took an excursion to Oui (spelling???), the town where the famous picture was taken and then had a good bit of time to shop and a ticket for the return cable car. This worked really well.

 

We took the same excursion and this was definitely the way to go! We got to Oia ahead of any crowds and were able to walk around and get some great pictures. The bus then took us to a small winery where we sampled three wines and had some hors d'oeuvres. Last stop was Fira, where we had lunch at a restaurant overlooking the harbor and rode the cable car back down to our ship. Santorini is truly one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen!

[PorkChopKid]

We took the cable car UP. Each car holds 6 and there are 6 cars so it moves pretty quickly. CABLE CAR We walked DOWN the path at a leisurely pace and probably spent 45 minutes getting down. It's kind of like steps but spread out. STEPS1 STEPS2 STEPS3 STEPS4

Our entire cruise write-up can be found here, Santorini is 1/2 way down--> CRUISE

We were back in Greece in September for a non-cruise vacation and you can find our Santorini images (along with some satellite images) here--> GREECE

Enjoy

[stagetek23]

Some cruise lines provide a shuttle to the top...not sure about NCL.

[CarlsDad]

this post made me think of ron white (comedian~ya can't fix stupid) talking about santorini~ you can take the tram or you can take the donkey, it is the same price~! Lol~:d

:) :) :)

[CarlsDad]

This post made me think of Ron White (comedian~Ya Can't Fix Stupid) talking about Santorini~ you can take the tram or you can take the donkey, it is the same price~! lol~:D

Ron White: So we make it to Santorini, and Santorini is on the rim of an ancient volcano. And for 2000 years, folks, the only way to get to the top of the rim on the port side of the island was to take a donkey 800 feet up these switchbacks, takes forever. Until 5 years ago, somebody installed a tram that does the same thing in 18 seconds. And I was shocked to see the donkey guy still in business because he had the worst sales pitch I had ever heard in my life. He says, "You can take the donkey to the top of the rim, or you can take the tram. It is the same price." That would be my biggest secret if I were you, buddy. I'd be lying to people as soon as they got off the ship. "The donkey is $3.50. The tram is about 2800 Euro."

[cabincop]

I went in sept there was no wait for tram I think it depends on time of year you go also

[luv2cruisekc]

We walked up and would NEVER recommend doing it. I thought I was going to have a heart attack the way my heart was pumping. Dodging the donkeys and donkey doo was no fun either.:mad: We took the tram back.