Charming Oia & Winery in Santorini - Which Winery

[letiha]

We have decided that we are going to get the cruise excursion to either Oia and visit Santo Winery, or do the Charming Oia and Winery Tour, depending on what winery?

 

Has any one does the Charming Oia & Winery tour and confirm which winery?

[Son of a son of a ...]

We did the Oia and Winery excursion in early October.  I can’t recall the winery’s name, but you are dumped off by a bus and told that you have 30 minutes to be back on the bus.  There were two tables with crackers, cheese, and olives - both of which were picked over by the hordes of other tourists.  Next you shuffle up to the pour station where they give you two small glasses of wine.  There were no tables available (hordes).  There was no narrative of the wines and, if you wanted a refill, you had to go to the back of the long pour line (hordes).  The buses just kept coming and disgorging more tourists.  I recall there was 1-2 other ships in port when the Star arrived.

 

The drive to Oia was pleasant and the guide gave a decent recitation of points of interest.  I think we had 1.5 hrs in Oia.  The town was the highlight of the excursion.  Then you get back on the bus and it drops you off at Fira.  There you can shop more and can go down to the ship via cable car (hordes) or the donkey path.  We walked down the path - not recommended if you have bad knees or good shoes, but much faster than waiting for the cable cars.  Note: we went down after sunset so the donkeys were pretty much off the path.

 

We were disappointed with the winery part of the excursion (many others on the excursion openly voiced their dissatisfaction, as well) and sent a note to the excursion desk.  They credited us $25, which was the difference between the Oia only excursion and the Oia/Winery excursion.

 

I would skip the winery and go directly to Oia ... take the money you saved and have a relaxing glass of wine in Oia while enjoying the view.

[cruisinsc1]

I did the Charming Oia & Winery tour last year. Our stop was at the Santo Wines Winery. We took a tender to the Old Port, got on a bus and made our way up to the winery. Although the views were beautiful, my experience was pretty much the same as the above poster mentions. I felt we wasted way too much time at the winery. Next time I will go straight to Oia and spend more time there instead.

[zqvol]

4 hours ago, letiha said:

We have decided that we are going to get the cruise excursion to either Oia and visit Santo Winery, or do the Charming Oia and Winery Tour, depending on what winery?

 

Has any one does the Charming Oia & Winery tour and confirm which winery?

Oia is not to be missed under any circumstances. Wineries are a dime a dozen but there is only one Oia. No matter what you do go to Oia, and try to be there at sunset.

[Kruizin'Kath]

This tour was full (thankfully) when we tried to book it in April. Forced us to find a private tour for four of us in a mini van which was able to maneuver through the narrow streets much better. We got closer to all the sights and was taken anywhere we wanted to go! Best way to see Santorini and much cheaper too!

[sjacobs11]

For either of the ship tours, did you have to take the cable car UP at Fira to get the bus to Oia? Looking to avoid the long lines up. Thinking about just taking a water taxi from the pier to Oia and exploring on our own as well. Thanks!