OIA- Yes or No?

[dbh62ark]

I would say a big "yes" to Oia. When we were there last month, there were way too many people waiting to take the bus from Fira to Oia (3 ships in town). We walked a block to a taxi stand. The taxi driver talked us into a taxi tour of the island that included the black beach and the lovely village adjacent to the beach, Oia, a monastery built in the 11th Century, and a winery. Combined with our independent sightseeing in Fira, this was a great day for us.

 

Have a wonderful trip,

Donna

[High C's]

I would say a big "yes" to Oia. When we were there last month, there were way too many people waiting to take the bus from Fira to Oia (3 ships in town). We walked a block to a taxi stand. The taxi driver talked us into a taxi tour of the island that included the black beach and the lovely village adjacent to the beach, Oia, a monastery built in the 11th Century, and a winery. Combined with our independent sightseeing in Fira, this was a great day for us.

 

Have a wonderful trip,

Donna

 

Donna - if you don't mind me asking, what was the cost of this tour in the taxi? Were you given an opportunity to wander around Oia before returning to Fira?

[dbh62ark]

Donna - if you don't mind me asking' date=' what was the cost of this tour in the taxi? Were you given an opportunity to wander around Oia before returning to Fira?[/quote']I should have written down the cost at the time and didn't (that always means that it was reasonable in my book :), but I think it was approx 35 Euros per person for 4 in our taxi for a 4-hour tour. Yes, we were able to spend over an hour in Oia (can't remember exactly how long) and took some great photos. The monastery was a great addition to the itinerary, and the nun that showed us around was 94! We also loved the fact that the winery and monastery that we visited were not overrun by tourists, so we were off the beaten path, which has a lot of appeal for us. I don't know if we saw the whole island, but we saw a lot because the places that we visited were not close together. Our taxi driver that we had originally hired simply to drive us from Fira to Oia told us that if we were not happy with the tour at the end, we didn't have to pay him. I think everyone knows that the taxi drivers frequently try to sell up after you get into their cars, but this is one time in which we are glad we heard him out (we were concerned about finding a return taxi anyway because we did not want to have to deal with the masses fighting for seats on the public bus). If we have one that we have a good rapport with, we will usually listen to what he has to say because the drivers can often save you a lot of time to allow you to see more. But later in the same trip, we decided not to accept an offer from a taxi driver in Capri because the public transportation options were good and because we wanted more "free" time, so it just depends on the circumstances for us. Whatever you decide, I hope you have a great time in beautiful Santorini.

 

Donna

[High C's]

Thanks for the info, Donna. I appreciate it.