Which ports to “do on your own” in Greek islands?

[kiyotaka]

Some port stay is very short.

 

1. Mykonos for 9 hrs (3 pm – 12 midnite)

2. Patmos for 3.5 hrs (7 am – 10:30 am)

3. Kusadasi for 6 hrs (2:30 pm – 8:30 pm)

4. Rhodes for 11 hrs (7 am – 6 pm)

5. Heraklion for 5 hrs (7 am – 12 noon)

6. Santorini for 4 hrs (5 pm – 9 pm)

 

Thank you.

[photographia]

There's absolutely no need for a guide on Mykonos.

 

In contrast, you cannot do Ephesus without one, no matter how long you're there!

 

Rhodes' Old Town can be done without a guide, BUT you're there for so long, you should go with a tour to Lindos, which is an hour away from the port. Then, if you want, you can do Old Town on your own, and you'll have plenty of time.

 

On Patmos the main attractions are the Cave of the Apocalypse and the Monastery of St. John, and you should go to these with a guide. You can do them both even in the short time you'll be there.

[tom_uk]

Mykonos in the evening should be fun - it's a party island. The cruise line will probably arrange a shuttle into the edge of town (as some cost) and after that it's easy to walk around, find a bar, a restaurant, etc. Note that prices are high in Mykonos.

 

Rhodes - you can do an excursion, or, given that you're there for a long day, you could hire a car. Lindos is an easy drive, just straight down the (east) coast road from Rhodes town. And it's an easy walk from the port area to Rhodes Old Town.

 

I don't know what to say about Santorini. It's easy, but you can get caught up in queues. To get up to Thira town you have to use either the donkey track or the cablecar, and the capacity of the latter is limited. With such a short stay, it might be worth trying it but be prepared to go back to the ship. However if you're fit & mobile, you could think about using the cablecar to get up and (if the queues look long when it's time to come down) walk down the donkey track. There's no doubt, sitting in a bar overlooking the caldera at sunset will be an unforgettable experience. The trouble is, there may well be a couple of thousand other people who will think the same, and who will all head for the cablecar afterwards at the same time.

 

Which ship are you on? And when?

 

Heraklion & Patmos - I don't know;

 

Kusadasi - as someone else has said, the main excursion here is to Ephesus, and given the short time you've got there, and the fact that it's a few miles away from the port, I would suggest that this is a place to do a ship's excursion.

[Bruin Steve]

Some port stay is very short.

 

1. Mykonos for 9 hrs (3 pm – 12 midnite)

2. Patmos for 3.5 hrs (7 am – 10:30 am)

3. Kusadasi for 6 hrs (2:30 pm – 8:30 pm)

4. Rhodes for 11 hrs (7 am – 6 pm)

5. Heraklion for 5 hrs (7 am – 12 noon)

6. Santorini for 4 hrs (5 pm – 9 pm)

 

Thank you.

 

My two cents:

I haven't been to Patmos or Heraklion, so I'll leave those to others...

 

1. Mykonos for 9 hrs (3 pm – 12 midnite)...Cannot picture any worthy tour here. Just go intio town and enjoy. That's what we did...

 

3. Kusadasi for 6 hrs (2:30 pm – 8:30 pm)... Definitely get a PRIVATE tour...The main sites are far from the port and you don't have enough time to wait for buses to load and unload. We used Ekol and were very satisfied...We did a full day 8+ hour tour with them for just the two of us for only $70 per person--including admission fees and lunch. The guide was excellent... We wnt to Miletus, Didyma and Ephesus...but we had lots more time and much better hours. Contact them and see what they can structure for you...

 

4. Rhodes for 11 hrs (7 am – 6 pm)...We did the ship's excursion to Lindos for 4 hours, then explored Rhodes on our own. We were not too particularly impressed with the Lindos excursion, but loved Rhodes...I guess you also have the time for both as well...In a way, we wish we had a guide for Rhodes...We didn't do a tour there because we had some places we wanted to visit that were not on the ship's tour (like the Synagogue)...and we thought the private tours availanle seemed overpriced...

 

6. Santorini for 4 hrs (5 pm – 9 pm)...Again, evening hours only? Is this some kind of Vampire themed cruise? We've visited twice...once we did a ship's tour, the second time we rented a car and explored on our own...went to Ancient Thira...incredible, but I wouldn't even attempt that and back to the ship with that timeframe and those hours...The time we did the tour (museum, winery, views), we then spent the afternoon taking the public bus to Oia and back (You can't rely on that either), and we did a nice meal overlooking the Caldera in Fira Town...5 to 9? You don't have time for much...Cable car up, wander town a little and see if you can get a dinner reservation for sunset at one of the restaurants along the edge, then cable car back down...

[jms2362]

Mykonos and Santorini and use buses Great Times ahead for you

Some port stay is very short.

 

1. Mykonos for 9 hrs (3 pm – 12 midnite)

2. Patmos for 3.5 hrs (7 am – 10:30 am)

3. Kusadasi for 6 hrs (2:30 pm – 8:30 pm)

4. Rhodes for 11 hrs (7 am – 6 pm)

5. Heraklion for 5 hrs (7 am – 12 noon)

6. Santorini for 4 hrs (5 pm – 9 pm)

 

Thank you.

[kiyotaka]

What can we do/see after dark in Oia?