tours in santorini and etna

[rachel58]

can anyone recommend the best tour to take in Santorini and Taormino we are especially interested in the volcano and the caldera in Santorini and Etna in Sicily.Are the ships tours that much more expensive and how reliable are private tours?

Thanks in advance

[Dreps]

We just returned from four days in Santorini after disembarking from a cruise in Athens. Just make sure you take an excursion that goes to Oia, where we stayed. The views of the Caldera from there are spectacular. All the cruise ships that anchored off of Santorini sent waves of people up to Oia to walk around. It is because we had thought so highly of Oia on a previous cruise to the Greek Islands that we decided to actually stay there.

[thedog]

Frankly you do not need any tours. Go up on the cable thing and then walk around. Take the bus to Oia and then walk around and have a nice lunch. A tour would be silly as all you do is walk around and look and then take the bus back. Each way was a few Euros.

[Leonid]

On Santorini, I would not miss the dig at Akrotiri (sic). It's an old city (about 3500 years old). When we visited, we were told that they did not know how big the city. What we saw was interesting. They said that it was evacuated just before the big one. When we were there, they had not uncovered any grave sites, which seemed important to them. I'm glad we went to see the site.

[agabbymama]

I plan to take the Princess excursion "EZ Santorini" as it eliminates the need to take the cable car or donkeys up the side of the caldera. I suffer from acrophobia and will no way get on the cable car and swing in the air, nor am I tempted to ride the donkey. We will be tendered to a port where the bus will pick us up and deliver us back. Whatever I see will have to be sufficient. If they weren't offering this option, I wouldn't be seeing Santorini at all.

 

Mt. Etna sits behind Taormina, but if it's clear you can see it for miles. Do you mean you want to hike Mt. Etna? I think that will definitely have to be a tour, especially with it being active right now. Taormina also has a cable car, they seem to be very popular in Europe.

[agabbymama]

On Santorini, I would not miss the dig at Akrotiri (sic). It's an old city (about 3500 years old). When we visited, we were told that they did not know how big the city. What we saw was interesting. They said that it was evacuated just before the big one. When we were there, they had not uncovered any grave sites, which seemed important to them. I'm glad we went to see the site.

 

Akrotiri had a collapse and killed someone, so it has been closed. No set re-opening date right now.

[NYLady]

OMG! When did this happen?

[Leonid]

First I've heard of the Akrotiri problem. Thanks for the feedback. If it ever reopens to the tourists, it will be a great tour.

[nparmelee]

The accident at Akrotiri was back in 2005.

[thedog]

We were in Santorini last June and Akrotiri was closed with no opening date in site. Check with the tourist office before going there. The best place is just to hang out in Oia and drink one of those iced coffees.

[NYLady]

It was a wonderful tour and one that really opened up my mind to the extent of modernization that existed so long ago. Given the education I had up to that time, I simply could not have envisioned that there could have existed a "village" with little houses, shutters, kitchens with elaborate pots for storing food, etc. Much of our Ancient History education has led us to believe that, apart from the pyramids, "modern" civilization as we know it didn't exist. Just not so. There was one area within the excavation where one could clearly see we were standing on a street corner with nearly intact houses all around. So eye-opening.

That was about 10 years ago and I have been looking forward to a re-visit since, at that time, excavation was in full swing and I anticipated seeing so much more in a future visit.

I'm so sad to hear someone died in the collapse and, I suspect many others injured.

[Inishmoor]

I have been to the site 2x and each time found it very interesting. It is very sad that it is closed since I had planned a 3rd visit there in Sept on the Insignia cruise.:mad: