Santorini - being met at 10am, but how long to get to top of cable car?

[margbem]

We have a private tour booked and have been told we will be met at the top of the cable car at 10am. I have read a lot about problems with tendering when you are not on a ship's tour - everyone wanting to get off at the same time etc. Has anyone got any tips on how to get the best out of the day? We arrive at 7am and leave at 5pm. There are 3 ships in that day but one leaves at 3pm and the other at 6pm.

[LHT28]

Just get on the tender as early as you can. The ride itself only take a few minutes it is the line-ups than will take the time

 

If you get there early then you can walk around & take in the views waiting for your guide

[nparmelee]

How long the line for the funicular is will depend on how large your ship is and on how many other ships are in port with you as well. The funicular itself only takes a few minutes once you are on it. When we were there the funicular line was 30-45 minutes long so we rode the donkeys up and were at the top in about 10-15 minutes. The donkeys do have their own risks, I ended up with a slight scratch where I got rubbed against a wall and one woman did fall off a donkey and whacked here head (she was ok though, just ended up with a headache). DH took a few minutes longer to get to the top, for some reason my donkey decided he really wanted to get up there, DH's was pokier, he was near the woman who fell off, she apparently was leaning trying to take a picture and lost her balance (don't do that). When we got back from Oia the line for the funicular was long again so we just went shopping for a while, came back and the line was gone, only took us 5-10 minutes to get back down.

[sammiedawg]

As others suggested, get the first tender or two off the ship, then either ride the donkey or the cable car up to the town of Fira. We had a simliar itinerary last month, we got to Fira pretty quickly by donkey, then used that time to walk around the town and the shopper in our party did her thing. After our private tour was over, the line for the funicular was very long but it moved quicker than we expected.

You will love Santorini

[Fblack]

When we went to Santorini on the Westerdam last October, HAL first stopped at the tender port that accommodates buses and cars. Why not ask your tour operator if you can meet them at that first tender stop. Then you only need to take the cable car back down the hill. Later in the day expect at least a 30 minute wait for a cable car.

[Thebox]

Hi. Great info. Can anyone recommend a specific tour they enjoyed and the aprox. cost? Thanks for your help!