We arrived at Santorini, the postcard shot for the Greek Islands. Most everyone in the western world has probably seen a picture of Santorini, you know, the place with the blue domes on the white buildings perched on a cliff overlooking the sea, yep, that’s the island of Santorini in the Aegean Sea. It’s probably one of the most beautiful islands in the world.
Santorini is formed from a Volcano, and is very dramatic, geologically and archaeologically.
The shape of the island is kind of like a pair of jaws, encircling a lake filled with water that is pure blue.
There are two key towns on the islands, Fira and Oia. Oia is the town where the blue domed roofs on white buildings are found.
The cruise ships pull up at Fira port. Ferry boats collect passengers from the cruise ships and shuttle them to the shore.
If you had one day only in Santorini what would you do?
That depends on what you like. If you’re newbies to the island like we were, it was see the town of Oia with the blue domes and white buildings and visit Fira.
We decided to do our own thing and not use the services of the Cruise ship for the tour. For us it worked out better, we needed to have a later morning.
We caught the boat to Fira port then lined up for the Cable Car to the top of the town on the cliff face. The alternative are the stairs to walk to the top, however, I’ll talk about the stairs later.
While in the line for the Cable Car, we noticed there was a boat service to Oia port. Well, really you couldn’t miss it as there was man out the front of a shop yelling out “the boat to Oia is leaving in two minutes”, that good old line of sale by urgency!
After a meeting with the team we quickly purchased our tickets and were shuffled onto the boat. 15 minutes later we left; there’s nothing like two more minutes and a few more tickets to fill the seats.
The price included:
- 10 min fast boat to Oia
- 5 minute bus from the Oia port to the town on the cliff face
- 20 minute bus trip back to Fira
This all cost the grand total of 15 Euros per person. That was pretty reasonable, and to top it off excellent service.
Other times and activities
2 hour walk around Oia including coffee stop, and stacks of photo opportunities. It’s really pretty looks great and would be a place to stay for a day or two if time permitted. 1 hour lunch at Fira
1 hour look around Fira
15 minute walk down to the shuttle boat.
Fira seems a little understated, however don’t be disappointed it’s just as interesting, has some great restaurants with really great views and shops.
The views are brilliant, my initial photos hopefully give you a snapshot of this beautiful island.
Eating
We had coffee at Skiza Cafe at Oia. Fantastic service, great food and awe inspiring views. When we got back to Fira after our bus ride it was lunchtime. Lunch was at the Character cafe restaurant, this place had incredible views as well.
Getting back down to the hill to the ship
We got back down to the ship by walking down the pathway, all stairs. The famous donkeys of Santorini use the stairs to take tourists up and down the hill. A nice touch, however expect to play dodge the donkey and the donkey doo doo.
At one place it was like shuffling through the donkey car park and saying, “excuse me, can I get through”, and you had to literally shuffle through the parked donkeys to get through. It’s a good thing they don’t kick! Seriously it was one of the strangest things that happened that will be memorable.
I love the donkey guides who make their money taking tourists up and down the stairs guiding the donkeys, it seems like a visit to the past. It’s interesting that some of the donkeys found their own way up and down the hill without their keepers.
When we got to the bottom it didn’t take long to to be shuffled onto a boat to head back to the Celebrity Silhouette.
How would you get to Santorini if you weren’t on a cruise?
There are flights into the airport and local ferry services.
Summing up
Santorini; its amazingly better than any Calendar, Postcard or Placemat, something you must not miss if you are in the Mediterranean.
Chris and Annette
