How to Spend a Day in Santorini (From Cruise Port)

Santorini hardly needs an introduction thanks to “Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants”, and seeing endless influencers pose for the perfect photo op by the iconic blue domes.

From the narrow whitewashed streets and glistening Aegean, to the famous golden sunsets, Santorini ouzos with charm (see what I did there). It’s no wonder it’s one of the most popular Greek Islands and listed as a port of call on many Mediterranean cruises.

We recently had the luxury of stopping here on our 7 day Greek Isles Cruise through NCL and let me tell you.. WHAT. A. TREAT. Here is how we spent one jam-packed port day in Santorini.

Santorini is a tender port, meaning your ship will anchor further off the coast and then smaller boats will take you into the port, which is right below the island's capital, Fira.

You have a few options on how to get up to Fira from the port. One is walk up almost 600 steps to the top. Ummm, in the middle of a hot Grecian Summer? No thanks! Two is take a donkey up, which don't get me wrong, sounds great in theory, but from what I've heard they really mistreat them, so it may not be the best idea. Third (and the option we chose) is to take the cable car up. It's convenient, easy, and takes about 5 minutes to get to the top. Here is an updated price list for the cable car here.

Once we made it to the top, now time for some fun! And what screams fun more than exploring all the ins and outs of Fira and Santorini by cruising on your very own ATV?!

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Renting an ATV in Fira is easy, affordable, and most importantly, gives you the freedom to see and do whatever you please. All you need to rent is a normal US driver’s license and a credit card, you know in case you drive the thing off a cliff and damage it. We didn’t make reservations, but were able to easily walk up and rent from one of the many companies in Fira. There is a whole row of ATV/scooter shops and they had plenty of ATVs left, but I would say if you're going in high season, maybe consider reserving one ahead of time just in case. They handed us our stylish pink helmets and gave us a quick demonstration on the basics of how to ride. Then we were officially ready to take on the Grecian streets. Watch out people of Santorini—Vroom. Vroom! Here’s where we went:

Santo Winery

Nothing says ‘vacation’ like showing up at a winery at 10 am, am I right? Stepping onto the multi-level terrace at Santo Winery felt like stepping into a postcard.

The panoramic views of the caldera and morning rays bouncing off the water below made for the perfect sight as we sipped on a flight of wine and munched on our paired Mediterranean snacks.

Amoudi Bay

Thanks to our ATVs, we had the luxury of skipping roughly 300 steps down from Oia to the quaint village of Amoudi Bay.

The cove is full of fresh seafood restaurants with tables just inches from the water and fisherman boats bobbing up and down like a bobblehead on a car dash. We sat down at “Sunset Ammoudi” for a light lunch of tzatziki and bread along with grilled octopus, which was caught fresh that day! Oh, and a carafe of chilled white wine because what Greek meal is complete without wine?

Oia

Oia (pronounced ee-yah) is the village most people picture when they hear ‘Santorini’

Little pops of blue thrown in between the classic white washed buildings and famous cave hotels that wind back and forth along the sheer cliff, slightly resembling dollops of whipped cream. We explored the best way we could—by getting lost in the streets, shopping, and taking lots of pictures. 10/10 recommend.

Fira

We ended back in Fira, which similar to Oia, has tons of charming cafes and shops lining the cliffs with ocean views for as far as the eye can see.

We returned our ATV and strolled the never-ending alleyways and found a gyro place to end the day, because if you don’t get a gyro in Greece, then you’re missing out. Even though it’s the capital, and where the cruise ship docked (and thousands of people are set free into the world from the ship), it felt a lot less crowded than Oia.

After this, we took the cable car back down to the old port and took a tender back to the ship.