We arrived on a cruise ship on a day when there were 4 ships in port, I don't know who makes the decision on how many is too many ships but really our day could have been disastrous if not for our pre-booked tour with a driver through Santorini Best tours Omega Travel on 28th May.
We were met at the top of the cable car and whisked to Oia before the crowds. Our driver led us to all of the best view points, in Oia, down the little laneways so we didnt even have to think about where anything was, he knew all the best spots.
We travelled all over the Island, and after consulting us he booked a lovely local spot for us for lunch, discussed options for wine tasting and asked questions to see what we were interested in, and, being a local he new so much information about the island.
The van was modern, clean and comfortable and the driver was a lovely guy. He was also mindful of our need to return to the ship on time.
I would highly recommend booking a day trip exploring Santorini with this company, good value for money and personal service, perfect! I am so sorry that I can not remember our drivers name, he was a lovely young local man, who lives and was married on the island, so we had a true local experience.
As for Santorini, it really is stunningly beautiful but terribly over crowded the day we were there, we managed to avoid most of the crowd thanks to our tour, but the queue for the cable car back to the ship was never ending, so we took the 588 stairs down, they really were not that bad if you leave yourself enough time without rushing and it is a very unique and scenic way to leave Santorini.
Also going up the cable car can be time consuming, best tip if arriving by cruise ship is to be on one of the first tender ships even if that means being in line early for tender tickets which is what we did, meaning we were on the 2nd cable car of the day without any hassle.
