elaine

After many years, I will be returning to Greece with a group of friends; there are 12 of us. We have booked a Celestyal 7-day Aegean cruise from Piraeus, with stops in Mykonos (overnight), Milos, Santorini (overnight), Iraklion, and Kusadasi, returning to Athens. We will stay 3 nights in Athens after the cruise. Three excursions are included with the cruise: a visit to Oia, a visit to the Palace of Knossos, and a visit to Ephesus from Kusadasi. We love scenic and natural experiences, as well as historical sites and churches. We are all good walkers, though I would not call us hikers. Cruise excursions and other tour and sightseeing suggestions would be appreciated, especially since we'll have a 1 3/4 days each on Mykonos and Santorini. Thank you.

katepcoss

Hi. I recommend you visit the island of Delos, which is just a 30 minute boat ride from Mykonos. It is a UNESCO world heritage site and your tour guide walks you through the market places, the squares...plus you get to see the Temple of Apollo, the sanctuary of Artemis, the amphitheater and you are going to walk down the famous Lion Street. This tour includes a visit to the museum of Delos which has an admirable collection of vessels and sculptures from all periods. For all of this to be seen it takes about 2 hours with a tour guide. Have in mind that most tours to Delos take about 5 hours. I hope this helps. Have fun!

janisj

elaine: You might want to re-post on the Europe forum. It is much more active than the cruise board and there are a LOT of Greece/Islands experts who post there every day -- including a few who live there.

whitehall

On Mykonos and Santorini, we did our own trips. We walked to Mykonos, easy to do, although our cruise ship, trying to sell a bus ticket, indicated it was difficult. When we got to the dock we saw a boat excursion to Delos. We got on and then it went to cruise ship to pick up cruise passengers. For us, it was half the price; we got the first seats and when on Delos, we were on our own and saw more of the uncrowded and historic island than the excursion seemed to have time for (accommodating everyone to go to bathroom, etc.).

For a lot of people, Santorini is about having lunch in Fira, where you arrive and then trek to Oia where you get those iconic photos of the blue-roofed churches. We hired a taxi to transport us to Oka, had more freedom for a fraction of the cruise excursions. On Ephesus, we found a private tour guide online. As we recall, it was not very expensive, or not anymore than a simple excursion the cruise line offered. The cruise passengers, for example, waited in very long lines on a hot day to visit the Virgin Mary's house. Our driver somehow got us in ahead of everyone. Maybe wrong, but I think he took advantage of the disorganization we found. It was nice to have a local on our side. The only caveat is that they will take you to vendors (hoping to get something if you buy rugs, etc.). Just prepared to say "no, thank you."

elaine

janisj, Thank you, I posted the question in the Europe forum just after I posted it here.

kapia

I did a Celestyal cruise 3 years ago on the Olympia. 5 days and 6 ports (5 Greek Islands plus Kusadasi, Turkey). It was port intensive and we didn't really spend much time on the ship except for sleeping and eating. For us, it was our first time in Greece and we really wanted to see as much as we could in the time we had, so it worked for us. It really depends on what you're looking for in this cruise. Cruise Critic is a good place to find lots of reviews.

traveling

Cruise stops in Mykonos and Santorini in May, our first time there. Can you tell me where to head to once off the ship? We enjoy the outdoors and scenic beauty.
It seems easy enough to do excursions on our own. Please elaborate on where you went, how long it took by taxi and how much approx. from cruise port to your destinations at both ports. Really appreciate your help!