calaquendi43

Hello all,

My husband and I are leading a St. Paul pilgrimage cruise which will make stops on Mykonos, Santorini and Rhodes. We won't have guides for these stops, so we are on our own. Our hours on the islands are:

Mykonos: 15:30-23:00
Santorini 16:00-20:30
Rhodes 9:30-19:00

Since it is a pilgrimage group, we are particularly interested in churches and shrines. Because we will be visiting ancient archeological sites in Athens and Crete, those are not a priority for us on these islands.

Specific questions:

Mykonos: what beach to go to with a family? where to eat?

Santorini: If sunset is at 19:57 and the ship departs at 20:30, do we have time to watch the sunset from Fira? Where?
We will travel up to Oia, what to see there? Especially churches?

Rhodes: What to do, where to eat, what churches?

Thanks!

Heimdall

It would help to know what time of year you are travelling, but with a sunset time of 19:57 I would guess end of August.

Your arrival times on Mykonos and Santorini are rather late in the day. If it is August the beaches on Mykonos will be busy, and some (e.g. Paradise) will be gearing up to party time in late afternoon. My choice for a family would be Ornos Beach, or just over the hill from there Agios Ioannis (the Shirley Valentine beach). The most famous church on Mykonos is Paraportiani, right by the old harbour.

Your time on Santorini is cruelly short, and you will have to allow for tendering ashore and going up to Fira by cable car. You will also have to be back to the cable car at least an hour before your ship's departure, so that leaves little time for anything but Fira. I think you will have to view the sunset from your ship.

You have nearly 12 hours on Rhodes, which should give you ample time for sightseeing there. I will leave comments on Rhodes to others.

clausar

Rodos is a big island, seeing the old medieval city will take at least 2 hours of your time.
Then you can rent a car and drive all around the island, the roads are in a good condition.
Drive down to Prasonisi, and stop in Lindos on your way back, a wonderful village that looks very much like a cycladic village.
Lindos has a nice beach, where you can have a break for swimming.

You will have plenty of time to be back to Rodos on time, drop the car and get to your cruise ship.

calaquendi43

Thank you both.

For Santorini, I would rather have two hours in Oia than none at all. Is taking a taxi from there directly to the port a good option? I have seen that trip priced around 25euro, but the information was old.

For Rhodes, I had not considered renting a car, but I will now. Do you have an approximate idea of what we should expect to pay for a day rental?

Thanks again and God bless!

mariha2912

Port for cruise ships in Santorini is different to the regular ferries port. If you go on a cruise, there is no car/taxi access to your port. You have to use a funicular or walk all the way down.

ter2000

Masses to see in Rhodes. Organise a guided tour of Rhodes town and definitely visit Lindos, which is where St. Paul arrived on Rhodes. There is a small beach called St Paul's Bay which has a tiny chapel (often used for weddings) - according to legend this is where he actually landed.