The Santorini cable car: fare, hours, the queue and the ways round it

The Santorini cable car carries guests from the old port below Fira up to the town in a 3-minute ride: 10 EUR (checked 8 Oct 2026, santorinicablecar.gr) one way, cabins every 20 minutes in season, 1,200 people an hour. Greece Private Tours meets you at the exit of the top station; this guide covers the queue, the hours, the ways round it and when to leave the ship.

How much is the cable car and when does it run?

A one-way ticket is 10 EUR (checked 8 Oct 2026, santorinicablecar.gr). Children from 6 to 12, large families and people with disabilities pay 5 EUR (checked 8 Oct 2026, santorinicablecar.gr); children under 6 ride free; a piece of luggage is charged separately. Tickets are one way and not refundable, sold at the station and in the operator’s online shop. From April to October the cabins leave every 20 minutes; in winter every 30 minutes, with extra trips only when maintenance allows. The timetable by month, as the operator publishes it:

• 1 Apr to 30 Apr: 06:30 to 21:00
• 1 May to 31 May: 06:30 to 22:00, last entry 21:40
• 1 Jun to 31 Aug: 06:30 to 23:00, last entry 22:40
• 1 Sep to 31 Oct: 06:30 to 22:00, last entry 21:40
• 1 Nov to 30 Nov: Daily, two sessions: 07:30 to 10:30 and 14:30 to 18:00, every 30 minutes, 07:30 to 18:00
• 1 Dec to 28 Feb: Daily, two sessions: 07:30 to 09:00 and 15:00 to 16:00, every 30 minutes, 07:30 to 16:00
• 1 Mar to 31 Mar: Daily, two sessions: 07:30 to 10:30 and 14:30 to 18:00, every 30 minutes, 07:30 to 18:00

Checked 8 Oct 2026, scc.gr.

Prices and timetables can change without notice, which is why each figure above prints the date it was checked.

How long is the queue?

It depends on how many ships are in the bay. The cable car moves 1,200 people an hour, and the port’s daily limit is 8,000 cruise passengers for 2025 and 2026, so a full day brings several times the hourly capacity ashore. Our advice has been the same for years: take one of the first tenders, and on a day with several ships expect the wait at the bottom to pass one or two hours. In the afternoon the queue forms again at the top station for the way down. No official queue-time figure exists to print, so we plan the meeting time from your ship’s arrival and let the wait come out of the buffer, not out of your tour.

Do cruise passengers have to use the cable car?

No. From the old port the other ways up on the port authority’s own list are the 587 steps and a mule on the same path. Since 2026, ships certified for more than 1,000 passengers land 30 percent of their guests at Athinios instead of the old port, and the ship decides who lands where: if your tender goes to Athinios there is no cable car at all, and our vehicle waits at the quay. For everyone else the way round the queue is a boat from the tender pier to Athinios, where the driver waits; we arrange it on request and quote it with your day.

Is there a skip-the-line ticket?

Not on the operator’s price list of April 2026, which shows one ticket type, and not in its online shop. A rival’s claim of a priority ticket appears on no official page we read, so we do not repeat it; if the operator introduces one, this page will carry it with its source and the date.

When should we leave the ship to meet our driver?

Take one of the first tenders. We set the meeting time from your ship’s arrival, and we plan every cruise day to end 90 minutes before your all-aboard time, so the queue up and the queue down both come out of that margin. Your driver waits at the exit of the top station with a sign with your name; if the queue is longer than planned, write to us on WhatsApp at +30 6944803339 and we adjust the day.

What a private tour can and cannot do about the queue

It cannot shorten the queue: the operator sells one ticket type and the only ways up are the ones above. It can take the queue out of your day: an early tender, a meeting time that assumes a wait, a driver who waits as long as it takes, and a plan that keeps the end of the afternoon free for the way down. For the return, leave the last stop with the margin in hand; the port-to-Oia guide works the timing out stop by stop.