Santorini private sunset tour with winery stops (3 hours)
From 500 EUR per group
Free cancellation until 72 hours before the start.
Shore excursions from Santorini
ΣαντορίνηSantorinisaid “san-do-REE-nee”
Cruise ships anchor off Fira and land their guests by tender at the old port of Santorini; the cable car or 587 steps lead up to the town, where the Greece Private Tours driver waits at the top station with a name sign. Every shore excursion here is private, priced per group, and planned to end before your all-aboard time with the margin each tour card prints.
- Tours from this port
- 9
- Ships
- Land by tender
- Shortest call needed
- 4 h 30 min
- Meeting points
- 3
Plan around your ship
Type the two times from your ship's daily programme. The list keeps the 90-minute margin before all-aboard and prints what is left to spare.
Your ship's programme has the times that count. The port publishes its own list of calls: Cruise ship arrivals by month at Santorini, published by the Municipal Port Fund of Thira (santoriniports.gov.gr, checked 1 Oct 2026).
Port logistics
Where ships land
- Cruise ships lie off Fira on mooring buoys or at anchor in the caldera; passengers come ashore by tender boat at the Bay of Fira (the old port)
- From the old port the ways up to Fira are the cable car, the 587 steps or a donkey; the cable car carries 1,200 people an hour
- The Bay of Fira is the main cruise port and Athinios the auxiliary cruise port
- Since 2026 ships certified for more than 1,000 passengers land 70 percent of their passengers at the Bay of Fira and 30 percent at Athinios; smaller ships choose either. The ship decides who lands where, not the passenger
checked 27 Sep 2026, santoriniports.gov.gr
Tours that fit a port call
See all tours
Santorini half-day private tour (4 hours)
From 300 EUR per group
Free cancellation until 72 hours before the start.
Santorini photo-spots private tour (4 hours)
From 300 EUR per group
Free cancellation until 72 hours before the start.
Santorini private day at three wineries with our own driver (5 hours)
Price on request
Free cancellation until 72 hours before the start.
Santorini private tour (5 hours)
From 400 EUR per group
Free cancellation until 72 hours before the start.
Santorini full-day private tour (8 hours)
From 700 EUR per group
Free cancellation until 72 hours before the start.
Boat from the Santorini tender pier to Athinios: the way round the cable car
Price on request
Free cancellation until 72 hours before the start.
Santorini car and driver by the hour
From 50 EUR per hour
Free cancellation until 72 hours before the start.
Santorini private tour with a flying dress photoshoot
Price on request
Free cancellation until 72 hours before the start.
Not the day you want?
Tell us the places and the hours; we price a custom day for your group.
Arriving by ship?
Each port page says where the ships dock, where we meet you and which tours fit a call.
Talk to us
A person answers: call or WhatsApp us, or send a note from the contact page.
Not finding a tour that fits your call at Santorini? Tell us your ship's times and what you want to see; we price a day for your group.
Ask usOne contact for every port
Docking in Santorini and at one more of our 8 cruise ports? One contact for every call. Send the port, the day and your ship's times for each call in one request; we answer with one plan for every call and its price.
Ask for one quote for every callWhere will our ship land us?
Usually at the Bay of Fira, the old port below the town, by tender: the ships stay on buoys or at anchor in the caldera. Athinios, the ferry port to the south, is the auxiliary cruise port, and since 2026 a ship certified for more than 1,000 passengers must land three in ten of its guests there, while smaller ships choose either. Your cruise line decides which tender goes where, not you, so every tour on this page has both meeting points: the exit of the cable car’s top station for the old port, the quay for Athinios. Give us the ship’s name and its times when you book; if the landing point changes on the day, one message on WhatsApp moves the driver.
How long is the cable-car queue, and can a private tour avoid it?
Nobody can print a queue time, so we plan around it. The cable car lifts 1,200 people an hour and the island admits up to 8,000 cruise passengers a day in 2025 and 2026, so on a day with several ships the wait at the bottom can pass an hour or two, and it forms again at the top in the afternoon. The operator’s price list of April 2026 has one ticket type and no priority lane, so no tour can buy its way past the line; a one-way ride costs 10 EUR (checked 8 Oct 2026, santorinicablecar.gr). What we do instead: set the meeting time from an early tender, keep the driver waiting as long as it takes, and end the day with a margin. For guests who cannot queue, a reserved boat from the tender pier to Athinios puts you in the vehicle without the cable car; it is quoted with your day. The cable-car guide has the timetable by month and the reduced fares.
When should we leave the ship?
On one of the first tenders. Getting from the ship to the top of the cable car usually takes an hour or more, so we set the meeting time from your ship’s scheduled arrival and let the queue eat into the margin, not into the tour. Every day we plan ends 90 minutes before your all-aboard time, and the last leg is the same in reverse: the road back to Fira, the queue for the way down, the tender. The booking form asks for the ship’s arrival and all-aboard times and refuses a tour that does not fit between them with that margin.
Which tours fit our port call?
Add 90 minutes to the hours of any tour: that is the call it needs, and each card above prints it. On a short call the 4-hour tour reaches Oia, Firostefani, Pyrgos and a beach or a winery; a longer call opens the 5-hour tour with Akrotiri and the south, or the full day with lunch; the day at three wineries, five hours by request, is quoted by the office. If you would rather set your own stops, the car and driver by the hour takes whatever hours your call allows, and the port-to-Oia guide works the Oia timing out leg by leg, and the one-day-in-Santorini guide times the whole day in both directions.
What does a private excursion cost per person?
The price is per group, so each guest pays less as the party grows: four guests on the 4-hour tour pay 100 EUR each, six pay 67 EUR each, and four guests on the 5-hour tour pay 125 EUR each. From eight guests the rate is per person in a minibus. Cable car tickets, entrance fees, tastings and meals are paid on the spot. The price guide prints the whole rate card by hours and group size.
What if we are late for the ship?
We plan so that it does not happen: the margin before all-aboard, an early tender, and a driver who watches the clock with you and shortens the last stop if the road is slow. No tour of ours can hold a ship, and we do not promise the return to it; what we promise is the plan above and a phone that is answered. If the weather stops the tenders, write to us as soon as the ship announces it.
Is there a fee for cruise passengers in Santorini?
Yes, since Law 5162/2024: a fee per passenger that changes with the season and is highest from June to September. The cruise line pays it to the State with the ship’s call, so nothing is paid at the quay and nothing is added to a tour; the cruise-fee guide prints the tiers, the daily limit and their sources.
Where we meet you
ΤελεφερίκFira cable car, top station
Cruise guests come ashore by tender at the old port of Fira and ride the cable car up. Your driver waits at the exit of the top station with a sign with your name.
ΛΙΜΑΝΙ ΑΘΗΝΙΟΣAthinios ferry port
Ferry guests, and cruise guests whose ship lands them at Athinios, are met at the port of Athinios: the vehicle waits at the quay.
Παλιό λιμάνι - ΦηράOld port of Fira
Only for the boat to Athinios: our representative waits on the tender pier with a sign with your name.
%2C_Fira%2C_Seilbahn_--_2017_--_2635.jpg){kind=link}
Cruise guides
All guides- Archaeological site entrance fees in Greece: the sites on our tours, with datesEntrance fees of the sites on our tours from the official pages, each dated: the Acropolis, Akrotiri, Delphi, Mycenae, Sounion, and the free days.Facts checked on 27 Sep 2026.
- Driver or licensed guide in Greece: who may guide inside a site, and what we doWho may guide inside Greek sites and museums under Law 5121/2024, what a driver does instead, where it applies on our tours, and how to book a guide.Facts checked on 27 Sep 2026.
- One day in Santorini from a cruise ship: the day worked in both directionsA cruise day on Santorini timed both ways: the tender and the way up, what fits into your call, a quiet day against a busy one, and the way down.Facts checked on 27 Sep 2026.
- Private driver in Greece: car and driver by the hour, where we run our ownA private driver in Greece by the hour: our own drivers on Santorini and in Athens at the same hourly rate, and a quote where we have no driver of our own.Facts checked on 27 Sep 2026.
- Private tour prices in Greece and Athens: our rate card, per group, with datesWhat a private tour costs in Greece with our own drivers: the 4-, 5- and 8-hour tables by group size, and the longer days the 8-hour table covers.Facts checked on 27 Sep 2026.
- Santorini cruise port to Oia: the two ports, the times and the way backFrom the Santorini cruise port to Oia: the tender to the old port, the cable car or the steps, 13 minutes by road with a private driver, and the timing back.Facts checked on 26 Sep 2026.
- The Santorini cable car: fare, hours, the queue and the ways round itThe Santorini cable car from the old port to Fira: the fare and hours with their checked dates, the queue, the ways round it and when to leave the ship.Facts checked on 26 Sep 2026.
- The Santorini cruise passenger fee and the visitor limit: who pays, how much, and what it changes ashoreThe Santorini cruise passenger fee of Law 5162/2024, who pays it and how, the daily limit and the landing split, each with its official source and date.Facts checked on 27 Sep 2026.