The cable car is both a scenic and a practical ride, linking Santorini harbour with the hilltop town of Fira. The views over the old port and across the caldera are of course amazing and because the cliffside is almost vertical but because it’s so steep, the cable car isn’t scarily high off the ground. The ride itself is very quick (just a few minutes) but expect to wait some time in the queue. The real log-jam happens when the cruise ship passengers are trying to get to/from Fira en masse. If you can avoid their comings and goings, then it is a lot easier. The only times I saw it without a queue were early in the morning and later at night but during the rest of the day, I never walked past without seeing a crowd. One time, it had broken down altogether, causing quite a bit of chaos. Cost is €6 one way (€3 for kids). The other options are a bus, taxi, a donkey ride or you can take a deep breath and tackle the 588 stairs that wind their way up the side of the volcanic precipice.

We took a tour that departed from the Old Port, which the only way to get to is by cable car or stairs (which you can use a donkey on). There are reviews here that identify "take a taxi" or "take a bus" and this is not possible for Old Port (only New Port/Athinios, where ferries depart from). Our tour left at 11:00 and recommended getting to Old Port at least 30 minutes ahead, so we hit the cable car going down at around 10:00/10:15 in the morning. There was a short line, and we were on the car within 10 minutes. Coming back at around 2:30 was a little different. We were in a line for about 20 minutes before lining up for the car. Cruises come into Old Port, making the cable car situation very busy. While it's only a three minute ride, there are only six cable cars that hold a max of six people each, so up to 36 people can move every five or so minutes. We saw lines that wrapped through almost all of Fira around 6/7 p.m. one night. Someone said the wait would be up to 3 hours. This was possibly abnormal--there were four cruise ships in port, and we saw shop owners taking videos. There's a suggestion in the review saying just take a speed boat to Oia and, I'm not a cruiser, but highly suggest avoiding this cable car if you can if you're on a cruise. Or be prepared to walk up and down 600 stairs.

Six long-time friends came ashore from a cruise ship really early in the morning, and even so we were still greeted with a long queue for the cable car. We considered walking up the donkey track, or paying for a donkey ride up into the town, but in the end, as it was a beautiful day we decided to wait in line for the car. One thing that did annoy us, and a lot of other people queuing, was the amount of queue jumpers who were pushing into the queue, mainly as it was going into the building. Unbelievably other people were letting them in without saying a word. Anyway it took around half an hour before we got to the front and paid the €6 per person for the single trip – you can’t pay for a return. The trip on the cable car is superb, with spectacular scenery as you go up. Unfortunately we decided to walk down the donkey track on the way back, and this was a crass decision as it is hard going, even though you are going downhill (we spoke to other people from the ship that had walked up it in the morning and they told us it was an absolute nightmare of a climb up to the town). The track is full of donkey muck, is quite slippery and the donkeys seem to head straight for you on their way up and down to the town. On reflection we would have been better to have taken the cable car back down to the harbour.

Pretty cool ride and it's definitely better than walking up those donkey steps. We only rode it down, as our cruise ship left us off at another harbor, but as we got on, several people that we didn't know, got in the car with us. Seemed a little odd, as there wasn't a line to go down.

We waited 2 hours in a que to get up in the cable car on a hot day as there were 5 cruise ships docked at 1 time. It costs 6 euros each way per person and they have toilets available. Personally, I don't like heights, but it only lasted a few minutes, so it was not too stressful, but it was easier than climbing the steps. The que to get down was even worse, so be warned to expect LONG QUES! I would advise anyone to book an excursion as they get priority access. Please don't use the donkeys, Whatever you do, they looked so exhausted!

We were lucky taking a bus up with our cruise excursion to see Fira & Oia! However once we were ready to head back to our ship the “waiting “ started! Luckily we on had one other ship in Port. Must remember that the cable car only takes a maximum of 36 passengers at any given time going either way! Have to admit that the view was amazing!🤩

The gondola ride to the top was fine but the line to get on was about 45 min. Be aware that at the end of the day they will cut off the line when they have as many people as they can handle before they close so you are left with no option but to walk or ride a donkey back down to catch your tender to the cruise ship. Had a negative experience with a cold-hearted nasty donkey handler with no compassion that way overcharged an elderly lady that needed assistance - would never recommend the donkeys just to keep money out of his pocket!

We visited Santorini as a stop along a cruise route. If you’re interested in visiting Santorini, do not do so as a visit from a cruise ship. Between 10,000 - 15,000 people across 5 ships arrived at the same time and had to wait hours while the cable car took people, 36 at a time, up the hill. The cable car is a nice trip, but vastly undersized. Departing the island, the wait was more than 2 hours for a cable car back down (and by this time only 2/5 ships remained). We walked instead, which took about 45 minutes, as we had to avoid the slick portions on the stairs from donkey poop.

There was a HUGE line (thousands of people) at 9:45 am to come up - no wait to go down. We came up at 2pm, after a 3 hr cruise, and there was NO line to go up (but loads waiting at the top. The 3 hr boat trip that left at 11am was perfect!

The cable car in Santorini is, probably, the most popular way to get to the popular town area. Alternatives include a boat/coach ride or to go on foot (or even on a donkey) up and down the long and steep stairs (the elevation is severe and the route is perilous). Passengers of the cruise ships are frequent users of the cable car and this leads to periods were queues are enormous (apparently you can wait more than 1 hours at times). The ride itself lasts around three minutes and each carriage typically holds 4 people. Tickets for adults are €6 and for children €3. Tip, When you tender to shore, leave it till later in the day because the queues for the cable car are enormous on the morning. Unless your very fit and healthy don't try walking up the 588 steps, it's an absolute nightmare. Too steep, too slippery, too long, too full of donkey poo, and too threatening of your personal safety by the donkeys themselve.