Avoiding cruise ships

This purports to be a list of cruise ports in Greece: https://www.whatsinport.com/Greece.html.

It's quite a long list, though I'm sure not all those ports are swamped like Santorini. It would probably be easier to ask what are the attractive destinations that are reasonably accessible to a traveler by ferry or flight that don't attract large cruise ships. I really don't know the answer to that question, but I'll bet we have people who can help you out.

THe huge cruise ships (with 2,000 to 3,000 passengers) aactually only go to FIVE harbors, because no other harbors are deep enough to aaccommodate their monstrous hulls (this is the truth!). THat's why the cruise companies frantically promote these places aas the "must-sees"... because these ar the only places their megaships can go. These are: MYkonos Santorini, Rhodes Town, Heraklion (central Crete) and Patmos. They also leave from Piraeus... and some of the cruises end at Istanbul Turkey. Also some of these Megaships dock outside of other harbors... such aas Soula Greece (which is about 30 mins travel to the other main city of Crete, Chania. These ports are also used by smaller cruise ships -- with 800 - 1500 passengers.

Thank you! As wonderful as Santorini sounds, I will avoid to in hopes to avoid the crowds.

I was in Santorini last week. There was one cruise ship in port. Some places seemed crowded. I was told that was nothing. At times, there are five cruise ships in port at a time. And those are the 2000-3000 passenger sized ones.

Santorini is beautiful. But I'd hate to be there with those crowds.

I think the problem is, if you seek to avoid places cruise passengers go in Greece, then you have eliminated most of the popular things to see. Even an inland site like Olympia, gets cruise ship passengers (The ship of course docks at the coast though).

Santorini and Mykonos of course get inundated with cruise ships, you can find schedules, and time of year makes a difference, but certainly, if you would be on either of those islands for more than a couple days, you will get a ship. However, even on those islands, if you head to the quieter parts of the island, you hardly would know they are there, they hit the main town, the big sights, and rarely stray much further.

Not sure your interests, but there are also smaller islands for mainly relaxing, with little else to do, that never see a ship, but if you want to see anything significant, even the Parthenon in Athens, you likely will run into cruise ships eventually.

Personally I wouldn't avoid any places that I would like to visit just because they are cruise ports or popular destinations for shore excursions from the cruise port. But, I would check to see if and how many cruise ships may be in port on a particular day. You can find that information for each port online and then avoid days when cruise ships are in port. Some places that cruise ships frequent can absorb large crowds without spoiling the experience, while others can not. So, that would also help me decide which places to put on my itinerary. Another option is to spend an overnight or two in popular cruise destinations so that I can make plans to avoid the cruise crowds during the day and still enjoy the place in the mornings and evenings. There are almost always work arounds.

When we were in Paros right before Covid our Taxi driver said that cruise ships would spoil the island for regular guests and only benefit a few businesses on the island. Don't know if that is true but we sure love Paros and avoid cruise ship ports especially when crushed. We did go to Santorini in 2001 on a cruise ship before ships were swamping the islands and had a nice day. I too use the site showing ships in port and why I have avoided Dubrovnik. We loved Naxos and Paros with easy connections between them and to Athens.

You might look into Naxos, a lovely, enjoyable and very diverse island. It has a ferry port and a small airport, but no cruise port.

There are many Greek Islands and parts of the mainland that don't get the cruise ship crowds or hordes of tourists.

Another factor is when you are going. If you go off-season there'll be less chance of crowds and prices will be lower.

I would do a bit more research on Greece (Islands/Mainland) to get a better idea of what Greece has to offer other than Big Name Destinations!

Check out this website:

https://www.greecetravel.com/

Both Naxos and Paros are not cruise ship destinations. Personally I would consider flying to Santorini It really is sensational. You can avoid most of the cruisers by planning your day carefully. We waled around Oia for a couple of hours before 30 buses arrived all at the same time. We left and walked along the clifftop.

Next ferry to Naxos or Paros. You will get a true Greek experience on either of these islands.
I would choose Naxos. Here is why
Naxos town https://www.flickr.com/photos/stanbr54/albums/72157632094558042
Trip around Naxos https://www.flickr.com/photos/stanbr54/albums/72157634605629689

Naxos 2019 https://www.flickr.com/photos/stanbr54/albums/72157711294807761

Remember, the cruise crowds leave at the end of the day and return to their ships. Ah....peace.