Santorini travel guide: how to plan your trip
Santorini is a flooded volcanic caldera, which is why the west side is a cliff and the east side is a beach. It is the most photographed island in Greece and the most often rushed, and it is more varied than the photographs suggest. How you plan it decides whether you spend the trip looking at the view or queuing for it.
Getting there
Two ways from Athens, and they are genuinely different decisions.
- High speed ferry from Piraeus, roughly five to six hours depending on the boat and the stops.
- Conventional ferry from Piraeus, roughly seven to nine hours, cheaper, steadier in wind, and the one we book when the forecast is bad.
- By air, well under an hour from Athens, year round rather than summer only.
The port is at the bottom of the cliff and your hotel is probably at the top, which is a transfer rather than a walk. Durations vary by operator and season, so we check the live timetable for your dates rather than working from last year's.
Who Santorini suits
Just about everybody, and we do not say that to be agreeable. Couples, families, friends and people travelling on their own all have a good trip here. What is worth knowing in advance is the ground, because Santorini is a cliff and the island is built up the side of it.
Steps and steep paths are the normal way of getting about on the rim. If stairs and slopes are something you would rather plan around than be surprised by, say so when you enquire and we will build the trip differently. There is a version of Santorini that sits away from the steepest ground, and it is a good one.
One thing to check before you book any hotel on the caldera. A lot of them are reached on foot only, with no road to the door, which means luggage is carried some distance. Most have porters who do exactly that and think nothing of it, but not all of them do, and it is far better to ask the question before you book than to find out with a suitcase at the top of the steps. We check it as a matter of course on anything we book.
Arriving by cruise ship
Getting up the cliff is the part nobody warns you about.
Cruise ships anchor off the old port below Fira. Expect a long wait for the cable car in both directions, going up and coming back down, because the whole ship wants it at once.
The only other way up on foot is the stairs. There are 588 of them, climbing something like 220 to 260 metres up the cliffside, which is 720 to 850 feet.
Donkeys are offered, and there is a legal weight limit of 100 kilos per rider. We recommend the cable car or the walk instead. That is a view about animal welfare, and also about comfort and safety, and we would rather say it plainly than take the booking.
How many days
Two nights is the floor.
Santorini is a bucket list island and people arrive with it built up for years, so a day trip that lands at eleven and leaves at six is a way of ticking it rather than seeing it.
Two things fill those days better than the caldera walk does. The first is the wine. Santorini grows some of the best in Greece, on volcanic soil, in vines trained into baskets on the ground because of the wind, and a tasting here is not the same experience it is anywhere else in the country.
The second is a caldera sunset cruise, and we would call it the one unmissable thing on the island. Private or small group, usually on a catamaran. It is the only way to watch the sunset without standing in the crowd that forms to watch it.
Where to stay
Fira and Oia give you the views, and they also give you the crowds. If you are going to pay the premium to stay on the caldera, we think it is worth doing properly and booking a room with a view. Otherwise you end up paying for the location without actually enjoying the thing that makes the location special.
If you want the caldera without quite as much intensity, look at the places between the main centres, or consider Imerovigli, which gives you the dramatic views while feeling less hectic.
One practical warning: think about the car before you book the hotel, not after. If you are staying in Fira, a hire car can create more problems than it solves, because parking is limited. Santorini is one of those places where your accommodation should decide how you get around, rather than the other way around.
The Santorini people do not expect
Santorini is more varied than what you see online, and the clearest example is the beaches. It is not an island anybody comes to for a beach holiday, and yet it has some very good ones.
The black sand beaches are the ones to know. Perissa and Kamari are the famous two, with Perivolos running on from Perissa as a continuous stretch of the same coast. Volcanic sand, dark and hot underfoot, and nothing like the postcard of the island.
The better part is what is behind them. There is a run of local tavernas strung along the black sand, and eating in one of those is a different Santorini from the one people photograph on the rim.
Combining Santorini with another island
Stay inside the Cyclades. It keeps the logistics simple and it means you spend the holiday exploring islands rather than sitting on ferries.
Mykonos is the obvious pairing. We would rather give you some contrast. Naxos, Paros or Milos make a more interesting combination, because you get a different pace and a different personality after Santorini.
There is another option people overlook: do not stay on Santorini at all. We regularly arrange it as a day trip from a neighbouring island, and that can make perfect sense if you would rather avoid the hotel prices and the crowds.
The catch is simple. You will probably miss the sunset. And if there is one thing we would make an exception for on Santorini, it is staying late enough to watch the island change once the day trippers have gone.
Featured day tours
Two of the 34 we run on Santorini.
Best time to visit
| Month | Sea | Crowds | What it is like |
|---|---|---|---|
| April | Cold | Quiet | Clear light, cool evenings, some places still shut. |
| May | Bracing | Building | Walkable heat and the rim still has room on it. |
| June | Warm | Busy | One of the two months we book most often. |
| July | Warm | Very busy | Hot, and the meltemi blows hardest through here. |
| August | Warmest | Busiest | Book months ahead or choose another month. |
| September | Warmest | Easing | The other month we book most often. |
| October | Warm | Quiet | Lovely, with things closing week by week. |
Santorini questions we get asked
Two ways, and they are genuinely different decisions. By sea from Piraeus, or by air from Athens airport to Santorini's own airport.
- High speed ferry from Piraeus: roughly five to six hours, depending on the boat and how many islands it calls at.
- Conventional ferry from Piraeus: roughly seven to nine hours, cheaper, steadier in wind, and the one we book when the forecast is bad.
- By air: well under an hour from Athens, and unlike most island airports this one runs year round.
Durations vary by operator and season, so we check the live timetable for your dates rather than working from last year's.
June or September. Warm sea, everything open, and neither the August prices nor the August crowds.
July and August work if the dates are fixed by school holidays, but they need booking months ahead and they are the windiest weeks of the year in this part of the Cyclades.
Thirty four, from caldera cruises and wine tastings to hikes, e-bike days and trips to the islands next door.
They are private or small group, and every one of them is run by people we have used ourselves.
Two nights at the least. It is a bucket list island and people arrive with it built up for years, so a day trip that lands late morning and leaves at six is a way of ticking it rather than seeing it.
Beyond the caldera walk, the two things worth the time are a wine tasting, because Santorini grows some of the best wine in Greece on volcanic soil, and a caldera sunset cruise, which is the one unmissable thing on the island.
Santorini is a cliff with a town built up the side of it, so steps and steep paths are the normal way of getting about on the rim. It suits just about everybody, but the ground is worth planning around rather than being surprised by.
Tell us at the enquiry stage if you would rather avoid the steepest parts. There is a version of Santorini away from that ground and it is a good one.
Often not. A lot of the hotels on the caldera are reached on foot only, with no road to the door, which means luggage is carried some distance.
Most have porters who do exactly that and think nothing of it, but not all do. Ask before you book rather than finding out with a suitcase at the top of the steps. We check it as a matter of course on anything we book.
Fira and Oia give you the views and they also give you the crowds. If you are paying the premium to stay on the caldera, do it properly and book a room with a view, or you are paying for the location without enjoying the thing that makes it special.
For the caldera with less intensity, look between the main centres or at Imerovigli. And think about the car before you book the hotel: in Fira a hire car can create more problems than it solves, because parking is limited.
Ships anchor off the old port below Fira, and getting up the cliff is the part nobody warns you about. Expect a long wait for the cable car in both directions, because the whole ship wants it at once.
- Cable car: the quick way up, and the queue is the price of it.
- On foot: 588 steps, climbing roughly 220 to 260 metres, which is 720 to 850 feet.
- Donkeys: offered, with a legal weight limit of 100 kilos per rider.
We recommend the cable car or the walk rather than the donkeys, on animal welfare grounds and also on comfort and safety.
Better than its reputation. Nobody comes here for a beach holiday, and yet the black sand beaches are very good: Perissa and Kamari are the famous two, with Perivolos running on from Perissa as a continuous stretch of the same coast.
The better part is the run of local tavernas along the black sand behind them, which is a different Santorini from the one people photograph on the rim.
Stay inside the Cyclades, which keeps the logistics simple. Mykonos is the obvious pairing, but we would rather give you contrast: Naxos, Paros or Milos give you a different pace and personality after Santorini.
There is also the option people overlook, which is not staying on Santorini at all. We regularly arrange it as a day trip from a neighbouring island if you would rather avoid the hotel prices and the crowds. The catch is that you will probably miss the sunset, and watching the island change once the day trippers have gone is the one thing we would make an exception for.
How we can help in Santorini
A hub is an entrance to the place, not only to the day out. These are the parts of the trip we book around it.
Private transfers on Santoriniport and airport runs, which on this island is the difference between arriving and arriving in a queue.
Hotels and villas across Greecewe book the room, and on a caldera rim we know which ones actually have the view they photograph.
Private catamaran chartersthe caldera and the hot springs without sharing the deck with eighty people.
Greek island ferry bookingsthe crossing on and off the island, booked and re-booked when the wind changes.
Car rental in Greecearranged with the trip, though on Santorini it is worth asking us whether you want one at all.
Private Greek island hoppingwhen Santorini is one island in a route rather than the whole holiday.
Planning a trip to Santorini
Tell us your dates and roughly what you want the trip to feel like, and we will come back with a plan and a price. We are a licensed Athens agency and we have been doing this for thirty years.
Start planning my trip