How to Get to Santorini

Greece › Santorini › Getting Here
By Santorini Dave

See Also

• Best Hotels in Santorini
• Where to Stay in Santorini
• Santorini Ferry Port Guide

Santorini Flights & Ferries – My Advice

• The earlier you can book Santorini hotels and flights the better (I try to book 5 or 6 months in advance). Large ferries rarely sell out, but smaller catamarans sometimes do. These should be booked about 1 to 3 months in advance.
• Kayak has long been my favorite site for cheap flights but a simple Google search with origin and destination now gives very thorough results.
• FerryHopper.com is how I buy ferry tickets in Greece.

How to Get to Santorini

Flights to Santorini

How to Get to Santorini from Athens

• Step 1: Get to Athens – there are many cheap flights from western Europe.
• Step 2: Buy ferry ticket – book tickets online or buy at a travel agent in Athens or at the ferry port.
• Step 3: Take the metro (20 to 30 minutes) or taxi (30 to 40 minutes) to the Piraeus ferry port. Most ferries leave in the morning, plan to arrive 1 hour in advance.
• Step 4: Enjoy the ride to Santorini. The trip from Athens to Santorini takes 5 hours on a highspeed ferry and 8 hours on a conventional ferry. Views as you enter the caldera are wonderful.
• More info: Athens to Santorini Ferries

How to Get to Santorini from London

• Step 1: Search for direct flights on Kayak.com. Buy the cheapest flight as there’s no difference in quality between the airlines.
• Step 2: If there are no good direct flights search for flights via Athens, Paris, Rome, Naples, or Venice.
• Step 3: If you want to spend time in Athens fly to Athens, then ferry to Santorini.
• Step 4: When you arrive in Santorini take a short bus or taxi ride to Fira, Oia, or whatever town you’re staying in. (The island is small and all towns are less than 40 minutes from the airport or ferry port.)

How to Get to Santorini from Paris

• Step 1: Search for direct flights on Kayak.com. Buy the cheapest flight as there’s no difference in quality between the airlines.
• Step 2: If there are no good direct flights search for flights via Athens, Rome, Naples, or Venice.
• Step 3: If you want to spend time in Athens fly to Athens, then ferry to Santorini.
• Step 4: When you arrive in Santorini take a short bus or taxi ride to Fira, Oia, or whatever town you’re staying in. (The island is small and all towns are less than 40 minutes from the airport or ferry port.)

How to Get to Santorini from Italy

• Step 1: Search for direct flights to Santorini from Rome, Naples, Pisa, Milan, or Venice on Kayak.com. Buy the cheapest flight as there’s no difference in quality between the airlines.
• Step 2: If there are no good direct flights search for flights via Athens, Mykonos, or Crete.
• Step 3: If you want to spend time in Athens fly to Athens, then ferry to Santorini.
• Step 4: When you arrive in Santorini take a short bus or taxi ride to Fira, Oia, or whatever town you’re staying in. (The island is small and all towns are less than 40 minutes from the airport or ferry port.)

How to Get to Santorini from Crete

• Step 1: There are usually no direct flights from Crete to Santorini. If you still want to fly search for flights via Athens on Kayak.com.
• Step 2: Book tickets on FerryHopper.com.
• Step 3: Arrive at Heraklion ferry port 45 minutes in advance to pick up tickets from ticket kiosk (located directly beside departing ferries).
• Step 4: When you arrive at the Santorini ferry port take a short bus ride to Fira (then switch buses if you’re going somewhere other than Fira) or taxi ride to Fira, Oia, or whatever town you’re staying in. (The island is small and all towns are less than 40 minutes from the airport or ferry port.)

How to Get to Santorini from Rhodes

• Step 1: There are usually no direct flights from Rhodes to Santorini. If you still want to fly search for flights via Athens on Kayak.com.
• Step 2: Book tickets on a Blue Star ferry (usually the only ferry between Rhodes and Santorini).
• Step 3: Arrive at Rhodes Town ferry port 45 minutes in advance to pick up tickets from ticket kiosk (located near departing ferries).
• Step 4: When you arrive at the Santorini ferry port take a short bus ride to Fira (then switch buses if you’re going somewhere other than Fira) or taxi ride to Fira, Oia, or whatever town you’re staying in. (The island is small and all towns are less than 40 minutes from the airport or ferry port.)

How to Get to Santorini from Mykonos

• Step 1: There are usually no direct flights from Mykonos to Santorini. If you still want to fly search for flights via Athens on Kayak.com.
• Step 2: Book ferry tickets on FerryHopper.com.
• Step 3: Pickup tickets at designated travel agent in Mykonos Town (different for each ferry company).
• Step 4: Be sure you know which ferry port your ferry departs from. Most ferries depart from the new ferry port (a 10 minute bus ride from Mykonos Town) but some smaller catamarans depart from the Mykonos Town ferry port (walking distance from town).
• Step 5: Arrive at appropriate ferry port 30 minutes in advance.
• Step 6: When you arrive at the Santorini ferry port take a short bus ride to Fira (then switch buses if you’re going somewhere other than Fira) or taxi ride to Fira, Oia, or whatever town you’re staying in. (The island is small and all towns are less than 40 minutes from the airport or ferry port.)

How to Get to Santorini from The US and Canada

• Step 1: Search for direct flights to Athens on Kayak.com. Usually, Toronto and New York have direct flights to Athens, other cities will need to fly via Toronto, New York, London, Paris, Amsterdam, or Frankfurt.
• Step 2: Search for flights from Athens (or a hub city in western Europe) to Santorini. There are no direct flights from North America to Santorini.
• Step 3: If you want to spend time in Athens fly to Athens, then ferry to Santorini.
• Step 4: When you arrive in Santorini take a short bus or taxi ride to Fira, Oia, or whatever town you’re staying in. (The island is small and all towns are less than 40 minutes from the airport or ferry port.)

What’s the best way to get to Santorini?

Flying to Santorini is the quickest and easiest way. You can fly to Santorini from Athens or directly from cities in western Europe such as London, Manchester, Paris, Amsterdam, Rome, Naples, or Venice..

But there are no direct flights to Santorini from other Greek islands – though this changes from year to year and some summers there will be flights from Mykonos, Rhodes, or Heraklion (Crete) to Santorini.

If you’re already in the center of Athens it can be easier to take a ferry or high-speed catamaran from Piraeus (the Athens port) than to deal with getting to the airport and through security. But flying would still be a few hours faster.

Arriving by ferry in Santorini is a great experience. The cliffs loom over your boat and it’s a really awesome first impression of the island. (Less so if you arrive by a high-speed ferry as you’re trapped inside, behind sea-sprayed windows.) On the Blue Star ferry you can wander the decks and you’ll have a great view of the volcano and caldera. The Blue Star ferry from Athens to Santorini runs 365 days a year.

There are also high speed ferries and catamarans to Santorini, most often on Hellenic Seaways, Minoan Lines, and Sea Jets ferries. These ferries do not run in the off-season and in the shoulder season, they can be smaller catamarans that can have a very bumpy ride. In summer they are usually larger ferries. But if you’re very concerned about seasickness then take the Blue Star.

There are cabins available on the Blue Star ferry to Santorini. But since the most popular ferry leaves from Athens early in the morning it’s silly to spend the time in a cabin when you could be walking the decks and enjoying the view of passing islands. A 2nd class or “deck” ticket is the cheapest ticket. For an extra few euros, you can reserve an airplane-style seat which is what I recommend doing.

A good compromise between flying and ferry is to take the ferry to Santorini and then fly back. It does take some planning to find the right tickets but the perfect route is to fly to Athens, ferry to Santorini (perhaps stopping at a few islands along the way), then flying from Santorini back to Athens – or fly directly from Athens to Western Europe as you will have already been to Athens and don’t need to visit again.

If you’re island hopping Santorini has good connections with most of the other popular islands like Crete, Mykonos, Naxos, and Paros. Rhodes is more difficult to get to from Santorini (and a longer ferry ride) but still doable.

There are no direct ferries or flights from Santorini to Istanbul. If you want to travel from Santorini to Istanbul the quickest and easiest way is to fly to Athens and then fly to Istanbul. If you want to take the ferry from Santorini to Turkey the easiest route is to ferry to Rhodes (usually an overnight ferry when a cabin would be recommended) and then a short 90-minute ferry to Marmaris on the Turkish coast. Ferries between Santorini and Rhodes run 2 or 3 times per week and take 7 to 15 hours.

How do I get from the Santorini airport to Fira, Oia, and the rest of the island?

• Rental Car – If you’re planning to rent a car in Santorini it’s best to pick up your car at the Santorini airport on arrival and then save yourself the cost of transportation to your hotel. But, if you’re arriving at night I wouldn’t recommend dealing with finding your hotel (and parking) in the dark. Just taxi to your hotel then get your rental car the next day.
• Private Transfer – The easiest and quickest way to get into Fira and to the rest of the island is by pre-booked private transfer. Welcome Pickups is a convenient and reliable service, with rates that are similar to a taxi. If you have pre-booked with Welcome Pickups, there’s no need to worry about having cash to pay fare, and your driver will be waiting for you at the airport, holding a sign with your name on it.
• Taxi – Taxi is also an easy way to get from the airport to Santorini’s main towns, but there is often a long queue. There will always be taxis available at the airport though it can involve a wait (especially if 2 flights arrive at the same time). It costs about 20 euros to Fira and Kamari, and 30 to 35 euros to go to the rest of the island. Taxi and transfer information. Taxi phone number: 22860-22555.
• Bus – In high season (roughly June to September) buses run every hour between Fira and the airport. Most of these buses are running the Fira to Monolithos route and make a stop at the airport – although there might be a few additional buses each day that do only the Fira to airport run. There are fewer buses on the weekend and also fewer buses during the low season. It takes about 15 minutes to get from the airport to Fira by bus and costs about 2 euros. Plan to have small change available so that you don’t need to ask for change from a 50 euro note. If you want to go anywhere else other than Fira (or Monolithos) you’ll need to change buses in Fira (which is easy enough, but time consuming).
• Hotel Pickup – If your hotel offers free pickup and dropoff, be sure to take advantage. Most do charge but as long as it’s close to the taxi rate it’s a good choice.

How do I get to and from the ferry port in Santorini?

All ferries arrive at Athinios port. Getting from the port to any town is easy and shouldn’t cause any anxiety. You can do absolutely no pre-arranging of pickup details and you’ll get to your hotel just fine. (It’s more important to pre-arrange transportation to the port then from the port.)
• Bus – There will always be a bus waiting as your ferry arrives at the port no matter what time of day or night. If you’re staying in a town other than Fira you’ll need to get to Fira first and then switch buses there. The cost form the port to Fira is about 2 euros. The bus from the port to Fira takes about 20 minutes and drops you at the bus station in the middle of Fira. The bus, like all buses on Santorini, is air conditioned and has plenty of room for luggage. A bus leaves from Fira to the ferry port about 1 hour before every ferry departure and arrival (a schedule of bus departures from Fira is posted 1 or 2 days before and is based on the arriving ferries).
• Taxi – There will usually be taxis waiting as ferries arrive but there may be a wait to secure one. If it’s late at night you might want to arrange pickup in advance. It costs about 15 euros from the ferry port to Fira, 25 euros from the ferry port to Oia, and somewhere in-between to go anywhere else on the island. A taxi ride from the port to Fira takes about 15 minutes. Taxis going to the port can be hard to find. When people miss the bus to the port (which leaves about 1 hour before each ferry arrival) then the rush to grab a taxi begins. Taxi phone number: 22860-22555.
• Private Transfer – The easiest and quickest way to get into Fira and to the rest of the island is by pre-booked private transfer. Welcome Pickups is a convenient and reliable service, with rates that are similar to a taxi. If you have pre-booked with Welcome Pickups, there’s no need to worry about having cash to pay fare, and your driver will be waiting for you at the airport, holding a sign with your name on it.
• Hotel Transfer – Many hotels provide transportation from the port to their hotel. For some it’s free, for others it’s charged at a rate similar to a taxi or a bit more. Don’t bother pre-arranging pickup months in advance (when you book your hotel). Send an email to your hotel a few days before so the pickup details are fresh in their minds.
• Rental Car – If you’re planning to rent a car in Santorini don’t pickup from the ferry port. Take a bus, taxi, or hotel transfer and then pickup your rental car in Fira or Oia.
• Cruise Ships – If you’re arriving on a Santorini cruise you’ll be tendered in a small boat from the ship to the Skalafira port directly below Fira. From there you can either climb the steps (a lot of them) or take a cable car (which will probably involve waiting some time in a line). There are also donkey rides up the path you walk but many find their use offensive so be prepared for some dirty looks by people who don’t think donkeys should be used (abused) in this manner.

Read More

• Best Hotels on Santorini
• Maps of Santorini
• Best Tours & Things to Do in Santorini