Post Cruise Athens to Santorini - Ferry or Air?

[The Hudson Co. Landlubber]

Hi,

 

We have a sail debarking at Athens Piraeus and would like to get to Santorini for a few days afterward.  I assume the easiest thing would be ferry from Piraeus, preferably the high speed, but wondering if those more experienced would advise otherwise? It seemed smarter than an airport trek although our transfer there is included.

 

We will fly to Athens from Santorini after that and then connect directly to our international flight.

 

Any advice welcome!  Thanks in advance.

[marazul]

4 hours ago, The Hudson Co. Landlubber said:

Hi,

 

We have a sail debarking at Athens Piraeus and would like to get to Santorini for a few days afterward.  I assume the easiest thing would be ferry from Piraeus, preferably the high speed, but wondering if those more experienced would advise otherwise? It seemed smarter than an airport trek although our transfer there is included.

 

We will fly to Athens from Santorini after that and then connect directly to our international flight.

 

Any advice welcome!  Thanks in advance.

If you do have a few days there take the high speed ferry. However, the morning ferries used to leave too early before disembarkation.  If they still do, take the 30 minute flight instead. You will be in Santorini long before the afternoon ferries get there.

[Hlitner]

Tough call.  Catching the early morning ferries (some make the trip in about 5 hours) is difficult/impossible when coming off cruise ships.  There used to a ferry around noon, but not sure of the current/future schedule.   We agree (usually do) with Marazul about taking a flight.  Even if you could get a noon ferry, you would not get to Santorini until around 5pm which means you have spent an entire day just doing the transit.  With a late morning flight you would still get the better part of the afternoon (on Santorini).   We have also had our share of ferries that have run late (sometimes several hours) due to weather (wind, high seas, etc) while the air is pretty reliable.   We also like the convenience of flying-in , picking up a rental car at the airport, and being on our way.

 

We have also suggested, to friends, that they consider other islands (in lieu of or in addition to) Santorin)i.  Santorini is a gorgeous place but suffers from overtourism which does take away some of the charm.   We were most recently in Santorini in April, and even though this was still the shoulder season, we could barely move through the narrow streets of Oia...due to the hoards (many off cruise ships).   If staying on the island, we would normally avoid Oia (and Fira) during the busy daytime and plan on visiting later in the afternoon when many of the cruise ship visitors are gone (or waiting in the long queue for the cable car at Fira).  

 

If money is no object, consider one of the charming small hotels in Oia (often over $1000 per night).  Some of those small hotels are truly amazing (especially the one's that have private pools).  Our DD stayed in one of those hotels, and they did not leave their private balcony/pool until around 5pm, when the crowds (in the streets above) had finally thinned.

 

Hank

[marazul]

7 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

Tough call.  Catching the early morning ferries (some make the trip in about 5 hours) is difficult/impossible when coming off cruise ships.  There used to a ferry around noon, but not sure of the current/future schedule.   We agree (usually do) with Marazul about taking a flight.  Even if you could get a noon ferry, you would not get to Santorini until around 5pm which means you have spent an entire day just doing the transit.  With a late morning flight you would still get the better part of the afternoon (on Santorini).   We have also had our share of ferries that have run late (sometimes several hours) due to weather (wind, high seas, etc) while the air is pretty reliable.   We also like the convenience of flying-in , picking up a rental car at the airport, and being on our way.

 

We have also suggested, to friends, that they consider other islands (in lieu of or in addition to) Santorin)i.  Santorini is a gorgeous place but suffers from overtourism which does take away some of the charm.   We were most recently in Santorini in April, and even though this was still the shoulder season, we could barely move through the narrow streets of Oia...due to the hoards (many off cruise ships).   If staying on the island, we would normally avoid Oia (and Fira) during the busy daytime and plan on visiting later in the afternoon when many of the cruise ship visitors are gone (or waiting in the long queue for the cable car at Fira).  

 

If money is no object, consider one of the charming small hotels in Oia (often over $1000 per night).  Some of those small hotels are truly amazing (especially the one's that have private pools).  Our DD stayed in one of those hotels, and they did not leave their private balcony/pool until around 5pm, when the crowds (in the streets above) had finally thinned.

 

Hank

Ditto. And on this issue 100%.

[The Hudson Co. Landlubber]

7 hours ago, Hlitner said:

Tough call.  Catching the early morning ferries (some make the trip in about 5 hours) is difficult/impossible when coming off cruise ships.  There used to a ferry around noon, but not sure of the current/future schedule.   We agree (usually do) with Marazul about taking a flight.  Even if you could get a noon ferry, you would not get to Santorini until around 5pm which means you have spent an entire day just doing the transit.  With a late morning flight you would still get the better part of the afternoon (on Santorini).   We have also had our share of ferries that have run late (sometimes several hours) due to weather (wind, high seas, etc) while the air is pretty reliable.   We also like the convenience of flying-in , picking up a rental car at the airport, and being on our way.

 

We have also suggested, to friends, that they consider other islands (in lieu of or in addition to) Santorin)i.  Santorini is a gorgeous place but suffers from overtourism which does take away some of the charm.   We were most recently in Santorini in April, and even though this was still the shoulder season, we could barely move through the narrow streets of Oia...due to the hoards (many off cruise ships).   If staying on the island, we would normally avoid Oia (and Fira) during the busy daytime and plan on visiting later in the afternoon when many of the cruise ship visitors are gone (or waiting in the long queue for the cable car at Fira).  

 

If money is no object, consider one of the charming small hotels in Oia (often over $1000 per night).  Some of those small hotels are truly amazing (especially the one's that have private pools).  Our DD stayed in one of those hotels, and they did not leave their private balcony/pool until around 5pm, when the crowds (in the streets above) had finally thinned.

 

Hank

Wow this sounds like good advice and a quick look at the ferry schedule confirms that it is VERY good advice.  Thank you very much.

 

As for trying another island: the main reason we are going to Santorini at all is 1) it has been a dream of my wife's since she saw it in a movie as a kid and 2) we were supposed to stop there on our superb Regent Splendor cruise last month but got bumped.  So, making lemons into lemonade, we are doing an Adriatic cruise (Explora) next year and doing S on land. (And yes we booked one of those crazy expensive pool rooms with a view.  )

 

If you had a suggestion as to another island to easily go to from Santorini and before we head back to Athens/USA, I could stretch the trip 😁

 

Thanks again for the sound and experienced advice.

 

HCL

[marazul]

27 minutes ago, The Hudson Co. Landlubber said:

 

 

If you had a suggestion as to another island to easily go to from Santorini and before we head back to Athens/USA, I could stretch the trip 😁

 

Thanks again for the sound and experienced advice.

 

HCL

This is where you use the ferries.  There are direct ferries from Santorini to just about all the other Cyclades islands.  Paros, Naxos, Milos, Tinos, Mykonos, etc.  Really, read some about them and pick an island or two (Paros and Naxos are easy together).  From the second island fly back to Athens. 

 

There are no direct flights between the islands.  You have to fly back to Athens and then to the other islands. So ferry is the best inter-island transport.

 

So just check the ferry schedules and the flight schedules and you are all set.

Edited June 6 by marazul

[Hlitner]

1 hour ago, The Hudson Co. Landlubber said:

Wow this sounds like good advice and a quick look at the ferry schedule confirms that it is VERY good advice.  Thank you very much.

 

As for trying another island: the main reason we are going to Santorini at all is 1) it has been a dream of my wife's since she saw it in a movie as a kid and 2) we were supposed to stop there on our superb Regent Splendor cruise last month but got bumped.  So, making lemons into lemonade, we are doing an Adriatic cruise (Explora) next year and doing S on land. (And yes we booked one of those crazy expensive pool rooms with a view.  )

 

If you had a suggestion as to another island to easily go to from Santorini and before we head back to Athens/USA, I could stretch the trip 😁

 

Thanks again for the sound and experienced advice.

 

HCL

If you have never visited Santorini, it is certainly a "don't miss" place.  We do see many advantages to actually staying on the island vs just visiting on a Port day.  When one flies-in or arrives by ferry, one can completely avoid the cable car bottleneck that is generally unavoidable by cruise ship visitors.  We used to enjoy visiting on cruise ships, in the shoulder seasons of the spring and fall, but now, even these are often overrun with too many cruisers.  

 

DW and I still enjoy island hopping (via ferry) some of the Greek Islands.  When we have used the ferry system, we have always avoided islands like Santorini and Mykonos.  Although we are still avid cruisers, when doing our own thing, away from cruises, we do our best to avoid popular cruise ports.  There are many Greek Islands (hundreds) and most are never visited by cruise ships.

 

Hank

[clo]

On 6/6/2024 at 4:00 PM, Hlitner said:

DW and I still enjoy island hopping (via ferry) some of the Greek Islands.  When we have used the ferry system, we have always avoided islands like Santorini and Mykonos.  Although we are still avid cruisers, when doing our own thing, away from cruises, we do our best to avoid popular cruise ports.  There are many Greek Islands (hundreds) and most are never visited by cruise ships.

 

Totally agree. We diy'd Athens and three islands a number of years ago. One was Santorini and it was horrendously crowded. This was in the spring. I have a couple of super photos but that's about it. From there we went to Naxos and Paros and thoroughly enjoyed them. Ate lots of Octopus and hung out with locals 🙂

PS: Celebrated my birthday this weekend and thought you might like to see a photo.

Edited June 11 by clo

[Hlitner]

31 minutes ago, clo said:

Totally agree. We diy'd Athens and three islands a number of years ago. One was Santorini and it was horrendously crowded. This was in the spring. I have a couple of super photos but that's about it. From there we went to Naxos and Paros and thoroughly enjoyed them. Ate lots of Octopus and hung out with locals 🙂

PS: Celebrated my birthday this weekend and thought you might like to see a photo.

We have also enjoyed a ferry trip that included both Naxos and Paros :).  For anyone interested, it is a very doable ferry itinerary from Pireaus.  In our case, we disembarked a cruise in the morning and grabbed a taxi to get us to the other side of the port (near the Metro Station) to the entrance for our Blue Star Ferry.  The ferry left around noon (perfect time for those coming off a cruise) and we arrived at Naxos late in the afternoon.  After a few days on Naxos, we took another ferry over to nearby Paros where we spend another few days.  As much as we love to cruise, there is much to say for being on Greek Islands that do not welcome any cruise ships.

 

Hank

[marazul]

And it is very doable from Santorini if the OP follows his plan.