After arriving in Athens from the States in mid-June 2012, should we plan to fly or take a ferry to Santorini? We are not concerned about cost as much as we are about making the most of our two weeks in the Greek Islands. Thank you.

The ferry to Santorini will take almost a half day even on a highspeed ferry.
Watch for Aegean and Olympic specials and see if there is a flight that allows you to immediatley fly to Santorini on arrival in Athens then fly back to Athens at the end of your trip. If you find a special airfare they are often about the cost of a ferry. Aegean should be issuing their specials within the next months or so.

It's not just the length of time it takes to get from Piraeus to Santorini, but also departure times to consider. Most ferries depart between 7:00 and 7:30 am, so unless your flight arrives in Athens before 4:00 am, you will usually have to wait until the next day. The next ferries don't depart until evening, and then not every day. Flights are by far the best option unless you have plenty of time to spare.

If you sign up for the Aegean and Olympic email newsletters you'll be notified in plenty of time to take advantge of their very low discount fares. Expect the notices for June to appear sometime in March, perhaps a bit sooner, but be patient if it's later, they WILL materialize.

I just booked a flight from Athens to Santorini for EUR 71 each on Olympic. Thank you for your input. I will be back with more questions as planning for the trip continues.

That's an excellent price.... i remember last year when i tried to book a flight to Santorini on a short notice and over a weekend, price was as high as 320 Euro RT... and it was end of May... not even high season...