Best way to get from Athens to Santorini?
 

Hoping for some feedback on how best to get from Athens to Santorini!

There will be four of us flying into Athens and I know we can get another flight from there to Santorini, but it's quite pricey for four tickets!

the ferries are convenient

So you already know what the options are, don't you? What else is it you need to know?

we flew but if you decide to do that make sure you have plenty of time for connecting flights
the athens airport is pretty big and we had to run for it after flying from santorini and trying to make our athens-london connection

oh and if you do fly....be aware ..thats where we were charged for being overweight (luggage wise that is haha)

Jakes girl-- We took the ferry to Santorini and a flight back to Athens. Of the two options, we really enjoyed the ferry BUT we upgraded to the business class. We paid 48E each for the ferry and 42E each for the flights.
The ferry was a lovely experience. In May, there were very few people in the business class cabin (maybe 6 or 8 in the entire cabin)so it was very quiet with lots of room to spread out. We were able to watch the harbor activity and still take a comfortable nap along the way. There is a food service with waiters in the cabin. One could order most anything. (We cheaped out and brought snacks from Everest) The ferry was a relaxing part of our vacation after 8 days of running around in Athens. We did get up and visit other portions of the ship. The airline seat area was very nice but very noisy! Probably half of the people were standing in the aisles talking with other passengers. If you were in the seat being "over-talked", I would think it could be irritating. The area by the fast food bar was kind of like a floating McD's with picnic tables in a glass enclosed large deck. I would not think a picnic table would be real comfie for 8 hours. The outside deck had more picnic tables with lots of people sitting with their faces turned up into the sun. If I was 20 again and came with a bunch of friends, I would have thought a picnic table was "cool". But I am old now and I do like comfort! There is a souvenir shop on board, too.
OK- the flight was simple. The Santorini airport is tiny and fairly slow. If one is in a hurry to get to Athens, if was fine. Hope this helps.

brotherleelove2004, just wondering if people in general have a preference between the two and what the exact logistics are. For instance, I did not realize it takes 8 hours by ferry and I still am not sure how much a normal (non business class) seat would be...

lynclarke, thanks for the info! I think our decision will likely come down to pricing, as this is the tail end of our trip.

lanejohann, what exactly constitutes overweight? over 20kg???

Also, if we decide to go the ferry route, what's the ebst way to go about booking?

Thanks for clearing that up.

The 8-hour Blue Star Ferry basic economy fare is €34 and a reserved aircraft-style seat (recommended) is €38. The other ferry companies will have similar fares.

Highspeed ferry (4.5-5 hours) fares are approximately double.

There is no "best" way to book, it depends on how you choose to do it. You can book online at the individual ferry company websites and pick up your tickets at the port or have them delivered to you for a fee, you can use a booking service such as www.danae.gr, you can buy your tickets at the Athens Airport from Amphitrion Holidays in the Arrivals Hall or you can wait until you get to the port and buy your tickets on the spot about an hour before departure (to be on the safe side).

Check http://www.gtp.gr to see which ferries are available to you on your travel dates.

We bought our tickets online and picked them up in the Athens airport Amphitron Holidays desk. I chose that option because it was easier for me to buy my tickets at 5AM sitting in my jammies in front of my computer. Lazy, no?
Anyway, the funny part was when I went to the Amphitron desk in the terminal, I told the desk person that I was there to pick up tickets. She thought I was nuts even when she saw my confirmation. She and another girl had a long conversation with lots of shrugging. Finally, the other girl waved her hand toward a small box on the back counter and my first girl laughed at her. But, my girl looked in the box and there were the tickets. Both of them were astonished!!
So, I would say most people do not order tickets online and pick them up at the airport, but it worked very nicely for me.
One more thing- I do not know when you are going to Santorini but on our flight home I talked with a girl from New Zealand. She and her parents bought the airline tickets a day or two before the flight. She (or her dad) paid over 200E each. Don't delay too long!

Anyone know what time the flights are (or a website to look them up) for Athens to Santorni? How much it costs? I'll be flying on Sat. 9/3/11 which I realize is probably too far to see a schedule, but is there a consistent flight schedule and cost for that time of year?

We got our tickets on Aegean Airlines way ahead of time and got the deep discounted tickets, so it was about the same as the ferry (certainly not much more, can't remember the exact amount).

I did not want to take an 8-hour ferry, and the flight was short and sweet, a quick hop, and Aegean had nice big jets, not tiny puddle jumpers. If you can get the discounted saver fares, jump on it as soon as they're available.

Jonb127-

http://en.aegeanair.com/Default.aspx

http://www.olympicair.com/Home.aspx?a_id=549

http://www.athensairways.com/cgi-bin...i?ZF=2&LANG=EN

Sign up for the Aegean Airlines email newsletter and you'll be notified a couple of months ahead of time for the promotional fares offered for September, 2011.

The schedules are fairly consistent but the fares vary from €39 to well over €160, all taxes included. The very cheap promo fares tend to be for the earliest morning flights around 6am, but not always. You have to be quick.

Hi Jonb127,

By sep 2011 there will probably no longer be an Aegean Airlines, as it and Olympic Air are due to merge under the Olympic name and logo. Nevertheless, you can check current prices on http://en.aegeanair.com/Default.aspx and http://www.olympicair.com/Home.aspx?a_id=549

Thanks for your help cheryllj. It looks like you can book a year in advance so I will have to wait.

Thank you all for your quick responses. Very much appreciated!!

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