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Day trips from Santorini to nearby islands

Day trips from Santorini to nearby islands

Old Jun 20th, 2009, 09:52 AM
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Day trips from Santorini to nearby islands

We are planning a trip to Santorini for late September of this year, and we are wondering if any readers on the forum can give us some advice on which islands are doable day trips from Santorini. We would like to travel to an island during the day, visit some sights on that island, and be back on Santorini by early evening. Also, can anyone give advice on which companies offer the best/fastest travel between islands, as time is a factor?

We are interested in archaeological sites, natural beauty, and anything else of local interest that will enrich our experience in the islands.

Thanks in advance, and we look forward to hearing from you all!

Shaun and Juliet
Chicago, IL
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Old Jun 20th, 2009, 01:24 PM
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Unfortunately there aren't many good options for day trips to other islands from Santorini. There is Thirassia, of course, on the other side of the caldera, and trips to the volcano.

Ios is the only other island practical for a day trip. It's the first stop on FlyingCat 4 after it leaves Santorini enroute to Mykonos. You would have about four hours on the island before reboarding FC4 for its return to Santorini. The next stop after that is Paros, but you would have only about two hours on the island before returning: http://www.ferries.gr/hfd/default.htm

Other nearby islands are Folegandros and Anafi, but ferries between them and Santorini are less frequent. By late September most of the highspeeds have stopped running, so you will be dependent upon conventional ferries. Check when you get to Santorini - it's just possible there will be a morning ferry out and another back in the afternoon. If so, bring an overnight bag with you just in case you are stranded.
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Old Jun 20th, 2009, 08:48 PM
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Thank you Heimdall! We really appreciate your advice. Would you suggest taking short morning flights (if available)to any of the islands for day trips? We would like to see Crete, Samos, really anything interesting to explore in the area. I know many islands (especially Crete) deserve a trip unto themselves. We will be spending 10 days on Santorini and have three different hotels booked on different parts of the island. We booked some high end hotels since this is our wedding trip, so obviously we would like to get back each evening to enjoy them. I know there are plenty of wonderful places to explore on Santorini, but being that the area is relatively difficult to travel into, we want to see as much as we can while there.

Thanks again for your advice. Please let us know if there are any villages on Santorini or special restaurants or beaches you would recommend as this will be the first time there for both of us.

Hope you're having a great weekend!
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Old Jun 21st, 2009, 12:32 AM
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Oh, and congratulations on your forthcoming wedding!

If my friend brotherleelove sees this post, he can best advise of places to visit on Santorini. I was there for the second time just a week ago, and it is a beautiful island.

Unfortunately inter-island flights are almost non-existant - most of the islands don't even have airports, so ferry travel is the normal mode of transport. There is one airline that has inter-island flights, http://www.skyexpress.gr/, and their current schedule shows a 10am flight from Santorini to Mykonos, and an 8pm flight from Mykonos back to Santorini, so that would be a [very expensive] possibility. You can check, but I doubt they will still be running those flights in late September when high season is over.

If you have your heart set on visting another island, but only for a day trip, Ios is the obvious choice. It has excellent beaches and a beautiful chora (main settlement). Ios has a reputation as a party island, but outside high season is fairly quiet.
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Old Jun 21st, 2009, 05:58 AM
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So many honeymooners, like you, book a loong stay in Santorini high-end hotels without sufficient advance research. Even looking at a map reveals how isolated Santorini is for the day trips you desire. Is it possible that at the beginning or end of your ten day honeymoon, there is one hotel booking you might cancel, to spend 2-3 days on another island??

If so, you might consider Paros, only 2+ hours away by regular ferry (and you get that great caldera view from the deck). Unlike Santorini, Paros has MUCH of archeological interest ... it's not mountainous, so you can safely rent a car (a bargain in late Sept). AND there are a number of lovely honeymoon-worthy lodgings to consider -- here's just one, with some rave reviews from other honeymooners;
http://www.petres.gr/index.htm
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev..._Cyclades.html

Of course if u have put down nonreturnable deposits you are stuck, and you'll just have to chalk it up to experience, and on your next Greece trip come to Fodors or Trip Advisor before you lock yourself in.

Enjoy your Greece getaway! The weather should be ideal... nothing like what Chicago (and now the East)has been having!!
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Old Jun 21st, 2009, 03:38 PM
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Thank you all so much for your advice! In response to your post travlerjan, we always do a ton of research before traveling-why we are here , on tripadvisor, etc. We decided for our wedding that we wanted to stay put on beautiful Santorini and relax and enjoy our wedding trip without doing a lot of shuffling around. We both usually try to see as much as we can when we are somewhere new, but for this special trip we thought we would anchor ourselves on Santorini and really get to know it. In the past few days we thought...hmm..it might be nice to take a day trip or two if it's not a big hassle, but we are certainly fine saving that for another trip. Sounds like the high speed ferries really die down in late September too, but we thought we would post this on Fodor's in case any fellow travelers had useful tips. This is such a great traveler's forum...it's so great to give and receive tips from other world travelers. My fiance and I were engaged in Buenos Aires last year (wonderful city and people!) and took an overnight trip to Carmelo, Uruguay that we will never forget. Sometimes, those little side trips are so incredibly rewarding.
Thanks to all of you again...we will check out all of the links you posted tonight
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Old Jun 22nd, 2009, 05:27 AM
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>>You can visit Paros, Ios and of course Mykonos island from Santorini.
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Old Jun 22nd, 2009, 10:58 PM
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It seems the ridiculous post I quoted has been removed, so ignore my last reply. ;-)
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Old Jul 5th, 2009, 02:00 PM
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I just signed up for this website so hopefully this post is not too late for you. We went to Santorini for the third time this May and just booked again for next year. When you get there you will see why. I agree with the other people that Santorini is somewhat isolated as far as day trips. We go for three weeks and always spend a week in Santorini, a week in Mykonos, and a week on a new island. This year was Crete, next year Rhodes. There are a lot of things to see and do in Santorini. First and foremost, you want to be on the caldera Every night for the sunset. I think you can also take a sunset dinner cruise. If you do not want to rent a car, the bus service on Santorini is cheap, 1-2 Euros, reliable, and covers a large part of the island. The main bus station is in Fira. One day you can take a tour of the volcano, swim in the hot springs, and have lunch on the neighboring island of Thisasia. The beaches at Kamari and Perissa are both black sand and have many shops and restaurants. The village of Pyrgos is lovely and is on the bus route to Perissa. If you like ruins, from Kamari you can walk up to ancient Thira. The view is also amazing. The most important ruins on Santorini at Akrotiri are closed as a few years ago something fell on and killed a tourist. You can spend a whole day walking around Oia. Make sure you walk down the steps to Ammoudi. There are aome very nice restaurants right on the water. If you like wine, Santorini is known for its wines and there are 3-4? wineries that all have tours and tasting. There are also the red and white sand beaches on the south side of the island. If you have not yet purchased your wedding rings there are quite a few jewellry shops in both Fira and Oia. Most of the gold is 18 carat and high quality. Most importantly, just relax and enjoy your honeymoon. Also, take Very comfortable walking shoes. You will be walking a lot on cobblestone steps and sidewalks, a lot of which are up and downhill.
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Old Jul 22nd, 2009, 11:02 AM
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bob123 where do you stay on santorini? i am thinking of doing something similar to you next year. a week in a few different places. have you found lodgings you love? i've been to santorini 5 times so i am totally mesmerized by its beauty and aura. was just there in june and am already trying ofigure out how i can go again next year but this time for an extened stay with my 6 and 8 year old.

thanks,
christany
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Old Jul 22nd, 2009, 12:10 PM
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Here's a link to a good website with many hotels on Santorini separated by village:

http://www.santorini.com/hotels-in-santorini/oia.htm
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Old Jul 23rd, 2009, 03:28 AM
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When trying to choose the suitable hotel for my stay in Santorini, I used this and found it useful: http://www.santorini-hotels.info/san...map-hotels.asp
There are also maps for each place with the exact location:
http://www.santorini-hotels.info/san...i-fira-map.htm

By the way, I think that if you are planning on taking the kids with you, you have to choose extra carefully because of all these steep stairs. Maybe it would be better to stay at the beach, like in Kamari or Perissa.
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Old Oct 21st, 2012, 12:19 AM
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Dear Shaun,Juliet,
It’s a bid late to tell you my experience because you are probably back and I hope you had a wonderful wedding holidays in Santorini. I wish you the best of luck and success in your life. I know is pointless to tell you now ideas for day trips from Santorini but I will tell what I know for other travellers who will visit Santorini in the future.
We visited Santorini with my wife early September and spend one week on this wonderful island. Our visit was purely coincidence because we were planning to visit Ios Island but we change mind when a good friend who was the month before in Santorini advised us to visit Santorini instead.
As he explained he booked his accommodation in Santorini combined with a sailing cruise to ios and Sikinos from the local company “Santorini stay and sail ”and he found the whole package reasonable priced and well organize.
We decided to buy the same travel package and it was really a perfect idea. With these packages you actually buy your accommodation in Santorini in combination with a sailing trip which is organized by the same company. We therefore decided to buy the package with accommodation in Hermes hotel at Kamari village in combination with the sailing cruise to Ios and Sikinos islands which was for two days and one night.
We found the staff of the company very friendly and from the first moment we arrived at Santorini airport they gave us a lot of information about our stay in Santorini, and our sailing trip to Ios and Sikinos. They also assisted us for all our needs during our stay on the island. Our accommodation was at Hermes hotel in Kamari village. It was a very nice medium size hotel in a quiet place very close to the beach. The service of the hotel was excellent and the owners were very friendly.
After three days in Santorini we sail for Ios Island. We left our hotel in the morning and we went to the sailboat to meet the crew and the rest of the passengers. We were finally eight passengers plus the skipper and a crew member. We all met each other and in a very good atmosphere we departed for Ios Island. The view from the sailboat of Santorini Rocky cliffs on the way to Ios was fantastic. Soon we arrived to a very beautiful sandy bay which I don’t recall the name and we spent many hours swimming and sunbathing. On the beach there was a traditional restaurant and we found the local food excellent and very heap. Late afternoon we sail for Ios port where we stopped for the night. We had a wonderful time in Ios. In the meantime all passengers became a nice group of friends and we all got the bus and wend on Chora which is the main village on the top of a hill over the port of Ios. We spent the night in the narrow streets of Chora with the small restaurants, shops, coffee shops and hundreds of happy tourist going around. We return late night at the sailboat and relaxed in our cabin.
Next morning we left for Sikinos Island. Sikinos is very close to Ios and we could see the island shore on all our way. After a very tasteful Greek breakfast on board we arrived in the port of Sikinos which is a very beautiful picturesque small port. Close to the port there is a very nice sandy beach bay. We have spent few pleasant hours on the beach and we then took the bus and we have gone to see the main village of Sikinos which is also on a high hill with very spectacular view to the sea. It is really very interesting to visit this small villages on these islands and see how local people leave.
Late afternoon we left for Santorini. We enter Santorini bay from the side of Oia village with very spectacular views. It was the time of the sunset and we could see the sun disappear on our way between caldera and the volcano. I will never forget these moments in all my life. We enjoyed these moments with a glass of a wine offered by captain Costas who became a good friend in the meantime.
We arrived at the marina port around nine o’clock in the night, all satisfied for the unforgettable moments we shared.
We spend the other two days in Santorini visiting, Akrotiri ancient town, some very interesting wineries, and the ancient Thira.
I honestly strongly recommend to Santorini visitors to get the advantage and visit the nearby islands. I noticed that there are different companies offering sailing services but personally I would like to recommend the company I have the experience and is called “Santorini stay and sail.”
If I am not mistaken is the only company that can offer a lot of options for accommodation in combination with different sailing cruises. As I have been informed the same company is offering a sailing day trip to Anafi Island which should be also very interesting to go and also sailing day trips to Volcano and other important places in Santorini.
You can get more info I believe if you visit their webpage www.santorinistay-sail.com
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Old Jul 15th, 2016, 02:45 AM
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Hello @all, I'd like to do a day trip to crete this august. However, after some research on the web I could't find any ferry which departs in the morning from santorini to crete :/ Is there any possibility to do a day trip at all without spending a night in crete? Thanks, M.
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Old Jul 15th, 2016, 04:07 AM
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UNfortunately no, Michael.
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Old Jul 15th, 2016, 05:48 AM
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This thread is seven years old, but the advice about day trips from Santorini is still more or less valid. There are more high speed ferries now than in 2009, so it may be easier to get to some nearby islands such as Ios and Folegandros. Check with the ferry agents on Santorini to see what is possible.

It was explained in your TripAdvisor post why there are no day trips from Santorini to Crete. For your information, day trips the other way round, from Crete to Santorini, cost upwards of €124 per person—not exactly cheap!
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Old Aug 7th, 2016, 09:37 AM
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Hi Shaun and Juliet,
We are getting ready to go on our honeymoon next month, and made the same decision you did! We originally were going to split a week between Santorini and Naxos, but then decided we didn't want to move around that much in the first week of our honeymoon - especially after all those hours of flying! So we're staying in Santorini for a week. We would LOVE to know what you enjoyed there - what was really worth doing, what was skip-able... and whether you did end up making the trip to Ios and if that was worthwhile!
Thanks for your advice!
Charlie Faye and Eric
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Old Aug 7th, 2016, 10:51 AM
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Shaun and Juliet have not posted since 2009, so I doubt you'll get an answer from either of them.

Post your question about things to do on Santorini as a separate post and I expect you will get some responses.
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