My sister and I are traveling to Santorini in early October - staying in Oia. Is it easy to visit other islands by boat from Santorini and if so, which islands would be recommended?

Thanks!

Molly

The ferry routes used to be Piraeus-Naxos-Paros-Santorini-Crete (and back). All of these are quite wonderful, but if you are looking for a day trip, they are a bit far.

Naxos and Ios are easily reached by the morning ferry for a day trip, but it means you must be at the port very early. From Oia is is the farthest distance on the island you will have to travel. Take a taxi from Oia to Fira and catch the first bus out to the port from there. The afternoon boat leaves Naxos about 4:30, I think, so you will have several hours to look around, more time if you only go to Ios which is just next to Santorini. When you are in Oia, go to Karvounis Tours on the main walk next to the square where the big Orthodox Greek church is. Markos can tell you when the boat leaves and can help you organize a taxi for the morning pickup. Please tell him Lee Marks says hello.

Thanks so much to both of you for your help!

Lee,

I'll get in touch with Markos to help coordinate the boat trip and I'll be sure to tell him you said hello!

Thanks again,

Molly

Most of the ferries to Santorini go from Pireas via Paros, Naxos and Ios. Therefore Ios is the easiest island for a day trip. The two ferry companies are Blue Star and Hellas Ferries (www.bluestarferries.com and www.dolphins.gr), but schedules will vary from week to week to it's best to check with ticket agents on Santorini.

We recently came back from 3 weeks island hopping from Santorini.
The route was Ios,Sikinos,Folegandros,Milos,Sifnos,Anti-Paros,Naxos,Santorini.
You will not need to book accomodation in advance.

Day tripping from Oia is bit of a pain due to the location of Athinios the port. It is well worth the effort to reach some of the more unusual islands rather than over-hyped Santorini.

Molly,
We just returned from a trip to europe that included Santorini, Paros, Athens, etc. We stayed in OIA WHILE in Santorini. You don't really want to visit other islands for a day and continue to return to Santorini. They are too far and its not enough time. Put a few islands on your itinerary and use Bluestar ferries to go to them.
If I were to go again, I think I'd do Crete (start south and work north),
Santorini, Naxos or Mykonos and so on. Pretty much Cyclades. Ideally, Lesvos and Rhodes would be cool (they're not "Cyclades" islands), but in a short amount of time, its too much travel.
Mark