julie

Help! We are looking for advice on getting from Mykonos to Santorini. Since our trip is only an 8 day excursion, we don't have time to waste...Olympic Airlines one and only flight for the day we need (5/27) is booked solid. Anyone used another carrier? What about the hydrofoil? Time it takes? Worth the risk if the sea is rocky?

kathy

I'll be doing the same but in november or late october and from what I hear it's a case of taking pot luck or a shot in the dark. But seriously, if you are on short time and the seas are smooth the only way is the hydrofoil. Book it with Fantasy Travel, they are on www.greecetravel.com No, i don't work for them.

T

You can try aegean-cronos airlines it's how I booked my flight back to Athens from Santorini.

Wendy

We took a hydrofoil and it was great. I think I remember it being a couple of hours (was 3 years ago) and very comfortable. We made reservations at a random travel agency in Athens in the plaka. <BR><BR>You may want to check out http://www.greektravel.com/ for tons of Greek travel info. We used the site extensively while planning our trip.<BR><BR>Both islands are amazing! You will have a fantastic time!<BR>

ppp

I doubt that there are other carriers offering flights between Mykonos and Santorini. Therefore, unless you opt for a connection through Athens, your best bet may be the 10am Blue Star Ferries catamaran to Paros (arriving at 10:40am). At 10:45am there´s a Minoan Flying Dolphins catamaran to Santorini, arriving at 12:30pm. If you´re not lucky enough to catch this vessel, there´s a Blue Star ferry leaving at 11:55am, arriving at 2:50pm.

shel

how do I make reservations for this ferry from Mykonos to Santorini as you recommended [email protected]?

ppp

In the above message, read Hellas Flying Dolphins instead of Minoan Flying Dolphins (the old name of the company).<BR><BR>I´d play it by ear, shel. Unless it´s ok with you to spend and extra night in Mykonos, there are just too many uncertainties to place a firm bet. <BR><BR>If there are high winds, the catamarans won´t run If you reserve/buy tickets on the Hellas Flying Dolphins catamaran from Paros to Santorini and the Blue Star Ferries vessel from Mykonos is late, you´d loose your ticket.<BR><BR>If, by any reason, you´re not able to catch the 10am catamaran to Paros, your only option would be to take the 1:10pm flight to Athens and then the 6:50pm flight from Athens to Santorini.<BR><BR>Anyway, if you want to risk buying your tickets in advance, you must go through a Greek travel agent (Blue Star Ferries doesn´t have an online ticket reservation service that I know of). A reliable agent in Athens is Kiki, at Dolphin Hellas.<BR>http://www.greecetravel.com/dolphin/<BR>

[email protected]

just want to clarify - do you recommend not buying the ferry ticket now and possibly just taking a flight. if so, should i buy airline ticket now or can that be bought later as well.

Alexia

Julie, <BR>It is not high season yet and ferry service is reliable. I would not book in advance and would go into any travel agency on Mykonos and purchase a ferry ticket. <BR>There new high speed ferries that service the islands and can take the rough seas better than hydrofoils. I go to Greece every year in high season and we never book in advance for the boats. You should not have a problem for Olympic flights either for that time of year. <BR>Wait until you get to Mykonos and book there. Another problem of booking early is that unexpected changes happen in Greece (airline strikes, ferry strikes, schedule delays and cancellations). You will have little problem of getting to Santorini from Mykonos so please wait and don't fret.

ppp

shel, I'm suggesting that you follow Alexia's advice <BR><BR>It looks like your going to be in Mykonos before June 18th. If that's a fact, chances are that there won't be any direct ferries/catamarans to Santorini. You'll have to switch boats in Paros. If boats are not running for any reason (strike, high winds, etc), you have the choice to postpone your trip a day, or opt for a direct flight (Mondays, Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays) or yet a flight (daily) via Athens. <BR><BR>Once in Mykonos, you may take it from there, with solid info in hand.

shel

thanks for your suggestions everyone - i will wait till i get to mykonos and figure things out there - it is a sunday that I want to leave on so looks like my options are good. thanks again!

rick

Contact Renaissance Tours in Athens, they have a nice website. I'm sure that they can help. We used them 2 summers ago for time in Athens, a tour to Egypt, and a eastern Med cruise. ALL was done well and they were very helpful with questions.

Yianni

Do not bother with planes. The hydrofoil is the way to go from island to island. Used it last year for the same trip. Quick (~3hrs) and comfortable. You can get tickets 2-3 days before at the port.<BR>Have fun!

shel

Do you know any timings/schedules for hydrofoil from 1) Hydra to Athens and 2) Mykonos to Santorini? Or even where I can find this? Thanks.

ppp

The best site for Greek ferry info is<BR>http://www.gtp.gr/RoutesForm.asp<BR><BR>They update the database daily, pending info they get from the shipping companies. Even though (for some) search results may look very confusing, it´s all there. <BR><BR>If you plug in Ydra (or YDR) and Piraeus (or PIR) and a specific date, you´ll get a bunch of departures (catamarans and hydrofoils).<BR><BR>The site doesn´t show the options that involve a vessel change. Depending on the date you plug in, therefore, if there isn´t (as of today) a ferry scheduled from departure to final destination, the site will inform you so (no results were found). <BR><BR>This is the case if you plug in Mykonos (MYK) and Santorini (ATI) in the same June 3rd. <BR><BR>Now what? One must "find out" if results are available for the possible connection ports. Some knoledge of Greek geography and/or experience is needed to that effect. What are the most likely islands in between Mykonos and Santorini which may serve as a connection? The most obvious ones are Naxos (NAX) and Paros (PRK) but eventually Tinos (TIN) and Syros (SYR) should also be considered.<BR><BR>Try MYK-NAX ... no luck!<BR>Experience would tell that there are no connection problems between MYK and either SYR or TIN. But what about the connections between these islands and Santorini?<BR><BR>Try SYR-ATI ... no luck!<BR>Try TIN-ATI ... no luck!<BR><BR>Now try MYK-PRK (Paros) ... bingo! You learn that there´s a 10am Blue Start Ferries catamaran that arrives in Paros at 10:40am.<BR><BR>Now try PRK-ATI (Santorini) and you learn that there´s a 10:45am Hellas Flying Dolphins catamaran that arrives in Santorini at 12:40pm. If one doesn´t make it in time to catch this vessel, there´s another one, a Blue Star Ferries ferryboat leaving at 11:55am and arriving at 2:50pm. If one would wish to spend some time in Paros before hitting the sea again to Santorini, there would be later ferries, leaving at 1:10pm and 10:10pm, with trips of approx. 4h 20m.<BR><BR>Quite envolved but not that much complicated <BR><BR><BR>

Shel

Thanks so much - very helpful. Now I just emailed [email protected] in hopes that they can reserve it. Is that how you would make reservations through them? Thanks again so much!!

Alexia

Shel,<BR>You can book in advance but it typically isn't a problem and can be booked in Greece. <BR>You have to remember that Greece's main economy is tourism and even though they run on a slower clock than other countries, they deal with things at the moment. You can walk into any travel agency and book tickets in Greece. Also, Greece's computer system is not as advanced and some people don't take e-mail seriously. Call an English speaking agent or a connection in your own country to reserve hotels or seat.