sunny16

I'm sorry to keep bugging the board with these questions, but I keep going around in circles on this one. Our flight to Athens arrives at about 10 AM on Oct. 2. If we were to fly directly to Santorini the same day we arrive, we'd have either a 5 hour layover or an 8 hour layover. I did some sample itineraries for the ferries, and the costs of taking a ferry or a plane seem to be about equal; I don't know if that will change for the October ferries.

So here are my options as I see them:

1) Fly to Santorini the day we land, store our luggage and go see Athens for a few hours. This one would be ideal, but I think I'll probably want to sleep a little when we get there, and I don't want to be too spaced out to enjoy the city.

2) Get a room in Athens for a night and fly or take a ferry the next morning. Weather issues aside, would there be an advantage to taking a ferry instead of a plane if we spent the night in Athens?

3) Spend the day in Athens and take an overnight ferry if there's one available.

Any feedback would be very much appreciated!

brotherleelove2004

You really don't have time to store your luggage and see Athens. There'll be too much time lost going into town and returning to the airport, plus you'll be too worried about missing the plane to enjoy what little you do manage to see. I think you should take the Metro into Athens, get a hotel room, take a nap, have a quick look around then fly or ferry out to Santorini the next morning. The advantage to flying is you get to Santorini quickly and painlessly. The advantage to taking the ferry is you get to see some of the neighboring islands along the route.

Heimdall

Olympic Airlines has a 1220 flight from Athens to Santorini, just about perfect timing for your 10 AM arrival. I know Olympic has been compared unfavourably with Aegean on this board, but hey, we are talking about a 50 minute flight, about the same time it would take you to get into Athens on the Metro.

Brotherleelove makes some good points, though. You don't want to take a sightseeing trip into Athens after a long (overnight?) flight. A night in an Athens hotel would leave you rested and ready to enjoy your trip to Santorini.

azoomi

I agree with the postings so far, but I have done this both ways ( in April which is comparable to October, I'd imagine) and the ferry ride is VERRRY long and the fun of it wears off after about the first 5 hours. I would DEFINITELY fly to Santorini if cost isn't a big issue.

sunny16

Thanks for the help, everyone! Sounds like it would be a good idea for us to spend the first night or two in Athens and then fly to Santorini.