I'm traveling with a few family members to Greece in April. We have only about two weeks, so we're taking a nine-day tour of the mainland and want to tack on 3-4 days visiting an island, either at the beginning or the end of our trip. Obviously, traveling in April, we're not beach people, and we don't need nightlife. After poring over all the forum's Greece threads, I'm very keen on Naxos but still wonder if we're missing out if we skip (I know, way over-touristed!) Santorini. We mainly want to soak up the island's local culture and enjoy beautiful scenery, with some light hiking. We also could be swayed if it's much easier flying from U.S. airports into or out of Santorini than Naxos. Thanks for your thoughts!

Threre will be a lot of local travellers in the first half of april (Greek Easter). The second half will be calmer.

There are more flights to Santorini than to Naxos. But the most scenic approach to Santorini is obviously by slow ferry. Only from a open boat's deck you will see the whole caldera end the exceptional location of Santorini.
In order to "to soak up the island's local culture , with some light hiking" I would prefer any other Island (except Mykonos).
May be you will fly directly to Santorini, leave the Island by slow ferry and stop over for 2 days or so at either Naxos or Paros.
Spend the last day at Athens as it's not impossible that ferries or flights may be cancelled because of strikes or extremely bad weather.

Naxos!

On a trip with a friend we visited Santorini as a walk down Memory Lane for him. Off season so not crowded but even so I was happy to move on. From there we took a ferry to Naxos which I loved the look of even before I got off the boat. That first impression was correct & we spent a happy week there before moving on to Turkey. It seems to me that relentless tourism wears people out & I found the people in Naxos much friendlier.

So as kja says, “Naxos!”

We had a family trip to Greece in May 2022, spent 3 nights on Santorini as niece, nephew and girlfriend wanted to visit. We stayed just outside Oia, but escaped the crowds as we went away for the day to the lesser touristed parts of the island. By the time we returned around 5-6pm Oia was relatively calm.

With careful planning it isn’t hard to avoid the crowds. Try and choose a day without a cruse ship in port, we got lucky with no ships on one day and only one the next.

I haven’t been to Naxos, so can’t comment, but the caldera views on Santorini are definitely spectacular.

Naxos, but you can still do a 2-day trip to Santorini, just to see it

If you have the chance to visit Greece only once you should choose Santorini. Two things you can’t see anywhere else are: the spectacular caldera, and the Minoan ruins of Akrotiri. April is a month when there are no crowds, except perhaps during Easter, which is April 12th in 2026. Actually I would like to be on Santorini at Easter for the Good Friday spectacle in the village of Pyrgos.

There are many other things to see on Santorini apart from Akrotiri and the caldera. The vineyards, for one, and the mountaintop Ancient Thera, with 11th century BC ruins, and views of the black sand beaches and other islands in the Aegean. You can get a bird’s eye view of aircraft on final approach to Santorini Airport, because they actually pass below Ancient Thera.

I love Naxos too, and have been there more times than Santorini, but I’ve gone there for the beaches.

I agree with Heimdall. We spent a half day exploring the Minoan ruins at Akrotiri, then went across to the red sand beach which is nearby. Later the black sand beach. Very few people anywhere, even May 1st week, the weather was gorgeous, though the sea cold.

That afternoon we drove up to Pyrgos, then did a wine tasting at a local winery which was surprisingly quite good. My previous experience of Santorini wines had been only of the extra sweet varieties.

The next day we took a caldera boat tour, which included swimming in the hot springs. We also stopped to climb up Nea Kameni, the active volcano in the caldera. The latter two activities were a huge hit with my niece, nephew and his girlfriend.

As I mentioned upthread, we avoided the day trippers in Oia and Fira. And we were lucky there wasn’t any cruise ship in port the second day, which greatly reduced the crowds.

Thanks, all! Your insights are great! Now I'm considering three nights in Naxos and then two in Santorini because flight connections back to the U.S. from Santorini are so much better. I realize two evenings and just one full day in Santorini are really not enough to do it justice, but it beats a day trip by ferry ...

Naxos sounds perfect for what you want - more local, more space, quieter. If flights are a pain, you could always hop via Athens or a nearby hub

If you are coming in April, Santorini is a great call. It is shoulder season; quieter, easier to move around, and you can actually enjoy the caldera views without May–October crowds. You can do the Fira–Oia hike in about 3 hours with nonstop views, and add a winery stop for local volcanic wines. Photos will be much easier to take in April. I would recommend you staying in Fira, lively place, convenient with local bus taxis etc or Oia if you want the views. April favors Santorini for scenery without crowds;

Naxos is lovely too. It is larger, with real villages (Apeiranthos, Halki), easy countryside walks, and great food. Its beaches are gorgeous but the sea is still cold in April, so think villages, hikes, and the Portara at sunset rather than swimming.

Flights: Santorini (JTR) has far more connections. In April you will almost certainly connect via Athens, but JTR has frequent Aegean/Olympic flights. Naxos is domestic-only via Athens on small planes with stricter luggage limits. If flights decide it, Santorini is simpler.

If you want both in 3–4 days, it is doable:

• Fly ATH → Santorini early, drop bags, hike Fira–Oia, sunset.
  
• Next morning free for walking around, then take the afternoon ferry to Naxos; or book a private tour for covering morning with ruins, villages and winery, with drop off at the port (pm I have a suggestion)
  
• Naxos: rent a car, loop the interior villages, Portara at sunset, relaxing dinners in town.
  Reverse the order if it fits your flights better.
  

I agree with the people suggesting Santorini. The caldera views and hikes along the caldera are stunningly beautiful. You can also rent a car for a day to drive around Santorini and to visit the Akrotiri ruins, red sand beach, black sand beach, and a small village or two. We stayed at the Blue Dolphin apartments in Firastefani, which is quieter and less crowded than Fira or Oia. Or follow geetika's wise advice and stay just outside Oia. We also planned our trip based on when there were zero to one cruise ship in port. It can be done.

Naxos is wonderful, too. Can you increase the length of your trip so that you spend 3 nights in Santorini and 3 or 4 nights on Naxos?

Thanks, Maria Venieri and Karen Woo! I ended up booking three nights in Naxos followed by two in Santorini. Do you recommend flying from Athens to Naxos and then from Santorini to Athens, with a ferry from Naxos to Santorini in the middle? I haven't done the research yet, but I assumed that was doable!

Those are the modes of transportation I would recommend. But I would go to Santorini first -- I'm certainly not alone in finding it a great disappointment. In contrast, I thought Naxos an absolute delight.

We just got back from Greece and spent three nights in Santorini and four in Naxos.

Naxos was by far my favourite, but I am still so pleased to have seen Santorini, even though the weather wasn't ideal.

The caldera views are spectacular, we came in by ferry from Naxos and also had a hotel in Firostefani right on top of the caldera.

Seeing Akrotiri was a complete highlight, I far preferred it to Pompeii.

I found the sunsets and views from Naxos almost as spectacular though.

Try hard to do both, and if you can, ferry from Naxos to Santorini just for the views.

Yes, that plan works well: fly Athens → Naxos, ferry Naxos → Santorini, then fly Santorini → Athens. In season there is usually an early-afternoon Naxos–Santorini ferry around 13:00 that arrives near 15:00.

abbydog, if you haven’t already firmed up your dates for Santorini and Naxos, suggest you take a look at the cruise ship schedule. For some reason these don’t come to Santorini on the weekends, so that could work, try and plan around this.

As Karen and Deb say, Santorini is undoubtedly spectacular, which is why it is so crowded. But with judicious planning you can avoid the huge crowds, it’s not too hard. And don’t miss the Akrotiri site, you won’t regret it.