A good santorini itinerary is five nights, two things a day, and every famous sight taken at the hour it works: Akrotiri at opening, a boat on day two or three, the wineries after four, Oia at seven in the morning, dinner inland, and one day left empty.
Enjoying Greece By The Travel Channel
You can organize your holidays in beautiful Greece and the Greek Islands, the mythical land and its beautiful areas. Organize your holidays in Greece and discover some of the many locations in the country. Millions of tourists visit the country of Greece, which is Athens. Greece is characterized by a long coastline with stunning beaches, mountain scenery, sunny weather, rich history and authentic culture. Information about your holidays in Greece is organized by type and subject, in Athens, the mainland and more than 50 Greek islands.
Holidays packages and tours
Greece is a fantastic destination for any type of traveler.
Greece has many Greek holiday packages, excursions, cruises and other services that will help you organize the perfect trip to Greece and the Greek Islands!
There are many combinations of Greek islands for all preferences. Specifically, there are packages for people who need a cosmopolitan, economic or relaxing vacation. For the first visitors of Greece, the package from Athens to Mykonos and Santorini, the two top destinations in Greece, is very appropriate.
Greece is a country with many archaeological sites and interesting sights, browsing is a popular and quick way to see everything you need to see.
Most tours in Greece, especially in archaeological sites, also include licensed drivers so that participants really understand what they are seeing.
Excursions in Greece can be either boat or bus trips. A very popular and interesting boat tour is the Santorini volcano tour, where participants can visit the top of a volcano surrounded by a caldera full of water. Bus tours can be daily or multi-day. You can find information at Santorini Tours.
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Millions of tourists visit the Greek islands all year round. You can access them by flight or a Greek ship.
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If you are going to get married soon, remember that Greece is a great place to celebrate your love and exchange vows. Many tourists choose to carry out their wedding ceremonies in Greece and especially on the Greek island of Santorini, when the sun enters the sea and the sky is painted in soft orange.
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Prefer Greek islands such as the beautiful island of Santorini.
The warmth and hospitality of the country welcomes you and promises you nice and different holidays.
See more information about the island of Santorini
To discover every place that worths to see when you visit this unique island, choose a guided tour. For more detailed information on the ideal tour of the island of Santorini you can visit Santorini Tours
See more about Santorini Private Tours:
- Santorini Sightseeing Private Tour
- Santorini Exclusive Shore Private Tour
- Santorini Impressive Caldera Private Tour
- Santorini South Part Private Tour
- Santorini North Part Private Tour
- Santorini Historical Private Tour
- Santorini Sunset Private Tour
Santorini Itinerary: The Short Answer
Five nights, two things a day, and every famous sight taken at the hour it actually works. That is the whole of a good santorini itinerary, and the hours matter more than the list.
The core of any santorini itinerary is fixed: Akrotiri at opening, a winery afternoon, one boat day in the caldera, Oia at seven in the morning, an inland village for dinner, and one afternoon with nothing booked. Everything below is that core stretched or compressed to fit the days you have.
The island is 76 square kilometres and fifty minutes end to end, so distance never dictates the plan. Crowds, heat and parking decide every santorini itinerary instead.
Four Rules Before You Start
1. Do not count the arrival day. Flights land late, transfers take time, and the first evening is a terrace and a dinner. Any santorini itinerary that puts a tour on day one loses it.
2. Two things a day, not four. Count the driving. Six sights in a day is a coach schedule, not a santorini itinerary.
3. Everything famous is an hours problem. Oia at seven is empty and at eleven is impassable. The cable car queue passes an hour at midday and is nothing at nine. Akrotiri is roofed and works whenever; Ancient Thira does not.
4. Keep one day free. Weather cancels boats, and the unbooked afternoon is what people say afterwards they enjoyed most.
Apply those four and almost any santorini itinerary works. Ignore them and the best-planned list of sights will not.
Two Days
Enough for the postcard and very little else. A two-day santorini itinerary is a highlights reel. This is what a cruise extension or a tight island-hopping stop looks like.
Day one. Oia at half past seven, when the main street is empty and level and the light comes from behind you. Back for breakfast by nine. Fira and the rim path to Firostefani in the afternoon. Sunset from Imerovigli rather than Oia. Dinner in Firostefani.
Day two. Akrotiri at opening, lunch in Megalochori, one winery in the afternoon, dinner inland at nine.
What you miss. The boat, the beaches, Ancient Thira, and any sense of the island beyond the rim.
The honest verdict. A two-day santorini itinerary produces the impression that this is a view with a crowd in front of it, which is exactly what two days produces.
Three Days
The most common santorini itinerary length and a reasonable one. Take the two-day plan and add water.
Day three, option one. A catamaran round the caldera with swimming stops and lunch on board, five to seven hours, with the cliff lit gold at the end of the day.
Day three, option two. If the wind is up: Ancient Thira in the morning and Perivolos or Vlychada in the afternoon.
Where to put it. Not on the last day of the santorini itinerary. If the boat is cancelled there is no second chance.
The verdict. Three days is where a santorini itinerary stops being a compromise and starts being a holiday.
Four Days
The efficient minimum santorini itinerary, and the first length at which nothing feels rushed.
Day 1. Arrive, transfer, unpack. Sunset from your own terrace or the rim path. Dinner nearby. Nothing booked.
Day 2. Akrotiri at opening with a licensed guide, ninety minutes. Lunch in Megalochori. Three wineries from four in the afternoon with a driver so both of you can taste. Dinner inland at nine.
Day 3. Catamaran round the caldera. Swimming stops off Thirasia and at White Beach, lunch on board, back by five. An early night.
Day 4. Oia at half past seven, breakfast, then Pyrgos and Emporio in the late afternoon. One caldera-rim dinner, booked.
Day 5. Morning free, fly home.
That is the santorini itinerary we give most people, and it covers everything the island genuinely has.
Five Days: The Recommended Plan
Four days plus the day that makes the difference to the whole santorini itinerary.
Day 1. Arrive. Terrace, dinner, nothing else.
Day 2. Akrotiri at opening, lunch in Megalochori, afternoon free at the hotel. Sunset from the Akrotiri lighthouse, where there is parking and no queue.
Day 3. Three wineries from four, with the vines in leaf or the harvest in depending on the month. Dinner at Pyrgos.
Day 4. The boat. Caldera, Nea Kameni if you want the climb, Thirasia, a swim, and the cliff from the water at the end of the afternoon.
Day 5. Oia at half past seven. Breakfast. Ancient Thira in the late morning if the day is still, or the Museum of Prehistoric Thera if it is not. Kamari or Monolithos for the afternoon.
Day 6. Nothing booked. The rim path from Fira to Imerovigli, a long lunch, and one dinner on the caldera to finish.
Why five. The extra night costs one room rate and buys the unbooked day. Every santorini itinerary that includes one comes back better reviewed than the same trip without it.
A Week
A week is worth it if you want the island rather than the sights, and it turns a santorini itinerary into a stay, and the additions are all quiet ones.
The full rim walk. Fira to Oia, ten kilometres along the cliff, three to four hours. The best thing to do here and impossible in July heat.
A second beach day. Vlychada for the carved cliffs and Monolithos for the shallow water, or Perivolos for a day bed and a long lunch.
Ancient Thira properly. Two hours on the ridge above Kamari, on a still weekday, with almost nobody there.
The inland loop. Pyrgos, Exo Gonia, Mesa Gonia and Vothonas, with the eleventh-century church at Panagia Episkopi.
A day trip. Thirasia by the local ferry, or Ios for sand.
Two afternoons doing nothing. Not one.
Beyond seven nights. Add another island by ferry rather than stretching this one. A santorini itinerary of ten days on this island alone starts repeating itself by the eighth.
A Santorini Itinerary for a Cruise Day
A cruise santorini itinerary has six usable hours out of a nine-hour call, once the tender and the cable car are accounted for.
The bottleneck. Ships anchor in the caldera and tender into the old port below Fira. From there it is the cable car, 588 steps or a donkey, and the queue passes an hour in each direction at midday.
The plan. First tender ashore. Akrotiri, roofed and quiet. One winery in the south. Lunch in Megalochori or Pyrgos. Fira or Oia last, when the other ships have started recalling. Back down the cliff by three.
What does not fit. The volcano climb. Between the tender, the boat and the queue it will not.
The trick. If your line offers an excursion that collects from Athinios rather than the old port, take it. It removes the cliff entirely.
The margin. A cruise santorini itinerary wants two hours before all-aboard, not one. See the shore excursion.
A Honeymoon Itinerary
Five nights, and a honeymoon santorini itinerary is built around the terrace rather than the list.
Day 1. Arrive, unpack, and sunset from your own terrace at Firostefani or Imerovigli. Dinner ten minutes away on foot.
Day 2. Nothing before ten. Akrotiri late morning, lunch in Megalochori, back for the afternoon. Dinner inland.
Day 3. A private boat or a semi-private catamaran, with swimming stops and lunch on board.
Day 4. Oia at seven for the photographs while it is empty, breakfast back at the hotel, and the whole afternoon free. One caldera-rim dinner, booked weeks ahead.
Day 5. Three wineries from four, and a late dinner at Pyrgos.
Day 6. Morning on the terrace, fly home.
What to skip. The Oia sunset crush, the plunge pool as a selling point, and any santorini itinerary that fills every morning. See honeymoons.
A Family Itinerary
Five nights, and a family santorini itinerary runs from a flat base at Kamari, Perissa or Monolithos.
Day 1. Arrive, pool, an early dinner on the promenade.
Day 2. Beach at Monolithos in the morning, lunch under the tamarisks, pool in the afternoon.
Day 3. Akrotiri at opening, roofed and shaded, then lunch in Megalochori and back for the pool. Sunset at the lighthouse, where there is room to run.
Day 4. Catamaran with swimming stops and lunch on board. Back by five and an early night.
Day 5. Fira in the morning with the cable car and the Museum of Prehistoric Thera, then Emporio in the late afternoon for the maze lanes.
Day 6. Beach, then fly home.
The rules. Swim before eleven and after five, swimming shoes always, and never the caldera as a base. A family santorini itinerary is two outings a day with a pool between them. See Monolithos.
A Photography Itinerary
Two days, and a photography santorini itinerary is planned around the light rather than the locations.
Day one. Up at six. Oia main street and the blue domes at first light, the castle ruin, then Ammoudi as the sun gets up. Breakfast. Sleep or drive through the middle of the day. Late afternoon at Vlychada under the carved cliffs. Sunset at the Akrotiri lighthouse with a long lens. Blue hour back at Firostefani.
Day two. Ancient Thira at opening. The inland villages late morning: Pyrgos, then Emporio, then the vineyards. A boat leaving around three for the caldera cliff at golden hour from the water. Back on the rim for the last of the light.
The rule. Nothing between eleven and four. A photography santorini itinerary has two shooting windows a day and a long gap in the middle.
A Budget Itinerary
Five nights, two people, and almost everything on this santorini itinerary is free.
Base. Karterados, Vothonas, Messaria or the back streets of Perissa, at 50 to 110 euros a night rather than 350 on the rim.
Day 1. Arrive, supermarket shop, sunset from the rim path with a bottle of Assyrtiko bought at a supermarket for the price of one cocktail on the caldera.
Day 2. Bus to Akrotiri, entry a few euros, lunch in Megalochori, back by bus.
Day 3. Beach day at Perissa or Perivolos. Sunbeds free if you eat at the bar.
Day 4. Hire car for one day. Ancient Thira, Vlychada, the lighthouse at sunset, and the inland villages.
Day 5. The full rim walk from Fira to Oia. Ten kilometres, free, and the best thing on the island.
Day 6. Museums in Fira, then home.
The one splurge. A shared catamaran, if the budget stretches. Otherwise the boat is the thing to skip.
A budget santorini itinerary costs roughly what three nights on the caldera costs, and it sees more of the island.
Adjusting by Season
May, June, late September, October. Every santorini itinerary above works as written. This is what the plans on this page assume.
July and August. Move the whole santorini itinerary earlier. Sights at opening, nothing between noon and four, dinner at nine, and add a night because the middle of every day is unusable. Book the boat early in the week because the meltemi cancels it.
April. Cold sea, so drop the beach day from the santorini itinerary and add a village day. Everything else stands.
November to March. No boats. Replace the boat day with Akrotiri, the two Fira museums and a winery, and accept that most of Oia is shut. Four nights rather than five, with a spare day for weather.
Easter. Build the santorini itinerary around the calendar instead: Pyrgos on Good Friday, the Anastasi at midnight on Saturday, and lunch inland on the Sunday.
The Hour-by-Hour Rules
These are the timings that make every santorini itinerary on this page work.
Sunrise to 08:30. Oia, its main street, the blue domes and the castle ruin. Empty, cool, and the light behind you.
08:30 to 10:00. Akrotiri and Ancient Thira at opening, the rim path, the inland villages.
10:00 to 12:00. Red Beach, the vineyards, the museums.
12:00 to 16:00. Nothing outdoors in summer. A pool, a shaded terrace, a long lunch or a museum.
16:00 to sunset. Wineries, Vlychada, Pyrgos, Emporio, Imerovigli, or a boat.
Sunset. The Akrotiri lighthouse, Imerovigli, Firostefani or the water. Not Oia in a coach party.
Blue hour, twenty minutes after. The rim at Firostefani with the villages lit. Almost everybody has left.
Dinner at nine. Inland, at a third of the caldera price.
A santorini itinerary built on those eight lines will beat a longer list of sights taken at the wrong hours every time.
What to Book Ahead
Hotels. The good caldera rooms for early August are gone by February, before most people start a santorini itinerary at all.
The boat. A few days in the shoulder months, a week or two in July and August. Early in your week, never the last day.
Caldera-rim dinner. Weeks ahead in season for a sunset table, and one is enough in any santorini itinerary.
Wineries. Essential at the big terraces in July and August, sensible everywhere, and always ring in winter.
Airport and port transfers. A few days, more in August.
Car hire. A fortnight in season, with a child seat specified in writing if you need one.
A private guided day. A fortnight in season.
What not to book. Anything at all on your arrival day, and a ferry on the day of a flight.
The Sights, With Times Attached
Every santorini itinerary on this page is assembled from these, so it is worth having the durations in one place.
Akrotiri. Ninety minutes, roofed, best at opening. Far better with a licensed guide, because there is almost no interpretation on the ground. See Akrotiri.
Ancient Thira. Two hours including the drive up, on a still morning. Steep, exposed and regularly almost empty. See Ancient Thira.
Museum of Prehistoric Thera. Forty-five minutes, in Fira, and it makes far more sense after the site.
Archaeological Museum. Thirty to forty-five minutes, five minutes away.
A winery. Forty-five minutes to an hour each, and three is the right number for an afternoon.
The wine museum. An hour underground with a tasting at the end.
A catamaran. Five to seven hours with lunch on board.
The volcano boat. Four to five hours including the thirty-minute climb.
Oia. A morning, or twenty minutes at sunset among several thousand people.
The rim path, Fira to Oia. Three to four hours, ten kilometres.
Fira to Firostefani and Imerovigli. Twenty minutes each, level.
An inland village. An hour each at Pyrgos, Emporio or Megalochori, and lunch on top.
The Akrotiri lighthouse. Half an hour there, and stay for the light.
A beach. Half a day, or two hours late in the afternoon, and every santorini itinerary here has room for one.
Add those up and you will see why a four-item santorini itinerary for one day does not fit.
Three Days, Hour by Hour
A worked version of the three-day santorini itinerary, in the shoulder season, with a hire car.
Day one. 07:15 leave for Oia. 07:30 to 09:00 the main street, the blue domes and the castle ruin, empty. 09:15 breakfast in Oia or back at the hotel. 11:00 to 16:00 pool, lunch, rest. 16:30 the rim path from Fira towards Firostefani. 18:30 sunset from Imerovigli. 20:30 dinner in Firostefani.
Day two. 08:30 leave for Akrotiri. 09:00 to 10:30 the site with a guide. 11:00 the Red Beach viewpoint. 12:00 the Akrotiri lighthouse. 13:30 lunch in Megalochori. 16:00 to 18:30 three wineries. 21:00 dinner at Pyrgos.
Day three. 09:30 board the catamaran at Athinios or Vlychada. Swimming stops, lunch on board, Thirasia, the caldera cliff at the end of the afternoon. 17:30 back. 20:30 an early, easy dinner near the hotel.
What that leaves out. Ancient Thira, the beaches and the museums. Three days always leaves something out, which is the argument for five.
Building Your Own
If none of the santorini itinerary plans above fits, the method is simple.
Start with the boat. Put it on day two or three and build around it, because it is the only fixed item the weather can take away.
Add Akrotiri at opening. On a different day from the boat.
Add one winery afternoon. Attached to whichever day is already in the south.
Add one dawn. Oia, and only one; nobody manages two.
Fill the gaps with villages and beaches. Both work at any hour that is not midday in summer.
Leave the last full day empty. It absorbs whatever the weather took.
Six decisions and a santorini itinerary exists. Everything else is choosing where to have lunch, and inland is the answer to that.
Where to Eat, Day by Day
Meals shape a santorini itinerary more than sights do, because the timings are fixed and the geography is not.
Breakfast. At the hotel, or a bakery in Fira. Nothing opens early in the villages.
Lunch on an Akrotiri day. Megalochori or Emporio, ten minutes away, and a third of the caldera price.
Lunch on a beach day. The taverna attached to your sunbeds, which usually makes them free.
Lunch on a boat day. Cooked on board, and one of the better meals of the week.
Dinner, most nights. Inland at Pyrgos, Megalochori, Exo Gonia or Vothonas. Nine o’clock, no booking needed outside August, and better food than the rim, which is why every santorini itinerary we write ends inland.
Dinner, one night. The caldera rim, booked weeks ahead, for the view. Once, not five times.
Fish. Ammoudi below Oia, at lunch rather than sunset, and ask the weight before it goes on the grill.
The saving. Eating inland five nights out of six takes roughly 400 euros off a week for two, which is the largest single economy available in any santorini itinerary. See the food experience.
Two Itineraries That Do Not Work
Worth naming, because both are booked as a santorini itinerary constantly.
The everything-in-two-days plan. Akrotiri, Ancient Thira, the volcano, a winery, Oia at sunset and a beach, in forty-eight hours. It is physically possible with a driver and it produces a blur, two hours of queueing and no memory of any of it. Two days buys two sights and a sunset.
The Oia-only plan. Four nights in Oia with no car, walking the same three hundred metres of main street and eating on the same terrace. It is the most photographed village in Greece and it is one village on an island of thirteen. People who do this come home saying Santorini is overrated, and what they mean is that they saw a tenth of it.
Any santorini itinerary that avoids those two failures is already better than most.
The Version We Would Book Ourselves
Late September, five nights, Firostefani, a car for two days: our own santorini itinerary.
Arrive. Late afternoon, unpack, walk twenty minutes along the rim, eat locally, sleep.
Day two. Akrotiri at nine before anybody. Lunch in Megalochori under a vine. Three wineries from four with the new vintage in tank. Dinner in Pyrgos at nine, outside, with a jumper.
Day three. A boat at ten, out through the caldera, swimming off Thirasia, lunch on deck, the cliff turning gold at six. Nothing in the evening.
Day four. Oia at seven with a camera and no plan. Breakfast at nine. The whole afternoon on a terrace. One dinner on the rim, booked.
Day five. The rim path from Fira to Imerovigli in the morning, Vlychada in the late afternoon under the carved cliffs, and dinner at Vothonas.
Day six. Nothing. Coffee, a swim, an early flight or a late one.
Five nights, three outings, two afternoons doing nothing and one unbooked day. That is the santorini itinerary we describe when somebody asks what we would do with our own week, and it has not changed in years.
If You Only Have One Day
A one-day santorini itinerary happens more often than you would think: a cruise stop, a long layover, or a night either side of a ferry.
The plan. Akrotiri at opening, ninety minutes. One winery in the south at eleven. Lunch in Megalochori at one. Fira and the rim path to Firostefani from four. Sunset from Imerovigli or the lighthouse. Dinner inland if you are staying, on the boat if you are not.
What to leave out. Oia, unless it is your first hour of the day. The volcano. Any beach.
The alternative one-day santorini itinerary. Oia at seven, Fira and the rim path by ten, Akrotiri at one, the lighthouse at six. It works, and it is more driving.
The honest note. One day gives you a photograph and an archaeological site. It does not give you the island, and almost everybody who does it comes back.
A Two-Week Version
A two-week santorini itinerary is rare, and the shape is completely different: fewer outings, not more.
Week one. The five-day plan above, unhurried, with two afternoons doing nothing rather than one.
Day 8. Thirasia by the local ferry from Ammoudi. A taverna in Manolas, the view back at Santorini, and nothing else.
Day 9. Ancient Thira in the morning, Kamari for the afternoon and the open-air cinema in the evening.
Day 10. The full rim walk, Fira to Oia, starting at nine, with a driver back.
Day 11. A second winery afternoon, at the small producers rather than the big terraces, and dinner at Exo Gonia.
Day 12. Ios or Folegandros by fast ferry, out on the first boat and back in the evening.
Day 13. The inland loop on foot: Pyrgos, Exo Gonia, Mesa Gonia and Panagia Episkopi.
Day 14. Nothing at all.
The rule for a long stay. A two-week santorini itinerary should have fewer booked items per day than a four-night one, not more. The point of the extra week is the pace.
What to Do With the Unbooked Day
Every plan on this page reserves one, and people ask what to put in it. The answer is nothing, and here is what nothing looks like.
The rim path in the morning. Fira to Firostefani and back, an hour, with a coffee halfway.
A long lunch inland. Three hours in Megalochori or Emporio with a bottle of Assyrtiko.
A swim in the late afternoon. Monolithos or Vlychada, when the sand is walkable again.
A second look at something. The museum you rushed, the village you drove through, the beach you liked.
The terrace. If you paid for a caldera view, this is the day you actually use it.
Or the boat you lost. If the wind cancelled it earlier in the week, this is why the day was reserved.
An unbooked day is not a gap in a santorini itinerary; it is the part that makes the rest of it feel like a holiday rather than a schedule.
If You Cannot Walk Far
A great deal of the standard santorini itinerary assumes steps, and it does not have to.
Base. Kamari, Perissa, Monolithos or Vlychada, all flat with parking and level access. Not the caldera villages, where hotels sit fifty to eighty steps below the road.
Akrotiri. Roofed and walked on raised boardwalks, and one of the more accessible archaeological sites in Greece.
The rim. Fira and Firostefani are walkable along the level path between them. Oia is stepped throughout and the old port has no vehicle access at all.
Viewpoints without steps. The Akrotiri lighthouse, the road above Athinios, Pyrgos castle by car to the top of the village, and the Firostefani rim.
Boats. Board at Athinios or Vlychada rather than by tender at the old port, and skip the volcano climb.
Wineries. Almost all are level, with terraces reachable by car.
Transport. A private vehicle rather than buses, because the bus stops are not always near anything. See transfers.
A santorini itinerary built that way loses Oia’s lanes and Skaros and keeps almost everything else.
The Whole Thing in One List
If you read nothing else on this page, a santorini itinerary is these ten lines, in this order.
1. Five nights, not three.
2. A hotel off the caldera unless the view is the point, and one with road access if it is.
3. Nothing on the arrival day.
4. Akrotiri, at opening, with a guide.
5. A boat, on day two or three.
6. Three wineries, from four in the afternoon, with a driver.
7. Oia, once, at half past seven in the morning.
8. One caldera-rim dinner, booked.
9. Every other dinner inland.
10. One day with nothing in it.
Ten lines. That is a complete santorini itinerary, and everything above is the reasoning behind it.
Why the Hours Matter More Than the List
It is worth saying plainly at the end, because it is the one thing that separates a good week here from a disappointing one.
Two visitors can do exactly the same six things on this island and come home with entirely different opinions of it. The one who saw Oia at seven in the morning, Akrotiri at opening, the caldera from a boat at six in the evening and the wineries at four thinks it is the most beautiful place in Greece. The one who saw Oia at noon, Akrotiri at two, the volcano at midday in August and the sunset from the middle of a crowd thinks it is an overrated queue.
Nothing about the list changed. Only the clock did.
That is why every plan on this page carries a time next to it, why the boat is always early in the week, why dinner is always inland except once, and why one day is always left empty. A santorini itinerary is not a list of sights; it is a sequence of hours, and the island rewards anybody who treats it that way.
Fitting Santorini Into an Island-Hopping Route
Most people arrive here as part of something longer, and the santorini itinerary has to survive the ferry timetable.
Where it belongs. Last, if you can. It is the island with the most flights out, so ending here costs the least in transfers.
Naxos or Paros before. Two to three hours by fast ferry, and both make an easier first week: flatter, cheaper, and better beaches.
Ios between. Forty minutes away, and it turns a two-island trip into three without adding a travel day.
Crete after. Two hours to Heraklion, and a good place to end because the airport is large.
Mykonos. Two to two and a half hours, and the pairing everybody books. Do Santorini first if the flight home leaves from Mykonos.
The rule. Three nights minimum here, and never a ferry on the same day as a flight. Ferries are cancelled for wind far more often than planes are, and a santorini itinerary that ends with a same-day connection is the one that goes wrong.
Which port. Athinios for everything, thirty minutes from Fira, and there is no shade at the quay. Arrive an hour early in August.
How Much It Costs
Rough numbers for two people, five nights, in the shoulder season, because a santorini itinerary is mostly a budget decision.
Hotel. 60 to 120 euros a night inland or on a beach, 180 to 300 on the caldera, 400 and up for a cave suite with a plunge pool.
Car hire. 25 to 45 euros a day out of season, 60 to 70 in August, plus about 15 for fuel across the week.
The boat. 90 to 140 each on a shared catamaran with lunch; 600 and up for a private one.
Wineries. 20 to 35 each per tasting, or 150 to 250 for a private afternoon with a driver for a small group.
Akrotiri. Twelve euros, and about 60 for a licensed guide for two hours.
Dinner. 35 to 55 for two inland, 90 to 160 on the rim.
Transfers. Roughly 30 to 45 each way from the airport, less than a taxi and fixed in advance.
A realistic total. Around 1,400 to 1,900 for five nights for two, staying inland and eating inland, and roughly double that on the caldera. The santorini itinerary itself is the cheap part; the room and the rim dinners are what move the number.
Ten Days You Will Actually Remember
If the shape of a santorini itinerary matters more than the sights, this is what a well-spaced ten nights looks like.
Nights 1 to 5, Firostefani. Akrotiri, a boat, the wineries, Oia at dawn, and two afternoons with nothing in them.
Nights 6 to 8, Perissa or Vlychada. A completely different island: black sand, flat streets, cheap tavernas, Ancient Thira above you, and the sea in front.
Nights 9 and 10, Megalochori or Pyrgos. Inland, quiet, vineyards on every side, and the best food you will eat here.
Why move. Two changes of base cost two mornings and buy three islands’ worth of atmosphere. It is the single best trick in a long santorini itinerary, and almost nobody does it.
What fills the days. Everything on this page, spread out, with a swim in most afternoons and no more than one booked thing a day.
Before You Book Anything
A short checklist, because these are the details that quietly decide how the week goes.
Check the cruise schedule. It is published, and a day with five ships in the caldera is a different island from a day with none.
Check the moon. A full moon over the caldera is worth planning a santorini itinerary around, and it costs nothing.
Check the wind. The meltemi blows hardest from mid-July to late August, and it is what cancels boats.
Check your hotel’s steps. Ask for the number, in writing, before booking anything on the rim.
Check the flight times. An arrival after nine in the evening removes a whole day from the plan.
Check what is open. Between November and March, a great deal is not.
Six checks, ten minutes, and they will change more about your week than any list of sights will.
What Happens If the Weather Breaks
It is the only thing that reliably breaks a plan here, and it is worth having the answer ready before it happens.
The boat goes first. Anything over about six on the Beaufort scale and the catamarans stay in. You will usually be told the evening before, or at eight in the morning.
What replaces it. Akrotiri, which is roofed. The two museums in Fira. The wine museum, which is underground. Three wineries in the afternoon. An inland village for lunch. None of them care about wind.
What stays lovely. The caldera under cloud, which most visitors never see, and the rim path with nobody on it.
What to avoid. Ancient Thira, which is exposed, and the rim walk to Oia in a real gale.
This is exactly what the spare day is for, and it is why every santorini itinerary on this page keeps one. Move the boat into it and the week is unharmed; leave no spare day and a windy Tuesday costs you the best thing on the island.
Where to Base the Itinerary
The santorini itinerary and the base have to match, and most disappointing trips here are a good plan run from the wrong village.
Firostefani. The caldera view with road access, ten level minutes from Fira, and cheaper than Oia. The best base for almost every santorini itinerary on this page. See Firostefani.
Imerovigli. The best view on the island and a great many steps.
Fira. Central, walkable, on the bus network, and the noisiest. Right for a car-free trip.
Oia. Beautiful and impractical: no vehicle access, hotels fifty to eighty steps below the road, and forty minutes from the airport. See Oia.
Kamari, Perissa and Monolithos. Flat, cheap, on a beach, and the only sensible base for a family santorini itinerary. See Kamari.
Megalochori and Pyrgos. Inland, quiet and the best food, with a car essential. See Megalochori.
Getting Around the Plan
Hire car. 25 to 70 euros a day depending on the season, and it makes a santorini itinerary considerably more flexible. The driving is easy; the parking in Fira and Oia is the problem. See car hire.
Buses. Cheap and frequent, and every route goes through Fira, so a beach in the south to a village in the north is two buses and a wait.
Taxis. Around thirty on the island. Not a plan.
A private driver. Priced per vehicle, so four people often pay less than a small group tour, and it removes the parking problem entirely. Best used for the winery afternoon and the guided day. See transfers.
Walking. The rim path from Fira to Imerovigli is level and lovely. Everything inside the villages is stepped.
The dawn problem. There is no bus early enough for first light in Oia. Either stay there, hire a car the night before, or book a driver.
Mistakes That Ruin an Itinerary
Booking a tour for the arrival day. It will be wasted, and it shortens the santorini itinerary by a day.
Putting the boat on the last day. Wind cancels it and there is no second chance.
Four sights in a day. Count the driving; it does not fit.
Oia at sunset with a coach party. Several thousand people and a meeting point.
Photographing the blue domes in the evening. They face east. Seven in the morning.
Staying in Oia with a hire car. There is nowhere to put it.
Three nights and a ferry. You have not seen this island yet.
No spare day. The one thing every good santorini itinerary has.
Ignoring the cruise schedule. A day with five ships in the caldera is a different island from a day with none, and the schedule is public.
Santorini Itinerary: Frequently Asked Questions
How many days do you need? Four nights covers everything and five is better, because the extra day is the unbooked one. Three works and feels tight; two is a highlights reel.
What should a first-timer do? Akrotiri at opening, a winery afternoon, one boat day in the caldera, Oia at seven in the morning, and an inland village for dinner.
Which day should the boat be? Day two or three, never the last, so a wind cancellation can be moved rather than lost.
Do you need a car? It helps and is not essential. A driver for the winery day and the guided day solves the parking, which is the real problem.
What time should you go to Oia? Half past seven in the morning. It is empty, level, cool and the light is behind you. By eleven it is impassable.
Where should you watch the sunset? Imerovigli, Firostefani, the Akrotiri lighthouse or a boat. Every viewpoint on the rim gets the same sun.
Is a guided day worth it? At Akrotiri, yes, because the site has almost no interpretation. Elsewhere it buys timing rather than information.
How do you fit a beach in? Late afternoon at Perivolos, Vlychada or Monolithos, after the day’s outing, when the black sand is walkable again.
What if it is windy? Swap the boat for Ancient Thira and the inland villages, and use the sheltered south coast for the beach.
Can you do it without booking anything? In May and October, largely. In July and August, no.
What is the one thing not to miss? The caldera from the water at the end of the afternoon. It is the view no land position gives you.
And the one to skip? The hot springs, and the coach trip to Oia at sunset.
We Will Write the Days Around You
We are a local operator running private tours and transfers in our own vehicles, and most of what we sell is timing rather than transport: Akrotiri before the coaches, the wineries after four, the villages when the ships have gone, and Oia at an hour when you can walk down the main street.
Tell us how many nights you have and what you care about, and we will build the santorini itinerary around the light, the wind and the cruise schedule rather than around a list.
Prices are per vehicle rather than per person, hotel pickup anywhere on the island is included, we guide in twelve languages, and an 80 EUR deposit confirms a date.
See the personalised tour, the full day tour, or contact us.
Every Village and Site on the Island
Any of these can be built into a private day. Each has its own page with what to see and how long to allow.
Caldera villages: Fira · Firostefani · Imerovigli · Oia · Finikia · Baxedes
Inland villages: Pyrgos · Megalochori · Emporio · Mesaria · Karterados · Vothonas · Vourvoulos · Exo Gonia · Mesa Gonia · Pigadia
Beaches: Perissa · Perivolos · Kamari · Vlychada · Monolithos · Red Beach · White Beach · Agios Georgios · Agia Paraskevi
Sites and landmarks: Akrotiri · Ancient Thira · Akrotiri Lighthouse · Nea Kameni · Palia Kameni · Thirasia · Athinios Port
All our tours: All Santorini tours · Full day tour · Sightseeing tour · Personalised tour · North part tour · Horse riding · South part tour · Sunset tour · Shore excursion · Caldera tour · Food experience · Wine tour · Historical tour · Small group tour
Planning and services: Famous sights tour · Private transfers · Transfers to Oia and Finikia · Transfers to other villages · Villages of Santorini · History of Santorini · Tours near you · Languages we guide in · Food and fun tours · Gay friendly tours · Our tour buses · Daily tours · Day tours · FAQ · Gallery · Tour photo gallery · About us · Contact · Blog
