Santorini Tours FAQ

Everything guests ask us before booking, answered plainly. This Santorini tours FAQ covers prices, pickups, timings, what is included, the practical realities of the island, and the questions people only think to ask once they have arrived. Book with Santorini Tours, a licensed local operator.

If your question is not answered in this Santorini tours FAQ, send it to us and we will answer it the same day – and add it to this page.

The short version of this Santorini tours FAQ

Every tour we run is private. Prices are per vehicle rather than per person, so a family of four pays what a couple pays. Pickup is included from anywhere on the island including both ports. An 80€ deposit confirms any date and the balance is paid on the day.

Santorini Tours FAQ: Booking and Prices

How much do your tours cost? From 220€ for a personalised tour, 280€ for the five-hour south part tour, 460€ for the eight-hour full day tour, 556€ for the food experience and 650€ for the wine tour. Transfers start at 40€. All per vehicle.

Is the price per person or per vehicle? Per vehicle. This is the most important line in this Santorini tours FAQ, because it inverts the arithmetic most people arrive with: two people pay the same as six.

How do I book a tour from this Santorini tours FAQ? Send us the date, your party size and where you are staying. You will get a confirmation with the price, the pickup time and the driver’s details.

How far in advance should I book a Santorini tour? As early as you can for July and August. April, May, September and October are more relaxed, but the good hours still go first.

What deposit do you take? 80€ to confirm any date. The balance is paid on the day.

How do I pay the balance? On the day, to the driver.

Can I change or cancel a booking made through this Santorini tours FAQ? Tell us as early as you can. Weather closes boats and cancels ferries here regularly, and a plan changed two days out is far easier than one changed two hours out.

Do you charge more at night or on Sundays? No. A transfer at three in the morning costs what one at three in the afternoon costs.

Is there a single supplement or a minimum group size? No. One person can book any tour and pays the vehicle price.

Santorini Tours FAQ: Pickups and Transfers

Does the Santorini tours pickup include my hotel? Yes, from anywhere on the island, at no extra charge.

What if my hotel is down steps? Then the vehicle stops at the nearest road and you walk the last stretch. In Oia, Imerovigli, Firostefani and Fira that can be a hundred steps or more. Tell us the hotel name when you book and we will tell you how far before you arrive.

Do you meet flights at the airport? Yes, in the arrivals area with a board carrying your name. We track the flight, so a delay costs you nothing.

Do you meet ferries? Yes, at the top of the ramp at Athinios port, and we track the boat.

Can you collect from the old port below Fira? No. There is no road to it – it is reached only by cable car, six hundred steps or donkey. Cruise passengers are met at the top of the cable car.

How long are the transfers? Ten minutes to Kamari or Fira, fifteen to twenty to the southern villages, twenty-five to Imerovigli, thirty to Oia.

What vehicles do the Santorini tours FAQ prices cover? Air-conditioned Mercedes-Benz mini buses up to twenty seats, plus cars for smaller parties. Our fleet.

Is luggage included? Yes, handled by the driver, with no per-bag charges.

Do you provide child seats? Yes, on request. Tell us the ages when you book.

Should I hire a car instead? For a week, one or two days of car hire is sensible and we will say so. For the wine country, no – somebody has to stay sober.

Santorini Tours FAQ: On the Tour Itself

Are your Santorini tours private? Always. Your party alone in the vehicle. We do not put strangers together.

Is a guide included on your Santorini tours? On the guided itineraries, yes – a licensed guide travels with you. On transfers and personalised tours the driver is your point of contact, and on this island that is frequently enough. If you want a licensed guide added, ask.

Do I need a guide for Akrotiri and Ancient Thira? It makes a large difference. Both sites have almost no signage, and without someone to explain them a good deal reads as low walls. This is the most common regret in our Santorini tours FAQ.

Can we change a Santorini tours FAQ itinerary on the day? Within reason, yes. Sites close early, weather closes boats, and a rigid itinerary is a liability here.

Can we stop where we want? On a private tour, yes. If a village turns out to be the best thing you have seen, you stay in it.

How long is a full day in this Santorini tours FAQ? Eight hours. Ten-hour itineraries look impressive on paper and are exhausting in August.

Are meals included in the Santorini tours FAQ prices? No, except where an itinerary states otherwise – the food experience includes a sit-down meal.

Are entry fees included in the Santorini tours FAQ prices? No. Akrotiri and Ancient Thira each charge a few euro at the gate.

Are wine tastings included? On the wine tour, yes – three estates with all tastings.

What languages do you guide in? English throughout, with others on request. Languages we guide in.

Santorini Tours FAQ: Timing, Weather and Season

When is the best time for Santorini tours? June and September. April, May and October are quieter and cheaper. July and August are hot, crowded and expensive.

Do your Santorini tours run in winter? Yes. The caldera resorts close from November but the inland villages stay open because people live in them.

What time does the sun set? It moves by nearly three hours across the season. We work from the actual table rather than a fixed departure time.

Is Oia castle worth it for sunset? Once. Several thousand people gather from an hour beforehand and the road blocks afterwards. For every other evening we would send you to the Akrotiri lighthouse or Pyrgos.

What happens to a Santorini tours FAQ booking if the weather is bad? Road tours run in almost anything. Boats do not – the meltemi cancels sailings to the volcano and Thirasia at short notice, sometimes on the morning.

Can I connect a ferry to a flight the same day? Never do this. Sailings from Athinios are cancelled in strong wind with little notice.

How hot does it get? Mid to high thirties in July and August, and the black sand beaches are genuinely too hot to walk on barefoot by mid-morning.

When do the archaeological sites close? Ancient Thira closes in the early afternoon and shuts one day a week. Go at opening.

Is the island busy with cruise ships? Fira is difficult between roughly eleven and four on ship days. We plan around it.

Santorini Tours FAQ: Practical Questions About the Island

How big is Santorini? About eighteen kilometres end to end. Nothing is more than forty minutes from anything else, though the roads are slower than the distances suggest.

How many villages do your Santorini tours reach? Around thirty-two settlements, beaches and sites. All of them are set out on our villages of Santorini page.

Where should we stay, according to this Santorini tours FAQ? The caldera rim for the view, Finikia or Karterados for the same island at half the price, Kamari or Perissa for a beach week, Mesaria if you are hiring a car.

Is the public bus any good? On the Fira–Oia, Fira–Kamari and Fira–Perissa routes, yes. Everything changes at Fira and the inland villages are poorly served.

Are there many taxis? No. The licensed fleet is famously small and effectively fully booked in August.

Is the water safe to drink? Use bottled. The island runs largely on desalination and the tap water is generally not drunk.

Do I need cash? Cards are widely accepted, but carry some for bakeries, small tavernas and boat fares.

Is Santorini safe? Very. Low crime, and a heavy seasonal police presence. The genuine hazards are the roads, the sun and unfenced cliffs.

What is the emergency number? 112. There is a health centre in Fira.

Is the volcano dangerous? It is dormant rather than extinct, and it is monitored continuously. Nea Kameni.

Can I swim at the Red Beach? Yes, but the cliff is unstable and there have been landslides. Stay away from the base of it. Red Beach.

Santorini Tours FAQ: Accessibility and Children

Are your Santorini tours suitable for older travellers? Yes, and we will build the day around short walks and long views rather than the reverse. Tell us in advance.

Can the Santorini tours FAQ itineraries accommodate limited mobility? Partly, and honestly: Akrotiri is roofed and largely level, Vlychada marina is flat, and the lighthouse can be seen from near the vehicle. Ancient Thira, the kastelli at Emporio and the caldera villages are not accessible. An honest conversation before booking produces a far better day.

Are your Santorini tours good for children? Yes, on a private tour where the pace is yours. Monolithos is the one beach on the island with shallow water, free shade and a playground.

Is there a minimum age? No.

Can a Santorini tours FAQ booking include a proposal or anniversary? Yes, regularly. Tell us in advance and the driver stays out of the way.

Do you handle wedding parties? Yes – staged pickups from several hotels to one venue, which is a logistics problem rather than a transport one.

Do your Santorini tours take large groups? Up to twenty in one vehicle, and more than one vehicle above that. We do not run full-size coaches, because they cannot reach several of the places worth stopping at.

Are you LGBT friendly? Yes, without making a point of it. Gay friendly Santorini.

Can we bring a dog? Ask us. It depends on the vehicle and the day.

Santorini Tours FAQ: What to Bring

Shoes. The single most useful item on any Santorini tour. Cobbles, stepped lanes, loose volcanic ground at the sites, and black sand hot enough to burn bare feet by mid-morning.

Water. The Santorini tours FAQ answer is: more than you think, especially for Ancient Thira, where there is none on the ridge.

A hat and sun cream. There is very little natural shade anywhere on this island.

A warm layer. The capes and the caldera rim get windy once the sun goes down, even in August.

Cash. For entry fees, boat fares, bakeries and sunbeds.

A torch. If you are staying out at the lighthouse for sunset, the walk back is over rough unlit ground.

Dark swimwear. If the hot springs at Palia Kameni are on your plan, the iron in the water stains light fabric permanently. Palia Kameni.

Modest cover. For churches and monasteries.

Santorini Tours FAQ: Still Not Answered?

This Santorini tours FAQ is built from what guests actually ask us, and it grows. If your question is not on it, send it over – we will answer the same day and add it here.

Tell us your dates, party size and where you are staying on the island, and you will get a straight answer about what fits and what does not, including when the honest answer is that the public bus will do or that you should hire a car for a day.

Beyond this Santorini tours FAQ, every itinerary and all prices are on the santorini tours page. Transfers are on the private transfers page.

We are a licensed local operator with drivers and guides who live here year round.

Santorini Tours FAQ: Which Tour Should I Take?

First time on the island, one tour only. The Santorini tours FAQ answer: The full day tour. Eight hours, the whole island, one vehicle.

Half a day. The south part tour – Akrotiri, the coloured beaches and the inland villages.

Interested in the archaeology. The historical tour. The most common answer in this Santorini tours FAQ from anyone who has already seen the caldera.

Interested in wine. The wine tour. Three estates, all tastings, nobody driving.

Interested in food. The food experience, with a producer visit and a sit-down meal.

Cruise passenger with a fixed all-aboard time. The shore excursion, timed around the tender schedule.

Evening only. The sunset tour.

You already know what you want. The personalised tour from 220€, built around your list.

Awkward number of hours between a ferry and a flight. Also the personalised tour. Tell us the window and we will fill it sensibly.

Questions People Only Ask After They Arrive

Why is my hotel down so many steps? The Santorini tours FAQ answer. Because the caldera villages are built on a cliff face and the cave rooms are cut into it. Ask before booking; this is the most common surprise on the island and the one this Santorini tours FAQ gets asked about most after the fact.

Why is the sand so hot? It is black volcanic sand and it absorbs heat all morning. Take shoes to the beach.

Why can I not swim off the caldera? The caldera side is a three-hundred-metre cliff into deep water. The beaches are all on the other coasts.

Why does everything close in the afternoon? Because it is thirty-eight degrees. Businesses shut roughly two until six and reopen into the evening.

Why is dinner so late? Greeks eat from nine. A taverna busy at seven is full of visitors.

Why is the caldera so expensive? You are paying for the view, and only for the view. The same meal fifteen minutes inland costs a third.

Where is everyone going at seven o’clock? Oia, for the sunset. Go the other way.

Can we see the volcano erupting? No. It is dormant, though Nea Kameni still vents steam and sulphur from its crater.

Every Village and Site on the Island

Any of these can be built into a private itinerary. 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 · Gallery · Tour photo gallery · About us · Contact · Blog