Santorini North Part Tour – Private, 5 Hours

The Santorini North Part Tour in Full

The Santorini north part tour is five hours through the half of the island everyone pictures: Firostefani and Imerovigli along the caldera rim, the Skaros rock, Oia at the northern tip, and the Prophet Elias monastery on the high ridge on the way back. It is one of the shortest routes we run and the one that delivers the most recognisable Santorini in the least time. Book with Santorini Tours, a licensed local operator.

Like all our santorini private tours it is priced per vehicle rather than per seat: 280€ for one or two guests, 328€ for three or four, 376€ for five or six, 400€ for seven or eight, rising to 800€ for the largest coach parties. A couple pays 140€ each; a family of four pays 82€ each.

It pairs deliberately with the south part tour, which covers Akrotiri, the black sand beaches and the wine country. Take both across two days and you have seen the island without repeating a single stop.

What the Santorini north part tour price includes

Pickup and drop-off anywhere on the island including both ports, five hours with a licensed English-speaking driver-guide, a private air-conditioned vehicle, fuel, tolls, parking and bottled water. Not included: museum and site entry, winery tastings, food, and the Fira cable car at 6€ each way.

Santorini north part tour cost compared with the alternatives

A coach seat runs about 90€ a head with a fixed route. Against that, the santorini north part tour cost works out lower from four people up, and you keep control of the day. The santorini north part tour price never changes with season or day of the week.

Route and Timing of the Santorini North Part Tour

Five hours, four principal stops, ordered around the cruise schedule rather than a printed timetable.

Firostefani

Ten minutes from Fira on the caldera path, residential and quiet, with the church of Agios Gerasimos on the rim. The wide caldera view most people travel for is here rather than in Oia, and there are terraces where you can sit down.

Imerovigli and Skaros

The highest point of the rim, about 300 metres above the water. Its name means “day watch” – the lookout that warned the island of pirates. Below it stands Skaros, the volcanic promontory that carried the medieval capital and its Venetian castle until earthquakes brought it down. The walk out takes twenty minutes and ends at a chapel with the best 360-degree view on the island.

Oia

The main lane, the ruined castle at the western tip, and the three blue-domed churches on the northern path. On the Santorini north part tour you get real time here rather than the forty minutes a coach allows, and your guide will steer you to the viewpoints that are not in every photograph.

Prophet Elias Monastery

Founded in 1711 at 330 metres on the island’s highest ridge, with a small museum of icons and manuscripts. The view takes in both coasts at once. Shoulders and knees covered or you will not get in.

Who Should Book the Santorini North Part Tour

Two-day visitors. The cleanest way to split the island. North on day one, south on day two.

Anyone staying in the south. If your hotel is in Perissa, Kamari or Akrotiri, the north is the part you are least likely to reach on your own, and the roads are not forgiving.

First-timers with half a day. Among all our santorini day tours this is the highest concentration of recognisable Santorini per hour.

Photographers. Firostefani and Imerovigli in the late afternoon are better light than Oia, and far fewer people.

Not for you if you are on a standard cruise call – take the shore tour, which is timed to tenders – or if you want the archaeology, which is all in the south.

Booking a private santorini north part tour

Send your dates and party size. An 80€ deposit confirms it, the balance is paid on the day, and santorini north part tour booking is handled by us directly rather than a marketplace. Free cancellation to seven days before. For a private santorini north part tour in 2026 the price on this page already carries the direct-booking discount, and the best santorini north part tour dates are Tuesdays and Wednesdays outside the peak weeks, when fewer ships are alongside.

When to Take the Santorini North Part Tour

April to early June is the best window – clean light, green slopes, comfortable walking. July and August are hot and busy; the Santorini north part tour still works but the early start matters, because Oia between eleven and four is genuinely crowded. Late September and October give the best afternoon light of the year and thinner crowds. November to March runs on request, with much of Oia closed and the villages returned to the people who live in them.

Sunset is not included in the standard five hours. If you want it, we shift the start so the Santorini north part tour finishes at the right moment, or you take the dedicated sunset tour on another evening.

What to bring

Shoes with grip, not sandals – the marble and cobbles in Oia and Imerovigli are slippery. Sun protection from April onward; there is almost no shade. A light layer for the wind on the rim. Cash in small notes. Water, more than you expect.

Frequently Asked Questions About the Santorini North Part Tour

How long is it? Five hours, pickup to drop-off.

How much does it cost? From 280€ per vehicle for one or two guests. The price is for the vehicle, not per person.

Is hotel pickup included? Yes, from anywhere on the island including both ports.

Does it include Oia sunset? Not as standard. Ask and we will reshape the timing.

Are entry fees included? No. The monastery is free; museums and the cable car are not.

Can I combine it with the south? Yes, and most two-day visitors do. Together they are among the most complete santorini tour packages we offer.

Is it suitable for children? Over about six, yes. Five hours with steps is a lot for younger children.

Is it wheelchair accessible? Not as standard – Oia and Imerovigli involve steps. Tell us and we will build a route that works.

What languages? English as standard, Greek any date; others with notice. Our santorini guided tours run in six languages in total.

How does it compare with santorini excursions sold on board a ship? Cheaper for a family, more flexible, and the same island – but a cruise line guarantees the ship waits and no independent operator can.

Where do I see all santorini tours prices? Every itinerary and rate is on the santorini tours page, and our santorini island tours range from one hour on horseback to a full eight-hour day.

Santorini North Part Tour 2026: What Has Changed

For the santorini north part tour 2026 season we have made three changes worth knowing about. The direct-booking discount is applied to every rate on this page automatically, so the santorini north part tour 2026 price you read is the price you pay. Start times have moved half an hour earlier through July and August, because Oia now fills sooner than it did five years ago. And the Prophet Elias stop is confirmed on every departure rather than offered as an option, since it is consistently the stop guests rate highest.

Availability for the santorini north part tour 2026 is tightest between mid-July and the end of August and on days with three or more ships alongside. Everything else in the season has good availability at a few days’ notice.

How the Santorini north part tour compares with our other routes

Against the six-hour sightseeing tour at 340€, the Santorini north part tour is an hour shorter, 60€ cheaper and stays entirely in the north. Against the eight-hour full day tour at 460€, it covers a third of the ground in half the time. Against the semi private small group tour at 70€ per person, it costs more for one or two people and less from four upward, and the vehicle is yours.

The Caldera: What You Are Looking At

Every viewpoint on the Santorini north part tour looks into the same thing, and it is worth knowing what it is. Santorini is the rim of a volcano. Around 1600 BC the magma chamber beneath the island emptied in one of the largest eruptions in recorded human history and the centre collapsed into the sea. The crescent you stand on is what was left.

The cliffs drop roughly 300 metres to the water and a further 400 below it. The coloured bands in the rock are successive eruptions – the pale pink and white layers are pumice and ash from the Bronze Age event, the darker rock beneath is older lava. In the middle sit Nea Kameni and Palia Kameni, built by eruptions that continued into the twentieth century. The volcano is dormant, not extinct.

That eruption buried the Bronze Age town at Akrotiri, sent tsunamis against Crete and appears in the archaeological record as a rupture in Minoan civilisation. It is also, regularly, proposed as the origin of the Atlantis story. Guides on the Santorini north part tour are careful about where the evidence stops and the speculation starts.

Oia’s history in ten lines

Oia was a shipping village long before it was a photograph. In the nineteenth century its captains ran a merchant fleet trading between the Black Sea and Alexandria, and the large neoclassical houses on the upper lane were built with that money. The cave houses cut into the cliff below belonged to the crews, and are now among the most expensive rooms in Greece. The 1956 earthquake destroyed much of the village and emptied it for a generation. What visitors photograph today is a careful restoration, which is why it looks so uniform. Knowing that changes what you see on the Santorini north part tour, and it is the kind of thing a local guide gives you that a guidebook does not.

Practical Notes for the Santorini North Part Tour

Pickup points. Anywhere on the island. If your hotel sits on a pedestrian caldera path – most in Oia and Imerovigli do – we agree the nearest vehicle-accessible point when you book rather than discovering it on the morning.

Walking. Expect around two hours on your feet across the five, much of it on uneven cobbles and steps. The Skaros walk is optional and adds twenty minutes each way.

Crowds. Cruise traffic peaks between ten and three. A Santorini north part tour starting early reaches Oia before that; one starting at ten does not. This single decision matters more than any other on the route.

Photography. Firostefani for the wide caldera shot, Imerovigli for depth, Oia’s northern path for the blue domes. Midday light blows out white walls – expose for the walls, not the sky.

Payment. 80€ deposit, balance to your guide on the day, cash or card. No booking fee.

Changes on the day. Free. Tell your guide at the start that you would rather spend the whole time in Oia, and that is what happens. The Santorini north part tour is a private vehicle, not a schedule.

Book the Santorini North Part Tour

Send your dates and party size and we will confirm availability for the Santorini north part tour the same day. If you would rather reserve a specific itinerary straight away, the booking forms are here: north part tour booking, south part, sightseeing, full day, famous sights, sunset, shore excursion, historical, personalised, food experience, wine, horse riding.

The Santorini north part tour takes an 80€ deposit, with the balance paid to your guide on the day. Free cancellation up to seven days before, and if we cancel for weather you are refunded in full.

Everywhere the Santorini North Part Tour Can Reach

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 · South part tour · Famous sights tour · Sunset tour · Shore excursion · Caldera tour · Food experience · Wine tour · Historical tour · Horse riding · Small group tour

Planning and services: 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