santorini 2023

Santorini in april is the month the island wakes up: wild flowers across the volcanic slopes, hotels and restaurants reopening through the first fortnight, and almost nobody here. Expect highs of 16 to 20 degrees, nights of 11 to 14, four to six wet days, and a sea at 17 to 18 that very few people swim in. Greek Easter usually falls inside the month, and caldera-view rooms run 100 to 200 euros against 500 to 900 in August.

Santorini is on the list of the places one must go before they die. If you are planning a trip, April 2023 in Santorini Tours is a unique experience. Learn everything you need to know before packing.

If you are planning a short spring break, an April 2023 trip to Santorini will more than compensate you. To experience a different kind of spring with Cycladic air and a view of the volcano, find out everything you need to know before booking tickets and packing your bags there.

A trip to Santorini is an investment for a lifetime. The images and experiences you will take with you on your return to base are beyond description.

As soon as the ship arrives at the port of Santorini, there you understand that you are starting to walk in the dream. Santorini is one of the few islands that won’t bother you if you go into the sea to enjoy your dives in the Aegean.

This island has an otherworldly beauty that does not exist anywhere else in the world. The climb to Fira is magical, as you will be able to see the port of Santorini from above with a view of the volcano.

Tour of Fira in April 2023

Fira is the capital of the island and of entertainment. There you will be able to walk through the cobbled streets, browse tourist shops, taste Santorinian cuisine and of course be driven to the Caldera, one of the most beautiful and famous places in the world. With a view of the volcano you will be able to enjoy your walks in the area, while in the evening you can choose your favorite hangout, where you will drink your drink with the background of the active volcano during April in Santorini.

Walk on the path of Fira in April 2023

The spring weather in Santorini calls for walks and explorations. If you like walking, the program includes a walk on the path from Fira to Firostefani. It is a unique experience, where you will be able to enjoy the view towards the volcano during the day, walk through the picturesque alleys of the island and explore the museums and churches that you will find along the way. Necessary stops are required for taking photos and replenishing energy in the nearby shops.

Imerovigli for relaxation in April 2023

If you are looking for relaxation during your spring break, then a stop in Imerovigli is a must. It is one of the most famous hot spots of the island, both for romantic walks and for exploring with children. Beautiful cafes with a view offer comfort and options for you and your little friends.

In Oia for the best sunset in the world in April 2023

Millions of travelers from all over the world flock to Santorini to enjoy the best sunset in the world. In particular, the reason for Oia, the peak of Santorini, which is literally flooded with travelers of all nationalities, who are not content to simply enjoy the sunset, but to capture it at all costs. Don’t worry if you leave with bruises, some tripod or selfie stick will find you. But if you exclude this unpleasant note, the Santorini sunset can make the April trip to Santorini unique in itself! You can take a tour of Santorini!

Trip to the volcano of Santorini in April 2023

You cannot leave Santorini without visiting the active volcano. It is an activity that you can do either with your company or with the children. Secure your ticket from a travel agency in the center of Fira and take the descent to the old port of Fira. You can approach it, either on foot, the old way with donkeys, or more modern with the cable car.

The sailboat will be waiting for you along with dozens of tourists who want to see the magic of the volcano up close. Take a guided private tour, capture the moment with photos and continue your tour to Palaia Kammeni with the thermal baths. If you can stand it, you can dive in waters that reach 26 degrees this season. If you are lucky, you might also see Sostis, the man who gave up everything and now lives alone in Palaia Kammeni.

For “frozen” dips in hot Santorini in April 2023

Whether you want to risk your endurance and dive into icy waters, or simply explore the beaches of Santorini, the must stops are the following:

 The Red Beach of Santorini

It is impossible to go to Santorini and not have seen the famous Red Beach up close. From the first glance you will understand that you are in a different landscape, the like of which does not exist. Red sand, red rocks and in the middle a blue beach invites you to take a dip. To get to the source, however, you have to walk a rather difficult path, which is made a little more difficult than it actually is, due to its dozens of visitors. Make sure the shoes you wear are firm to avoid accidents.

The Black Beach of Santorini

As soon as you arrive at the Black Beach of Santorini (Perissa, Perivolos) you immediately understand that you are in a volcanic place. Black pebbles mix with the black sand and the temperature rises dangerously, inviting you to dive immediately. Let us warn you that the water is quite cold even in the summer, but its bottom is very interesting.

Read more about Santorini Tours:

• Santorini Sightseeing Private Tour
• Exclusive Shore Santorini Private Tour
• Impressive Caldera Santorini Private Tour
• South Part Santorini Private Tour
• North Part Santorini Private Tour
• Santorini Historical Private Tour
• Santorini Sunset Private Tour

Santorini in April: The Short Answer

Santorini in april is the month the island wakes up. Wild flowers are out across the volcanic slopes, hotels and restaurants reopen through the first fortnight, the days reach the low twenties, and there is almost nobody here. The one thing it does not give you is a warm sea.

Nine numbers cover most of what people ask about santorini in april.

Temperature. Highs of 16 to 20 degrees, climbing through the month. Nights of 11 to 14.

The sea in santorini in april. 17 to 18 degrees. Technically swimmable, and very few people do it.

Rain. Four to six wet days, in short fronts. Rainfall drops sharply from March.

Daylight. Sunset moves from about half past seven at the start of the month to eight by the end.

Crowds in santorini in april. Light. The first cruise ships arrive, Easter brings a domestic crowd, and it is nothing like summer.

Prices. Santorini in april runs at 100 to 200 euros for a caldera-view room where August asks 500 to 900. One of the two best value months of the year.

What is open. Almost everything by mid-April: Oia, the caldera hotels, the wineries, the boats and most restaurants. The beach resorts open last.

Greek Easter. Usually falls inside santorini in april, and it is the most interesting week of the Greek year.

The Weather in Detail

April is the month in which the Aegean spring actually arrives, and the difference between the first week and the last is larger than in any other month.

Early santorini in april still carries winter weather patterns. Expect 16 to 17 degrees, occasional fronts with genuine rain, and a southerly wind that can be strong enough to disrupt ferries. It is green, cool and dramatic, and it is not reliably a sunbathing proposition.

By the last week of santorini in april the pattern has changed. Highs of 19 to 21 degrees, long clear spells, the wind easing, and the first genuinely warm afternoons on a terrace. The island is visibly ready for a season by then.

Rainfall averages roughly 20 millimetres across four to six days, which is about half of March and a quarter of December. When it rains it rains hard and briefly, and the light over the caldera immediately afterwards is exceptional.

The one number that does not move is the sea. Aegean water temperature lags the air by about two months, so santorini in april sits at 17 to 18 degrees whatever the air is doing. This is the single reason spring loses to autumn for most visitors, and it is worth knowing before you book.

Wind in santorini in april comes with weather systems rather than as the summer meltemi. It is less predictable and less persistent, and it mainly affects boats rather than comfort on land.

Greek Easter on Santorini

Orthodox Easter is movable and most often falls in April, and it is the single strongest reason to choose this month. It is not a tourist event. It is the most important week of the Greek year, and on an island with working villages you see it properly.

Seven things to know about Easter, the one week that changes santorini in april completely.

Holy Week. Services build through the week, the villages are cleaned and whitewashed, and families return from Athens. The whole island fills with Greeks rather than foreigners.

Good Friday. The Epitaphios — a flower-covered bier — is carried through the streets after dark, followed by the whole village with candles. Pyrgos is famous for it: the entire hillside is lit with thousands of oil lamps and tin cans of burning wick, and the effect from below is extraordinary.

Holy Saturday. The midnight Resurrection service, with the light passed candle to candle through the crowd, fireworks at the moment of Christos Anesti, and everybody walking home shielding a flame. Magiritsa soup afterwards.

Easter Sunday. Lamb on the spit from mid-morning, in courtyards and outside tavernas across the island, and eating that goes on all afternoon.

What it means practically. Book early — santorini in april is quiet except for this week, when Greek domestic tourism fills the island. Ferries are packed, prices rise, and some businesses close on the Friday.

Which villages. Pyrgos above all, then Emporio, Megalochori and Oia. Fira has the largest service and the least atmosphere.

Check the date. Orthodox Easter moves by up to five weeks and rarely aligns with Western Easter. Confirm the year before you book flights.

What Is Open, and When

Eleven notes on what actually operates during santorini in april.

Fira. Open all year, and fully awake by early April.

Oia. Reopening through the first two weeks of santorini in april and largely running by mid-month. Easter is the point at which it is properly open.

Imerovigli and Firostefani. Similar to Oia, with most caldera hotels open by mid-April.

Akrotiri. Open, moving to summer hours during the month, and still quiet enough to have rooms to yourself.

Ancient Thera. Open, weather permitting, on the ridge above Kamari.

The museums in Fira. Open all year.

Wineries. All the main estates are open by April, with tastings running and the vines in leaf.

Boat trips. Volcano and caldera boats run from late March or early April, weather permitting.

Beaches. The last part of santorini in april to open. Kamari and Perissa come back progressively through April and May. Sunbeds appear before the sea is warm enough to use them.

Direct flights. Seasonal European routes restart during April in most years, which is the month access becomes easy.

The cable car. Running, on increasing hours.

Getting There

Seven things to check before booking travel for santorini in april.

Direct European flights. Restart during the month, typically from mid to late April. Check the specific route rather than assuming.

Athens to Santorini. Year-round, several flights a day, forty-five minutes.

Ferries from Piraeus. Increasing through April, with the fast catamarans back on the main routes. Five hours fast, eight conventional.

Inter-island ferries. Building through the month. By late April, Ios, Naxos, Paros and Mykonos are all connected daily.

Crete. Running, and weather-dependent.

Easter week. The exception to everything above in santorini in april. Ferries fill with Greek families and need booking well ahead.

The buffer rule. Do not schedule a crossing on the day of an international flight. April fronts still cancel fast boats.

Things to Do in Santorini in April

Eleven things that are better in santorini in april than at any other point in the year.

Walk the caldera path. Oia to Fira, ten kilometres along the rim, in 19 degrees with wild flowers on both sides and almost nobody on it. This is the best month of the year for this walk.

Akrotiri in peace. Santorini in april gives you the Bronze Age town under its roof, with time to look properly. In August it is a queue.

Ancient Thera. The Hellenistic city on the ridge, with the green southern half of the island spread out below.

Wineries with the vines in leaf. Assyrtiko baskets breaking into growth, tastings without a queue, and often the winemaker rather than a guide.

The wild flower walks. The paths around Pyrgos, Emporio, Vothonas and the south are at their best now and completely different from the summer landscape.

Boat to the volcano. Running from early April in most years, with the hot springs a genuinely warm swim when the sea is not.

Pyrgos and Emporio. The two best inland villages, quiet, and at their most atmospheric during Holy Week.

Thirasia. The far side of the caldera, three hundred residents, and no coaches at all in April.

The beaches, for the walk. Vlychada’s white cliffs, Perissa’s black sand and Kamari’s promenade are all worth seeing, and largely empty.

Sunset from Imerovigli. In santorini in april it falls at about eight by the end of the month, with a fraction of the crowd that will be there in June.

Eat properly. Santorini in april spring menus carry wild greens, artichokes, fava and lamb, and the kitchens are not yet running at summer volume.

Can You Swim?

The honest answer is that santorini in april is not a swimming month for most people, and it is worth being clear about why.

The sea sits at 17 to 18 degrees for the whole month. That is roughly the temperature of the English Channel in August, or a British lido in June: perfectly swimmable for anyone used to cold water, and a shock for anyone expecting the Mediterranean of the brochures. Air temperature does not help, because 20 degrees on a breezy cliff is not the same as 30 degrees on a beach.

There are three qualifications to that, and they are the reason santorini in april is not a complete write-off for swimmers. The black sand beaches on the east coast — Perissa, Perivolos, Kamari and Vlychada — absorb heat and warm their shallows, so the first metre of water is noticeably warmer than the open sea. The hot springs at Palia Kameni are genuinely warm all year, and a volcano boat trip in April is the one reliable way to get in the water comfortably. And hotel pools are often heated in the shoulder season, though many do not open until May.

If swimming is the point of the trip, come in late May at the earliest, and preferably in September when the sea is at 25 to 26 degrees. If swimming is a bonus, April gives you everything else at a third of the price.

Week by Week

No other month on this island changes as much between its first day and its last, and booking the wrong fortnight is the most common planning error people make about santorini in april.

The five phases below are what santorini in april actually looks like, week by week.

1 to 7 April. Still the tail of winter. 16 to 17 degrees, fronts coming through, a strong chance of two wet days, and a reopening that is only half complete. Oia is quiet, several caldera hotels are still shut, and the beach resorts are closed. Cheapest week of the month, and the greenest.

8 to 14 April. The turn. 17 to 19 degrees, reopening accelerating, boats to the volcano starting, and the first cruise ships in the caldera. Most things you would want are running by the end of this week.

15 to 21 April. Effectively open. 18 to 20 degrees, wineries on summer hours, restaurants across the rim serving, direct flights restarting. The crowd is still light.

22 to 30 April. The best week of santorini in april. 19 to 21 degrees, long evenings with sunset near eight, everything open, and the island properly awake without being busy.

Easter week, wherever it falls. A different island for seven days: full of Greeks, expensive, atmospheric, and the most interesting week of the Greek year.

The rule. If your dates are flexible, take the second half. If your budget is the constraint, take the first.

April With Children

The heat problem disappears. This is the strongest argument for a family trip in santorini in april. There is no midday heat risk, which removes the single biggest constraint on a summer visit with young children.

The sea problem replaces it. 17 to 18 degrees is too cold for most children to swim comfortably, so a beach holiday does not work.

Base on the flat. Kamari or Karterados rather than a cliff village, because Cycladic villages are staircases and buggies do not work in them.

Akrotiri works. It is a buried town with streets and staircases, under a roof, and children respond to it far better than to a viewpoint.

The cable car. The highlight of santorini in april for most children. Three minutes, a 220-metre drop, and reliably the highlight of the day for anybody under twelve.

The hot springs. The one warm swim available in April, reached by boat, and a genuine novelty.

Heated pools. Several family hotels heat theirs in the shoulder season. Confirm before booking rather than assuming.

What to avoid. The caldera path with small children — long unfenced stretches above a three-hundred-metre drop.

Santorini in April for Photography

Eight reasons santorini in april is the strongest photographic month of the year.

The green. Six weeks a year, and April is the last comfortable month of it. Terraces, vineyards and hillsides in a colour the island does not otherwise have.

Cloud. April skies carry structure. A cloudless August sunset is an orange disc; an April one has something to work with.

Empty locations. Oia’s blue domes at eight in the morning in santorini in april are as empty as they are at six in July, and the light is softer.

Storm light. The half hour after a front clears over the caldera is the best light of the year, and April still produces fronts.

Longer golden hour. A lower sun means a longer, warmer end to the day than midsummer gives.

Wild flowers as foreground. Poppies in a vineyard with the caldera behind is an April-only composition.

Easter. Candlelit processions through Pyrgos and Emporio, and midnight fireworks. Difficult, dark, and unlike anything else you will photograph here.

What to bring. A wide lens for the villages, a short telephoto for compressing the rim, a polariser, and a proper waterproof for the camera as well as for you.

Prices and Value

The commercial argument for santorini in april is the strongest of any month in which the island actually functions, and the numbers are worth stating plainly.

Eight figures, in euros, for santorini in april.

Caldera-view rooms. 100 to 200 euros a night, against 400 to 900 in August. The same room, the same view, the same island.

Standard doubles in Fira. 50 to 100 euros, against 200 to 350 in August.

Restaurants. 20 to 40 euros a head for a proper dinner with wine, and the caldera-view surcharge is smaller than in summer.

Car hire. 25 to 40 euros a day, against 50 to 80 in August, and there is availability.

Boat trips. Running from early April at shoulder prices, with far smaller groups.

Flights. Cheapest at the very start of the seasonal window, before the routes fill.

The exception. Greek Easter week is the one part of santorini in april that is not cheap, when domestic demand pushes accommodation towards summer rates.

A realistic total. Two people, five nights, mid-range, eating well, with a boat day and a private day: roughly 1,400 to 2,000 euros excluding flights. In August the same trip is close to double.

How the Island Wakes Up in Santorini in April

Santorini in april is the only month in which you can watch a tourist island turn itself back on, and understanding the sequence of that explains almost every practical question about the month.

The island’s permanent population is around 15,500 people, and in summer it handles well over two million visitors. That gap is bridged by a workforce that arrives for the season and leaves again, and by several thousand businesses that physically close for the winter — shutters down, furniture inside, water off. Reopening all of that is a process rather than a date, and it happens across March and April in a fairly predictable order.

Fira never closes, because it is a working town with schools, a hospital, supermarkets and a year-round population. It is the reference point: whatever else is shut, Fira functions. From late March the caldera hotels in Firostefani and Imerovigli start opening, because they take the earliest bookings and their staff are often local. Oia follows through the first two weeks of April, and it is the most visible change of the month — a village that is half-shuttered in the first week is fully lit by the third.

The archaeological sites and museums never shut at all; they simply move from winter hours to summer hours during April, which usually means opening earlier and closing later rather than opening at all. The wineries do the same, and several of them are working through the spring anyway because the vines need pruning and tying.

Boats are the last of the outdoor operations to restart, because a caldera cruise needs settled weather as well as demand. Volcano trips typically begin in late March or early April and are weather-dependent for the whole month. The beach resorts at Kamari, Perissa and Perivolos are last of all: sunbeds and taverna terraces appear during April, but the sea at 17 degrees means they are being set up for May rather than used in April.

Direct European flights are the other half of the equation. Most seasonal routes into Santorini restart during April, which is exactly why the month divides so sharply: the first week is reachable mainly through Athens, and the last week is reachable from twenty European cities. That single fact drives the crowd, the prices and the availability more than the weather does.

Greek Easter sits on top of all of it as a forcing function. Every business that intends to open for the season tries to be open by Easter, because Easter brings the first real money of the year. If Easter falls in the second week of April, the island is effectively open a fortnight earlier than in a year when it falls in early May. This is the reason the same calendar date can feel like two different months in two different years, and it is why anybody planning santorini in april should establish the Easter date before anything else.

April Here Against April Elsewhere in Greece

If April is fixed for you and the destination is not, it is worth knowing how this island compares with the alternatives, because the Cyclades in spring behave very differently from the rest of the country.

Against Athens, Santorini is cooler by two or three degrees and considerably windier, and it has a fraction of the indoor options. Athens in April is close to perfect — 20 to 22 degrees, the Acropolis without the summer heat, and every museum open. What Athens does not have is a caldera, and most people combining them give the city two days at one end of the trip.

Against Crete, Santorini is smaller, more expensive and more dramatic. Crete in April is greener still, warmer by two or three degrees at its southern coast, and has a year-round infrastructure that never really closes. If reliability matters more than spectacle, Crete is the better April island. Santorini in april wins on the landscape and loses on the certainty.

Against Mykonos, there is no contest in this month. Mykonos is a summer island whose whole proposition is nightlife and beach clubs, and in April most of it is shut. Santorini has archaeology, wine, walking and a town that functions, all of which work in cool weather.

Against Naxos and Paros, Santorini is more expensive and more crowded, and the two of them are greener and better for walking villages. Naxos has a mountain interior that is spectacular in spring and a town that stays open year-round. If your April trip is about landscape and food rather than about the famous view, Naxos is a serious alternative and about half the price.

Against the Ionian — Corfu, Kefalonia, Zakynthos — the difference is rainfall. The Ionian is the wettest part of Greece and April there carries considerably more rain than the Cyclades, in exchange for genuine forest and much greener hills.

Against Rhodes, santorini in april is cooler and windier. Rhodes sits further south and east, opens earlier, and has a medieval town that works in any weather. It is the safer bet for guaranteed warmth in early April.

The summary is straightforward. For pure April weather, go south and east: Crete or Rhodes. For April landscape and value, Naxos. For the version of Greece that appears on every postcard, seen green, empty and at a third of the summer price, santorini in april is the answer and nothing else on this list is close.

Food and Wine in Santorini in April

The kitchens change with the season here more than most visitors realise, and santorini in april catches the island at the one point in the year when the menus are genuinely local rather than genuinely busy.

Santorini in april is the season of horta — wild greens, picked from exactly the hillsides that are green in April, boiled and dressed with lemon and olive oil. They appear on every taverna menu in the shoulder months and largely disappear by July. Artichokes come with them, as do broad beans, wild fennel and the first of the small dense tomatoes that the island is known for.

Fava — the yellow split-pea purée made from a legume grown here since the Bronze Age and carrying protected designation status — is served all year, but it is at its best with spring onion and capers in April. White aubergine, another Santorini variety, arrives later in the summer. Chloro, the fresh sharp goat’s cheese, is a spring cheese and it is worth asking for it specifically.

Lamb dominates the second half of santorini in april around Easter, roasted whole on a spit on the Sunday and appearing in kleftiko and in slow-cooked dishes for the weeks either side. Magiritsa, the soup eaten after the midnight Resurrection service, is served once a year and only then.

On the wine side, April is a quiet, generous month at the estates. The harvest is five months away and the pruning is finished, so the vines are in leaf and the staff have time. A tasting in santorini in april is typically slower, cheaper and more informative than one in August, and you will often be walked into the vineyard rather than shown a diagram of it.

What you are tasting is unusual by any standard. The vines are ungrafted — Santorini is one of the few places in Europe where phylloxera never took hold, because the louse cannot survive in volcanic ash — and some root systems are several hundred years old. They are trained into low circular baskets called kouloura, which shelter the fruit from the wind and catch overnight moisture from the sea mist, because there is effectively no rainfall in the growing season and no irrigation. The result is assyrtiko: bone dry, high in acid, with a mineral edge that comes from the ash. Vinsanto is the sweet counterpart, made from grapes sun-dried for a fortnight after picking and then aged for years in barrel.

Practically, three or four of the larger estates are open through April with tastings running, and the smaller ones open as the month goes on. Late afternoon is the hour, the vineyards photograph best then, and a driver is preferable to a hire car for obvious reasons.

Booking Ahead: What Matters and What Does Not

Planning santorini in april is mostly an exercise in knowing which of the usual summer anxieties simply do not apply, and which one genuinely does.

Accommodation, outside Easter. Book late. There is no scarcity, rates fall rather than rise as the date approaches, and cancellation terms are generous. The only thing worth checking is whether a specific property is open at all in the week you want, which is worth a direct message rather than a booking-site assumption.

Accommodation during Easter. The opposite. Book months ahead. Greek domestic tourism fills the island for that week and prices approach summer levels.

Flights. Worth booking early if you want a direct route, because seasonal services restart during the month and the earliest departures sell at the lowest prices before the schedule fills. Athens connections need no planning at all.

Ferries. No advance booking needed outside Easter week, and essential during it.

Restaurants. Almost never necessary in April, with two exceptions: the handful of well-known caldera-view tables in Oia and Imerovigli, and the whole island on Easter Sunday.

Boat trips. Book on arrival rather than in advance, and book them for early in your stay so a weather cancellation can be moved to another day.

Transfers. Worth arranging in advance. There are around thirty taxis on the island and a late arrival with no plan is an unpleasant start.

Car hire. Available on the day for most of the month, and worth pre-booking for Easter week.

Site tickets. No queues in April. Buy the combined ticket at Akrotiri, which also covers Ancient Thera and the two museums in Fira.

The one thing to fix first. The Easter date. Everything else in santorini in april follows from it.

Where to Stay in Santorini in April

Eight bases, ranked for santorini in april.

Fira. Open all month, central, and the safest choice if you are travelling in the first fortnight.

Firostefani. Five minutes along the rim, quieter, the same caldera view, and usually better value.

Imerovigli. The best views on the island. Most hotels are open by mid-April; check the specific property for early in the month.

Oia. Fully workable from mid-April and glorious once it is open. Expensive relative to everywhere else on the island, even in the shoulder season.

Pyrgos and Megalochori. Inland, atmospheric, cheap, and exactly where you want to be during Holy Week.

Kamari and Perissa. Opening progressively. Good value, and the sea is too cold to make the beach the point.

Prices. Santorini in april runs 100 to 200 euros for a caldera-view room, 50 to 100 for a good standard double. Easter week is the exception and rises sharply.

Book Easter early. It is the one week of santorini in april when availability genuinely disappears.

What to Pack

Eight things to put in the bag for santorini in april.

Layers. 20 degrees in the sun and 12 after dark is a real swing on a cliff terrace.

A light waterproof. Packable, genuinely waterproof, and needed on two or three days.

A windproof layer. The rim is exposed and April wind arrives with the fronts.

Walking shoes. This is a walking month, and the caldera path deserves proper shoes.

Grippy soles. Wet marble steps in a village are dangerous.

Sunglasses and sunscreen. The sun is stronger than 19 degrees suggests, and whitewash reflects.

Swimwear. For the hot springs and a heated pool rather than the sea.

Something for a church. Covered shoulders, particularly during Holy Week.

A Five-Day Itinerary

Five days is the right length for santorini in april, because it absorbs one wet day without damage.

Day one. Arrive, base in Fira, walk the rim to Firostefani and Imerovigli, and take the sunset from Skaros Rock. Dinner in town.

Day two. Oia at eight while it is empty, Ammoudi Bay below it, and the caldera path back towards Imerovigli. Afternoon at the Museum of Prehistoric Thera.

Day three. Akrotiri at opening, the Red Beach viewpoint, the lighthouse, lunch at Vlychada, and a winery at four with the vines in leaf.

Day four. A boat into the caldera: Nea Kameni’s crater, the hot springs at Palia Kameni, and Thirasia for lunch. The one day you will actually be warm in the water.

Day five. Pyrgos, Emporio and Ancient Thera, then a long lunch and the airport.

If it is Easter week. Replace day five with the village services — Good Friday in Pyrgos, midnight on Holy Saturday anywhere, and lamb on the Sunday.

If it rains. Both museums, a winery, a cooking class. Santorini in april rarely loses a whole day to weather.

Santorini in April Against the Neighbouring Months

Santorini in april against March. March is three to four degrees cooler with more closed, and it is cheaper and emptier. April has Easter, more open, and better weather. April is the better trip for most people; March is the better bargain.

Santorini in april against May. May is warmer, fully open, and the sea reaches 20 to 21 by the end of it. It also costs more and is busier. If swimming matters, wait for late May.

Santorini in april against June. A different island: 26 degrees, a 22 to 24 degree sea, everything running, and a real crowd. Twice the price of April.

Against October. The closest comparison on air temperature, and October wins on the sea by six or seven degrees. April wins on the landscape, which is green rather than burnt, and on Easter.

Against November. November has a warmer sea and a closing island; santorini in april has a cooler sea and an opening one. April is the better direction of travel.

The summary. Santorini in april is the best value month in which the island is genuinely open, and the only one that offers both wild flowers and Greek Easter.

The Wild Flowers and the Green Island

The version of this island that exists in April appears in almost no photograph of it, because the season that produces it ends before most visitors arrive.

Winter rain on volcanic soil produces a short, intense flush of growth. From March into early May the terraced slopes below Pyrgos and Emporio, the fields around Vothonas, Megalochori and Exo Gonia, and the whole southern end of the island are deep green. Poppies come up through the vineyards, and chamomile, mustard, wild garlic, anemones and orchids appear along every field boundary and terrace wall.

The vineyards themselves are the strangest sight of santorini in april. The ungrafted assyrtiko vines, trained into low circular baskets on the ground, break into leaf during the month — so the basket shape is still visible but green rather than bare, sitting in grass rather than in dust. By July the same fields are grey-brown and the shape is all that is left.

Wild greens are also on every menu in April. Horta, picked from exactly these hillsides, is a spring dish here rather than a year-round garnish, and it appears alongside artichokes, broad beans and the first of the small tomatoes.

By mid-May this is fading fast, and by the end of June it is gone entirely: burnt to the gold-and-white that the island is famous for. If you want the green Santorini, April is the last comfortable month in which to see it.

Who Santorini in April Suits

The split between the travellers this month works for and the ones it does not is unusually clean.

Walkers. Santorini in april is the best month of the year, with the caldera path at 19 degrees and the inland trails green.

Photographers. Green landscape, cloud, low sun and empty viewpoints. Only March competes.

Couples. Warm evenings by the end of the month, everything open, and a fraction of the June crowd at half the price.

Anyone interested in Greece rather than in a resort. Easter week is the answer, and there is nothing like it in July.

Budget travellers. Among the two cheapest months in which the island is properly open.

Archaeology. Akrotiri and Ancient Thera without crowds and without heat.

Not for beach holidays. The sea is 17 to 18 degrees and the resorts are only half awake.

Not for guaranteed sunbathing. You will get warm days; you will probably also get a wet one.

Not for nightlife. That starts in June.

Practical Notes for Santorini in April

Eight practical points that santorini in april turns on.

Hire a car or book a driver. Buses increase through the month but remain infrequent, and everything routes through Fira.

Confirm your hotel is open. Early April is still the reopening period, and listings occasionally run ahead of reality.

Check the Easter date first. It changes availability, prices and atmosphere more than anything else in the month.

Book Easter accommodation months ahead. Outside that week, book late and pay less.

Expect variable hours. Sites and wineries move from winter to summer hours during April.

Take a jacket to dinner. Terraces are cold after nine in early April.

Watch the wind for boats. Volcano trips are running but still weather-dependent.

Cash in the villages. Cards work everywhere in Fira; a village taverna may prefer notes.

Santorini in April: Frequently Asked Questions

Is santorini in april worth visiting? Yes. It is one of the two best value months in which the island is genuinely open, with wild flowers, Greek Easter and no crowds.

How warm is santorini in april? Highs of 16 to 20 degrees rising through the month, with nights of 11 to 14.

Can you swim in santorini in april? The sea is 17 to 18 degrees. Possible for cold-water swimmers, uncomfortable for most people. The hot springs are the warm alternative.

Does it rain in santorini in april? Four to six wet days, usually short heavy fronts. Considerably drier than March.

Is everything open in santorini in april? Most things by mid-April, and effectively everything by Easter. The beach resorts open last.

Are there direct flights? Seasonal European routes restart during the month. Athens connects year-round.

What does santorini in april cost? 100 to 200 euros for a caldera-view room and 50 to 100 for a good standard double, except during Easter week.

When is Greek Easter? It moves by up to five weeks and usually falls in April. Check the date for your year before booking.

Where should I stay in santorini in april? Fira or Firostefani early in the month, and anywhere on the rim from mid-April.

Is santorini in april crowded? No, except during Easter week, when Greek domestic tourism fills the island.

Do I need a car in santorini in april? A car or a private driver. The bus network is still thin in April.

Is santorini in april better than October? October has a much warmer sea; April has a green island and Easter. Choose on whether you intend to swim.

See the Island Before the Season Starts

We are a local operator running private tours and transfers in our own vehicles, all year, and santorini in april is the month our drivers most enjoy showing people — because the island looks like nothing in the photographs they arrived with.

Tell us your dates and we will build the days around what is open that week, the Easter services if they fall in your trip, and where the wild flowers are.

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 wine tours, 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