Santorini trip cost is almost entirely one decision: whether you book a caldera view. A week for two runs from about 1,900 euros to over 7,500 on the same island in the same week, and the bed accounts for most of the spread. We run the transfers, caldera boats and private tours here at Santorini tours, so the figures below are what our guests actually pay rather than what a booking engine suggests. Santorini Tours is a local operator running private tours and transfers on the island.
One of the main advantages of Santorini is that its beauties are not ideal for its visitors to enjoy only in the heat of summer. On the contrary, Santorini off-season be even more beautiful the rest of the year and you can explore the island with Santorini Tours. The season on the island usually lasts from March to October, which leaves November and the three winter months “out”. This is exactly what should be taken advantage of by those who want to really enjoy the beauty and uniqueness of the place and not the “acquired” beauties offered by mass tourism and the -excessive, according to many- tourist development of the last decades.
Intertwined with the most idyllic sunset in the world, Santorini is one of the top summer destinations internationally. Romantic because of the sun, eerie because of the volcano, bustling because people from every corner of the Earth love it, cosmopolitan because it has some of the best restaurants, bars and hotels in the world, Santorini has been a popular destination for years – and that’s not expected to change at all soon.
Τhe new trend in travel advises us to avoid overcrowding as much as possible and as much as Santorini is tempting, there are many who will think twice before booking a vacation on this unique island of the Aegean.
Santorini off-season
Many of the restaurants are closed, as are most luxury hotels. But Santorini is there, cleaner and more open than ever. The island’s wineries, the canaves, explain the history of Santorini’s famous wine, while the vines, which are among the oldest in the Mediterranean. Let’s not overlook the fact that winter in Greece, especially in Southern Greece, is not particularly severe – winter visitors are more likely to get sunshine at 18°C than rain that might shut them in. The fact does not even exclude a dip in the seas of Santorini, which are considered to be among the warmest in the Aegean anyway.
Santorini behind the caldera
The caldera of Santorini, the great cliff that was created when half of the island was submerged due to a huge volcanic eruption, is today the most sought-after place on the island. Santorini’s most expensive accommodation overlooks the volcano, while the caldera villages spread further and further along the cliff’s edge. It is undoubtedly a very impressive landscape that takes the breath away of those who see it for the first time, especially from the sea, with the white houses and churches with blue domes, appearing like a wreath on the rocks.
Those who know well, however, assure that the real beauty of Santorini lies inland and its fertile land and its villages, such as Pyrgos, a veritable labyrinth of narrow streets and old churches, built so as to be impregnable from any threat. The vineyards and wineries of Santorini are located inland, as is the old tomato factory, which for decades produced the famous Santorini tomato preserves and which today functions as a museum. You can take a tour of Santorini!
Santorini’s caldera
The caldera of Santorini, the great cliff that was created when half of the island was submerged due to a huge volcanic eruption, is today the most sought-after place on the island. Santorini’s most expensive accommodation overlooks the volcano, while the caldera villages spread further and further along the cliff’s edge. It is undoubtedly a very impressive landscape that takes the breath away of those who see it for the first time, especially from the sea, with the white houses and churches with blue domes, appearing like a wreath on the rocks.
Those who know well, however, assure that the real beauty of Santorini lies inland and its fertile land and its villages, such as Pyrgos, a veritable labyrinth of narrow streets and old churches, built so as to be impregnable from any threat. The vineyards and wineries of Santorini are located inland, as is the old tomato factory, which for decades produced the famous Santorini tomato preserves and which today functions as a museum.
Santorini culture
The architecture, the old churches, the caves, the canvases – the wineries of Santorini, its museums and its culture in general, are “lost” in the summer light, the bustling crowd seeking rest and service and the frenemies – many times in the popular islands – summer rhythms. After all, all of these are crucial factors for which some of the island’s visitors even state that they are disappointed after visiting it.
On the contrary, an off season visit gives everyone the chance to get to know the culture of the island. To admire how cave houses are built and why, how they protect their inhabitants from natural or other dangers. To see up close a kanava, a traditional winery and to taste the fruit of this treeless and arid place. To see the Tower and its houses, the Emporio, the Castle of Oia and the Castle of Fira. To visit the island’s museums and learn its history, so that they can really get to know it and understand it deeply.
After the pandemic many things have changed in our lives, even in the way we travel. Now, we want each of our trips to be worth it, to please us as much as possible. We want to know places and people, not visit destinations, randomly. We are travelers, not tourists and we want the best everywhere and at all times!
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 Trip Cost: The Short Answer
A week on Santorini for two people costs between 1,900 and 7,500 euros excluding flights, and the spread is almost entirely down to one decision: whether you book a caldera view. Everything else on the island is priced within about thirty per cent of the rest of Greece. The view is priced at three to five times it.
Budget santorini trip cost for two. 1,900 to 2,600 euros. A studio in Perissa or Kamari, buses, tavernas away from the rim, one boat trip.
Mid-range santorini trip cost for two. 2,900 to 4,200 euros. A good hotel in Firostefani or an inland village, a hire car for four days, a catamaran, two nice dinners.
Caldera santorini trip cost for two. 5,000 to 7,500 euros and upwards. A cave suite in Imerovigli or Oia, private transfers, a private caldera boat, dinner on the rim.
Honeymoon santorini trip cost for two. 6,000 to 12,000 euros if the room is the point, which for most honeymooners it is.
Four-day santorini trip cost for two, mid-range. 1,500 to 2,300 euros, which is the trip length the island actually suits.
Family santorini trip cost, four people, one week. 2,800 to 4,500 euros in an apartment in Kamari with a car.
Per person per day, excluding accommodation. 70 to 120 euros covers food, drinks, transport and one activity.
The cheapest honest santorini trip cost. 95 to 130 euros a day for one person staying inland, eating at tavernas and using the bus.
The biggest lever on a santorini trip cost. Season. The same room costs 45 per cent less in early May or late October than in the first week of August.
The second biggest lever on a santorini trip cost. Location. Firostefani has most of the Imerovigli view at sixty per cent of the price, and Megalochori has none of it at a third.
What nobody puts in a santorini trip cost. Transfers from Athinios port, 15 to 30 euros a head each way, and the minimum spends on south-coast sunbeds.
The one-line answer. A realistic santorini trip cost for two people on a good week without the caldera room is around 3,000 euros, and around 6,000 with it.
What Accommodation Actually Costs
Accommodation is sixty to seventy-five per cent of a santorini trip cost and it is the only line where the island is genuinely expensive rather than merely dear.
Caldera-view suite, Oia, August. 450 to 1,200 euros a night. Private plunge pool, the full view, and the photographs people book the island for.
Caldera-view room, Imerovigli, August. 300 to 700 euros a night, and the best view on the island.
Caldera-view room, Firostefani, August. 200 to 450 euros a night, ten minutes’ walk from Fira.
Caldera-view room, Fira, August. 180 to 400 euros, and noisier.
Good hotel, no view, Fira or Karterados, August. 110 to 200 euros.
Hotel in Kamari or Perissa, August. 90 to 180 euros, with a pool and the beach across the road.
Studio with a kitchen, east or south coast, August. 65 to 130 euros.
Inland village room, Megalochori or Emporio, August. 80 to 160 euros.
Hostel bed, Fira or Perissa, August. 30 to 55 euros.
Villa for six with a pool, August. 600 to 1,800 euros a night on the caldera, 350 to 700 inland.
The same rooms in May or October. Take 35 to 50 per cent off every figure above.
The same rooms in April or November. Take 55 to 70 per cent off, and accept that some places are shut.
The hidden cost of the rim. Steps. Forty to a hundred and fifty of them between the road and the room, which means a porter tip and, for some people, a taxi they would not otherwise have taken.
What we tell people. Two nights on the caldera and four somewhere flat is the best value arrangement on the island, and it cuts the accommodation half of a santorini trip cost by roughly forty per cent.
What the Caldera Premium Actually Buys
It is worth being precise about this, because it is the whole of the santorini trip cost question. A room in Kamari with a pool, a balcony and a five-minute walk to a black sand beach costs 90 to 180 euros a night in August. A room in Imerovigli with a plunge pool, a terrace and a four-hundred-metre drop in front of it costs 300 to 700. The difference is not the bed, the bathroom or the breakfast. In many cases the Kamari hotel is the newer building. The difference is that one room looks at a flooded volcano and the other does not.
Whether that is worth three to four times the money is a genuine question rather than a rhetorical one. For a honeymoon or a first visit it usually is, because the caldera view from a private terrace at six in the morning is one of the experiences people travel for. For a family with two children, a week on the rim is money spent on a view that the children will not notice and steps that will make the week harder.
The compromise almost nobody books and almost everybody should is two nights on the rim and the rest somewhere flat. Two nights of the view is enough to have had it properly. It takes the accommodation line of a week-long santorini trip cost from around 2,800 euros to around 1,400 and leaves everything else intact.
Village by Village, What a Bed Costs in August
Oia. 200 to 1,200 euros a night. The most expensive square kilometre in Greece and the most beautiful.
Imerovigli. 180 to 700. The best view on the island and the most steps.
Firostefani. 140 to 450. The value choice on the rim.
Fira. 90 to 400. Transport, shops, nightlife and noise.
Pyrgos. 90 to 220. The old capital, inland and up, with a genuine village character.
Megalochori. 80 to 200. Flat, quiet, wineries nearby.
Emporio. 65 to 150. The largest inland village and the least touristed.
Kamari. 85 to 190. Beach, promenade, flat ground, families.
Perissa and Perivolos. 70 to 170. The best value on the island with a beach attached.
Vlychada. 90 to 220. The marina, the pumice cliffs and very little else.
Akrotiri. 80 to 230. Sunsets, the excavation, and a car required.
Karterados and Messaria. 60 to 140. Central, plain, and the cheapest beds with a pool.
What the list shows. The cheapest village is roughly a quarter of the dearest for the same standard of room, which is why location is the second lever on any santorini trip cost after season.
When to Book, and What Waiting Costs
Booked in January for August. The full choice of rooms at the published rate.
Booked in March for August. Most rooms still available, rates five to fifteen per cent higher.
Booked in May for August. The caldera rooms are largely gone and what is left is priced accordingly, typically twenty to forty per cent above January.
Booked in July for August. Expect to pay a premium of forty per cent or more and to take whatever is left.
Last-minute in the shoulder months. Genuinely cheap, because April, May and October do have availability and hotels discount to fill it.
Flights in the santorini trip cost. The opposite pattern in one respect: three to five months out is the sweet spot, and the very early releases are often not the cheapest.
Ferries. Book August crossings in spring. The fast boats sell out and so does car space on the slow ones.
Catamarans and tours. Two to six weeks ahead is enough except in the first three weeks of August.
Restaurants on the rim. The handful of destination restaurants in Oia take bookings two to three months ahead for the sunset slot.
The santorini trip cost booking rule. Book the bed early and everything else late. That sequence alone keeps a santorini trip cost from drifting by several hundred euros.
What Is Included and What Is Not
Breakfast. Included at most studios and mid-range hotels, charged at 15 to 30 euros a head at many luxury ones. Check, because it is a 200 euro difference across a week for two.
City tax in the santorini trip cost. A Greek accommodation levy of 0.50 to 4 euros a night per room depending on the hotel’s category, collected on arrival and not in the booking price.
Pool towels and sunbeds at the hotel. Free almost everywhere.
Airport transfer. Included at some rim hotels and charged at 35 to 60 euros by most. Ask before you book a taxi.
Luggage assistance down the steps. Usually offered on the rim and worth a 5 to 10 euro tip.
Wi-fi. Free everywhere and generally good.
Air conditioning. Standard, and occasionally metered in older studios.
Parking. Free at most hotels outside Oia and Fira, and genuinely scarce inside them.
Cancellation. Free to 7 or 14 days at most mid-range places and non-refundable at the cheapest rates, which are typically ten to twenty per cent lower for that reason.
The practical point. Read the breakfast line and the transfer line before comparing two rooms, because those two items move a santorini trip cost by 250 to 400 euros a week for two people without appearing in the nightly rate.
Getting There: Flights and Ferries
Flights from London, high season. 180 to 420 euros return per person on a direct charter or low-cost carrier, booked three to five months out.
Flights from London, shoulder season. 90 to 220 euros return, and the cheapest weeks are the first of May and the last of October.
Flights from mainland Europe. 120 to 350 euros return from most capitals, direct from April to October.
Flights from North America. 700 to 1,400 euros return to Athens, plus the hop to the island.
Athens to Santorini by air. 50 to 160 euros one way, forty-five minutes, five to eight flights a day in summer.
Athens to Santorini by high-speed ferry. 60 to 95 euros one way, four and a half to five and a half hours.
Athens to Santorini by conventional ferry. 38 to 60 euros one way, seven to eight hours, and genuinely comfortable.
Which to take from Athens. Fly if the day is short and take the slow ferry if it is not. The saving on the conventional boat is around 60 euros a head and it costs you most of a day.
Island hopping and the santorini trip cost. Mykonos to Santorini 55 to 90 euros, Naxos 45 to 75, Paros 50 to 80, Crete 45 to 70, Ios 25 to 45.
Luggage on ferries. Free and unweighed, which is a real saving against a low-cost airline’s hold charges.
What to add to the santorini trip cost. 40 to 60 euros a head in airport transfers at the Athens end if you are connecting.
The getting-there share. For a European visitor, flights are usually 12 to 20 per cent of a santorini trip cost. For an American, closer to 35 per cent.
Transfers, Car Hire and Getting Around
Airport to Fira by taxi. 20 to 30 euros, fifteen minutes.
Airport to Oia by taxi. 35 to 50 euros.
Athinios port to Fira by taxi. 25 to 35 euros, and expect a wait when three ferries berth together.
Athinios port to Oia by taxi. 45 to 60 euros.
Pre-booked private transfer. 35 to 75 euros for up to four people depending on the route, and it removes the port queue entirely.
Shared shuttle bus. 10 to 18 euros a head from the port or airport to the main villages.
The bus, the cheapest santorini trip cost line. 1.80 to 2.50 euros a journey, every route radiating from the Fira station, and genuinely usable.
Car hire, August. 45 to 90 euros a day for a small car, plus 15 to 25 a day if you want full insurance.
Car hire, May or October. 25 to 45 euros a day.
ATV or quad. 30 to 55 euros a day, and the accident rate on the island’s lanes is high.
Scooter. 20 to 35 euros a day.
Fuel in the santorini trip cost. Around 2 euros a litre, and a full tank lasts a week on an island eighteen kilometres long.
Parking. Free almost everywhere and nearly impossible in Oia and Fira between ten and seven.
Taxis in the santorini trip cost. About thirty on the island, so book ahead. A short village-to-village hop is 15 to 25 euros.
What we recommend. Buses for a four-day trip and a car for three or four days of a week, which keeps the transport line of a santorini trip cost under 250 euros for two.
Food and Drink, Line by Line
Coffee. 2.50 to 4 euros inland or in Kamari, 4.50 to 7 on a caldera terrace.
Freddo espresso. 3.50 to 5 euros, and it is what everybody actually drinks.
Bakery breakfast for two. 8 to 14 euros for spinach pies, a bougatsa and two coffees.
Hotel breakfast. Included at the studio level and charged at 15 to 30 euros a head at the top end.
Gyros or souvlaki. 5 to 7 euros, and the best-value lunch on the island.
Taverna lunch for two. 28 to 45 euros with a salad, two mains, bread and water.
Taverna dinner for two, inland or Kamari. 45 to 75 euros with house wine.
Dinner for two on a caldera terrace. 110 to 220 euros before wine, and 180 to 400 at the handful of destination restaurants.
Fresh fish. 65 to 110 euros a kilo, and a kilo feeds two.
Bottle of Assyrtiko in a restaurant. 32 to 70 euros. The same bottle at a winery shop is 14 to 28.
Beer in a bar. 5 to 8 euros.
Cocktail in a caldera bar. 13 to 20 euros, and the sunset slot is the dearest hour of the day.
Supermarket for a week, self-catering for two. 90 to 150 euros covers breakfasts, lunches and drinks.
Water in the santorini trip cost. 0.50 to 1 euro for a bottle in a supermarket and 3 on a terrace. The tap water is desalinated and technically safe but nobody drinks it.
The realistic food figure. 55 to 90 euros a day for two eating well away from the rim, and 150 to 300 a day if you eat on it. Food is usually 20 to 30 per cent of a santorini trip cost.
Where to Eat at Each Price Level
Under 15 euros a head. Bakeries in Fira and Karterados, gyros places on the Fira square and in Kamari, and the souvlaki shops in Perissa. Good food, fast, and the reason the food half of a santorini trip cost can be kept low.
15 to 30 euros a head. Village tavernas in Emporio, Exo Gonia, Vothonas, Megalochori and Finikia. This is where the island actually eats and the cooking is usually better than anything at twice the price on the rim.
30 to 50 euros a head. Good restaurants in Kamari, Vlychada marina, Pyrgos and Fira away from the caldera edge, with proper wine lists and local ingredients.
50 to 90 euros a head. Caldera terraces in Firostefani, Imerovigli and Oia. You are paying for the view and the food is usually good rather than remarkable.
90 to 200 euros a head. The handful of destination restaurants, two of them with genuine culinary ambition, where the tasting menu and the wine pairing are the evening.
Fish tavernas. Ammoudi below Oia and the Vlychada marina. Fish is sold by weight at 65 to 110 euros a kilo and a kilo feeds two, so ask the price before it goes on the grill.
Beach clubs on the south coast. 40 to 80 euros a head for lunch with drinks, and many of them run a sunbed minimum that you will be spending anyway.
Wineries with food. Several serve plates alongside the tasting at 15 to 35 euros, which makes a good light lunch.
What we suggest. Two village tavernas, two mid-range dinners, two rim evenings and one bakery day. That pattern eats extremely well and keeps the food line of a week’s santorini trip cost for two at around 600 euros.
Self-Catering: A Real Shopping List
Where to shop to cut the santorini trip cost. The full-size supermarkets in Fira, Karterados and Messaria. The small shops in Oia and on the beach strips are thirty to fifty per cent dearer.
Coffee, milk and sugar for a week. 12 to 18 euros.
Bread and pastries. 15 to 25 euros for a week of breakfasts.
Greek yoghurt, honey and fruit. 20 to 30 euros.
Feta, tomatoes, cucumber and olive oil. 18 to 28 euros, and the local cherry tomatoes are worth the premium.
Eggs, cheese and cured meat. 15 to 25 euros.
Pasta, rice and tins. 10 to 18 euros.
Local wine from a supermarket. 8 to 16 euros a bottle for something perfectly good, and 14 to 28 at a winery shop for something better.
Beer. 1 to 1.80 euros a bottle against 5 to 8 in a bar.
Water. 2 to 4 euros for a six-pack of large bottles, and buy it on day one.
The weekly santorini trip cost of groceries. 120 to 180 euros for two people covering every breakfast, most lunches and the drinks at the room.
What it saves. Roughly 250 to 400 euros a week against eating all three meals out, which is the single largest controllable saving in a santorini trip cost after the choice of village.
Tipping, Cards and Cash
Tipping in the santorini trip cost. Five to ten per cent is normal and nothing is expected at a taverna beyond rounding up.
Tipping taxis. Round up to the nearest euro or two.
Tipping hotel staff. 1 to 2 euros for luggage and 5 to 10 for carrying bags down a long flight of caldera steps.
Tipping on boats. 5 to 10 euros a head on a shared catamaran if the crew has worked, and it is genuinely optional.
Cards and the santorini trip cost. Accepted almost everywhere including small tavernas, and contactless is standard.
Cash in the santorini trip cost. Useful for village tavernas, bakeries, the cable car, small boats and parking attendants. 150 to 250 euros for a week is plenty.
ATMs. Plentiful in Fira, Oia, Kamari and Perissa, and the independent machines charge a fee where the bank machines do not.
Currency. Euros, and never accept a card terminal that offers to charge you in your home currency.
VAT. Included in every displayed price in Greece, so the menu number is the number you pay.
The small print that matters. A service charge is almost never added, so the tip is yours to decide, and across a week it is a 50 to 100 euro line in a santorini trip cost rather than a trivial one.
What a Day Costs, Three Ways
A cheap day of santorini trip cost for two. Bakery breakfast 12 euros, bus to Perissa 9, gyros lunch 13, free sand, supermarket wine and snacks at the room 14, taverna dinner in Emporio 50. Total 98 euros.
A normal day of santorini trip cost for two. Hotel breakfast included, car for the day 55 euros, Akrotiri entry 24, taverna lunch 38, winery tasting 70, dinner in Pyrgos 65. Total 252 euros.
An expensive day of santorini trip cost for two. Breakfast on the terrace 50 euros, shared sunset catamaran 300, two cocktails before dinner 36, dinner on a caldera terrace 220, taxi back 25. Total 631 euros.
The average across a real week. Most mid-range visitors land between 180 and 260 euros a day for two excluding the room, which is the figure to build a santorini trip cost around.
Tours, Boats and Activities
Shared catamaran, five hours, with food and drinks. 95 to 150 euros a head, and the best single thing you can buy on the island.
Sunset catamaran. 120 to 190 euros a head, and worth the premium over the day sailing.
Private catamaran for up to ten. 1,200 to 2,600 euros for five hours.
Volcano and hot springs boat from the old port. 30 to 45 euros a head, plus 2 euros to enter the Nea Kameni crater site.
Volcano, hot springs and Thirassia, full day. 45 to 70 euros a head.
Akrotiri excavation entry. 12 euros, or 15 on a combined ticket with Ancient Thera and the museums.
Ancient Thera entry. 6 euros, and the walk up from Kamari is free.
Prehistoric Thera museum, Fira. 6 euros, and it holds the Akrotiri finds.
Wine tasting at one winery. 25 to 60 euros a head for four to six wines.
Three-winery tour with transport. 85 to 140 euros a head.
Private island tour by car with a driver, five hours. 280 to 450 euros for up to four.
Cooking class. 85 to 140 euros a head.
Photo shoot on the caldera. 250 to 900 euros depending on the photographer and the hour.
Sunbeds on the south coast. 15 to 40 euros a pair, and many beach clubs run a consumption minimum instead.
Cable car, Fira to the old port. 6 euros each way.
Donkey up the Fira steps. 6 to 10 euros, and we would rather you walked.
What to actually book. One catamaran and one winery. Those two items and the free rim walk cover the island, and they put 250 to 400 euros into a santorini trip cost for two.
Santorini Trip Cost by Season
April, the lowest santorini trip cost. The cheapest month with everything meaningfully open. Rooms at 35 to 45 per cent of August, cool sea, green landscape, and flights at their lowest.
May, an excellent santorini trip cost. Excellent value. Rooms at 55 to 65 per cent of August, warm days, a sea at 19 degrees and thin crowds.
June, the best santorini trip cost compromise. Rooms at 75 to 85 per cent of August for arguably better weather. The best compromise on the calendar.
July. Within ten per cent of August on everything.
August, peak santorini trip cost. Peak. Every figure in this article is at its maximum and the island is at its busiest.
September, the best santorini trip cost value. Rooms at 70 to 85 per cent of August in the first half and 50 to 65 in the second, with the warmest sea of the year.
October, a falling santorini trip cost. Rooms at 40 to 55 per cent of August, most things open to the third week, and the light at its best.
November, a low santorini trip cost. Rooms at 30 to 40 per cent, a quiet island, and several restaurants closed.
December to March. Rooms at 25 to 35 per cent and a largely shut island. Cheap, and not what you came for.
Easter week, a santorini trip cost spike. A spike in the middle of an otherwise cheap season, and the best cultural week of the year on the island.
The arithmetic. Moving the same week from the first of August to the last of September cuts the total santorini trip cost for two by 700 to 1,800 euros and improves the holiday.
The one santorini trip cost caveat. Ferry and flight schedules thin out from late October, so the shoulder saving comes with less flexibility.
Three Worked Budgets
Budget week, two people, late May. Studio in Perissa seven nights 560 euros, buses and two taxi rides 60, food and drinks 420, volcano boat for two 80, Akrotiri and the museum 36, one winery 70. Total around 1,230 euros plus flights.
Mid-range week, two people, mid June. Hotel in Firostefani with a partial view seven nights 1,750 euros, car for four days 220, private transfers 90, food and drinks 700, shared catamaran for two 260, two winery visits 140, Akrotiri 24. Total around 3,180 euros plus flights.
Caldera week, two people, August. Cave suite in Imerovigli seven nights 3,850 euros, private transfers both ways 150, car for three days 210, food and drinks including three rim dinners 1,650, private sunset catamaran 1,600, wine tour 280. Total around 7,740 euros plus flights.
Family of four, one week, September. Two-bedroom apartment in Kamari 1,150 euros, car for six days 330, food and drinks 900, volcano boat 140, Akrotiri 36, beach days 120. Total around 2,680 euros plus flights.
Four days, two people, October. Hotel in Fira 520 euros, buses 40, food 300, catamaran 240, winery 120. Total around 1,220 euros plus flights.
Honeymoon four nights, August. Oia suite 3,200 euros, private transfers 150, one rim dinner 320, private boat 1,400, photo shoot 500, food and drinks 550. Total around 6,120 euros plus flights.
Solo week, October. Hostel or studio 320 euros, buses 30, food 330, catamaran 120, winery 60. Total around 860 euros plus flights.
What the four budgets show. The santorini trip cost varies by a factor of six across the same island in the same week, and the variable is almost entirely the bed.
Honeymoons and Weddings
A honeymoon week, the version people picture. 6,000 to 12,000 euros for two excluding flights, with the suite accounting for sixty-five to seventy-five per cent of it.
A honeymoon four nights. 3,500 to 7,000 euros, and four nights is enough for everything the island offers a couple.
Cave suite with a private plunge pool, Oia, August. 600 to 1,400 euros a night.
The same standard in Firostefani. 320 to 650 euros a night, and the view differs by about fifteen degrees of angle.
Private sunset catamaran for two. 1,400 to 2,600 euros for five hours with a crew, food and drinks.
Shared sunset catamaran for two. 240 to 380 euros, same route, same sunset.
Photo shoot on the caldera. 250 to 900 euros for an hour at sunrise, and sunrise is better than sunset for this.
Dinner at a destination restaurant. 200 to 450 euros for two with wine.
A small wedding for twenty. 8,000 to 25,000 euros on the island including venue, celebrant, flowers, photography and dinner.
The legal part. A civil ceremony requires paperwork lodged in advance and most couples use a local planner, at 1,500 to 4,000 euros.
Where the money is best spent. The room and one private boat. Those two items are what couples remember, and they are the part of a santorini trip cost that genuinely earns its premium.
Where a santorini trip cost is wasted. Seven nights instead of four, and a private boat when the shared one goes to the same four stops.
Families and Groups
Two-bedroom apartment in Kamari, August. 140 to 260 euros a night, with a kitchen and a pool.
The same in Perissa or Perivolos. 120 to 230 euros a night.
Family of four, one week, August. 3,200 to 5,000 euros excluding flights.
Family of four, one week, late September. 2,400 to 3,600 euros, and better weather for it.
Car hire in a family santorini trip cost. Essential for at least four days, 45 to 90 euros a day, and a booster seat is 5 to 10 a day.
Children on boats. Usually half price under twelve and free under four on the volcano trips.
Children’s entry at archaeological sites. Free under eighteen for EU citizens and reduced elsewhere.
Villa for six with a pool, inland, August. 350 to 700 euros a night, which works out cheaper per person than two hotel rooms.
Villa for six on the caldera. 900 to 2,200 euros a night.
Group of six, one week, inland villa. 4,200 to 7,000 euros total including a hire car, food and two excursions, which is 700 to 1,150 a head.
The family rule. Stay flat, stay near a beach, hire a car, cook breakfast. Those four decisions cut a family santorini trip cost by thirty to forty per cent against the default booking.
Cruise Passengers and Day Trippers
Tender to the old port. Included by the ship, and the queue on a five-ship day can run to an hour each way.
Cable car up to Fira. 6 euros each way, with queues of thirty to sixty minutes at peak.
Donkey up the steps. 6 to 10 euros, and we would rather you walked or queued.
Bus Fira to Oia. 2.50 euros each way, every twenty to thirty minutes.
Private car with a driver for five hours. 280 to 450 euros for up to four, which is the only way to see the island properly in a port day.
Shared ship excursion. 80 to 180 euros a head, and usually the same itinerary for more money than booking locally.
A realistic day-ashore santorini trip cost for two. 60 to 120 euros on buses, lunch and entries, or 350 to 500 with a private driver.
Day trip by ferry from Ios, Naxos or Paros. 50 to 180 euros a head return depending on the island and the boat.
What a day trip cannot include. The sunrise on the rim and the evening on the caldera, which are the two best hours and the reason the full santorini trip cost is worth paying at least once.
Travel Insurance, Health and the Unplanned
Travel insurance in the santorini trip cost. 25 to 70 euros a person for a week from Europe, and more with activity cover for quad bikes and diving.
Why it matters here. ATV accidents on the island’s lanes are the most common claim and many policies exclude quads unless you declare them.
Pharmacy visit. Free advice and 5 to 20 euros for most medication, available in Fira, Oia, Kamari and Perissa.
Private clinic consultation. 50 to 120 euros, with several on the island.
Public health centre. Free or nominal with a European health card, and busy in July and August.
Ferry cancellation because of wind. Two or three times a month in high summer. Build a buffer night before a flight home rather than a buffer hour.
A missed flight or boat. 80 to 250 euros to rebook in season, and sometimes no seats at all.
Sunburn and dehydration. The most common complaint on the island, and the cheapest thing to prevent.
Lost deposits. Non-refundable room rates save ten to twenty per cent and cost everything if plans change. Pay the flexible rate for August.
The contingency line. Put 150 to 300 euros aside in any santorini trip cost for two. It is usually spent on a taxi, a rebooked boat or a pharmacy, and it is always spent on something.
Santorini Trip Cost for One Person
Backpacker santorini trip cost. 700 to 1,000 euros excluding flights. Hostel bed in Perissa or Fira, buses, bakeries and gyros, one volcano boat, free sand and the free rim walk.
Comfortable solo santorini trip cost. 1,300 to 1,900 euros. A studio inland or in Kamari, a car for two days, two good dinners, a catamaran and a winery.
Solo santorini trip cost on the rim. 2,600 to 4,500 euros, because single occupancy on a caldera room saves only ten to twenty per cent against two people.
Santorini trip cost per day, backpacking. 95 to 130 euros including the bed.
Santorini trip cost per day, comfortable. 185 to 270 euros including the bed.
The single supplement problem. It is the worst-value part of a solo santorini trip cost, and the usual answer is to take a studio rather than a hotel room.
Where solo travellers save most. The bus network, which is good enough to make a hire car optional, and the shared boat trips, which are priced per head rather than per boat.
Where a solo santorini trip cost loses. The room, and nothing else on the island penalises travelling alone.
Four Days Against Seven
Four days, mid-range, two people. Around 1,500 to 2,300 euros excluding flights.
Seven days, mid-range, two people. Around 2,900 to 4,200 euros.
What the extra three days buy. More beach time, a second winery, and a slower pace. Not more sights, because the island’s sights fit comfortably into three days.
Santorini trip cost per memorable day. Better at four nights than at seven, which is unusual and specific to Santorini.
The better use of the money. Four nights here and three on Naxos, Paros or Milos. The same total santorini trip cost covers two islands and the average nightly rate falls by a quarter.
Ten days, two islands, two people. 3,600 to 5,200 euros mid-range, which is less than ten nights on Santorini alone and a considerably better holiday.
Three days of santorini trip cost. 1,100 to 1,800 euros, and genuinely enough if the days are planned.
Two days of santorini trip cost. Possible from a cruise or a ferry hop, 500 to 900 euros, and it misses the mornings.
The Free Things Worth Planning Around
The rim path from Fira to Oia. Ten kilometres, three to four hours, and the best thing on the island. Free.
Sunrise from Imerovigli. Better than the sunset, completely empty, and free.
The Skaros rock path. Thirty minutes from Imerovigli onto the old Venetian castle headland. Free.
Sunset from Firostefani or the Fira rim. The same sun as Oia, no crowd, and a coffee rather than a cocktail if you want.
The villages inland. Pyrgos, Megalochori, Emporio, Exo Gonia and Vothonas. Walking around any of them costs nothing.
Vlychada beach and the pumice cliffs. Free sand under wind-carved white rock that looks like nowhere else in Greece.
The walk up to Ancient Thera from Kamari. Free, forty-five minutes, and the 6 euro entry is optional if you only want the ridge.
Ammoudi bay below Oia. Three hundred steps down, a swim off the rocks, and the best place on the island to watch the light go.
Churches. Free, everywhere, and several of them worth twenty minutes.
The point. The three best experiences on Santorini are a sunrise, a walk and a village, and none of them appears in a santorini trip cost at all.
Building Your Own Number
Step one. Pick the nights. Four is the efficient answer and seven is the relaxed one.
Step two. Pick the village, which is the second biggest lever after the season. Write down a nightly rate from the village list above.
Step three. Multiply the nights by the rate, then add 0.50 to 4 euros a night for the accommodation levy.
Step four. Add 180 to 260 euros a day for two if you eat out twice and 100 to 140 if you self-cater one meal.
Step five. Add transport. 250 euros covers a car for four days and a few buses, or 80 euros covers buses alone.
Step six. Add transfers, 70 to 150 euros return for two depending on whether you arrive by air or by ferry.
Step seven. Add activities. 260 euros for a shared catamaran for two, 140 for a winery visit, 60 for the archaeology.
Step eight. Add 150 to 300 euros of contingency.
Step nine. Add the flights last, because they are the one line you cannot influence by planning.
What you will get. A santorini trip cost somewhere between 1,900 and 7,500 euros for two people for a week, and knowing which end of that range you are at before you book is the whole point of doing the arithmetic.
Against the Rest of the Mediterranean
Amalfi Coast. Comparable on rooms and dearer on food and transfers. Positano in August runs very close to Oia and the driving is worse.
Capri. More expensive than Santorini on almost every line, and the closest thing to it in both price and shape.
Ibiza. Cheaper on rooms away from the west coast and considerably dearer on nightlife.
Mallorca. Half to two thirds, with a far larger island and better infrastructure.
Dubrovnik. Around three quarters, with the same cruise-ship compression in the old town.
The French Riviera. Comparable to dearer on rooms and dearer on everything else.
Sicily. Half or less, with better food and a longer season.
Malta. Around half, with a shoulder season that runs to December.
Turkish Aegean. Forty to sixty per cent, and the cheapest quality coastline in the region.
What the comparison is for. Not to argue the island down. A santorini trip cost sits at the top of the Mediterranean range alongside Capri and Positano, and that is the company it keeps on looks as well as on price.
Where the Money Goes, as Percentages
Accommodation. 55 to 75 per cent of a santorini trip cost excluding flights, and the higher the budget the higher the share.
Food and drink in the santorini trip cost. 18 to 30 per cent.
Activities and entries. 7 to 15 per cent.
Transport on the island. 5 to 10 per cent.
Transfers in the santorini trip cost. 2 to 5 per cent, and the one people forget.
Contingency actually spent. 3 to 6 per cent.
On a budget trip. Accommodation drops to about half and food rises to about a third, because there is a floor under what it costs to eat.
On a caldera trip. Accommodation rises to three quarters and everything else compresses.
What this tells you. There is only one line worth negotiating hard. Get the bed right and the rest of a santorini trip cost looks after itself.
A Note on Prices and When They Change
Every figure in this article is a live market range for the current season rather than a fixed tariff, and three things move them. Season is the largest, and the same room swings by a factor of three between April and August. Demand in the booking window is the second, which is why the room booked in January and the room booked in July can differ by forty per cent for the same night. Fuel and ferry pricing is the third, and it feeds through to transfers, car hire and the boat trips within a season rather than between them.
What does not move much is the shape of the thing. Accommodation has been sixty to seventy-five per cent of a santorini trip cost for as long as we have been arranging trips here, the rim has always carried a three to fourfold premium over the east coast, and the best hours on the island have always been free. Plan around those three facts and the numbers will be close enough whatever year you are reading this in.
How to Cut the Santorini Trip Cost Without Ruining It
Stay in Firostefani instead of Oia. Most of the view, a ten-minute walk to Fira, and 40 to 55 per cent less. The single best saving on the island.
Split the week to halve the santorini trip cost. Two nights on the rim and four in Kamari, Megalochori or Perissa. You get the caldera experience and pay for it twice rather than seven times.
Go in the second half of September. The warmest sea of the year, thinning crowds and room rates 30 to 45 per cent below August.
Eat one meal a day at a bakery or a gyros place. Saves 20 to 30 euros a day for two and the food is good.
Drink the wine at the winery. A bottle of Assyrtiko is 14 to 28 euros at the cellar door and 32 to 70 on a restaurant list.
Use the buses for everything except two days. The network covers every village you want, and a car for forty-eight hours does the rest.
Take the shared catamaran, not the private one. Same route, same hours, 95 to 150 a head against 1,200 and up for the boat.
Watch the sunset from Imerovigli or the Skaros rock path. Free, better than Oia, and without the crowd.
Book a studio with a kitchen. Breakfast and lunch at home cuts 150 to 250 euros off a week for two.
Skip the airport taxi. The bus from the airport to Fira is 2 euros against 25.
Avoid the beach clubs with minimum spends. The far end of Perivolos and most of Vlychada are free sand.
Book the room in January. Santorini’s good rooms sell out by March and the late-booking premium is real.
What these add up to. Applied together they take a 4,200 euro week down to about 2,400 without removing anything anybody remembers, which is the most useful single fact about the santorini trip cost.
What People Get Wrong About the Santorini Trip Cost
Assuming the whole island is expensive. It is not. The caldera rim is expensive and the rest of the island is priced like the rest of Greece.
Booking seven nights on the rim. Four is the honest maximum for most people and the rim is where the money goes.
Forgetting the port transfer. Athinios to the rim is 25 to 60 euros each way by taxi and it catches people out on arrival day.
Not counting the steps. A cave hotel a hundred steps below the road means taxis you did not plan and porters you did not budget for.
Budgeting for a beach holiday. Sunbeds with minimum spends on the south coast run 25 to 50 euros a pair per day, which is not obvious from the brochures.
Booking a private boat when the shared one goes to the same places. A difference of around a thousand euros for an identical itinerary.
Eating dinner on the rim every night. Three rim dinners in a week is enjoyable. Seven adds 600 to 1,200 euros for diminishing pleasure.
Hiring a car for the whole week. Nothing on the island is more than twenty-five minutes from anything else and parking is the real problem.
Treating August as the only option. It is the worst value week of the year in both money and experience.
Under-budgeting drinks. Two cocktails at sunset on a caldera terrace is 30 to 40 euros, every evening, and it is the line that quietly doubles.
The pattern. Almost every santorini trip cost surprise comes from the rim, the port road or the sunbeds, and all three are avoidable with an hour of planning.
Santorini Trip Cost Compared With Other Greek Islands
Santorini trip cost against Mykonos. More expensive than Santorini on food, drinks and clubs, roughly level on rooms, and the only Greek island that is dearer overall.
Santorini trip cost against Naxos. Roughly half, on rooms, food and car hire, with better beaches and no caldera.
Santorini trip cost against Paros. Around sixty to seventy per cent of Santorini, and closing the gap year by year.
Santorini trip cost against Milos. Around sixty per cent, with the best coastline in the Cyclades.
Santorini trip cost against Crete. Forty to sixty per cent, and it is a different kind of holiday entirely.
Santorini trip cost against Ios. Around half, and the cheapest island within two hours of Santorini.
Santorini trip cost against Rhodes or Corfu. Half or less, with package-holiday infrastructure Santorini does not have.
Santorini trip cost against Folegandros or Sifnos. Sixty to seventy-five per cent, quieter, and with a caldera-adjacent look in Folegandros’s case.
The honest comparison. Santorini is the second most expensive island in Greece and the most expensive per night of accommodation, and the santorini trip cost premium buys a view that no other island can offer.
The combination that works. Three or four nights on Santorini and the rest of the trip on Naxos, Paros or Milos. The average nightly cost drops by a third and the holiday gets better.
Santorini Trip Cost Questions People Ask
How much does a week in Santorini cost for two? Between 1,900 and 7,500 euros excluding flights, with a realistic mid-range figure around 3,000 and a caldera-view figure around 6,000.
Is Santorini expensive? The caldera rim is, genuinely. The east and south of the island are priced like the rest of Greece.
What is the cheapest month? April for a trip with everything open, and November for the lowest rates outright.
How much money should I take per day? 70 to 120 euros a person a day covers food, drinks, transport and an activity, on top of the room.
How much is a caldera-view hotel? 200 to 450 euros a night in Firostefani, 300 to 700 in Imerovigli and 450 to 1,200 in Oia, all in August.
Do I need a car? For two or three days of a week. The buses handle the rest.
How much is the catamaran trip? 95 to 190 euros a head on a shared boat depending on whether it is the day or the sunset sailing.
Is three days enough? Yes, and it is the trip length that gives the best santorini trip cost per memorable hour.
How much are taxis from the airport? 20 to 30 euros to Fira and 35 to 50 to Oia, and the bus is 2.
What is the single biggest saving? Staying in Firostefani rather than Oia, which typically removes 40 to 55 per cent of the accommodation bill.
Is the ferry cheaper than flying from Athens? Yes, by around 60 euros a head on the conventional boat, and it costs most of a day.
Can you do Santorini on a budget? Comfortably, at 95 to 130 euros a day for one person staying inland and using buses.
Planning the Santorini Trip Cost With Us
We run transfers, private tours, caldera boat days and winery visits on the island, and we price them the same way in August as in April. If you tell us your dates, your numbers and the budget you have in mind, we will tell you what it actually buys rather than what a booking site suggests.
What we arrange. Airport and Athinios port transfers at a fixed price agreed before you travel, shared and private caldera catamarans, private island tours with a driver, winery visits, and Akrotiri with a guide.
What we advise on for free. Which village to stay in for your budget, how many days of car hire you actually need, and which week of your date range is cheapest.
Where we save people the most. The port transfer on arrival day and the choice between a shared and a private boat, which together are usually worth several hundred euros.
Ask us directly. Send the dates and the number of people and we will put a real santorini trip cost against them, line by line, before you book anything.
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
