Santorini, Greece: what a package should include

The honest picture

Santorini is the southernmost of the main Cyclades, a crescent of cliffs that is the rim of a volcano whose great Bronze Age eruption, around 1600 BC, blew out the centre of the island and buried the settlement now excavated at Akrotiri. The capital Fira, and the villages of Firostefani, Imerovigli and Oia strung along the caldera edge to the north, are what the photographs show: white cubes and blue domes above a drop of several hundred metres to the sea. Behind them the island slopes east to vineyards, the inland villages of Pyrgos and Megalochori, and black-sand beaches at Kamari, Perissa and Perivolos.

It is packaged as the highlight of Greek island itineraries, most commonly Athens plus Mykonos plus Santorini over eight to twelve days with ferries in between, or Athens plus Santorini as a shorter break. Cruise lines call almost daily in season. Operators sell it on the hotel photograph, and the whole difficulty of comparing packages is that the photograph is of a caldera-view suite and the room on the voucher frequently is not.

The honest picture: Santorini is small, steep, expensive and, from June to September, extremely busy. The caldera villages are pedestrian, built on steps, and have no vehicle access to most hotels, so luggage is carried by porters. Oia's sunset draws crowds thick enough that the streets stop moving. On cruise days, the queue for Fira's cable car can take an hour. The Meltemi wind in July and August cancels ferries and makes rooftop dining an exercise in holding on to the plates. The shoulder months are the island at its best; the peak months are the island at its most sold.

A package is worth it here for one reason above all: the logistics of ferries, ports, the switchback road up from Athinios and a hotel booked before prices climb. It is not worth it if it puts you in a coach for a seven-hour island tour on a day that should have been spent on the caldera path.

When to go

May, June, September and early October: warm, open and less crowded. July and August are hot, expensive and full of cruise-ship day trippers.

What a typical package looks like

2 to 3 nights as part of an 8 to 12 day Greece package with Athens and one or two other islands, connected by ferry. Some packages use a cruise ship instead, which changes everything about the visit.

What the price includes, and where money leaks

A package price normally covers the hotel with breakfast, ferry tickets in economy class, port or airport transfers and, on some packages, a half-day island tour. It rarely covers the caldera view, which is sold as a room-category supplement and can double the cost of the hotel element, and it does not cover the catamaran sunset cruise, wine tastings, Akrotiri or the Ancient Thera site, the cable car, or the porter who carries bags up the steps in Oia. Meals beyond breakfast are the biggest daily cost on the island; caldera-edge restaurants charge for the view.

Greece levies a nightly accommodation charge per room, paid directly to the hotel, that packages rarely include; its level depends on the hotel category and the season, and it has been restructured in recent years, so ask the operator what to expect at check-out rather than relying on an old figure. Ferry upgrades from economy to a reserved seat or a cabin add to the price; conventional ferries from Piraeus take most of a day, high-speed services roughly half that, and the difference is often what separates two quotes. Single supplements are steep on Santorini because so much of the stock is priced for two.

Compare quotes on the hotel's exact position (caldera rim, inland or beach), the room category, the ferry type and departure time, and what the 'island tour' really is. A quote that looks cheaper but sleeps you in Karterados or Messaria, a couple of kilometres inland with a bus into Fira, is a different holiday from one on the rim in Imerovigli, and neither is wrong provided you know which you are buying.

Getting there

Santorini airport, on the flat east side of the island near Kamari, has year-round flights from Athens taking under an hour and a dense schedule of seasonal direct flights from across Europe between roughly April and October. Ferries arrive at Athinios port, a working harbour at the foot of the caldera cliff reached by a switchback road, from Piraeus and Rafina on the mainland, from Mykonos, Naxos and Paros, and from Heraklion in Crete. Cruise ships anchor in the caldera and tender passengers to the old port below Fira, from which the cable car, the steps or the donkeys climb to town.

Packages handle arrival with a shared or private transfer from the airport or port, and it is worth confirming which. Athinios on a summer afternoon is congested, and the walk from a caldera hotel's nearest road access to the room can be several hundred steps; a good operator warns about luggage and arranges the porter. Ferry cancellations in strong wind and occasional port strikes are a real risk, and the package terms should say what happens to the hotel nights if the boat does not sail.

Where packages put you

The caldera rim is the point of the island and the reason for the price. Oia has the famous view and the crowds; Imerovigli is the highest point on the rim, quieter, with a sunset outlook and none of the throng; Firostefani and Fira are convenient for the bus station, restaurants and the cable car. Rooms are cave houses cut into the cliff, with steps to reach them, small private terraces and no cars anywhere near. Packages that sell Santorini with a caldera hotel are the ones that cost more, and the ones that deliver the photograph.

The rest of the island is where most package hotels are. Karterados, Messaria and the outskirts of Fira are inland villages with reasonable hotels, pools, parking and a bus or a 20-minute walk into town. Kamari and Perissa on the east coast are flat beach resorts with a promenade, black sand and a completely different atmosphere; families and budget travellers often prefer them. A cruise-based visit sleeps nowhere on the island at all. The question to put to an operator is simply: which village, and which side of the ridge?

Check these before paying a deposit

• Caldera view or not. Hotels in Fira and Oia with a view cost several times more than those inland at Karterados or Perissa, and packages often use the inland ones.
• Ferry class and timing. Slow ferries take twice as long; early departures mean a 5am hotel exit.
• Whether the sunset at Oia is scheduled or left to you. It is crowded either way; a guide cannot fix that.
• Cruise-based packages give a few hours ashore with thousands of others. If Santorini is the point of the trip, avoid that format.

Good for

Honeymoons Photographers Island-hopping first timers

Skip it if

You are on a tight budget in July or August; the island's prices are among the highest in Greece.

What to ask the operator

Ask for the hotel by name and check its position on a map before paying, since 'sea view' on Santorini frequently means the east coast rather than the caldera. Ask what category of ferry ticket is booked, which port the ferry uses and what time it leaves; a 7am departure from Athinios means a 5am exit from an Oia hotel. Ask whether transfers are shared coaches, which wait for all passengers, or private cars. Guiding at Greek archaeological sites such as Akrotiri is reserved for licensed guides, so a guided visit should mean a professional guide rather than a driver with a microphone.

Coach tours on Santorini run to 40 or 50 people and stop at the same viewpoints, wineries and villages as everyone else; small-group or private versions cost more and spend less time waiting. Ask how long the tour stays in Oia and at what time of day, because arriving at sunset alongside the cruise coaches is the worst hour. Ask what the operator does when the Meltemi cancels the ferry: whether it rebooks flights, holds the hotel or leaves you to argue at the port. And ask about accessibility honestly; there are level hotels on the island, but they are not on the rim.

Mistakes people make here

• Booking on the photograph and getting a room inland with a bus into Fira.
• Assuming 'sea view' means caldera view.
• Bringing hard suitcases to a caldera hotel reached by 200 steps.
• Scheduling the Oia sunset on a day when several cruise ships are in port.
• Taking the early high-speed ferry without checking the hotel's earliest breakfast and whether a taxi can be found; taxis are scarce on the island.
• Spending the only full day on a seven-hour coach tour instead of the Fira to Oia caldera path.
• Visiting in July or August on a tight budget and being surprised by restaurant prices.

Where to compare packages for Santorini

For multi-day packages, start with a marketplace to see the field, then check the operator's own site for price and terms. For day tours inside a trip you have planned yourself, use an activity marketplace.

Frequently asked questions

How many nights should a package give Santorini?

Two nights gives one full day, which is enough for the caldera path and Oia at sunset if the ferry times are kind. Three nights is the comfortable minimum for anyone who also wants Akrotiri, a winery and a beach. Longer stays suit couples happy to do very little.

Is a caldera-view hotel worth the supplement?

If the view is the reason for coming, yes; it is the difference between seeing the island and being in it. If the stay is short and the budget tight, an inland hotel plus a couple of evenings on the rim delivers most of the experience for much less.

Ferry or flight from Athens?

The flight takes under an hour and is usually the sensible choice for a short package. Ferries take roughly four and a half to eight hours depending on the vessel and are worth taking for the arrival into the caldera, or if the package also stops at Mykonos, Naxos or Paros on the way.

Which villages are on the caldera?

Oia, Imerovigli, Firostefani and Fira are on the rim. Karterados, Messaria, Vothonas and Pyrgos are inland. Kamari, Perissa and Perivolos are on the beach side. Packages rarely volunteer which; ask.

Is Santorini crowded?

In July and August, yes, everywhere on the rim from late morning until after sunset, and on cruise days the centre of Fira and the cable car are congested. May, June, September and early October are noticeably calmer, still warm and with everything open. Winter is quiet and many hotels close.

Are the beaches good?

They are volcanic: black sand at Kamari and Perissa, red cliffs at the Red Beach near Akrotiri, all with dark sand that gets very hot underfoot. Pleasant, well organised with sunbeds, and not the reason to choose the island over Naxos or Crete.