From Crete to Santorini Day Trip: Is It Worth It?

Santorini Island is on the bucket list of almost every traveller. It’s not surprising; the island of Santorini is exceptional. The island of Crete is also absolutely worth a visit. Can you combine a visit to both islands during the same trip? And most importantly: Is Crete to Santorini Day Trip worth it?

I will reply to these questions in this blog post.

Quick Links to organise your trip to Greece:

Travelling between islands? Here, check and book your ferries.

Book your accommodations here.

On Santorini Island, look at these hotels: Markakis in Fira / Heliophos Caves next to Oia / Crystal Blue in Kamari

Here, you can book guided tours and attractions.

Day Trip From Crete to Santorini

Is Crete to Santorini Day Trip Worth It?

In travel, there is never an easy straight-forward answer to such a question. There are so many factors you should consider.

However, if I could give you my advice, I would say quite honestly: no, it’s not really worth it.

Sounds like bit of strange reply for a travel blog, no? I mean, I should probably say ‘it’s best experience, go’ , give you a link to an organised tour, and that’s it. However, my philosophy of travel is not to check points from list, but feel, and have time to enjoy what I experience. And I want to seriously share it and give advice on this type of travel.

So I will explain why I think it’s not worth it to go on guided daytrips. And I will tell you if you should always listen to this advice (spoiler: no!).

Why is it not really worth it to go on Crete to Santorini for a Day?

First of all, it’s going to be a very long day. And it can be a very tiring day too, with a lot of travel. In fact, you will travel more than the time spent visiting Santorini. It’s going to be a bus drive, a ferry trip, another bus, and only then a quick run in two Santorini cities.

If you visit during the high season (summer months), you will visit in the heat and in huge crowds.

Well, heat and crowds can be expected also if you stay longer on Santorini island, but because of the rush you will not have enough time to enjoy Santorini as much as you could.

It would be much better for your great experience if you had at least two days on Santorini Island. So that you could see the famous sunset.

You could come back to Crete after this trip, fly back from Santorini, or go to another island during island hopping.

Crete to Santorini Day Trip: What if I have only one day?

All this described above would be best idea, but of course, even in travelling, not everything can be perfect.

If you have very little time on the Greek Islands, or your travelling dream for years has been to see Santorini, don’t listen to any arguments above and… just go.

Yes, maybe it’s not really worth it time-wise, and yes, you will be tired after this day. But at least you will see this famous island with breathtaking views, take pictures, and go on a boat trip.

It’s better than not seeing it at all!

Crete to Santorini Day Trip: Alone or Guided Tour?

If your only option is to go on a daytrip, absolutely take a guided tour. It’s the easiest and best way; it will be more comfortable, and you will save some time for more visiting. You will not have to wait for the public bus (if going to Oia, you need to change a bus in Fira, the main town of Santorini) and everything will go just more smoothly.

You will also have a guide to help you and give you information about places or any other details.

It’s also easier in the morning when they pick you up, and you don’t need to worry about the transport for the ferry.

During the summer season, you will find a lot of such organized tours. As Greece is really busy during the high season, it’s best to book it online in advance. For such trips, I like to use Get Your Guide, as quite often you have free cancellation of the tour 24 hours before.

Crete to Santorini Day Trips: with very good opinions, and this one, with many drop-off options.

How does a day trip look like?

Depending on the tour, you can have a pick up from the hotel or meet in the harbour. Usually it will be Heraklion port. You take a high-speed ferry, and in around 2.5 hours (depending on the weather conditions), you arrive at the Port of Athinios in Santorini. From there, you start the visit with organised transport.

Usually organized tour visits two cities: Oia, the place with blue domes and the most known, unique view. Second place is Fira, the capital of the island.

In Fira, you usually have free time to walk in the streets, eat lunch, etc. There is also an option for an additionally charged trip during this time to a volcanic island and hot springs.

After that, you go back with a bus to the port and board the ferry back to Crete.

Important remark: a one day trip is possible only from Crete to Santorini. From Santorini to Crete, one day trips don’t exist because of the ferry schedule and departure times. Ferries from Santorini are scheduled in the afternoon or in the evening so it’s not even possible to travel for a day.

How to travel from Crete to Santorini?

There are two ways to travel from Crete to Santorini. You can take a flight and fly with Sky Express, although at the moment I see only flights with a change in Athens. It’s a Greek airline headquartered in Heraklion. The airport in Santorini is close to the capital of Santorini, Fira (check here for how to get around the island with a bus).

The second option is, of course, ferry. It’s a more common and probably nicer option. Island hopping and ferries in Greece are a big thing, and I really recommend this type of transport in Greece.

You can check schedules and buy tickets on Ferryscanner.

This is in short, for detailed information about how to travel between Crete and Santorini, check out this article.

To summarise, Crete to Santorini Day Trips are not extremely worth it. It would be better to stay at least for 2 days to have time to see more places, see the sunset, enjoy yourself without rushing. But yes, it’s not always possible, and then organized day trip can be very helpful.

I have described Santorini more; it will be useful, especially if you decide to stay on the island for longer:

Here, you can check out where to stay in Santorini.

Here, how to get to Santorini island and how to get around on the island.

Check out all the Greek section, as you will find there many more tips and information, for example:

Planning a Trip to Greece Guide

Greek Islands’ Description

Information about airports

Or great hotels on Greek islands