Santorini Island Transportation Tips by bagira11

'Mode': TO
Category: Airplane
Getting TO/AROUND: You can reach Santorini by airplane. There are regular routes from Athens, Mykonos, Rhodes and Thessaloniki as well as charter fights from Italy and UK. The domestic airlines that operate are Olympic Airways and Aegean Airlines.
The airport is located near the beach of Monolithos at the sutheast coast. Sometimes the domestic flights Athens-Santorini are more expensive than e.g. Athens-Milan or London, therefore people tend to take 2 times cheaper option- ferries. The typical Olympic Airways ticket both ways would cost you about 180 eur, while the ferry ticket- 60-100eur.

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'Mode': TO
Category: Ship/Boat
Getting TO/AROUND: As Santorini is the most popular island, ferry connections are rather frequent there. They part 4-6 times daily. The typical route from Piraeus to Santorini includes stops at Paros, Naxos and Ios. Fira is also connected with other Cycladic islands, such as the popular Mykonos, as well Crete and the others.
The most popular and cheapest ferry was the Blue Staros Paros. It takes about 8 hours to reach the destination. Now there are Highspeed and Flyingcat with which the trip take sonly 4 hours from PIraeus and 2 hours from Crete.
The tickets for Blue Star is about 30eur in economy class; 50 eur with Highspeed and Flyingcat (73eur in business class)
Night ferries also available.
Usually it is best to book in advance, but you will get on the ferry the same day too if you suddenly feel like you wanna go to Santorini :)

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'Mode': AROUND
Category: Bus
Getting TO/AROUND: Almost all the villages in Santorini are connected with the bus lines KTEL. The are no direct routes from any other city than Thira. If you wanna go to Kamari from Oia- you will have to change the bus at Thira. If you wanna go from Oia to Akrotiri- you will have to change the bus at Thira. BUT. If you wanna go from Akrotiri to Perrisa, I recommend you not change the bus at Thira, but get off at the crossroad leading to either Akrotiri or Perissa, change the road and stop the bus going from Thira to Perissa.

Buses leave every 15-60 minutes:
To Akrotiri-/Red Beach- every hour
To Perissa, Oia, Kamari- every 15-20 minutes
To Monolithos- every 60-75 minutes or so.
To Vlyhada- every two hours.

But every year the schedules change, so... these ones attached is just an idea how it was in 2006.

Buses operate till midnight or even later.

The cost of the tickets:
1.70 eur- to Perissa
1.20 eur- to Kamari
1.60 eur- to Oia... ( or smth like that)
I will check my other tickets that I have to be more sure :))

You ALWAYS buy tickets in the bus. There are no selling point in the station. Yes, there is one bus control centre, but all you can get there is information.. (hopefully you get it, cuz the man is not that sociable :)) and the schedules on the walls.

The busiest time is 5-6pm from Kamari and other beaches to Thira and well as 6-7pm to Oia (when people go to see the sunset).

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'Mode': AROUND
Category: Other
Getting TO/AROUND: The main taxi statin is in Thira near the bus station - just a bit higher, below the main square. You pay about 15-17 eur from Thira to Faros/Akrotiri, 10-15 eur to Oia. Always set the cost before getting in.
If you a group of 3-4 poeple, it is even better to take a tax and divide the cost. easy and comfortable.
In August the island is fuul of people and it is very tough to get a cab... LInes are long, so be sure to plan your time carefully and leave more time for taxi..or simply take a bus to the port/airport.

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'Mode': AROUND
Category: Motorcycle
Getting TO/AROUND: Those who wanna be independent, can rent a car, motorbike/moped or a 4 wheel scooter. To rent a car you must be 23 years old and have a legal national driving licence. The usual car rent per day costs about 40-100 eur, depending on the model of the car. Those who live longer on the island or "have connections" can get a car for 30-40 eur per day

For a more adventurous travelling bike/moped rent is prefered. The rent is cheaper (20-30 eur per day) and it is always easy to park it in Thira and other towns. National/international driving licence is needed. Helmets are obligatory for motorbikes, but usually those who drive mopeds and scooters don't wear them.

The roads are rather narrow and serpentine, therefore car/moto crashes are usual on the island.
I will tell the truth, those 4wheelers is a real pain the ass for the car drivers, cuz 4wheelers are sometimes slow and usually create traffic jams on the roads. The same can be said about motorbikes: a lot of times the drivers drive in the middle of the lane not allowing the cars to pass them , or even worse- sometimes stopping at the most unexpected places and creating conditions for accidents!

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