When planning your Santorini vacation, a common question that’ll pop up is “how many days in Santorini do I need?” With everything you’ve seen and read about the island, you’ve probably realized that it’s not that clear cut.
Let us guide you through our thought processes on this to help you come out of this with a clear decision on how many days you need in your Santorini itinerary.
Read more about Greece
- How to plan a 2 day Athens itinerary
- What to see in a 3 day Paros itinerary
- Folegandros – the island you need to go to
Where to stay in Santorini?
- We’ve personally stayed at Prekas Apartments in Imerovigli which I highly recommend. Otherwise, make sure to read our full guide on the best areas to stay in Santorini.
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How Many Days in Santorini Do You Need?
“I have too many days in Santorini, what should I do?” …said no one EVER!
You almost never have enough time in a destination and in trip planning you’re always wrestling with how many days here versus there.
So let’s assume this is your first time to Santorini. What’s the “perfect” number of days that you should stay on the island?
Best case scenario
If you have the flexibility and budget, this is what we recommend that you aim for.
Low season (November to April)
In the months of November to March, things are going to be much quieter, many places closed for the season, the weather much cooler and unpredictable, and the beaches too cold for swimming.
As a result, you’ll have more limited options when it comes to things to do in Santorini. The biggest difference with the other seasons is that you’re unlikely to plan sunbathing and swimming time. Instead, you’ll be doing much more walking around the towns that are open, taking photos, and sampling cafes/restaurants.
Recommended number of days: 4 days
Shoulder season (May to June, September to October)
If you’ve read about when is the best time to visit Santorini, you’ll know that this is the sweet spot. Crowds haven’t quite built up yet, the weather is comfortable, and everything is opened up again.
The full island is available to you but since the water is still on the cooler side, you might not be swimming as much.
Recommended number of days and nights: 6 days
High season (July to August)
Ironically, while you’d think that the hottest temperatures and best swimming would mean extending your stay the most, it’s a bit of the contrary because of how busy the island gets.
With blistering heat and the main towns such as Fira and Oia packed with people, you won’t have as great of a time as you think you will. Not to say that it’s a terrible experience but when it’s that busy, you’ll want to plan more time away on the quieter islands like what we did on our 2 week Greek island hopping itinerary.
Recommended number of days and nights: 5 days
Where to book your hotels, car rental, ferries, flights, activities
- Hotels – Booking.com has the best inventory of properties and with their Genius tier, you can save even more money.
- Car Rental – If you’ve read our guide, you can book with the big brands combined with car rental coupon codes or you can use RentalCars to do a search of most companies. Make sure to also read the guide on how to rent a car in Santorini.
- Ferries – My go-to booking platform is FerryHopper.
- Flights – Use Skyscanner to look for cheap flights using the Everywhere feature and also setting price alerts.
- Activities – Always compare between Viator and GetYourGuide to get the best price.
If you’re tight on time
Somehow I feel like we’re usually in this category on every single trip.
Whether it’s trying to squeeze in a trip with limited number of vacation days, logistically limited by flights, or just wanting to pack in as much as you can (guilty!), you know that you won’t be able to see it all.
What you want to know though is what’s the minimum number of days you need to see a majority of the sights and at the end of the day, still have an awesome time.
Recommended number of days: 3 days
We pulled it off during shoulder season in this 3 day Santorini itinerary. We absolutely missed a bunch of places but for the type of trip we were on, I came away with it feeling really satisfied that we got to do the iconic experience.
Any less and you’re really reducing the radius of how much you’re seeing of Santorini.
If you’re travelling with kids
Parents know that travelling as a family with kid(s) can be a handful and depending on their age(s), you’ll need to go by their schedule.
Every family is different of course but what you’ll likely want to incorporate into your Santorini itinerary is:
- More time on the beach (easily a full day)
- Time off (to nap or to cool down)
- Other kid friendly activities such as a family-friendly fishing tour instead of a wine and food tour.
Recommended number of days: 6 days
If you’re island hopping
I strongly believe that the best way to see and truly appreciate the islands of Greece and the Western Cyclades specifically is to go island hopping.
BEFORE YOU CONTINUE
You need to read the companion Greek islands travel guide where I break down everything I learned and invaluable travel tips that’ll make your trip smooth sailing.
This isn’t necessarily a unique category on its own that really changes how much time you should plan to stay in Santorini but what I will say is that if you are hopping to other islands such as Paros, Milos, and Folegandros, there are concessions you can make on some activities because what you might not do on Santorini, you could easily do something similar elsewhere.
As an example, I really wanted to rent an ATV on our trip but for time and a lot of reasons laid out in our guide on how and where to rent a car in Santorini, I knew the smarter move was to wait until we got to Milos and Folegandros.
We also really wanted to do a boat cruise on our trip but for budget reasons, we felt like we needed to wisely just pick one island to do it in instead of all of them. The plan was to take a cruise in Milos instead of Santorini although because of weather, it never ended up happening.
Recommended number of days: 4 days
I know this doesn’t seem like many days but once you start planning your island hopping route, I guarantee you’ll want more days for your other stops.
If Santorini is the only island you visit
Many of you are contemplating landing in Athens and making Santorini your only stop.
Getting from Athens to Santorini is pretty simple but how many days do you need?
Since you won’t be trading off days in Santorini with other islands, you will really want to make the most of vacation here.
Recommended number of days: 4 days
If you’re really tight on time
Have only 2 days? 1 day? Can you really do Santorini with so little time?
The answer is yes!
Recommended number of days: 2 days
For those that are really limited on time, try to get 2 days and 2 nights on Santorini. This’ll allow you 1 good evening to see the sunset and the ability to split the days between exploring on foot and another doing the catamaran cruise or volcano cruise.
Can you see Santorini in one day? Sure, it’s do-able but where there’s a real drop-off in cost-benefit is that you’ll be spending a lot of time on flight/ferry to get in and out of the island, and settling into your hotel which leaves you a handful of hours to do a couple of things.
Of course, you could be coming to Santorini on a cruise. If so, I’d recommend joining a private guided tour.
If you’ve been to Santorini before
For someone like myself that has been to Santorini before, I still get excited about return visits to the island but your plans will evolve to catch things you missed the first time around, or repeat visits to that epic restaurant or awesome tour with a local.
Return visits to Santorini also means feeling a lot less rushed to try to do as much as possible.
Recommended number of days: 5 days
Between being much more selective on what you’ll be doing while wanting to travel slower, I think 5 days is a good sweet spot especially when you also have the knowledge of how amazing the smaller islands are.
Sample Santorini Itineraries
I won’t go into as much detail as the 3 days in Santorini itinerary but here’s a high level look at what different itineraries look like for the number of days recommended above.
This should give you an idea of what’s feasible but of course feel free to add things, subtract things, and move things around to taste!
1 day Santorini itinerary
You’ll have at most 6-12 hours on Santorini so you’ll have to pick 1 or 2 things to focus on:
- Watch the sunset in Oia
- Explore Fira and watch the sunset there
- Book a volcano sailing tour
- Book a private day tour
- Enjoy one of the beaches (black beaches of Perissa or Kamari, or red beach)
2 day Santorini itinerary
Day 1
- Explore Fira – shop, have a drink, and have dinner
- Hike from Fira to Oia (or take the bus)
- Watch sunset in Oia
Day 2
- Morning volcano sailing excursion
- Ask to be dropped off in Perissa to spend time at the beach
- Alternatively, you could do a sunset wine tasting tour
3 day Santorini itinerary
We’ve covered this already in the full 3 days in Santorini but here’s a summary.
Day 1
- Lunch in Imerovigli
- Explore Fira and Firostefani
- Watch the sunset in Fira
Day 2
- Rent a car
- Visit town of Pyrgos
- Visit town of Megalochori
- Visit town of Emporio
- Black sand beach in Perissa
- Red Beach
- Sunset at our villa, Prekas Apartment
- Dinner in Imerovigli
Day 3
- Hike from Imerovigli to Oia
- Lunch at Ammoudi Fish Tavern
- Sunset in Oia
3 Day Santorini Itinerary
An incredibly detailed guide on how to plan your 3 days in Santorini wloaded with advice and insider tips from first-hand experience.
4 day Santorini itinerary
Day 1
- Explore Fira and Firostefani
- Watch the sunset in Fira
Day 2
- Rent a car
- Visit town of Pyrgos
- Visit town of Megalochori
- Visit town of Emporio
- Akrotori Archeological Site
- Black sand beach in Perissa
- Red Beach
- Sunset dinner at Metaxy Mas
Day 3
- Hike from Fira to Oia
- Lunch at Ammoudi Fish Tavern
- Sunset in Oia
Day 4
- Morning volcano sailing excursion
- Join the sunset wine tasting tour or join this well reviewed cooking and wine tasting class
5 day Santorini itinerary
Day 1
- Explore Fira and Firostefani
- Watch the sunset in Fira
Day 2
- Rent a car
- Visit town of Pyrgos
- Visit town of Megalochori
- Visit town of Emporio
- Akrotori Archeological Site
- Red Beach
- Watch the sunset from the Akrotiri Lighthouse
- Sunset dinner at Metaxy Mas
Day 3
- Hike from Fira to Oia
- Lunch at Ammoudi Fish Tavern
- Sunset in Oia
Day 4
- Morning volcano sailing excursion
- Asked to be dropped off at your choice of Perissa or Kamari
- Day at the beach
- If in Kamari, check out its Outdoor Cinema
Day 5
- Join a small group wine tasting and winery tour
- Wind down in your caldera villa (see the best area to stay in Santorini)
- Watch the sunset from your villa for your final day
6 day Santorini itinerary
Day 1
- Explore Fira and Firostefani
- Watch the sunset in Fira
Day 2
- Rent a car
- Visit town of Pyrgos
- Visit town of Megalochori
- Visit town of Emporio
- Akrotori Archeological Site
- Red Beach
- Watch the sunset from the Akrotiri Lighthouse
- Sunset dinner at Metaxy Mas
Day 3
- Hike from Fira to Oia (start early)
- Lunch at Ammoudi Fish Tavern
- Domaine Sigalas Winery
- Sunset in Oia
Day 4
- Morning volcano sailing excursion
- Asked to be dropped off at your choice of Perissa or Kamari
- Day at the beach
- Ancient Thera (if you decide to rent a car or ATV this day)
- If in Kamari, check out its Outdoor Cinema
Day 5
- For those wanting adventure, consider Skaros Rock or Horse Riding to Eros Beach
- If you want more beach time, head back to either Perissa or Kamari (whichever one you didn’t o the previous day)
- You can also have a low-key day near your villa (see the best area to stay in Santorini)
- Sunset catamaran sailing with BBQ dinner
Day 6
- Join a small group wine tasting and winery tour
- Wind down in your villa
- Watch the sunset from your villa for your final day
7 days or more in Santorini
If you’re staying a week in Santorini or longer, you’ll have a ton of time to work with although it will go by very quickly.
In terms of an itinerary, you can follow one of the above examples and tweak it to your liking so that could mean more time relaxing at your resort, exploring more beaches, taking a deeper dive into one of the towns such as Pyrgos, or visiting more wineries.
Spread out the days and enjoy the island at your own pace.
What Else You Need To Know When Planning A Trip to Santorini
Getting around Santorini
As you will have seen from the sample itineraries above, something you’ll have to think hard about is how you’ll be getting around the island.
- Decide whether you want to rent a car in Santorini and from where. Perhaps you want to rent an ATV or scooter and that’s okay too (although I personally wouldn’t recommend it).
- Decide how long you want to rent the car for (multiple days or just for the day). Factor in whether parking is going to be a challenge.
- Organize all the places you want to go that you can’t easily get to and build your itinerary based on that. For instance, Akrotiri and Perissa work well together. Also, many of the interior towns are in a cluster as well.
Use this Ferry Planning Tool
FerryHopper allows you to find out what ferry companies are operating to and from Santorini. We recommend using this to help with trip planning.
Tips when planning the number of days
Here are a couple of handy tips to keep in mind as you’re deciding on how many days in Santorini.
- Transit time – When calculating and breaking out your itinerary, make sure you account for flight times but more importantly, ferry times. Ferries from Athens to Santorini can take 7-8 hours as an example so you may have less days available than you think.
- Ferry schedules – It goes without saying that sometimes you’ll be forced to adjust the number of days because of the ferry so do that research near the beginning.
- First and last days – How much you can fit on the book end days of your time in Santorini will depend on your ferry or flight times. Also, you can’t forget the time it takes to get settled in and also to pack up as well.
- Santorini can be expensive – Don’t forget to think about your trip’s overall budget. If you can save some money by shifting a day over to a smaller inexpensive island without sacrificing too much, it might be worth it.
- Good all days of the week (mostly) – Santorini doesn’t really have a day where places are closed so that’s not something you need to worry about. The only exception I can think of is the Museum of Prehistoric Thera which is closed on Tuesday, the Archaeological Museum of Thera which is closed on Monday, and Ancient Thera which is closed on Tuesday in the winter and Wednesday in the summer.
- You can plan around cruise ships – If you really want to avoid those cruise ship crowds, you can look at a cruise ship calendar to see which days have heavy traffic and thus influx of tourists.
- Tour availability – Do you have a must-do tour on your list? Find out if it’s available on the day you were thinking of. You may need to adjust your itinerary to make it fit.
- Cater to your travel style – If you love to move through places quickly and pack in the schedule, you won’t need as many days but if you’re on your honeymoon or just love to travel slow, make sure you have at least 5-7 days.
- You might like the other islands more – Hindsight is 20/20 but from my very personal opinion, islands like Folegandros and Paros are better than Santorini especially if you’re looking for a more local, authentic, and peaceful experience. I know the “is Santorini worth it?” debate is a polarizing one but I’ll just leave it as a “I told you so” after you come back.
Bottom Line on How Many Days in Santorini
There are so many variables to factor in when deciding how many days to spend in Santorini.
When you take the iconic experiences with the diverse areas to discover, and all the things you can do, you quickly realize that 1 to 2 days isn’t enough.
At a minimum, you need to leave at least 3 days for Santorini. If you can swing it in your budget and schedule, try to do 5 or 6 days.
Frequently Asked Questions
Generally no when you consider the transit time to get to Santorini and the remaining hours you have left. You can certainly do it but you will only see and experience a very small part of the island.
Yes, having a car will allow you to see much more of the island at your own pace than say getting around by the local bus. Read more details on whether you need a car in Santorini or not.
2 days in Santorini is possible but you’ll be limited on how much you can see and do. If possible, consider at least 3 days or more.
While you certainly could use more days, 3 is the minimum number of days you should plan for Santorini. Your schedule may be a bit tighter but with careful itinerary planning, you can pull it off.
5 days is a perfect amount of time to be spending in Santorini. This will allow you to plan a comfortably paced trip that includes sunsets, beaches, sailing, archeological ruins, and exploring the ancient towns.
Santorini is one of those islands where you wouldn’t mind staying there for a week or more as there’s plenty of things to see, do, and eat. Would you get bored? No but you may be missing out on other islands if you’re island hopping.
You should look at doing your initial ferry search on FerryHopper and then you can book with them or go direct.
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