Athens to Santorini or Heraklion

Well it obviously depends on where your accommodation and destination is. I can say for sure that flying will be quicker than the ferry in any case. However for a First time visitor, sailing into the caldera on Santorini is really something.

I’ve done both and you’re looking at about 4 to 5 hours door to door: 40 minutes on the metro from centre of Athens to the airport, an hour check in time for a domestic flight, an hour flying time and about half an hour in a taxi at the other end. Add in time waiting for luggage if you’ve checked any plus time to get to metro station.

Santorini is slightly closer than Crete so the flight is a bit shorter.

Alan

If you are trying to determine if it would be quicker or easier to fly to or from either of those places, it is. Sure, you could figure most of an hour to get to the airport, need to be there 1.5 to 2 hours ahead, then the flight, then an hour would get you to most any place on Santorini maybe a bit more for Heraklion.

But consider a ferry, you still have to get to the ferry port, about the same as getting to the airport, you do not need to be at the port way early, but figure a half to one hour before departure, then off loading on the ferry and getting transport is about the same as landing at an airport, so the difference is in the length of the ferry trip vs the flight plus with the ferry you may save an hour or so with security.

Anymore, I figure if a ferry is over 4 hours, a flight is worth looking into. A factor not considered is that there are fast ferries vs slow ferries. Fast ones seem attractive, but are very dependent on weather and sea conditions, possibly leading to a rough passage or even cancellation.

If the plan is to go both places, I would fly to Heraklion, do whatever itinerary, ferry to Santorini, enjoy your time, then I would still lean to flying back to Athens, but if you found the right ferry, one that makes stops, and you have plenty of time, bring a couple meals and some wine and have a slow boat back to Athens.

To avoid multiple trips back and forth from the city to the airport, most experienced Greek travelers try to fly directly to their first island destination upon landing in Athens. Allow a couple of hours between incoming and outgoing flights. This makes for a long day, but there is nothing like waking up on a Greek island the next morning.

This also puts you on the mainland at the end of your trip, which is recommended as planes and ferries from the islands occasionally get delayed, so you need at least one night in Athens before your flight home.