Ferry experience?

I haven't taken a ferry from Athens to Rhodes or Santorini but know it will be a LONG ride. It may be a shorter ferry from Santorini to Rhodes.

Most ferries will stop at other ports along the way but you need to do your research to see what the schedule and stops will be.

If it's at all possible I would recommend a flight from Athens to either Santorini or Rhodes. It will be less than 1 hour rather than maybe 7+ hours on a ferry.

Is it a pretty ride? Depends . . . you may stop at various islands along the way and get a view of their ports OR it could be a night or overnight ferry where you won't see anything but darkness!

Check out ferry schedules here, fill in the info to see what's available, times, etc.:

https://www.directferries.com/

Ferries all stop at various islands on the way to their final destinations. How many islands will depend on the ferry company and the route. How "pretty" the ride will be depends on the weather and time of day. For example, the ferries to Rhodes take between 16-24 hours. The 24-hour ferry stops here: MILOS - SANTORINI - ANAFI - KASSOS - KARPATHOS - DIAFANI - CHALKI - RHODES but some of these stops will be at night. You may be sleeping, or there won't be much at all to see. Most of the time you'll be in the open sea with nothing in sight. The fast ferries to Santorini take 5 hours and stop at a few islands, all during the daylight hours. Modern ferries are quite nice inside with lounges and restaurants. A ferry trip can be a pleasant ride. It just depends on your expectations and whether or not you prefer to take the time away from your time at your destinations. Something else to consider is that on some routes there is not a ferry every day so you will have to do some research to see if it's even available to you when you need it. www.gtp.gr

A flight from Athens to Rhodes takes about an hour. A flight to Santorini takes 30 minutes.

What you'll see is lots of open water and industrial ports. For me there is nothing about such a ferry ride that would make me choose one over flying.

So based on the replies I will probably skip the long ferries. I may still do the one from Santorini to Athens as one I looked at leaves early afternoon so an evening sunset on the water evening if it is open water would be pretty.

Any other advice?

The only "pretty" views arriving or departing Santorini will be close to the island, which from many others appears to be spectacular. However, once on the open sea that's exactly what you'll see . . . open sea.

One thing to remember when traveling from Point A to Point B is cost. Time is money on holiday . . . the more time you spend getting from one destination to another eats up not only time but money. If it all possible take a flight, especially for those long-distance islands like Piraeus to Santorini which can be excruciating on a ferry. If budget is more important than anything else then a ferry is your best option, but you'll be spending a lot of time on a ferry when you could spend less than 1 hour on a flight . . . not just to Santorini but many other distant islands.

If you can get to an island on a ferry within 4 hours it's a better option than a flight but anything more than that is better spent on a flight.

So based on the replies I will probably skip the long ferries. I may still do the one from Santorini to Athens as one I looked at leaves early afternoon so an evening sunset on the water evening if it is open water would be pretty.

Not so much if it's obscured by clouds! You don't say when you're going so clear sunny skies are not necessarily guaranteed.

I am going to be going in Greece April 29th - May 7th.

Something else to keep in mind when choosing a ferry is that the faster highspeed ferries have little or no outside deck space, so you may not be able to stand outside and watch the sunset from an open deck. That is, however, always possible from a conventional car ferry such as those operated by Blue Star and Hellenic Seaways. Also, the Sea Jets ferry company has two very small ferries, the SeaJet2 and the SuperJet, and they can bob in the water like corks if the seas are rough, so avoid them if at all possible.

Hello,

The highspeed ferries can be really shaky when the weather is windy. Once I went to Amorgos with one, omg, I totally lost it. It was as if we were flying above the waves. My body didn't like the experience much. Another time I went to Astypalea, booked a cabin for the night and it was great. It depends on how you like to travel. I love the Greek Ferries and the sun shining on deck. Also, in this way you get to see plenty of the other picturesque islands, good for your photo collection ;) I usually choose the conventional ferries to get the whole Greek summer experience. I am not so keen on taking the plane since most of the times we have to bring our car or motorcycle with. If you do not bring transportation then it might be better to catch a flight. However, have in mind that the taxi that takes you from the airport to your hotel might not be cheap... You could try the ferries by doing a bit of island-hopping to the closest destinations. Mykonos, Naxos, Paros, Ios, Anafi, and Amorgos are close to Santorini. If you are considering Rhodes, then the nearby islands include Halki, Symi, Tilos, Karpathos, Patmos, Leros.