Hello, We are 6 adults staying on Crete 9/2-9/6 hoping to travel to Santorini or Paros next. Is it better to fly out of Chania back to Athens and then onto Santorini or travel the two hours to Herklion and then take the ferry to Santorini? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Posted by
11558 posts
Ferry to Santorini from CRETE.
Posted by
Camarillo, California
3147 posts
Check the Aegean Airlines website for flight times and pricing. Check here for ferry times and pricing: www.gtp.gr
On June 9 I'm seeing a 09:45 filght departure from Chania that only takes about 2.5 hours to reach Santorini and the price is reasonable, €119. This is the one I would do. There's a cheaper one for €98 that leaves at 06:25 but it means an extra 2-hour layover in Athens.
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
15998 posts
The visual spectacle of arriving inside the Santorini caldera by boat is a lifetime experience that nobody should miss if given a chance.
Additionally the high speed boats from Crete take only 2 hours (1h55min) to get to Santorini, therefore they are even faster than a direct non stop flight, once you factor in the check in and security procedures. If you have to go to Athens first, then forget it. Flying will take 3 times the boat. I would consider flying only if you are already near Chania airport and the flight is direct non stop from Chania to Santorini (no layovers). In that case flying would be slightly faster than a ferry since ferries depart from Heraklion.
There are several companies operating ferries from Crete to Santorini. Use SEAJETS company which operates high speed jet boats. They are super comfortable and they basically fly a few inches over the water at very high speeds. If the sea is calm, you won’t even feel you are on a boat.
https://www.seajets.gr
The one way price is under 50€ per person.
Posted by
Nanaimo, BC, Canada
1438 posts
There are no direct flights Crete to Santorini. Your only option is to take the ferry from either Heraklion or Sat and Tuesday from Rethymnon. Since the ferries depart relatively early it probably means spending the night in Heraklion. It appears from the ferry schedule you will arrive Santorini around 10:30am at a cost of just less than 100 euros for two.
The suggestion of flying to Athens and connecting a second flight on to Santorini will be more expensive and won't get you into Santorini any earlier than the ferry. So the only reason why you might choose to fly is if you simply don't want to spend the night in Heraklion.
We have however on one occasion departed Chania on the 6am flight connected in Athens and flew to Rhodes. We were in our hotel by 11;00 AM. The ferry trip was 12 hours so the flight option was a far superior choice in that instance.