Wondering if places will be closed down on the islands in early October.
We are thinking of ending our trip on Santorini October 4th - 6th and visiting other islands before this. Possibly, Naxos, Paros and Milos.
Is this too late in the year?
Thank you!
I have traveled numerous time early to mid October on islands and parts of the mainland and find more than enough to keep me happy.
While I've never been to Santorini I would assume they'll be shops, markets and tavernas open as it's still a major draw even off season.
Just because one travels off season doesn't mean Greece shuts down as they'll always be services available for locals which in the end may provide you with a more Greek experience rather than a tourist experience.
May not be good information. But about ten years ago or so we wanted to hit Santorini mid to late Oct and found a lot of stuff closed. Even the airline schedule changed on Oct 15 to more limited services. I am guessing you would be OK in first half but I would double check everything as the tourist season is winding down. Good luck.
Thru Oct. 24, 2026, there are up to 4 cruise chips a day at Santorini. on the 4th, 2 ships; on the 5th, 4 ships; on the 6th, 1 ship (with 4000+ passengers).
Thank you everyone for your responses. Happy to hear that October is not too late, but not happy to learn about all the cruise ships on Santorini October 4th - 6th. I appreciate that information. May have to rethink our itinerary.
hey hey loriwiese
i don't really think places will be closed, it's toward the end of high season cruising in the greek islands and it's harvest season for wine & olive oil, parties/festivals/parades. not only cruisers but people sailing or flying in which adds up the crowds to thousands plus many wanting to see the same activities/attractions.
maybe 10 years ago we did a greek island cruise from venice, one stop was santorini and it had 6 ships in port!!! total nightmare, don't need to go there again. it's a tendered port, long lines to go up cable car or walk up steps with donkeys and donkey poo. pushing and shoving/grumpy/peasy people/ packed like sardines walking down walkways hoping they had deodorant/mouth spray, restaurants packed/can't get into shops then the craziness back to ship. more unruly people. ships get in early and some stay till 9-10pm, an all day affair. we went opposite, into a church, down to some neighbors homes, mom & pop small restaurant for late lunch over the caldera, was so nice away from the crowds.
cruisemapper.com
site to check where cruise ships are. click unselect all ships, click ports, search port name, scroll to month 2026, click ships in port scroll down to see capacity and sometimes an OMG moment (could be 15,000-20,000 people) if you want to stay away from crowds, pick another island, we liked corfu and crete, was there for a day but did private taxi tour to see many parts of island.
good luck and have a great time
aloha
Hi. Anyone thinking of visiting Santorini, maybe Rhodes town or Corfu town too, might find this Cruise Mapper site of use. It enables you to check how many cruise ships will be in port on certain dates. It will no doubt be updated at times so best refresh the link before making specific plans…..
Keep in mind that what you see of Santorini on Instagram or in brochures is just the tip of the iceberg.
See for yourself in pictures.
We went to Santorini in early October 8 years ago and it was filled with people. I asked one of our servers when the season got quiet and he said not until November. We paired it with Milos which was much quieter with a few restaurants closed in Pollonia but still plenty of places open- loved both islands!
The last time we went (2024) it was late October, stayed in Akrotiri & it was still busy enough there, Fira was very busy when we went there on our last day to visit the museum before going home.
Thanks again everyone! Appreciate all of the useful information and experiences. we are looking forward to our first visit to Greece.
We had our first trip to Greece last October, 2025, and it was perfect.
The cruise ship mapper was a great help with our planning, particularly in Santorini.
We were in Naxos from 15th to 19th, Santorini 19th to 22nd and Rhodes Old town from 22nd to 27th. We had no problems with things being closed, except for one restaurant on Naxos. Luckily there were plenty of other options.
