Santorini advice

We recently stayed for 5 nights on Santorini. We hired a private driver to give us a sightseeing tour of the island and then another day we did a wine tour. There are 21 wineries on Santorini, who knew? Anyways, we also enjoyed the ancient ruins of Akrotiri. Ask your hotel for driver recommendations.

We booked a private tour with Kostas, which was very enjoyable. He was very easy to work with as together we designed a tour that focused on our interests. Highly recommend! https://santorini-private-guide.com/

We enjoyed the ancient ruins at Akrotiri, too! Would you be willing to rent a car? We rented a car for a day, and we visited Akrotiri, red sand beach, black sand beach, and had lunch at black sand beach. If you hire a private driver, ask him/her to stop at these places.

We used Santorini Wine Tours in 2024. We did a wine and Akrotiri tour. It’s worth a look. Not inexpensive, but split 4 ways would work. https://www.winetoursantorini.com/all-tours/ancient-akrotiri-and-santorini-wineries-tour/

Please note that any tour guide of any actual archeological tour (Akrotiri, Delos, Delos, etc.) requires a separate licensed guide.

We also did a 2 night stay in Mykonos (stayed in town square), just to make sure we could go to Delos. The boat to Delos is just steps away. We didn’t want to chance a ferry from Naxos. Delos was too important to us. Mykonos was fun in town.

Meant Delphi needs licensed guide in addition to driver.

hey hey cpo
just something to think about: how many cruise ships will be in port which adds thousands more people to the island during the day. book any activities early, not knowing what cruisers will be hoping to do. been there, not my favorite, it was so so so crowded "bumper to bumper", go with the flow and enjoy it. we found a small hole in the wall restaurant above caldera away from the crowds. it was really nice and good food.
cruisemapper.com
cruise schedule, click & search port, scroll down to october 2026, look at your date to see how many ships in port.
getyourguide.com
a reseller like viator, look what interests you, scroll to bottom of page to see who offers activity and search direct website. we have used them in a few other european cities without any issues. people either love it or hate it.
greecetravel.com

(matt barrett's greece guides santorini) scroll down to the index and investigate
just some other options for you and the gang can check out. have a fabulous time and eat good. enjoy
aloha

Last October, we had an amazing private tour with Ioannis and the team at IGoHellas. Everything was perfectly organized, and Ioannis was incredibly knowledgeable, friendly, and attentive throughout the experience. We truly enjoyed every moment and would highly recommend IGoHellas to anyone looking for a memorable and personalized tour in Greece!
https://www.tripadvisor.com/AttractionProductReview-g482942-d20282179-Santorini_Private_Tailor_Made_Tour_Oia_Blue_Domes_Hidden_Gems-Fira_Santorini_Cycla.html

It would be helpful if contributors could not just praise particular licensed guides, but also give some idea of the fee charged ... since the OP mentions several tours, they must be financially OK, but giving the fee information would make the info helpful for others on a tighter budget. Just being thoughtful.