Santorini Ins and Outs

You can do a hike up a mountain. I forget what the hike is called but you can do it on a tour. I would have loved to go to the ancient site of Akrotiri, but it was closed when we were there in 2008.

There is a hike between Fira and Oia that has views of the water the whole way. It is really beautiful. We stayed in Oia so did it the opppsite of direction. You get a better view going from Fira to Oia (with water on left). You can take a bus back.

By the water in Oia there is a man made cliff you can jump off on into the water. Our twenty something kids did that while we just swam in the water off the rocks.

All public transportation go from Fira so I would suggest you stay in that area if you don’t want to rent a car.

If you don't like crowds or renting car, I would try to dissuade you from going to Santorini. Late May / early June is the exact time we went and the crowds were WAY too much, at least for me. You can find areas of solitude, but then you wouldn't be seeing the popular things that people want to do when they go to Santorini.

And there is sporadic bus and taxi service on Santorini, but its unreliable and will only take you where the crowds are already going. To get to the areas of solitude, you would need a car.

Is it too late to pick a better island? Naxos is nearby and quite nice, I understand. Folegandros and Anafi are two others nearby that I've always wanted to go to.

U have very short visit -- 10 to 10.5 days & need to be very strategist to fit it al in. Also u need to research more on your own (not just YouTube videos); here's a useful Offical Greece website: https://www.visitgreece.gr/ plus 2 others with TONS of info: https://www.greecetravel.com/index.html -http://www.greektravel.com/greekislands/ If you do some homework - we can give tips & help u with itinerary but we are volunteers -- cannot provide a Course on Greece.

Here are key things that can affect advice: • are U wedded to Athens first? If u do it LAST, u don't use precious hours gong in/out of Big City 2x • Where fly from? (W coast w changes = looong journey, more jet lag) • Arrival time on May 26 (affects connection if we advise doing an island 1st) • Is this part of a longer trip & which part is first? • What is "family" (grandma? Teens? affects sked) • Have u already booked noncancellable lodgings? (than we can't suggest a possible better sequence). Did u pick islands mainly on internet photos? Santorini is a newcomer "must" but are u wedded to Paros?

Initial tips on SANTORINI (without knowing above): • ISLE from May on can be mobbed daily by up to 10,000 cruise-ship "armies" PLUS tour groups arriving via ferry & jumbo jets; fewest cruise ships from Fri 2pm - Mon AM. • DO-able in 2 days =Its mainly about "famous Caldera view" - not hiking, or shopping (except $$$) or beaches (they r black volcanic grit) • To enjoy & photograph the "calendar-fave" village of OIA, get there by 8 am, when cruise mobs enter at 10, get bus away. • good cliffside village w great views = Firostofani, walkable to main town, bypassed by tours.

For a 2nd island convenient to Santorini, I'd prefer Naxos to Paros because IMO better beaches more easily accessible by bus network; more interesting port town, greater variety of hiking available via bus, a very fertile island, w vineyards, farms, many interesting restaurants. Here's a visual sample from a top RS contributor, Naxophile & photo ace: https://www.flickr.com/photos/stanbr54/albums/72177720299943096/

THANK YOU EVERYONE!
Three of us are coming from California and one is New York. Not wedded to going to Athens first. We are dedicating a trip to visit Greece so it is not apart of another trip. My family is 26,28, 32 and 65. 65 year old is very active. We have not booked anything. We were deciding between Crete and Santorini but was pushed away from Crete.
One of my family members wants to visit paros.

We love to go to the beaches, hike, try new food and shop. Possibly do
a cooking class

You're better off avoiding Santorini if that's what you're looking for.

Beaches:

The few famous beaches on Santorini are made of black sand and dark pebbles, they're hotspots for Instagrammers rather than swimmers. Plus, they can be difficult to access. The famous Red Beach that everyone wants to visit is officially closed to the public due to the risk of cliff rockfalls. The beaches on the east coast are as generic as they come, the kind you find along any Mediterranean shoreline. No need to go all the way to Greece for that.

Hike:

There are a few hikes other than the famous Fira-to-Oia trail, which is actually just a 10-kilometer path running alongside villages and luxury hotels. In high season, it's packed. In the shoulder season, there are still plenty of people, including quite a few of what I call "flip-flop hikers." To get some peace and quiet, you have to head out very early in the morning (before 8:00 AM), which also helps you avoid the harsh sun.

Shop:

Santorini welcomes over 3 million visitors a year (for 15,000 permanent residents), so 90% of the stores you'll see sell trinkets for tourists and cruise ship passengers, while the others sell some local artisanal goods (which you can find for half the price on other islands).

Food:

In Santorini the food is identical to the other Greek islands, but much more expensive. That said if you're a wine lover Santorini wine is world-renowned. You can visit wineries and do wine tastings. There's also a tomato museum!

You didn't mention history, an important archaeological site on Santorini is the Minoan city of Akrotiri, which is worth a visit.

To sum it up, when it comes to beaches, hiking, and food, Paros, where you also seem to want to go, is a much better spot.
Naxos could also be an option, although I don't entirely agree with Janet regarding beach accessibility by bus, unless you're only comparing 3 or 4 beaches out of the around 25 to 30 available.

The big problem with Paros is that there are too many French people. :-)

Jo Lui, yes there are many beaches on Paros ... but OP has said they do NOT want to rent a car, and was trying to suggest according to that. For those without a car, the best beaches in Naxos (4, all sandy) are easier to reach by more frequent busses at least in late May, than is the case in Paros, where u must take different bussses from Parikia for the most part.

Janet, I forgot to mention that since the concept of "best" is subjective, assuming equal bus accessibility, it all depends on whether you factor in the crowds, the sand, the width of the beach, the shade, the wind, available activities like windsurfing or kitesurfing, which might appeal to 28–32-year-olds, paid sunbeds or not, bars, services, atmosphere, etc.

Based on my personal criteria, in Naxos Agios Prokopios, Agios Georgios, and Agia Anna, which are close to Naxos Town on bus line 1, are the worst beaches in Naxos. The ones past Plaka start to get better. With line 3, you can reach what I consider to be the best beaches: Kastraki, Mikri Viglia if the OP wants to windsurf or kitesurf, Glifada, Pyrgaki, and beyond.

As for Paros, since the bus network is just as good, if not better than Naxos given the size of the island, all the beaches on the east coast are very easily accessible by multiple bus lines on a similar schedule to the Naxos lines, roughly from 8:00 AM to 7:00 PM in June. Again, it all comes down to how you enjoy the beaches

If needed, for both islands, I can provide the bus schedules, bus stops, and beach locations for different times of the year.

So, as I was saying, it's an overall comparison, not just based on 3 or 4 beaches.

If you are looking for a quieter beach holiday in Santorini, several years ago we really enjoyed Perissa (see photos here: https://www.greeka.com/cyclades/santorini/beaches/perissa/ ). It's a black sand beach away from the main town and was very quiet when we stayed, which was in late August/early September. It has the usual sunbeds, places to eat, etc. We stayed there for four nights and had a wonderful time. The sand can get quite hot but it was a lovely spot for swimming etc.

Note that Perissa and its beach are accessible by bus only from the capital, Fira. The bus stop in Perissa is located at the far northern end of the beach area. Any bus travel to or from Perissa will require passing through Fira.

For a taxi or private transfer, expect to pay at least €35 per trip. Taxis in Santorini do not use meters. Be aware that transfer services may quote a price per passenger.