Santorini Itinerary

Hopefully by now you've received the answers you seek in your duplicate postings on TA, VT and Fodors.

Hi, and congratulation on celebrating your marriage with a romantic trip at a lovely time of year!
I saw your message on Trip Advisor and would agree with the responses by frequent Greece travelers like myself and Greeks with experience in the travel industry (Mariha, whom I know personally and is a Fount of Knowledge). My comments (and I'm being frank because this is an important trip to get right)
(1) CHANGE - Changing hotels, really is waste of time in such a short visit. (
2) LOCATION - if you have not locked in a nonreturnable deposit, you might reconsider staying in Imervogli. Yes, there are lovely views, but unless you plan to rent a car the entire time, you may feel rather isolated; Imervogli is limited in its cafes & tavernas and has no nightlife, and is really not in easy walking distance either FIra or Oia (see this map: http://mapsof.net/map/thira-island-santorini-map). Perhaps you're doing 1/2 Imervogli 1/2 Oia because of the higher price of an Oia hotel. Have you taken a look at the upscale hotels, with pools, in Firostephani??? They have gorgeous views of sunsets and caldera, are an easy 15-minute stroll to Fira town, many honeymooners have praised them to me. Look at Dana Villas, Mill Houses, Villa Ilias. One nice aspect of this locale is that u can enjoy Fira nightlife, and walk back, no need for taxi or driving.
(3) SUNSETS - You can enjoy these best, IMHO, if you reserve a restaurant/cafe table in advance, rather than standing squshed in the rimside path crowd. Brochures & TV shows always hype the Oia sunset; personally I've enjoyed fine sunsets in a cafe or on a roof terrace in many sites on the caldera -- In my experience, the sun sets in the west everywhere, not just in one place.

(3) CRUISE vs DRIVE - I'd wait to decide about this until u get there ... the plus of a day's car rental is that you can explore all over the isle; Akrotiri & the red beach, quiet inland villages, yes the black beaches, but ALSO drive up nearly to the top of the Bluff that is the site of Ancient Thira -- a great place for a picnic, with absolutely stunning view in all directions. BTW, to keep your options open about possible car rental, it's good to stop by your local AAA for 20 minutes & pick up an International Driver Permit (no test or anything, just show your license & pay them $20).
... Happy planning, and enjoy your FIRST trip to Greece (you'll be back!)... TJ

For visiting a relatively small Greek island, I'd say there's next to nothing that you need to decide in advance. That's the point of it. I also would not move between two hotels.

Thanks Janet that was really helpful.

And any idea about blue star open deck ferry?? i mean if i skip that while coming from paros to santorini will i missing out on a lot of good views?

can i make up for that with a sunset cruise ride in santorini?

Any suggestion is welcome

Avirupg -- what's this about Paros??? (Grrr why don't people tell us full detais to start with so we're operating with the facts). WHERE are you starting from, to arrive on Santorini? Athens? Athens Airport? Paros? the Moon? please share ...

i will be starting from mykonos.
from mykonos i got 2 options either a direct ferry to santorini or i change from naxos/paros to avail the open deck blue star ferry.
My question was is it worth it to change ferries just for the sake of approaching caldera view or instead if i take santorini sunset cruise ride it will suffice.

Going to Santorini for the very first time and entering the caldera from the open deck of a ferry is a once-in-a-lifetime honeymoon memory. Yes, a sunset cruise will give you the same views but they won't be for the first time. It's a different experience. And if you take the morning ferry from Mykonos to Paros you will actually be catching an earlier ferry from Paros to Santorini than if you took the faster ferry all the way from Mykonos to Santorini, meaning you will arrive at Santorini at an earlier hour.