10 Oct 2023
My wife and I visited Santorini for a week in Oct ‘16 and recently (Oct’23) did the day trip with friends who had not been to the island.
Whilst the boat and coaches are quite well organised and comfortable, it is a long day, 14 hours from hotel pick up to drop off and out of those you will be either sitting in the boat or a coach for about 10 hours; the remaining 4 hours will either be given to ‘sightseeing’ herded around by an uninterested ‘guide’ or eating in a mediocre restaurant they recommend and probably get commission from.
Oia and Fira are unfortunately the two most commercialised (and expensive) towns on Santorini and you will very likely be visiting them together with literally thousands of other day trippers from boat excursions and cruise liners.
At the time of our visit to Oia, the coach park must have had 30+ coaches in it, it’s alleyways we’re teaming with day trippers and you had to queue, 10 deep, to take photos of the views. The experience was manic, unpleasant and not the way to enjoy what Santorini has to offer.
We overheard a fellow day tripper on the boat back to Rethymno saying ‘ well that has made up my mind, I shall certainly not bother visiting Santorini again’, what a sorry impression to leave.
Santorini is a totally unique, stunning and interesting place to visit and offers so much more than a quick, crowded glimpse of Oia and Fira can offer.
My advise would be, if you can, don’t bother with a day trip, your hard earned cash would be much better spent visiting Santorini for a few days at your leisure and experiencing Oia and Fira when all the day trippers have left.