Breathtaking Santorini Day Trip from Crete: White-Washed Isles

Really well organised trip got on ferry and was told what bus to catch at destination for our guided trip around the island of Santorini.

The day trip was very well organised through Crete Tours, no complaint with the company that took us,Santorina was a bit blah🙁We were picked up from our hotel in Stalis at 6:20am by air conditioned coach a few pick ups on route to ferry. We then collected our tickets for the Sea Jet -worth noting that it is allocated seating so no rush to find your seat. The ferry very clean and comfortable. There was a light swell in the sea and I mean light. many people's started being sick literally! Babys and children crying. It was like a domino effect once one started lots of passengers followed, the staff had their work cut out to rush around giving out sick bags ! I don't know what it would be like if it was rough! Once we arrived on Santorini it was back on a coach to take us to Oia -where the blue domed churches are, up a very steep winding road - not for the faint hearted this was more stressful than the boat ! Think the film Italian Job where the bus hangs off the cliff. We then had to endure more sickness on the coach from yet another small child. Oia was very pretty if you don't mind squishing through crowds of people all hoping to get a photo in front if the "famous " blue domes. Not enough time to just chill have a drink and wander about. One and hour hour here. Think swimming up stream like salmon but the salmon going in all directions. We then got back on the coach to Fira one and half hour here, again very crowded . Paid 10 euros for a yoghurt and 4.50 euros for a Coke but by now I'd given up! I would imagine Sanorini is very pretty in the evenings when us day trippers and the 4 cruise ships including one that looked like a sky a scrapper had left. Our guide told us 15 thousand residents on the island that doubles with tourists and cruise ships in ! Back on the coach down the steep winding hill to the ferry then being hearded onto an open back ferry with staff shouting move quick,quick with a wistle blowing, all that was needed was a couple of vicious dogs barking at us and I would of thought I had been arrested and was being transported to a prison. Litteraly they closed the huge door on the shop as the last person stepped on and off we set whilst we were herded up the stairs and told to sit ! My advice is to fly and stay for a few days and get better experience. Please do not consider this trip as a family with children in tow it is long it is hot and it is non stop. As the photos show a pretty island but other Greek islands are prettier, friendlier and nicer, buy a postcard and keep the dream as its better than the reality. I've added one of the packed streets which is what you won't see on a brochure.

Roland was hands down the best tour guide we could have gotten. He was friendly, funny, gave us insight on Greek history and vocabulary as well as giving us recommendations on where to eat with the best prices. Definitely made the day very pleasant.

Highly recommend! Just read if the transfer picks up at your hotel. They messaged me that they didn’t so we drove to the port & parked, it was super simple. Getting our boat ticket was super easy! I loved that it was informative on the bus and then we were left by ourselves when we got to the two cities. I loved it all. We are so happy we did this day trip. We went in may so it wasn’t super crowded.

Alex also picked us up from our hotel to take us to the airport on the day of our departure. He was attentive, polite and very professional.

Beautiful visit to Santorini - got lost 3 times despite the guide advising us we couldn’t get lost 😂😂 a lot of time on buses, boats but worth it to tick Santorini off on the bucket list ❤️

A tiring day with an early start and late return but worth the effort. Ferry was excellent if a bit chaotic getting tickets in long queues so allow plenty of time to sort. Journey over was pleasant enough and passed quite quickly. All well organised with bus numbers and explanations by the crew so you know what to expect when you arrive. Our guide Yannis and driver were absolutely fantastic. Our safety and security were paramount which was excellent to see. Our guide was so friendly and knowledgeable getting us back to ferry just on time under difficult busy conditions. A beautiful busy day. Would recommend.

We got to the port for 7am first in line and they couldn’t find our name on the list so told us to wait aside until the queue had ended.. this was a very long line. I contacted the tour operator after 20+ minutes not really any resolution. Eventually 10mins before the boat was due to depart we were given a ticket and a reply came back from the tour operator to ask how we were getting along and then 8.30 we did receive a call from the tour operator. We used Viator many times in many countries, this is our worst experience, plenty of tour companies we can use in the future

Place was wonderful the tour was rushed the guide entertained but many of his historical facts were wrong. Value for money the ferry cost €13:50 the island is 26 miles long a good Google and a few taxis would have been better and much cheaper

Absolutely incredible experience. Amazing way to experience Santorini if you have limited time in Greece. I was in Crete Heraklion so great way to experience Santorini. The ferry (2h from Heraklion to Santorini) was a little old and queues to buy food etc on the ferry was very long. But you forget all that once you’re in beautiful Santorini. Tour guides were really great too.