Best Tours in Santorini

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Written By: Pavlos Inglesis

best tours in santorini

If you are looking for the Best Tours in Santorini, then our list here has them all!

One of the best things to do in Santorini is to book an amazing guided tour with an expert (or even local guide) that will explain to you everything that is related to your specific tour (cultural, natural or just a photography tour).

The truth is that Santorini is probably the place in Greece with the most organised and with the largest variety of tours: photography tours, cooking tours, volcano tours, boat tours, hiking tours, wine tours you name it!

REAL QUICK:

  • There are mainly 3 types of tours you can take in Santorini: boat tours, wine tours and island-overview tours

  • The best tour you can do alone is the famous hiking path between Fira-Oia (2.5 hrs of hiking…better do it early morning)

  • The best website to book a tour is Get Your Guide with hundreds of available tours that you actually have to book online

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🛏️ Booking.com is the website with the most available rooms and Private Villas in Athens, Santorini , Mykonos & Crete (more than Airbnb!)

⛴️ Ferryhopper is the best website to book your ferry tickets or check the timetables for Santorini, Mykonos , Crete & all greek islands

🏺 Get Your Guide has the best and largest variety of Tours in Athens and the greek islands (Santorini, Mykonos, Crete etc)

🚙 Rentalcars is the easiest way to rent a car or a quad for Greece with thousands of available options

✈️ Booking.com Flights has all the available flights to and from the greek islands

🚕 Book Your Driver (Taxi) directly with booking.com’s large and safe platform of available certified drivers

So, here are the best tours in Santorini that are all instantly bookable and verified:

1. Best Catamaran and Sailing Tours in Santorini

If you stay anything more than 2 nights in Santorini I highly recommend you do (at least) a 5 hr catamaran cruise. You really get the opportunity to see the island from a completely different perspective and if you love the sea you won’t be disappointed. The great thing about almost all catamaran tours in Santorini is that they offer food (amazing greek food…not just any food) and drinks on board! The prices range from around 50 euros to 150-200 euros depending on the food and the services (some of them can pick you up from your hotel).

Let’s take a look on the best catamaran and sailing tours that the island has to offer :

5-Hour Small Group Catamaran Cruise

This is a must. If you don’t get to do a boat tour while in Santorini then it’s like you haven’t even been to the island. You get the opportunity to swim at the famous Santorini volcano hot springs, do some snorkeling and also taste seafood and fresh fish while on board. The crew is fantastic and this is one of the most value-for-money experiences you can get in Santorini. The tour lasts 5 hours and if you do the afternoon one you will get to see the famous sunset too. BOOK IT HERE

The Santorini Sunset Catamaran Red Cruise

This is another amazing catamaran sailing tour in Santorini. The tour is similar to the one above but the boat is probably more impressive and the vibe is funner. The fantastic crew will take you to the famous Red Beach and also to a secluded White Beach to swim and snorkel. However you don’t get fresh fish on the boat but a selection of greek delicacies. This tour also lasts 5 hours. BOOK IT HERE

1-Day Boat Trip: Santorini Volcano, Thirassia & Oia Sunset

Another really good tour to the volcano and also the small cute little island of Thirassia which was part of Santorini before the volcano erupted. The tour is longer than the other ones and you don’t get food on board (that’s why it’s cheaper though). Tania your guide on board is very knowledgeable and helpful. This tour is 9 hours long. BOOK IT HERE

Catamaran Sunset Tour with Meal

You may pay a slightly higher price for this one but you do get a much more luxurius and unique experience with less people on board. These guys also come and pick you up from your hotel! The food on this 5 hrs cruise is probably the best of all the Santorini cruises! BOOK IT HERE

2. Best Wine Tours in Santorini

Santorini wine and Santorini wineries are amazing.

You are really missing out if you are not visiting a winery in Santorini or if you don’t try (at least) the amazing Assyrtiko variety of dry white wine.

But apart from just tasting the incredible wine or visiting just one winery there are some really good tours that can take you to different wineries at once, while giving you the opportunity to do some wine tasting on…steroids! Also, in most of these tours you will also visit the famous Santorini Wine Museum.

I prefer to call these amazing tours: Wine Tasting Roadtrips !

Let’s take a look on the wine tours of Santorini (you can always visit any of the wineries by yourself though but make sure you don’t drive obviously…:) ):

Santorini Half-Day Wine Adventure Tour

This is a 4.5 hrs tour. These guys can pick you up from your hotel and then take you to to 2-3 Santorini wineries while you will get the opportunity to explore the vineyards, learn about wine production in Santorini, do a wine tasting of about 9-12 different local and greek wines and also get the opportunity to see Santorini’s main land landscape. BOOK IT HERE

Santorini 4-Hour Sunset Wine Tour

I guess this one is one of the tours that can easily be the highlight of your trip to Santorini. A bit similar to the above wine tour , this is a 4 hr tour that will take you to 3 wineries where you will taste at least 9 different local wine varieties and your super cool guide will explain to you why wine production is a big deal for Santorini. Oh…I almost forgot…there is always a really yummy selection of snacks, cheeses and fruits to accompany your wines! And of course at the end you can buy any of the wine that you tasted at shops of the wineries. BOOK IT HERE

Santorini Cooking Class and Wine-Tasting Tour

Yes, yes and yes! This is a slighlty different but super interesting tour that will take you to learn the secrets of the greek cuisine from a professional greek chef along with a visit to 3 wineries where you will have the wine tasting. You will learn about the amazingly fresh ingredients of famous greek plates and of course you will eat what you cooked! You will also be given the opportunity to taste the famous Greek aperitifs ouzo and raki. I am not exaggerating here: this can also be one of the best days of your holidays in Santorini! Don’t miss it! BOOK IT HERE

3. Best Overall Tours in Santorini

If you are not really into wine or you are a bit afraid of sailing (or the weather is not actually allowing it…), Santorini has many more tours to offer with a variety of activities like hiking, photography, museum and cultural visits that will easily be the highlights of your trip to this amazing island. Here is a selection of the best of these tours:

Traditional Santorini Sightseeing Bus Tour with Oia Sunset

This a complete overall 10hr sightseeing tour of almost the whole island and it does include wine tasting. So, a bus picks you up from your hotel early morning and it takes you to the amazing Akrotiri ancient ruins (the one which is kind of like Pompeii), you then see the famous Red Beach, Perissa beach, Emporio village and you end up visiting Oia at sunset time. after of course visiting a few wineries for wine tasting. If you are in a rush and you don’t have that many days on the island this is the perfect value-for-money tour that will show you Santorini within a day! BOOK IT HERE

Best of Santorini Experience: 6-Hour Private Tour

This is a really unique private tour from some of the best guides on the island (not to say in Greece). We are talking about a private experience here with a very small group of people (max 6). You will visit Akrotiri, Imerovigli and Pyrgos towns while you will also be taken to the famous blue dome church of Santorini. You will also visit the Venetsanos winery where you will have wine tasting. I think this is the best private tour you can take in Santorini. Hands down! BOOK IT HERE

Highlights of Santorini: 5-Hour Photo Tour

You don’t really have to be a professional photographer to capture Santorini’s magnificent landscape beauty but what will happen if you actually be guided by a professional photographer on how to take amazing pics while in Santorini? There is only one way to learn! Take this amazing photography tour with Olaf (what a guy…) that will take you to some of Santorini’s best spots for amazing photographs. A trully unique and different experience. BOOK IT HERE

So…there you have them! The best tours in Santorini!

Santorini is probably the greek island with the best guided tours all over Greece and if you are relaly missing a lot if you don’t try at least one of them. A guided tour is the best option if you don’t have that many days on the island but you really want to grasp as many info about the place as possible. But if you really don’t want to do that , then you can just hire a car and try to visit some Santorini wineries by yourself (just try not to drink too much and drive…).

You can also visit all of the other areas by yourself but it will just take more time to be honest. Google maps is always your friend!  You can find all the famous places (Red Beach, White Beach, Akrotiri) with the GPS on Google Maps. Easy peasy!

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AUTHOR
Pavlos Inglesis
Greek, born and raised in Athens. I have been to almost every greek island and pretty much in every region of mainland Greece. I have also been eating souvlaki and gyros since the 80s. I love being a dad to my 2 beautiful daughters and also taking great photos of the places I visit. This is my blog to help you out explore the places I have visited with my inside tips as a Greek, knowing the ins and outs of my country and culture. Feel free to ask any questions in the comments section under the post you are interested in and I wIll try my best to respond asap.

🛏️ Booking.com is the website with the most available rooms and Private Villas in Athens, Santorini , Mykonos & Crete (more than Airbnb!)

⛴️ Ferryhopper is the best website to book your ferry tickets or check the timetables for Santorini, Mykonos , Crete & all greek islands

🏺 Get Your Guide has the best and largest variety of Tours in Athens and the greek islands (Santorini, Mykonos, Crete etc)

🚙 Rentalcars is the easiest way to rent a car or a quad for Greece with thousands of available options

✈️ Booking.com Flights has all the available flights to and from the greek islands

🚕 Book Your Driver (Taxi) directly with booking.com's large and safe platform of available certified drivers

SUBSCRIBE to my Youtube Channel for Updated Guides and Videos for the Greek Islands!

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