Santorini is one of the more expensive places to visit in Greece. The Cyclades-style white-washed homes, blue dome churches, paved pathways, sunset views, restaurant culture, and 5-star luxury hotels make Santorini a top travel destination for people worldwide.
Major touristy destinations are not really my thing. But I wanted to visit Santorini before I even knew just how popular Instagram would make it. I saw one photo of the white-washed homes at sunset and Santorini was on my bucket list back in the late 2000s. Once I learned it was so expensive, I was determined to spend as little as possible.
As I previously wrote about my Greece trip, I was not trying to save like I normally do when I travel. I was splurging after 2.5 years of no international travel. I was also not traveling solo which meant being a little more carefree in my spending. Nevertheless, I managed to strike a balance between enjoying myself and saving. I had a great time, covered a lot of territory, and experienced all I wanted to over 3 days and 2 nights in Santorini for just over $550 total.
Island Hopping
The good thing about my trip to Santorini was that I was already in the area. I was coming from Crete which is about 125 miles South of Santorini.
There are two main ways of getting from island to island in Greece: Ferry or Flight.
I looked into a ferry at first. I thought the experience would be preferable to taking another flight. The cost and the difficulty getting to the ferry turned out to be prohibitive. The cost was more than a flight at the time and the only option was a departing from a different port than Chania. Rethymno was the closest ferry going between Crete and Santorini. Rethymno was an hour drive from where we were staying in Chania.
We ended up taking an Aegean Airlines flight from Chania back to Athens (50 minutes flight time) then to Santorini from there (45 minutes flight time) for about $131 each. This is one of those short little flights where points or points transfers were not possible to cover the cost. So I bit the bullet and paid full price!
If I planned this trip again, I would take a ferry to Athens from Chania then to Santorini. This might have cost much less than our flight and we would have had a little ferry adventure mixed in!
Bus Travel
Two great features of Santorini is that it is small and there is an efficient bus system. This meant we did not have to rent a car to experience the island.
Bus fare was always between €1.60 and €2.80 for a one-way ticket between the various stops on the island.
The drivers prefer exact change and will sometimes prioritize people boarding who have exact change over you if you are scrounging around for coins.
We were staying in Thira which is pretty central to the island and hosts the central bus station. The airport to Fira cost €1.80. I went between Oia and Fira three times for €1.80 each way and I went between Akrotiri for €2.00 twice.
So, in total, I spent about $10 on bus fare.
Villa Stay For 2 Nights
I started exploring places to stay in Santorini quite late in the game. People book travel to Santorini a year in advance. I tried to keep my options open and explore all different types of accommodation. First of all, I knew I wanted to be in Fira, close to the central bus station where everything would stay lively late into the night.
Couchsurfing options were definitely there and there are also hostels in Santorini which would be a great option particularly for solo travelers. But Carolina and I were looking for something a little more private and relaxing!
I began my search by looking into what it would cost to stay at a major hotel. At hundreds of dollars a night, I looked into using points for a hotel stay. But this would require hundreds of thousands of points I did not have!
Views of Aenaon Villas and San Antonio Hotel
Scratching hotel stays off my list, I moved on to Airbnb options. I immediately saw that to make an Airbnb stay worth it, I was going to have to start paying near-hotel level prices. Otherwise, I would have been forced to sacrifice on quality and many of the features I was after. This was not my experience searching for an Airbnb stay in Chania!
Using a combination of Google maps search and hotels.com, I narrowed my options to smaller, family-owned Boutique stays. My price-range of $75-$150 a night max produced a lot of very cave-like rooms. Yes, cave-style accommodation is the thing in Santorini! I wasn’t feeling it especially when it meant sacrificing on quality or overpaying.
I mean, I would have LOVED to be in one of the luxury cave suites with a sunset pool overlooking the caldera. But these spots get sold out at least a year in advance or otherwise start at $500 per night!
Alas, I had to adjust expectations. I knew I wasn’t going to get the views I wanted. The other features I wanted were an apartment-style, updated space with a big bed, kitchen/dinette, lots of light, a modern feel, and—if we could swing it—either pool access or an in-room jacuzzi. I knew I wasn’t going to get the views I wanted with all of that. But I did find a villa stay like it just a 5-minute walk from all the views and action in Fira.
San Constantino Boutique Villa is where we stayed for two nights. The owner and local Santorinian, Alex, gave us a personal touch with recommendations on things to do and restaurants to go to. All of his suggestions were exceptional, making this a major, priceless part of our stay.
The room was updated and beautiful with a brand new, luxurious shower and separate jacuzzi—perfect for our aches and pains leftover from the Samaria hike.
I really loved this stay! It was absolutely perfect for 2 luxurious nights in Santorini for the low cost of $198 per night. Split between Carolina and I meant we only paid $99 per night each! This felt like the right price for what we were getting in expensive Santorini.
Food & Drinks For 2.5 Days
The first place we went to after checking into our Villa was the grocery store. We needed to buy water (because the water is filtered, salty, ocean water on Santorini) and some snacks for daytime and breakfast. We didn’t need much for just a couple of days so we spent less than $20 at Sklaventitis supermarket in Fira.
The rest of our expenses went to other meals, including 1 major splurge meal. You can really get carried away with the food in Santorini. There is a lot of outrageously good eating and drinking and some restaurants have top chefs serving extremely expensive cuisine. Make sure to check prices ahead of time and don’t get caught up like we did on one occasion!
We went to a restaurant named Catch in Oia. This spot was recommended to me by another traveler and it wasn’t until we were already sitting and absolutely ravenous that we realized the price tag. That turned out to be a $150 meal but we told ourselves it was worth it (and it really was so good!).
Without spending so much on that meal, our cost for food and drink actually wouldn’t be so bad. But the total split between us was about $175 spent on dining out over 7 meals. That’s about $25 on average per meal.
Volcano Tour & Other Activities
I decided not to SCUBA dive in Santorini. I didn’t have enough time and my research into the diving there did not produce much that looked interesting to me. So I made a hard pass!
Instead, we opted for a unique activity for Santorini. I rarely hear about people visiting the Kameni Volcano at the center of the island’s caldera. This felt like a unique adventure that we couldn’t pass up. The tour ticket was about $25 and there was a $5 entry fee into the park once there. This activity was totally worth the cost for all that we got which included a boat ride, hot spring swim, and hike to the volcano.
All other activities were free aside from bus fare. I hiked form Fira to Oia for no cost. I also explored all of Oia, watched the famous sunset there, swam in a special location, visited the Red Beach, and wandered Akrotiri. Self-guided touring the island was incredibly fulfilling and no cost at all.
Altogether Now
Bringing all of the expenses together brought my total, individual cost to just over $550. For one of the most expensive islands in Greece and most popular world travel destinations, I consider this to be a pretty good final cost. Especially considering the place we stayed, the food we ate, and the sites we saw.
In the end I would not recommend staying longer than 2-3 nights in Santorini. Not only is it overpriced, by the 3rd day I felt we had exhausted our time there as adventure travelers. This island is all about eating, drinking, and relaxing in luxury. That’s great for some people but I was feeling overwhelmed by the number of tourists and I was ready to see something new!
If you’re like me, then don’t spend much more time or money than you need to. You’ll have an amazing stay by keeping it short and making some balanced choices for your budget.
