Choosing when to visit Santorini changes the trip more than choosing where to stay. The same island in May and in August is barely the same place, and the difference is not only crowd size. Here is the year, honestly.
April and May
The island wakes up through April. By May everything is open, the wildflowers are still out, the light is exceptionally clear, and Fira is walkable at midday.
The catch is the sea. It sits around 18 to 19 degrees in May, which is swimmable for the determined and unpleasant for everyone else. If the beach is the point of your trip, this is the wrong month.
June
Arguably the best all-round month. Long days, sea temperature climbing past 22 degrees, everything open, and the crowds not yet at their worst until the last week. Sunset falls close to 8.50pm, which stretches the evening usefully.
July and August
The peak, and it is severe. Daytime temperatures in the low to mid 30s with no shade on the caldera path, cruise ships stacked up in the bay, Oia impassable at sunset, and prices at their annual high.
The meltemi blows hardest now. It cools things down, which is welcome, and it also cancels ferries with little notice, which is not. Around 15 August the whole of Greece is moving at once and the island is at absolute capacity.
If these are your only possible weeks, plan around the ships: check which days have four or more in port and spend those inland or on a boat.
September
The best month, and it is not close. The sea reaches its annual warmest around 24 to 25 degrees after a full summer of heating, the wind usually calms, the crowds thin from the second week, and prices come down. The light is as good as May.
If you have any flexibility at all, come in September.
October
The first half is lovely and quiet, with the sea still warm and the island still fully functioning. From about the third week onwards hotels and restaurants begin shutting for the winter one by one, the ferry schedule thins to a fraction of its summer frequency, and the weather stops being something you can plan around.
November to March
Most hotels, restaurants and shops are shut. The island has a permanent population of around 15,000 and in winter it behaves like one. It rains, it can blow hard, and the ferry gets cancelled.
It is also completely empty, extremely cheap, and Oia at eight in the morning in February with nobody in it is a genuinely remarkable thing to see. Go with realistic expectations and a hire car.
Quick comparison
- Warmest sea: September, then August.
- Best light: May and late September.
- Fewest people: November to March, then April.
- Worst value: the first three weeks of August.
- Most reliable ferries: June and September.
What this page is
A seasonal travel guide. This agency works in Athens and Mykonos only and arranges nothing on Santorini in any month. For the capital, see Athens.
