There are between 5 and 6 Naxos to Santorini ferry services every day during the summer tourist season. This travel information is the updated 2021 guide on booking ferries from Naxos to Santorini online. Contains ferry schedules, tips, and advice.
Ferries from Naxos to Santorini
Naxos and Santorini are less than a couple of hours apart by ferry. This makes them both ideal destinations to be included on a Greek island hopping itinerary. It also makes visiting Santorini from Naxos a perfectly viable day trip.
This guide aims to give you all the information you need on planning how to get from Naxos to Santorini. It's actually one of the simplest ferry trips in Greece!
I recommend using Ferryhopper to book Greek ferry tickets online. Their website is easy to use and reliable.
Check it out here: Ferryhopper
With the way ferry schedules go in summer 2022, visiting Naxos from Santorini is a perfectly viable day trip. Visiting Santorini from Naxos on a day trip is also possible.
In my opinion, you should plan to spend at least one night in Santorini.
Why visit Naxos?
Naxos is one of the most upcoming Greek destinations. With stunning beaches, lovely villages, great food, and a fantastic Chora, it is ideal for a relaxing holiday in Greece.
Whether you are travelling with friends, your other half or your family, it’s hard to not like Naxos.
I often recommend Naxos as an alternative to Mykonos for people planning a trip to Greece. It's far more authentic than Mykonos, and Naxos is a really good destination for family vacations in Greece.
There is also a fair amount of nightlife, minus the Mykonos prices.
The best way to get from Naxos to Santorini
Many visitors combine Naxos with some other Greek islands, one of them being Santorini. I often get asked about the best way to get from Naxos to Santorini, and so created this guide.
The very very short answer to what is the best way to get from Naxos to Santorini is: By ferry.
This is because there are no direct flights between the islands. Hence, the only practical way to travel between Naxos and Santorini is by ferry.
Naxos to Santorini Ferry Information
Now you know you need to get a boat, the next question is which one?
The best ferry from Naxos to Santorini depends on what is more important for you – time or money.
Boat prices range a lot. For example, whilst it is possible to get from Naxos to Santorini in just over an hour, it is also possible to get there in a couple of hours, having spent just half the money.
In this article, we have listed all possible ferries from Naxos to Santorini in 2020.
Depending on which month you are travelling, you will find that not all of the ferries mentioned in this article are running. This is because more ferries are added in peak months, July and August.
You can also find details of exact ferry times and book your ferry tickets here: Naxos ferry times
Ferry from Naxos to Santorini
Checking routes and buying boat tickets from Naxos to Santorini can be done very easily on a third-party provider, https://www.ferryhopper.com/en/.
Here, you can find itineraries for most boats in Greece, along with the full itineraries and prices, which makes it very easy to compare.
Like for most ferry schedules in Greece, there are different types of ferries going from Naxos to Santorini. The fastest ones take just over an hour, while the slowest ones take a maximum of 2 hours 15 minutes. All things considered, the ferry ride isn’t really that long.
Ticket prices vary accordingly, from 23 euro for the slower ferries, to 43 euro for the fast boats, but there are also cabins and VIP seats that cost a lot more. If you have children or have an ISIC card, check out for discounts.
Getting from Naxos to Santorini on Blue Star Ferries
We have described the Blue Star Ferries in detail in this article – How to get from Athens to Santorini. They are large boats, carrying both passengers and vehicles, and offering all amenities such as restaurants, cafes, etc.
Depending on the time of year, Blue Star Patmos and possibly Blue Star Delos travel daily from Naxos to Santorini, taking a couple of hours.
Note – As those ferries are coming all the way from Piraeus with stops at other islands, they might be delayed on occasion.
There are several types of tickets, with the cheapest option (deck, with no designated seat) costing 23 euros.
I would totally recommend paying an extra 3 euros to get a designated airplane seat, as there will already be several people sitting on the deck and you might not be able to find a seat.
There are business and cabin options too, though for such a short trip they are probably not worth it.
If you want to travel from Naxos to Santorini with the Blue Star Ferries in 2019, you will be boarding the Blue Star Delos or Blue Star Patmos.
This is their website www.bluestarferries.com
For 2020, Blue Star Ferries are also offering a faster option. Flying Cat 3 will get you to Santorini in one and a half hours, with a stop at Ios.
This is a much smaller vessel, and some people may find it a little claustrophobic. At the same time, it’s a good choice if you want to depart late in the evening.
At the time of writing, Blue Star Ferries don’t offer an e-ticket option. This means that you can reserve your ticket on Ferryhopper, but will have to collect it from Naxos port at any point before your departure.
Getting from Naxos to Santorini on the Hellenic SeaJet ferries
If time is your main issue, you can choose to travel on some of the SeaJet boats. For summer 2020, there are five SeaJets going from Naxos to Santorini.
Two of them, SuperJet and SeaJet2, stop at Koufonissia and Amorgos first, so they take quite a long time. As such, they are not the best choice for the Naxos – Santorini itinerary.
The best SeaJet options from Naxos to Santorini are World Champion Jet, Champion Jet 2 or Paros Jet. These are all large high-speed ferries, able to carry passengers as well as cars.
These ferries will take you from Naxos to Santorini in 1-1.5 hours. Unlike the Blue Star Ferries, there is no deck option here, but you get a designated seat. The base fare costs 43 euro, and almost doubles if you want a VIP seat.
SeaJets offer e-ticket options, which means that you can book your ticket and either print it yourself or store it on your mobile phone. You can check out their ferries here
Check out the SeaJet boats here https://www.seajets.gr/learn-about-seajets/fleet
Getting from Naxos to Santorini on the Golden Star ferries
The Golden Star ferries are another company, operating two ferries from Naxos to Santorini, Superrunner and Superexpress. Both these ferries are large, with vehicle capacity, and they take one and a half hours to reach Santorini.
Standard tickets start at 27 euros for the Superrunner and 37 for the Superexpress. There are also VIP tickets costing around 50 euro. These seats are all indoors, and there is no deck option. E-tickets are available, so you don’t need to pick them up from the port.
You can check the Golden Star Ferries here https://goldenstarferries.gr/en/our-fleet/
Buying boat tickets from Naxos to Santorini – Which company to choose?
This is entirely up to you, as all these ferries are fine, though you might want to stick to bigger ferries that are more stable.
I would personally go for one of the larger Blue Star Ferries, as the trip isn’t really very long, and these ferries are more comfortable to travel on. In addition, the price is significantly lower than most of the other ferries.
You should be able to get tickets even last minute for many of these boats, though for certain times of the year (e.g. the weeks around 1-20th of August, when most Greeks go on holiday), it is best to book them in advance.
In fact, like with any boat trip in Greece, if you have booked your hotels already, it’s a good idea to book the ferries as well.
Naxos Santorini Ferry Ride
Readers interested in the ferry schedule between the Cyclades islands of Naxos and Santorini often have similar questions about the journey:
How long is the ferry ride from Naxos to Santorini?
The quickest ferry from the Greek island of Naxos to Santorini is SeaJets and takes just 1 hour and 20 minutes. Other ferry companies may take around 2 hours to reach the ferry port at Santorini on the same route.
Can you do a day trip from Naxos to Santorini?
Theoretically, it is just about possible to make a day trip, but it would be better to spend a few days in Santorini rather than just a few hours.
Can you visit Santorini from Naxos?
During the high season, there are at least 6 vessels sailing the Naxos to Santorini ferry route every day.
Is Naxos better than Santorini?
The two Greek islands are very different to one another. Naxos is larger, has much better beaches, and offers a lot more of an authentic experience. Santorini on the other hand has unique caldera views and picturesque Cycladic architecture.
Traveling to other Greek Islands?
If you are planning to travel to some of the other islands in Greece, these other guides may be useful.
Traveling to other Greek Islands?
If you are planning to travel to some of the other islands in Greece, these other guides may be useful.
- Athens Santorini Mykonos Itinerary
- How to get from Athens to Santorini
- How to get from Athens to Mykonos
- Island hopping from Naxos
- Mykonos to Naxos ferry guide
- How to get from Mykonos to Santorini
- How to get from Piraeus to Athens
- Santorini 1 day itinerary
- How to get from Santorini to Naxos by ferry
- Santorini island hopping
Pin this guide on how to get from Naxos to Santorini for later
Feel free to add this pin on getting from Naxos to Santorini to one of your boards. This way, you can come back to it later!
Have you been to both Santorini and Naxos? Which one did you prefer? Let us know in the comments!
Lesley says
Dave – Your travel posts have been super helpful in working on our trip plans. I will be traveling from Santorini to Naxos at the end of May 2020 So the reverse order of your travel page. I will be traveling with 2 US college students will their student IDs offer any discounts? I’ll look at Blue Star Ferries as you recommend that in your travel page. I have read other travel posts that say ferry prices go up as you get closer to departure so booking in advance is advisable.
Dave Briggs says
Hi Lesley,
Glad you’ve found these guides useful so far!
For their student ID’s, they may need ISIC cards (if their id’s say this on them, it should be fine).
If they don’t say ISIC on them, you may be able to get ISIC cards online through STA Travel. You’d just need to do the math to see if applying for the card still makes the ferry tickets cheaper.
For booking ferries, you can also use Ferryhopper which which will give you a good idea of times. As we’re still relatively early in the year, not all the routes may be up.
Because you are traveling in May, I wouldn’t expect tickets to rise by very much if at all – so you could leave booking until a month before without it making much difference.
The only exception is if you are traveling with a car, as you’d be wanting to guarantee your space.
Have a great time in Greece!
Morgan block says
Hey, do you know if there are boats that leave from Naxos to Santorini in May of 2020? I could not find any ferry’s that show on Monday May 25th, 2020. I couldnt find anything in June for reference either (Naxos to Santorini) and I thought maybe their schedules are not out yet? Do boats leave from Naxos to Santorini in May on Mondays or Tuesdays?
Dave Briggs says
Hi,
I hope you had a great weekend!
The schedules for next year are most likely not released yet. (Maybe not for several months in fact!).
They are running right now on Mondays (in October), so it’s most likely they will be running next year on Monday’s as well…. but don’t hold me to that!