What's on in Santorini (Thira), Greece through the year

Quiet — the editor's quiet month, Christmas holidays in Greece

Nothing new starts in January.

Still on: The island closes (1 Nov – 20 Mar (usually))

Quiet — the editor's quiet month, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in February.

Still on: The island closes (1 Nov – 20 Mar (usually))

Shoulder season — between the peaks, school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it

• Nature

  Wildflowers on the slopes

  1 Mar – 15 Apr · usuallyWildflowers & blooms

  The terraces and the caldera rim green up and flower before the season starts, in the cleanest light of the year and with the paths to yourself. Source ↗

• Opening

  Season opens

  25 Mar – 10 May · usually

  Caldera hotels and the boat trips restart through April; the cable car leaves its winter half-day timetable on 1 April and only runs late from May. Half the island is still shut in early April, and that is the point of going then. Source ↗

Still on: The island closes (1 Nov – 20 Mar (usually))

Busy — between the peaks, Orthodox Easter

• Holiday

  Orthodox Easter

  10–13 AprEaster & Holy WeekCrowded

  The villages fill for the week: an effigy burned in Pyrgos on the Saturday, lamb on the Sunday, and the island open for business a fortnight early. Source ↗

Still on: Wildflowers on the slopes (1 Mar – 15 Apr (usually)), Season opens (25 Mar – 10 May (usually))

Shoulder season — between the peaks, school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in May.

Still on: Season opens (25 Mar – 10 May (usually)), Orthodox Easter (10–13 Apr)

Peak crowds — the editor's peak month, Cruise passenger levy

• Rule

  Cruise passenger levy

  1 Jun – 30 SepCruise seasonCrowded

  Greece charges cruise passengers landing at Santorini twenty euros a head in the summer months, twelve in October and four from November: the state's own crowding meter. Source ↗

• Season

  Tomato and fava harvest

  20 Jun – 5 Aug · usually

  The unirrigated cherry tomatoes and the split peas that everything on the menu is made from come in through high summer, dried on the roofs of the inland villages rather than the caldera side.

Peak crowds — the editor's peak month, Cruise passenger levy

• Season

  Meltemi wind

  1 Jul – 31 Aug · usuallyWind seasonRisk

  The etesian blows hard down the Aegean through high summer. It makes the heat bearable on the caldera side and cancels the small boats on the exposed one.

Still on: Cruise passenger levy (1 Jun – 30 Sep), Tomato and fava harvest (20 Jun – 5 Aug (usually))

Peak crowds — the editor's peak month, Cruise passenger levy

• Nature

  Grape harvest

  1 Aug – 10 Sep · usually

  The assyrtiko vines are trained into baskets on the ground against the wind, and they come in early here, usually starting in the first half of August.

• Holiday

  Assumption on 15 August

  12–18 AugNational holidayCrowdedBook early

  The peak week of the Greek year: domestic flights and ferries full, every caldera room at its top rate, and village panigiria after the church service. Nothing on this island is quiet that week. Source ↗

• Season

  Sea still warm

  15 Aug – 25 Oct · usuallySea warm enough

  The Aegean holds August heat into late October, which is why the shoulder is the better swim: warm water, thinning crowds, and the caldera path walkable again.

Still on: Cruise passenger levy (1 Jun – 30 Sep), Tomato and fava harvest (20 Jun – 5 Aug (usually)), Meltemi wind (1 Jul – 31 Aug (usually))

Busy — between the peaks, Cruise passenger levy

Nothing new starts in September.

Still on: Cruise passenger levy (1 Jun – 30 Sep), Grape harvest (1 Aug – 10 Sep (usually)), Sea still warm (15 Aug – 25 Oct (usually))

Shoulder season — between the peaks, school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in October.

Still on: Sea still warm (15 Aug – 25 Oct (usually))

Quiet — the editor's quiet month, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

• Closure

  The island closes

  1 Nov – 20 Mar · usually

  Caldera hotels and most restaurants shut from early November, the cable car drops to split winter hours and the ferry timetable thins to what islanders need. Source ↗

Quiet — the editor's quiet month, Christmas holidays in Greece

Nothing new starts in December.

Still on: The island closes (1 Nov – 20 Mar (usually))