Boston to Santorini: Flying via Athens, Santorini Airport and What to Plan

Somewhere over the Atlantic, with the seat-back map showing a thin line toward the Aegean, most travelers begin to wonder how the last stretch to the island works. Santorini is a crescent of cliffs around a flooded volcanic crater, and the trip from Boston has two parts: the ocean crossing to Athens, then a flight out to the island. The plan is simple to state, and the details below make it easy to build.

How do you get from Boston to Santorini?

You fly to Athens first and then take a second flight to Santorini Airport, because Athens is where the long-haul flights from North America arrive and where Aegean Airlines connects to the island. Aegean flies from Santorini Airport to Athens year-round, so the Athens link does not depend on the summer timetable.

Athens International Airport receives seasonal nonstop flights from several U.S. cities. American Airlines serves it seasonally from Charlotte, Chicago-O’Hare, Dallas/Fort Worth, New York-JFK and Philadelphia. United Airlines flies seasonally from Chicago-O’Hare, Newark and Washington-Dulles. These are the American gateways that reach Athens without a stop in season. For a traveler starting elsewhere in the U.S., the trip is built around a connection that ends in Athens.

The Athens leg

Athens International Airport Eleftherios Venizelos, the airport’s full name. Treat Athens as the hinge of the journey. Everything bound for the islands goes through its terminals, and it is where you change from an Atlantic crossing to a short Aegean hop.

If you want a night or two in the Greek capital before the island, this is the natural place for it. The Acropolis, the tavernas of Plaka and the souvlaki counters around Monastiraki are all waiting, and the island flight can then be a separate morning departure rather than a tight connection.

The Aegean leg to the island

Aegean Airlines is the carrier to know for the Athens to Santorini route. It also links Santorini Airport seasonally with Heraklion, Rhodes and Thessaloniki, which matters if you later want to continue to another part of Greece without going back through the capital.

Santorini also has seasonal nonstop flights to Istanbul with Aegean, and to a long list of European cities. These are mostly useful if a trip combines Greece with a stay in Europe. For travelers coming from Boston, the Athens connection remains the straightforward line to follow.

Where do you land?

You land twice: at Athens International Airport after the Atlantic crossing, and at Santorini Airport on the island. Each has its own character, and knowing what each one is helps the day make sense.

Athens International Airport

The airport sits in Spata, in Attica, about 12 miles east of central Athens, though the road distance is 19 miles because of the hills in between. It began operating in March 2001, and it replaced the older city airport as the gateway for international flights.

For a traveler heading straight on to Santorini, you may never leave the building. You come off the transatlantic flight, follow the signs for connecting flights, and board the Aegean departure. If you are staying in Athens first, the drive into town is the part where the hills show up, and it is the reason the road is longer than the straight line suggests.

Beyond the United States, Athens also has seasonal nonstop flights to Montréal-Trudeau and Toronto-Pearson with Air Canada and Air Transat. That matters mostly to friends or family joining you from Canada, who could meet you in Athens or on the island.

Santorini Airport

Santorini Airport is the island’s own gateway, and it is the one Aegean uses for its Athens flights. It is the arrival point for visitors who came by air, so your first sight of the island is likely to be the dark volcanic land and the sea around it rather than a ferry harbor.

Eurowings operates seasonal flights to Cologne/Bonn, Düsseldorf, Hamburg and Stuttgart. Scandinavian Airlines flies seasonally to Copenhagen and Oslo. Finnair flies seasonally to Helsinki, Austrian Airlines to Vienna, and Air Serbia to Belgrade.

So when you step out of the plane you may share the arrivals hall with travelers from many corners of Europe, all heading for the same villages on the rim of the caldera. From the airport you continue to Fira, Oia, Imerovigli or the villages on the southern side, depending on where you booked.

What do you need for the trip?

You need two flight tickets joined by one connection in Athens, a clear idea of where on the island you will sleep, and a few euros for your first coffee. The rest is a matter of how you want the days to feel.

Two flights, one plan

The first decision is how to cross the Atlantic. Because those nonstops are seasonal, the timetable you see depends on the time of year you travel.

The second decision is the Athens to Santorini leg. Aegean Airlines operates it year-round, which gives the plan a fixed anchor. Look at the full journey as one itinerary, from Boston to Athens and on to the island, and notice where you wait in Athens between flights.

What to bring for Santorini itself

Santorini’s villages run along the lip of the caldera, with lanes that climb, drop and turn into stairs, so shoes you can walk in matter more than anything fashionable. Sun protection and a swimsuit round out the bag for beach days on the island’s dark volcanic sand and pebble shores.

Bring a camera or a phone with room to spare. The view from Fira, Firostefani and Imerovigli across the caldera is the image most travelers carry home, and the village of Oia draws visitors with its own lanes and its outlook over the water.

What to eat once you arrive

The island’s food is a reason to come hungry. Fava, the yellow split-pea purée, appears on most tables, alongside tomato fritters, small sweet tomatoes grown in volcanic soil, white eggplant and fresh fish grilled over coals.

Santorini is also known for its wine, especially the crisp white made from the assyrtiko grape. A glass with a plate of meze (small shared dishes) on a terrace over the caldera is the kind of evening many travelers plan the whole trip around.

Good to know before you go

The U.S. State Department rates Greece Level 1: Exercise Normal Precautions.

Greece uses the euro, so keep a little local money for small purchases such as a coffee, a pastry from a bakery or a bus ride. Your airline tickets are the main purchase to settle before you leave. Once you are in Athens, the connection to Santorini Airport is the single step that remains, and Aegean Airlines flies it year-round.