Getting from Santorini to Antipaxos

If you are heading to Antipaxos from Santorini you are going somewhere genuinely extraordinary and genuinely hard to reach, which is a fair trade. Antipaxos sits just two kilometres south of Paxos in the Ionian Sea and has a permanent population of around 60 people. It is tiny, almost entirely covered in vineyards and olive groves, and has two beaches, Voutoumi and Vrika, that are among the most beautiful in Greece. The water is an almost impossible turquoise. Most visitors come as day trippers from Paxos, but those who stay overnight get the island almost entirely to themselves once the boats leave in the afternoon. There is one small settlement, a handful of rooms to rent and two tavernas. That is everything there is and everything you need.

Take the ferry

There is no scheduled ferry service to Antipaxos from anywhere in the wider Greek ferry network. The island is accessible only by small boat from Gaios, the main port of Paxos, with the crossing taking around 15 to 20 minutes. To reach Paxos from Santorini means flying to Corfu via Athens and then taking the ferry from Corfu to Paxos, which takes around 1 hour. Total journey time from Santorini is around 5 to 6 hours.

What about flying?

Antipaxos has no airport. The nearest airport is Corfu. The journey from Santorini goes Santorini to Athens and then Athens to Corfu, followed by the ferry to Paxos and the local boat across to Antipaxos. It is worth knowing that in Greece, airlines do not operate direct inter island flights. Almost all island to island travel goes through Athens.

Your best option

Fly to Corfu via Athens, take the ferry to Paxos and arrange a boat across to Antipaxos from Gaios. The local boat crossing is short and runs regularly throughout the day in summer. If you can arrange to stay overnight on Antipaxos rather than day tripping from Paxos, do it. The island in the early morning and late evening, when the day visitors are gone, is a different place entirely.