Viamero›Greek island hopping›Paros · Santorini · Mykonos
Smarter flight routing

Paros, Santorini & Mykonos itinerary: fly into the right island first

Same three islands, same total nights — but which one you fly into first can change your flight cost more than anything else on the trip. Santorini and Mykonos both have international airports with direct flights from across Europe; Paros only has a domestic one, so getting there from outside Greece always means a stopover first.

Build this route See sample versions ↓
A useful starting point
The obvious way

Fly into whichever island is first on the route.

  • Feels natural — you're just following the order you'll visit them in
  • Often means flying into a smaller island with fewer direct routes
  • Can mean a connection, when a direct flight exists just one island over
The smarter way

Fly into the best-connected island, ferry to the rest.

  • Santorini and Mykonos have international airports with direct flights from Europe — Paros only has a domestic one
  • The islands are close enough that the ferry adds very little time
  • Flying home from a different city can save even more

The islands don't change — the flight plan does. Build two or three versions of the same route with different entry airports and compare what each one actually costs.

Example for 9 nights

Test the entry airport, not just the islands.

Paros, Santorini and Mykonos are all connected by short, frequent ferries. Which one makes sense as your very first stop depends on where you're flying from — and that choice alone can be the biggest line item on the whole trip.

Paros → Santorini → Mykonos
Option 1The obvious way

Fly into Paros (1 stop), fly home the same way

Round-trip, same airport both ways

Paros first, then Santorini, then Mykonos — flying into the first island on the route.

Option 2Same trip, different entry

Fly into Santorini direct, ferry backward to Paros

Round-trip, just a cheaper entry point

Exact same islands and nights — only the entry airport changes.

Option 3Stack the savings

Santorini in, fly home from a different city

Open-jaw — home via a second airport

Same route as Option 2, plus an open-jaw return into a second home airport.

Build all three versions and compareSame islands, same nights — see the total for each flight plan side by side.
Where the savings actually come from

It's the flights, not the islands.

Three separate decisions stack up — each one worth checking on its own before you assume the "natural" order is the cheapest.

Choice
Check
Impact
Why
Entry airport
Direct routes available
High
Santorini and Mykonos have international airports with direct European flights, some on budget carriers — Paros only has a domestic airport, reachable from abroad only via a stopover in Greece.
Island order
Ferry connections
Low
All three islands are well connected by ferry either direction, so reordering them costs you little or nothing on the water.
Return airport
Open-jaw vs round-trip
High
Flying home to a second nearby city can unlock a direct route where flying back to your original airport wouldn't.
Stops per leg
Direct vs 1 stop
Medium
A connection isn't just slower — on these routes it's often the more expensive option too, not the cheaper one.

Start with the airport, not the map

Before you fix an island order, check which of the three has the best direct connections from where you're flying. That island should usually be first — or last.

Same islands, different order

Swapping the order you visit Paros and Santorini doesn't change the trip itself — same nights, same hotels, same ferries — only which one you fly into.

Two home airports can beat one

If you live within reach of more than one airport, flying out of one and back into another (an "open-jaw" ticket) is worth pricing separately from a simple round trip.

Compare the whole trip, not one flight

The entry airport, the island order and the return airport are three separate decisions. Check all three before booking any one of them.

Don't guess the flight plan

Put a few routing options next to each other.

Use your actual dates and real fares. The version that "feels" right is often not the cheapest one.

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Note: Not a sponsored ranking — see our affiliate disclosure. Last updated August 2026.

Planning note: The flight and ferry prices shown here are illustrative examples, not live fares — actual prices depend heavily on season, carrier and how far ahead you book. Always check your own dates before deciding on a routing.