Santorini, Crete, Rhodes, Corfu or Athens Riviera?

Santorini, Crete, Rhodes, Corfu or the Athens Riviera: Which Suits Your Guests

Most couples choose a Greek wedding location by the view. Your guests will experience it by the journey: how many flights, whether there is a ferry, and what time they land. A place that is one direct flight from Manchester can be two flights and a boat from Boston.

This guide compares five popular choices by how guests from the UK, Ireland, Germany, the Netherlands and North America actually get there, then by season and cost.

TL;DR:

• Crete (Chania), Rhodes and Corfu list direct flights from Dublin, many UK airports, Amsterdam and a long list of German cities. Rhodes and Corfu also list Belfast, Corfu lists Shannon, and Rhodes lists Cork.
• Santorini has an airport with a shorter list of direct routes, and many guests still come by ferry.
• Athens Riviera is the easiest for North American guests: seasonal direct flights to Athens from US and Canadian cities, and no ferry or second flight.
• None of the four island airports listed a direct route to North America when we checked, so US and Canadian guests usually connect in Athens or a European hub.
• Santorini sits in its own price bracket. The other four fit the per-person ranges in our cost guide.

How we checked the flights

The island airports of Chania, Rhodes, Corfu and Santorini are run by Fraport Greece, and each airport's website publishes the list of airports it has flights to. We read those lists on 18 October 2026. Most routes from northern Europe are seasonal, roughly spring to autumn, and airlines change them every year, so treat the lists as a guide and check the airline's schedule for your dates.

For Athens, we used the airport's entry on Wikipedia, which cites airline schedules, for the North American routes.

The five places, by guest journey

The island lists are from each airport's website on 18 October 2026. The UK, Irish, German and Dutch routes to Athens are from the Aegean Airlines list on Wikipedia, one of several airlines on those routes.

Crete: two airports, room for everyone

Crete has two international airports, Chania in the west and Heraklion in the centre, so guests can fly into whichever is closer to the venue. Chania's own list is long for Germany and the UK, and includes Dublin. For a wedding near Chania or Rethymno, it's usually the simpler arrival. Heraklion's own website was down for maintenance when we checked, so for it we used its Wikipedia entry, which cites airline schedules: it lists direct, mostly seasonal flights from Dublin and Belfast, London, Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds Bradford and Newcastle, and from Amsterdam, Eindhoven, Berlin, Cologne, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Munich and Stuttgart. That makes it a good second door for guests whose city isn't on Chania's list.

The trade-off is distance on the island. Crete is big, and a venue an hour from the airport needs a transfer plan. Our ferries and transfers guide covers how to explain that on your website.

Rhodes: the widest list from Ireland and the UK

Rhodes listed the most destinations of the four island airports when we checked: 92, including Cork and Belfast alongside Dublin, and UK regional airports such as Cardiff, Exeter and Liverpool. For a guest list spread across Ireland and Britain, that means more people fly from their nearest airport instead of driving to London.

Corfu: closest to western Europe

Corfu listed direct routes from Dublin and Shannon, Belfast, four London airports and a wide spread of German cities. It sits off the west coast, outside the Aegean, so ferries are not part of most guests' journey.

Santorini: famous, and harder to reach

Santorini's airport listed 26 destinations in October, including Dublin, three London airports, Manchester, Frankfurt and Munich. Guests who can't get one of those flights fly to Athens and then either take a short flight or a ferry. Ferries are where weather enters the plan: fast boats are the first to be cancelled when the summer meltemi wind picks up, as our ferries and transfers guide explains. Ask guests to arrive the day before.

Athens Riviera: the North American pick

For guests from the US and Canada, the Athens coast removes a leg. Wikipedia's entry for Athens International Airport, citing airline schedules, lists seasonal direct flights from New York JFK, Atlanta, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago O'Hare, Dallas Fort Worth and Philadelphia with US airlines, and from Toronto and Montreal with Air Canada and Air Transat. A venue on the coast south of Athens is then a drive, not a ferry or another flight.

The same is true for most European guests, since Athens has the widest choice of flights in Greece. The trade-off is the setting: mainland coast and city hotels instead of a whitewashed island.

Season: when guests can actually get there

Most direct routes from northern Europe to the islands run in summer, roughly from spring to autumn. Outside that window, guests may need to go via Athens even to Crete or Rhodes. If you are looking at an October or November date, check that your guests' flights still run then.

Summer also brings the meltemi, a strong seasonal wind in the Aegean. It matters most where guests travel by boat, which makes it a Santorini and Cyclades question more than a Corfu or Athens one.

Cost: one place is in its own bracket

Our cost guide estimates a Greek wedding outside Santorini at about €90 to €310 per person for 80 guests and €225 to €700 for 20, from published Greek prices. Crete, Rhodes, Corfu and the Athens Riviera fit inside those ranges, with island travel costs for vendors on top. easywedding.gr suggests photographers add €300 to €800 for island and destination weddings, and notes that many photographers on Santorini and Mykonos have their own destination prices.

Santorini is left out of our estimate because caldera venues, boat logistics and vendor travel put it in a higher bracket.

For guests, remember that Greek accommodation adds a climate resilience fee per room per night, from €2 to €15 between April and October depending on the type of stay, and lower in winter (government announcement, September 2024). Our post on who pays for guest rooms covers the etiquette.

How to decide

• Most guests in Ireland or the UK, spread out: Rhodes or Corfu, for the number of regional airports.
• Many German or Dutch guests: Crete, Rhodes or Corfu all list a long German route network.
• A large North American contingent: the Athens Riviera, or an island with an overnight in Athens built in.
• Santorini at any cost: keep the guest list short, and give guests the ferry and flight options early.

Whichever you choose, send guests the travel details long before the invitation. A wedding website with flights, ferries and where to stay, in the languages your guests read, and wedding RSVP to collect arrival days, cover most of it. More for couples marrying abroad is on our destination wedding in Greece page.

Ask us before you choose

We're not wedding planners. Email us at [email protected] and we'll suggest Greek vendors that fit your date, place and budget, and explain the paperwork. Neutral advice, free, and we pass your details to a vendor only once you say so.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between Santorini and Crete for a wedding? Crete has two international airports with long lists of direct routes, a wide choice of venues and lower costs. Santorini has fewer direct flights, more guests arrive by ferry, and it sits in a higher price bracket.

Which Greek island is easiest to reach from Ireland? When we checked in October 2026, Rhodes listed Dublin, Cork and Belfast, Corfu listed Dublin, Shannon and Belfast, and Chania and Santorini listed Dublin.

Can American guests fly direct to a Greek island? None of the four island airports we checked listed a North American route. US guests fly to Athens, which has seasonal direct flights from several US cities, or connect in Europe.

Do guests need a ferry for Crete, Rhodes or Corfu? Not if they fly direct. For Santorini, guests without a direct flight often take a ferry from Athens.

When do direct flights to the Greek islands run? Mostly in the summer season, roughly spring to autumn. Check your guests' routes for your date, especially in October or later.

Recommended

• Island Wedding Travel: Ferries and Transfers
• Greece Wedding Cost Per Person, Outside Santorini
• Top Greece Wedding Destinations 2026 to 2027
• Destination Wedding: Who Pays for Guest Rooms?