How to get a taxi in Santorini, at the rank, by phone or booked
Four ways: wait at a rank in central Fira, at the airport or at Athinios port; call the radio taxi line; ask your hotel reception; or book a private transfer online at a fixed price, from €30 for the airport to Fira. The island has a few dozen licensed taxis, so in summer the first three take patience and only the fourth guarantees a car.
Updated 10 September 2026. Written by the Santorini Taxi team, drivers on the island.
Every price and time on this page comes from our price list and route data, not from an estimate.
Santorini's taxis are licensed, and there are few of them: a few dozen cars for the whole island. That number explains everything else on this page. The same cars serve the airport, the port, every hotel and every sunset, so how you get one depends on the hour, the season and how much you mind waiting.
The taxi ranks
Fira's rank is at Theotokopoulou Square in the centre of town, a few minutes on foot from the bus station. It is the busiest rank on the island and the one most likely to have a car in daytime. The airport rank is outside the terminal; it works when one flight lands and runs dry when several land together. Athinios has taxis at the exit from the ferry area, where the same thing happens with each ferry. In Oia, taxis drop at the bus square on the main road and sometimes wait there, but it is not a rank you can count on. Details for each place are on the airport, Athinios, Fira and Oia pages.
Calling a radio taxi
The island's taxi owners run a central phone line that dispatches the cars. You call, give an address or a landmark, and wait for a car or a call back. It works, and hotel receptions use it all day, but in July and August the line is busy and the wait can be long at the hours when everyone else is calling too. Your hotel has the number. What we publish is our own: +30 698 364 9276, by phone or WhatsApp, for a booked car.
Asking your hotel
Reception will call a taxi or a transfer company for you and usually knows which drivers are around. Give them an hour or more of notice in summer, and more before an early ferry. In Oia, Imerovigli, Firostefani and the pedestrian streets of Fira the car waits at the closest point the road allows, so leave time to walk the bags to it.
Booking a transfer in advance
A pre-booked transfer is a private car reserved for your pickup time, at a price fixed per zone and paid online. The driver holds a sign with your name inside the arrivals hall, at the foot of the port road at Athinios, at the top station of the Fira cable car for cruise passengers, or in the hotel lobby. Waiting is free for 60 minutes at the airport from the actual landing, 30 minutes at Athinios from docking and 15 minutes at a hotel. The confirmation is instant, the reminder with the driver's name, car and plate comes 24 hours before pickup, and nothing is paid in the car. Rides from or to the cruise port are the one exception: booked by request, confirmed by email or WhatsApp, and paid to the driver on the day. Book online at least 12 hours before pickup; for sooner, call or WhatsApp.
What a street taxi ride is like
A saloon for up to 4 passengers with the bags in the boot. You tell the driver where you are going, agree the fare before you set off and pay at the end; ask about cards before you get in. The drive is the same road our cars use, the rim to Oia or the hill down to the airport, and the drivers know it as well as we do. The ride is fine. The uncertain part is the beginning: whether a car is there when you need it.
When a booked car is the better tool
- At night. Buses thin out in the evening and the ranks empty; a booked driver is there at the same price as by day. See the night taxi page.
- For groups of five or more. One van, €55 for the whole car from the airport to Oia, instead of two taxis found one at a time.
- With luggage. The driver loads the car and carries the bags to hotels the road does not reach.
- When the time is fixed. A ferry at Athinios or a morning flight is not the moment to hope a taxi passes; the pickup time is set from the departure and the driver is early.
- On arrival. Two flights landing together turn the airport rank into a queue with no cars at its end. A driver inside the hall with your name skips it: airport transfers, from €30 to Fira and €40 to Oia.
Questions
Is it hard to get a taxi in Santorini?
In summer, yes, at the moments that matter: when flights land together, when a ferry docks and in the hour after sunset. A few dozen taxis serve the whole island. Outside those moments and outside high season it is easier, and a booked car removes the question altogether.
Where is the taxi rank in Fira?
In the centre of town, at Theotokopoulou Square, a few minutes on foot from the bus station. Taxis also drop and sometimes wait at the bus square in Oia, outside the airport terminal and at the exit from the ferry area at Athinios.
Do taxis in Santorini have meters?
Our cars do not; the price is fixed per zone and car class and shown before you pay. At a rank, agree the fare with the driver before you set off, and ask whether cards are accepted.
Can I book a taxi in Santorini in advance?
Yes. Online, at least 12 hours before pickup, with instant confirmation and the driver's name, car and plate emailed 24 hours before. For sooner than that, call or WhatsApp +30 698 364 9276.