Private tours of Santorini by taxi or minibus
Private tours on fixed itineraries, priced per car, not per person, saloon up to 4, van up to 8, minibus up to 20. The five-hour island loop is €225 for the saloon and books online as five hours with the driver. The sunset tour, the wine villages and the shore excursion are booked by the form or WhatsApp; send the date, the group size and the tour and we reply with the price.
Updated 13 September 2026 by the Santorini Taxi team.
How it works
A private tour by taxi is a day, or a half day, in one car with one driver who knows the island, on a fixed itinerary at a fixed price for the whole car. The saloon takes up to 4, the van 5 to 8 and the minibus 9 to 20, so a group pays one price rather than one ticket each. The driver drives, waits at every stop and carries the bags.
Four itineraries are on offer. The island loop, about five hours through Oia, the black beach at Perissa, Profitis Ilias, a winery and Fira, priced as five hours of the hourly rate, €225 for the saloon. A sunset tour that follows the caldera road along the rim in the late afternoon and ends where the sun sets, with the drive home after dark. A wine-village drive through the inland villages and their wineries, where the driver does the driving and you do the tasting. And a shore excursion for cruise passengers that starts and ends at the cable-car top station in Fira and is sized to the hours between the first tender and all-aboard. For the last three, stops, durations and the price per car are agreed by message before you confirm.
The island loop books online as five hours with the driver, confirmed the moment you pay. The other three tours are booked by request: send the date, the itinerary, the group size and your pickup point by the form or WhatsApp, and we reply with the pickup time, the price for your car and the confirmation. For a route of your own, the same car and driver are booked by the hour online, 3 to 10 hours.
A tour can start at the airport or the port, with the luggage in the boot until check-in; every car has air conditioning, water and chargers. The driver is not a licensed guide: inside the archaeological site at Akrotiri and the museums you go in on your own, and for guided island tours or a tasting programme led by a wine specialist we recommend the independent companies below.
The island loop in five hours
The first look at the whole island, in the order the roads make sense. Oia and the caldera rim first, then down to the black sand at Perissa, up the road to Profitis Ilias for the view over every village at once, a stop for lunch, a winery on the way back and time in Fira at the end, or the cable-car top station if a ship is waiting. It takes about five hours and is priced as five hours of the hourly rate, for the whole car with VAT: €225 for the saloon with up to 4, €300 for the van with up to 8, €425 for the minibus with up to 20 and €375 for the luxury class. Lunch, tastings and entry tickets are paid as you go. Book it online with the button below, which opens the booking form with five hours preset and the itinerary in the note the driver reads, so you only pick the date, the time and the passengers; or send the date and the group size by the form or WhatsApp. The same car and driver are also booked without a set route on the private driver by the hour page.
Sunset tour
The shape is simple. The driver collects you in the late afternoon, takes the caldera road along the rim with stops for the view, and ends the tour where the sun goes down, with the drive home after dark included. The exact stops, the number of hours and the price per car are agreed with you by message before you confirm.
Wine villages by car
Santorini's wine country is inland, around villages like Megalochori and Pyrgos, and the wineries are a short drive apart. On this drive the driver does the driving and the waiting while you do the tasting, and nobody counts glasses. Stops, duration and the price per car are agreed by message before you confirm. For a guided tasting programme led by a wine specialist, the independent Santorini Wine Tours is recommended below.
Shore excursion for cruise passengers
The driver meets you at the cable-car top station in Fira, the point every tender passenger reaches, and runs a loop of the island sized to your hours ashore, with the return to the top station timed to the all-aboard time you give. Stops, duration and the price per car are agreed by message before you confirm.
Build your own day
If none of the itineraries fits, the hourly private driver is the same car and driver without a set route, from 3 to 10 hours, booked online at an hourly rate shown in the widget. See the private driver by the hour page.
Questions
How do I book a private tour?
The island loop books online. Press "Book this loop online" and the booking form opens with five hours preset, so you only pick the date, the time and the passengers, and it is confirmed the moment you pay. For the other three itineraries, send the date, the tour, the group size and your pickup point by the form or by WhatsApp on +30 698 364 9276, and we reply with the pickup time, the price for your car and the confirmation.
Is the tour price per person or per car?
Per car, VAT included, for everyone in the vehicle. The island loop is €225 for a saloon with up to 4 and €300 for a van with up to 8; the other itineraries have their own price per car, so a group pays one price rather than one ticket each.
Is a private tour with a driver worth it compared with the bus?
The bus is cheap and runs on its own timetable from Fira, with a change of bus for most pairs of villages. A private car does the whole loop in one day, waits at every stop and carries the bags, and the price is shared by everyone in the car. For a group of 4 or more the difference per person narrows quickly.
Can a tour start at the airport or the port?
Yes. The driver meets you at arrivals or at the foot of the port road with a name sign, the luggage stays in the boot for the whole tour, and the day ends at your hotel. Give the flight or ferry details so the driver follows it.
Does the shore excursion fit a cruise port call?
Yes. Tell us the all-aboard time and the driver sizes the loop to it, with a margin for the queue at the cable car down. You are back at the top station before the last tender, and the walk down the path is the fallback if the queue is long.
Also useful
Independent services we recommend
Thira Tours. An independent local tour company, recommended for guided island tours and day trips with commentary.
Santorini Wine Tours. Independent guided wine tours with tastings at the island's wineries, recommended when you want the tasting programme organised for you.
Santorini Travel. An independent agency for island tours and hotel bookings on Santorini.