Where to Start When Planning Your Greek Wedding: Flights, Ferries and Choosing the Right Island
Planning a destination wedding in Greece is one of the most exciting decisions you'll ever make. Whitewashed villages, turquoise seas, golden light at golden hour. It's easy to fall in love with the dream before you've thought through the detail. But before you start pinning venues and colour palettes, there's one fundamental question worth sitting with first.
What matters most to you?
Not what looks best on Instagram. Not what your mum thinks. What you, as a couple, actually want your wedding day to feel like.
The Dream Venue vs. The Guest Experience
This is the tension at the heart of almost every destination wedding, and it's worth being honest with yourselves about it early.
Greece has hundreds of stunning locations. Some of the most breathtaking venues sit on remote islands that require two flights and a ferry to reach, places that feel genuinely otherworldly and completely unlike anywhere your guests have ever been. If that sense of remoteness and exclusivity is what you're after, and your guests are adventurous travellers who'll embrace the journey as part of the experience, then a more hard-to-reach location might be absolutely right for you.
But if your priority is having the people you love actually there, your grandparents, your friends with young children, your colleagues who've never travelled much, then accessibility has to be part of the conversation from the start.
Think About Where Your Guests Are Travelling From
If you're based in the UK, a great starting point is looking at which Greek destinations have direct flights from your nearest airport, or from the airports your key guests are most likely to use.
Athens, Thessaloniki, Santorini, Mykonos, Corfu, Rhodes, Crete, Zakynthos and Kefalonia all have direct services from various UK airports, particularly in summer. That's a solid list to work with, and each of those destinations has a huge range of venues to explore.
Once you've identified destinations that work logistically, look at transfer times from the airport to your shortlisted venues. A two-hour transfer after a three-hour flight is manageable. A four-hour transfer plus a ferry hop is a different proposition entirely, especially for older guests or families with young children.
It's also worth noting that Crete has two main airports, Heraklion (HER) in the east and Chania (CHQ) in the west, so the right one depends entirely on where in Crete your venue is located.
Direct Flights from UK Regional Airports to Greece, Summer 2026
Use this table as a quick reference to see which Greek destinations are reachable on a direct flight from airports close to you and your guests. Frequencies shown are typical for peak summer weeks (July to August). Always check current schedules directly with airlines, as operating days and exact dates vary by route.
| Departure Airport | Direct Greek Destinations (Summer 2026) | Main Airlines |
|---|---|---|
| Glasgow (GLA) | Corfu, Crete (Heraklion), Crete (Chania), Kefalonia, Kos ✦, Rhodes, Zante | Jet2, easyJet |
| Edinburgh (EDI) | Corfu, Crete (Heraklion), Kefalonia ✦, Kalamata ✦, Rhodes, Zante, Thessaloniki | Jet2, easyJet |
| Belfast International (BFS) | Corfu, Crete (Heraklion), Kos, Rhodes, Zante | Jet2 |
| Newcastle (NCL) | Corfu ✦, Crete (Chania), Crete (Heraklion), Kos, Preveza ✦, Rhodes ✦, Zante | Jet2, easyJet |
| Leeds Bradford (LBA) | Corfu, Crete (Chania), Crete (Heraklion), Kefalonia, Kos, Rhodes, Zante, Thessaloniki ✦ | Jet2 |
| Manchester (MAN) | Athens, Corfu, Crete (Chania), Crete (Heraklion), Kalamata, Kefalonia, Kos, Mykonos, Preveza ✦, Rhodes, Santorini, Skiathos, Zante | Jet2, easyJet, Ryanair, TUI |
| Birmingham (BHX) | Corfu, Crete (Chania), Crete (Heraklion), Kefalonia, Kos, Rhodes, Samos ✦, Santorini, Zante, Thessaloniki ✦ | Jet2, easyJet, TUI |
| East Midlands (EMA) | Corfu, Crete (Chania) ✦, Crete (Heraklion), Kos, Preveza ✦, Rhodes, Zante, Halkidiki ✦ | Jet2 |
| Bristol (BRS) | Athens, Corfu, Crete (Chania), Crete (Heraklion), Kefalonia, Kos, Rhodes, Santorini, Zante, Thessaloniki ✦ | Jet2, easyJet |
| Bournemouth (BOH) | Crete (Chania) ✦, Crete (Heraklion), Kos ✦, Rhodes ✦ | Ryanair, Jet2, TUI |
| London Gatwick (LGW) | Athens, Corfu, Crete (Chania) ✦, Crete (Heraklion), Kalamata ✦, Kefalonia, Kos, Preveza, Rhodes, Santorini, Skiathos, Zante, Halkidiki | easyJet, British Airways, Jet2 |
| London Heathrow (LHR) | Athens, plus seasonal Mykonos, Santorini, Kefalonia, Preveza | British Airways, Aegean |
| London Stansted (STN) | Athens, Corfu, Crete (Chania), Crete (Heraklion), Kalamata, Kefalonia, Kos, Mykonos, Rhodes, Santorini, Skiathos, Zante | Ryanair, Jet2 |
| London Luton (LTN) | Athens, Corfu, Crete (Chania), Crete (Heraklion), Mykonos, Rhodes, Santorini, Zante | easyJet, Ryanair, Jet2 |
✦ New or expanded route for Summer 2026. This is a planning-level guide compiled from airline announcements. Operating days, frequencies and exact season dates vary by route and change often, so always confirm directly on the airline's website before relying on a connection.
Remember Crete has two airports, Chania (CHQ) in the west and Heraklion (HER) in the east, so pick whichever is closer to your venue.
Quick tip: To find exact operating days for any route, go to the airline's website or search on Skyscanner or Google Flights, select your departure airport, filter to direct flights only, and look at the calendar view. This shows which days of the week the route operates.
Beautiful Islands That Require a Ferry
Not every stunning Greek wedding destination has an airport. Some of the most romantic, exclusive and photographed islands in all of Greece are only reachable by boat, and that's often precisely what makes them so special.
If one of these islands has captured your heart, it's absolutely worth considering. But it's equally important to go in with clear eyes about what the journey looks like for your guests, because a ferry adds a meaningful extra layer of planning on top of their flight.
| Island | Island Group | Nearest Gateway Airport | Onward Journey | Why Couples Love It |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hydra | Saronic | Athens (ATH) | Around 90 min by fast ferry from Piraeus | Car-free, chic and timeless, often likened to Capri |
| Spetses | Saronic | Athens (ATH) | Around 2 hr by fast ferry from Piraeus, or a short boat from Kosta | Neoclassical elegance, cars heavily restricted |
| Poros | Saronic | Athens (ATH) | Around 1 hr by fast ferry from Piraeus | Pretty, green and close to the mainland |
| Aegina | Saronic | Athens (ATH) | Around 40 to 75 min by ferry from Piraeus | The closest island to Athens, easy for guests |
| Paxos | Ionian | Corfu (CFU) | Around 1 to 1.5 hr by ferry from Corfu | Tiny, exclusive and beautifully unspoilt |
| Folegandros | Cyclades | Santorini (JTR) | Around 1 hr by ferry from Santorini | Dramatic clifftop Chora, pure romance, no cruise ships |
| Sifnos | Cyclades | Santorini (JTR) or Milos (MLO) | Ferry via the Western Cyclades line | The foodie island, whitewashed villages |
| Symi | Dodecanese | Rhodes (RHO) | Around 50 min to 1 hr by ferry from Rhodes | A jewel-box harbour of pastel neoclassical houses |
| Patmos | Dodecanese | Kos (KGS) or Samos (SMI) | Ferry onward from the gateway island | Spiritual, serene and quietly upmarket |
| Koufonisia | Small Cyclades | Naxos (JNX) | Short ferry from Naxos | Remote, turquoise water, barefoot luxury |
A note on Lefkada: it has no airport but, unlike the islands above, it does not need a ferry. It is joined to the mainland by a road bridge, so guests fly into Preveza (PVK) and reach it by a short drive of around 20 to 30 minutes. That makes it one of the most accessible "island" weddings in Greece.