Week 43: Santorini, Greece

We have just spent four full days on Santorini, plus the evening of the day we arrived. Santorini’s stunning landscape, with its dramatic cliffs and picturesque towns of white, draw quite the crowd each year. We found this island pretty busy, with a number of cruise ships dropping people off each day. The island is filled with swanky hotels and fancy restaurants, but we were able to find places and activities that suited us (and our budget!) just fine.

A two-hour ferry ride from Naxos brought us over to Santorini. When we arrived on the island, we were able to catch a bus to Fira, and then transfer to Perissa. Despite Santorini being a relatively small island, they have a pretty decent bus system that connects most towns. We stayed at Villa Markos in Perissa, where we enjoyed having a little kitchen in our room and a communal pool. 

Just as we did last week, we decided we would list our top tips for Santorini:

Visit Perissa beach: this long beach is made up of small black rocks, and has lots of space between the lounge chairs belonging to each restaurant. By ordering a drink or some food, you can use these lounge chairs and umbrellas, which get you out of the intense sun for a bit. We spent the majority of two days on this beach, and we even had our lunch served to us on the beach! I can’t even describe how luxurious this felt. 

Morning movement: as someone who loves mornings, I was happy to join a yoga class on the beach. I’ve been in the habit of doing yoga on my own most days while travelling, but doing a class with others always feels great. I also went for a run along the beach, which was the perfect way to start the day. 

Swim in the sea: although the water wasn’t turquoise like it was on Naxos, it was still crystal clear. We enjoyed getting in the water at a few beaches, and I loved snorkeling in amongst the rocks near the beach. My favourite fish I found was orange with bright blue stripes! 

Rent an ATV: like I said last week, you can also get a scooter or a car, but why?! We rented an ATV for one day, which was enough to see a lot of the southern half of the island. 

Visit Red beach: the large red cliff dropping down to a red beach is quite impressive. There were many people on sailing trips pulling into the cove while we were there though, so don’t expect to be there on your own!

Visit Akortiri lighthouse: the views from this lighthouse are stunning, and the drive to get here is also beautiful. We walked around the area and up a little hill behind the lighthouse.

Visit Kambia beach: this is another nice little beach that is quite popular with the sailing trips, but the road to drive down to it is pretty rough. 

Spend some time in Pyrgos: this cute, traditional town sits up on a hill and is filled with windy pathways. It also has a Venetian castle, a few restaurants and shops, and a couple churches. 

Drive to the highest point: We drove up the winding road to Profitis Illas, the highest point on Santorini. We got a great view of the whole island from here! There is a monastery up there as well, but being a Sunday when we went, it was closed to the public.   

Visit Kamari beach: this beach town is much more built up than Perissa, with a long boardwalk packed with restaurants, shops, and hotels. The beach is made up of small black rocks. It rained a little while we were here, and we were treated to a rainbow over the beach. 

Grab a frappe and a book: we are now in the habit of getting a delicious cold coffee to enjoy with a good book at some point each day. It’s my childhood dream come true!

Go to the movies: ok, if someone were visiting Santorini for a short vacation, I would NEVER recommend going to the movies. However, a movie Will really wanted to see had just come out, and we weren’t sure if there would be another opportunity for him to see it in theatres. We went to Villagio Cinema in Kamari to see Deadpool 2, and I have to admit, it was pretty hilarious. It is definitely not suitable for kids though!! We have now been to a movie theatre in Africa, Southeast Asia, and Europe, and have had something “different” happen in each theatre. This time? We had a 15-minute intermission in the middle of the movie!

Drive at night: since this island is so small, there are many places from which you can see most of the island. Driving at night, you can make out the shadows of the sheer cliffs and each of the little towns bright with lights.  

Explore Fira: this town is the hub for nearly everything on the island. We took the bus from Perissa to Fira, and explored the streets. This town is built right on the cliff edge, and has a stunning walking path that takes you by the many pools and patios jutting out over the cliff. We were there during the day and at night, and it’s worth being there to experience both. 

Walk from Fira to Oia: a well-defined path connects these two main towns on the island, and takes a few hours to walk. Visitors are treated to spectacular views the whole way along- Will was very patient as I took photo after photo. There are a couple cafes and churches along the way, and a number of luxury hotels. We chose a pretty windy day to walk, but I imagine this exposed trail is extremely hot during July and August. 

Explore Oia: there is no wonder why this town is so popular amongst tourists. This town has amazing views of the caldera, and a lovely pedestrian street lined with shops and restaurants. We thought we would be spending a fortune to eat here, but found a perfect little bakery that offered fresh pies, baklava, and a great view. We wandered along paths and up and down little stairways, finding ourselves at the base of windmills and private residences. We spent the afternoon between parks and a café, where I enjoyed people watching. We saw couples having their wedding photos taken, a photoshoot being done for Moncler, and enough selfies to convince us we were back in Southeast Asia. Our favourite find was Attica bookstore, creatively decorated and packed with books. It was here that I finally gave in and bought the first Harry Potter book. I think it was all the hype that originally turned me off of reading this series, but with a killer combination of an incredibly imaginative author AND magic, I don’t really know how I’ve gone this long without devouring this series. Attica also had a Muppets book, signed by Jim Hensen and Kermit, that the owner tried to sell to Will for a mere 2000 euros. 

Get an ice cream or gelato for the walk: there’s a great little shop in each town. No further explanation required. 

Enjoy sunset: we had planned on being in Oia for sunset, but the combination of wind, cloud and cool air convinced us that we wouldn’t see much. However, while riding the bus back to Fira, we saw that the sky was changing colour and we were able to catch a spectacular sunset in Fira. There are so many places advertising amazing sunset views, so you could spend a whole vacation just chasing great sunsets if you wanted to!

Eat outside: nearly all of our meals this week were eaten outside, which is one of my absolute favourite things to do. Eating delicious food out in the fresh, salty air… just such a great combination! 

Avoid the tap water: the water from the taps on Santorini is salt water, which was a real surprise when we took our first sip of the coffee we had made. Back to bottled water it is.

Other activities that might be fun but we didn’t do:

Sailing trips: they have many options for sailing trips around the caldera and to the various beaches.

Sunset cruise: most of the packages include a dinner and sound very romantic!

Akortiri ruins: we saw a lot about Akortiri ruins when we were in Athens, so we decided we didn’t need to visit the site while we were here. It seems to be similar to Pompeii, only smaller.

Crazy Donkey brewery: we wanted to visit this brewery, but we were in the area on a Sunday and they were closed. 

Wine tours: Santorini wine is well known, and there are numerous wineries scattered across the island. There were many different wine tour packages being offered by various companies.

Open air cinema: this cinema was playing a movie we had already seen, but looked much like the open air cinema we loved in Pokhara, Nepal.

Get married or go on a honeymoon: there were so many places offering wedding services and beautiful locations for ceremonies and photos. There were also many hotels that catered specifically to ‘honeymooners’ and offered such luxuries as daily massages and private pools attached to each hotel room.

We really enjoyed our time on Santorini, as we felt like it gave us an idea of what one of the more popular Greek islands was like. We loved lounging on the beach and exploring the towns on this tiny island. We are now travelling nearly 10 hours by ferry to Karpathos, where we will spend the next week!