Recap of 2018: Santorini Holiday Inspiration

Santorini: the place of dreams. Back at the beginning of the year I spontaneously booked a trip to Santorini… I saw a deal for £200 per person (flights and hotel) and desperately started trying to recruit holidaymakers! I found companions in the form of my brother and his girlfriend and we went on 14th – 21st April.

We spent a week on this beautiful island and there are plenty of things to do to keep you busy for a week but you could also fit the highlights into a shorter period of time! Here I have compiled information on everywhere that I managed to visit and many of these we combined into one day trip.

Logistics

· We stayed in a guesthouse in Karterados, which is about a 30 minute walk to Fira

· There’s no need to rent a car, you can catch affordable buses from Fira to all over the island relatively frequently

· We mainly ate at gyro places, firstly because it was cheaper but also because gyros are too tasty to be missed!

· If you like cats, be prepared to make some furry animal friends

Oia

So I’m starting with the most iconic! When you picture Santorini, even if you don’t realise it, you picture Oia. There is definitely a catalogue of photo opportunities in Oia and if you came to Oia just for 1 day I would recommend doing your research. However, if you have a little longer (I think I went to Oia 3 times across the week), it would be more authentic to explore and find your own iconic locations. Oia is small enough that you will naturally stumble across everywhere just by going down enough side streets. In fact, I found one location that didn’t have tourists any of the times I visited. In contrast, some of the well-known spots have queues of people waiting to get their photo taken.

One thing in Oia visitors should make sure they stick around one day for is the famous sunset! Throngs of tourists gather at the ruined castle every evening to watch the sun go down. We grabbed some drinks from a local corner shop on the way and sipped our way through the whole show. A word of caution: even on a weekday in April, this spot is super busy and 1 hour before sunset it was already difficult to find somewhere to perch. Bring more drinks and get here earlier!

Ammoudi Bay

One afternoon while in Oia, I took the journey down the many (many!) steps to quiet Ammoudi Bay. There are a few seafood restaurants here that look lovely but more than anything it was a lovely place to sit watching the waves. And then don’t underestimate the walk back up!

Fira to Oia Walk

Almost certainly my favourite day of the whole trip! For me, this is what happiness feels like. You can of course do this walk in the opposite direction but since we were staying near Fira, I started here. There are some points of interest along the way but generally it is just 2-4 hours (depending on how many times you stop for pictures!) of spectacular caldera views. If you’re like me then you will want to be constantly taking pictures because you quite can’t believe your eyes at how remarkable it all is.

As you climb out of Fira (always stay on the path closest to the caldera edge if in doubt), make sure to keep looking back for views of the town. On the path between Fira and the first town Firostefani, make sure to stop at the “Three Bells of Fira” for some famous postcard shots out to the caldera.

You’ll walk through Firostefani which soon turns into Imerovigli, and here it was really cool to take the detour out to Skaros rock. For me it was a BIG detour! I spent quite some time exploring the rock and taking a LOT of pictures.

Skaros Rock

Between Imerovigli and your destination of Oia, there’s not an awful lot so make sure you have lots of water/snacks. One thing that there is no lack of is awe-inspiring views and I took a whole load more pictures to fill up my memory card!

Once you get to Oia you may well be completely knackered/out of battery but of course there’s still plenty of stunning caldera to walk along here, this time with the beautiful iconic white buildings and blue domes.

Fira

It would be difficult to see Santorini without stepping foot in Fira! This can be considered as the hub of the island, particularly because all of the buses originate/terminate here. It is also home to Lucky’s Souvlaki, the best place to get a gyro on the whole island (bookmark it if you‘re visiting!). In general, Fira is just nice to have a wonder around and do some shopping if that interests you. You can also walk down to the Old Port, but I would encourage any visitors to not partake in the donkey rides. There’s a lot of signage about the welfare of the animals but personal observation/common sense would indicate otherwise! If you’re too tired to manage the climb back up, I would recommend the cable car.

Nea Kameni Volcano

The more I spent by the stunning caldera, the more I yearned to be out on it. The options for this are kind of limited on a budget so I opted for a tour to Nea Kameni, part of the volcano that Santorini mainland once was a part of. This tour is 20 euros and also stops at the ‘hot’ springs near the island.

Nea Kameni still has many active sulfur vents (so it doesn’t smell great!) and you can walk to the craters of the original volcano. You also get a great perspective of Santorini from the sea. Then boat then stops by the hot springs which you can swim to from the boat. Just a warning to not expect something too lovely and hot… expect more lukewarm, and mud that will stain your swimming costume! It was still nice to finally be in the sea and more importantly get out onto the magnificent caldera. However if I was a millionaire, I would have hired a private yacht instead.

Wine Tasting at SantoWines

Santorini is actually well known for its wines, so one evening we treated ourselves to some wine tasting at SantoWines, on the west coast. We went on a Tuesday evening in April but I get the impression that you would need to book if you wanted to visit during a busier period. Make sure you’re there for sunset if you can – as you will get fantastic views over the caldera.

To get there – take the bus to Pyrgos and ask the driver for SantoWines, the route stops just outside. While there, we each went for one of their 5 wine tasters and enjoyed quaffing this with some traditional Greek food in front of the sunset!

Pyrgos Hill

If you’re looking for views of the entire island, look no further than Pyrgos. Once you have climbed to the top of the “castella” (ruined and quite a safety hazard to be honest!), on a clear day you will be able to see all the way from Oia at the northern tip to Akrotiri on the southernmost end of the island. This was quite fun to do near the end of our trip, as we could spot places we had already been to quite easily.

Kamari Beach

Kamari is the location of one of the impressive black beaches on the island. The huge Thera Mountain on the east coast separates this beach to the north and Perissa beach to the south. Black sand is something I don’t think I’ve ever experienced before, and is a clue to the island’s volcanic origin. On a hot day beware – black sand will get very hot in the sun! As it happens, it was another day of ‘haze’ but this with the black sand just intensified the theatrical feeling of the scene.

Perissa Beach

Perissa is the black beach on the other side of Thera Mountain. I slightly preferred this one, but I can’t promise that it’s not to do with the weather! In contrast to my visit to Kamari, the sun was out for me at Perissa which made for amazing hues of black, blue and the blue-black of the sea. It was also super windy so I stayed on one of the unused (and unmonitored) beach loungers for quite some time just admiring the waves.

Emborio/Emporio

For an authentic Greek experience, I would definitely encourage visitors to Santorini to find time to visit this quiet village. You can get to Emporio on the Fira – Perissa bus by asking for the right stop. I then simply wandered up into the village and explored the streets. You will find colourful houses and flowers typical of Greece, without any tourists! From here I actually walked to Perissa, which took around 30 minutes on a straight road.

Akrotiri – Red Beach

Went here on the first day and the weather was ‘haze’ (?!) so I didn’t want to do something that centered on an amazing view (like Pyrgos hill!). There’s a direct bus from Fira to Akrotiri, which is actually home to an ancient site which I decided to miss. Instead I headed straight along the coast to the Red Beach. I find being by the coast super relaxing so I spent a while just sitting by the bay (it set the theme for the rest of the trip, right?!) before setting off. The walk to the actual beach is short but rather rocky, so flip flops wouldn’t necessarily be the best choice! The actual beach is very impressive, especially the tiny volcanic stones that make up the sand. Definitely worth a visit while in Santorini, and I’m sure the red rocks would look even more impressive in the sunlight!

So have I managed to persuade you to visit this beautiful Greek Island (not that you would have needed much persuading anyway)?! Tell me if you want to plan a trip in the comments below.