Mediterranean Vacay- Santorini, Greece

Getting to Santorini

So our trip to Santorini almost started off on a bad note. Long story short, we made it to the gate on the wire for departure. Funny thing, we didn’t even get to the airport late. I had paid to check in a bag during online check in, and was issued a digital boarding pass. During bag drop, the counter agent told me he could also check in my carry-on for free if I wanted, so I went ahead and did that. When the time came to go through security though, the boarding pass kept getting rejected. Turns out adding the bag changed something on the boarding pass code, so I had to go back to the desk and have that sorted. It was much more trouble than it was worth in the end.

We took a Ryanair flight this time around and let me tell you, going forward no matter how cheap the flight is, I’m not taking it. For instance:

• Even if you buy two tickets together, you are not automatically seated beside each other. In order to change the seat assignment, there is a charge of course.
• Up to when we travelled, you could still take a carry- on piece free of charge. As of November 2018, even that now attracts a charge.
• Not to mention the avoiable stress the counter agent caused me by not advising me properly.

Anyway, enough of that.

Where We Stayed In Santorini

We stayed in Fira, which is the main town on Santorini. The cliff side which Santorini is famous for is referred to as the caldera. Of course, staying on the caldera side attracts a premium price. We were very fortunate to get a recommendation from a friend of N’Gina and Stephen’s. She put us on to Archontiko. I would definitely recommend staying here. It’s a charming, well appointed property. It’s in the style of a traditional Santorini cave house, but with a modern twist. Archontiko is also situated in a fantastic location, with easy access to the main parts of Fira and spectacular sunset views.

I was really very pleased with this booking. There are only three (split-level) suites available on the property so you would need to book early. At one point, we had actually made a back up reservation (cancellation free on Booking.com- I’ll write more about this useful hack another time) at another hotel because we wanted to be absolutely sure we secured a spot. The Santorini Caldera is not the place to be making last-minute reservations. Turns out our back up place was literally across the street from Archontiko and it would have been double the cost. Win!

What We Did In Santorini

Fira

Our flight had gotten into Santorini pretty early, so our rooms were not ready when we got to the hotel. However they accomodated us by keeping our things while we went off to explore in search of breakfast.

We walked along the roads closet to the Caldera’s edge till we found a restaurant with a menu that looked promising. As with pretty much anything in Santorini, if you want caldera views, then expect to pay caldera prices.

That’s not to say there aren’t affordable spots in the area. As we walked around and continued to explore Fira, we came to the main town street which we fondly dubbed as “back road”. While a meal with a caldera view is going to cost you a bit, on back road there of plenty options for cheap and varied eats for all times of day.

During our walk, we made reservations at restaurant Rastoni for dinner that evening.

Oia

We decided to head to Oia the next morning. Oia is probably the most recognisable part of Santorini. Those blue-domed pictures that made you fall in love with Santorini? They were almost certainly taken in Oia. This part of of Santorini is very popular with honeymooners and is more expensive that Fira.

To get to Oia (or pretty much anywhere else in Santorini really) we headed to the bus stop in the town centre. The system is a little strange because while there is information on which number bus goes where, there isn’t a lot of organisation. You just have to keep an ear open for announcements, pay attention to the buses coming in, and hustle over towards your bus.

Some one then collects the ticket money during the course of the journey. Not the most efficient system to be honest, especially during peak times. However it is very inexpensive (<€2 per ride) and is the easiest way to get around.

Once in Oia we headed to the main streets from the bus stop. There were so many people! I cannot imagine what it is like navigating during the heights of the tourist season. Oia attracts a lot of day trippers (from cruise ships, other parts of Santorini etc).

So to get our iconic photos… we actually had to trespass. I’m not kidding. When you get to what is the famed vantage point, you realize that there is a little gate. When we saw they gate, we were disappointed and backed away. We tried taking some photos from other points nearby, but they really were not it. We needed the blue domes!

So we headed back to the spot, hung around and watched several other people (including a just married couple and their photographer) dash in and out. We’d come this far, we figured we’d go for it! The men weren’t interested and just wanted to be out of the sun, so Gina and I took turns snapping. The pics came out quite well I think :).

Listen, the sun was INTENSE. Just a little while in the direct sun and my nose was on the verge of burning. The guys had the right idea.

We walked around a bit more until it was time to beat a hasty retreat from the sun.

We had a simple lunch before heading back to the bus stop. You will really have to assert yourself. Having waited so diligently, we almost didn’t make it on to the bus when it finally came. We were literally the last persons the conductor squeezed on. Standing room only.

Imerovigli

To me, Imerovigli seems like a really nice place to honeymoon or go on a couple’s vacay, even more so than Oia. Really romantic atmosphere and an almost exclusive vibe.

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That evening we headed to Imerovigli to have dinner at Athenian House, one of the best rated restaurants in Santorini. It was not easy to find though, and we actually got lost for a little bit. Not that I minded too much because the area is charming. At the restaurant, the view, the ambience, the service and the food were all top notch; I would highly reccommend it. You should definitely make a reservation though!

Kamari Beach

Originally I wanted to take a tour out to the hot springs in the middle of the caldera the next day, however one by one, the rest of the crew bailed out on me. We decided to make an easy day of it and figure it out as we went along. Even when we got to the bus depot we still weren’t 100% sure where were going to end up. We finally decided to head down to Kamari beach. Santorini is a volcanic island and as such has black sand beaches, rather than the type of beaches that many of the Greek isles are known for.

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General Tips

• It’s advisible to book far ahead for the popular areas Santorini (Fira, Firostefani, imerovigli, Oia) and especially so if you want to be on the caldera side. We made our reservations as far back as February for a September trip. Even from then avaiibilty was getting pretty thin
• Be warned, there are lots of stairs. Lots and lots of stairs, especially on the caldera side.
• Great cheap eats can be found in the Fira main street area.

Next stop: Istanbul!