Santorini, Greece
You’ve seen the pictures. A sunset over the most beautiful caldera lined with picturesque houses, small cobblestone steps, and donkeys. I dreamed of going to Greece from the moment I saw Sister of the Traveling Pants in middle school, and this island is everything you imagined… and then some.
My husband and I have about a million destinations on our travel wish-list, but after seeing photo after photo of Greece, we knew it was the perfect spot for our June vacation. Since we live in Manhattan, we are pretty lucky with the flight options so we booked the Delta direct flight from JFK to Athens, and then hopped on a smaller airplane to island hop over to Santorini. While booking, we questioned how long we would need in the Athens airport for customs/security, but it was a breeze, so you only really need about an hour in between flights and you’ll be good to go.
The most popular villages on the island of Santorini are Oia, Imerovigli, and Fira. We struggled with which village to stay in but ended up booking the most incredible boutique hotel, Cavo Tagoo, located within a 10 minute walk from Imerovigli. Because it is such a small property (13 rooms total), the service was impeccable. They provided us with a driver whenever we needed to get somewhere, changed reservation times for us last minute, went out of their way to help us any chance they could, the list goes on and on. Not to mention, the breakfast spread each morning was incredible. And that infinity pool? Worth the trip alone.
If you’re worried about a “good view” from your hotel or dinner reservation, worry no more. Every village in Santorini is on a cliff overlooking the ocean with stunning views. For dinner, we ate at Ambrosia (expensive, gorgeous views, decent food), Mezzo (slightly expensive, also great food and great views), and on our last night we went to Santo Winery and then grabbed a gyro in Fira. For lunch, we typically ate on the go if at all, because the breakfasts are so large!
We had 3 full days in Santorni and we got a LOT accomplished. On the first day, we did a daytime sail which departed at 10AM. The first stop was at the hot springs for swimming and hanging out in the mud baths (snorkeling equipment included), We then stopped at White Beach for more swimming while they cooked an afternoon BBQ on board. Our last stop was Red Beach before we headed back to Ammoudi Bay for departure. We booked this tour through Santorini Sailing.
On our second day, we hiked from our hotel to Oia, which was absolutely stunning. Greece during the Summer months can be rather toasty, so we opted for an early morning hike to beat the heat, which took about 2 hours. Afterwards, we explored the village of Oia and hung out in Ammoudi Bay. If you continue walking past all of the restaurants in Ammoudi Bay, you’ll find a little path that will wind you around to a cool spot on the rocks where you can swim and cliff jump. There were locals and tourists alike hanging out here, which made for a fun afternoon.
On our third day and final day, we relaxed by our hotel pool and did a wine tasting at Santo Winery. Since we had spent a lot of time in Oia, we decided to grab a gyro in Fira. If you’re looking for additional things to do in Santorini, you could easily rent an ATV and check out some of the “beaches” on the island.
Although we were sad to leave Santorini… our next stop was Paros, and we couldn’t wait to see this little gem of an island.
Cheers!
SANTORINI TIPS:
If your hotel does not provide a driver or cab service, be prepared to order ahead of time, take the local bus, or rent an ATV!
Santorini is not a beach island, which I personally loved. There are so many other activities you can do (and most likely, you will have a beautiful hotel pool which you can relax at)
My top 3 things to do in Santorini are: 1. Visit the old port of Amoudi Bay below Oia 2. Go on a boat tour during the day or at sunset 3. Walk/hike from Fira to Oia along the caldera