Greece is a country that I have wanted to visit for as long as I can remember. And when I pictured Greece, I pictured charming white houses with blue windows sprawling over the countryside. I pictured twisting, narrow streets and churches with blue domes. Basically, I pictured Santorini, and I think many people can relate to that picture. When planning our trip to Greece, visiting Santorini was a must. I read some mixed opinions about Santorini before visiting. The consensus was that it is expensive. Some people think it’s touristy. Others think it’s paradise. But I like to make up my mind for myself, and I was absolutely not going to miss Santorini when we visited Greece in May of 2021.
Getting to Santorini
After an incredible week sailing the Cyclades with Yacht Getaways, Ben and I took a ferry (and a rather unpleasant one I must admit) from Paros to Santorini. We were traveling just two short weeks after Greece reopened to international tourists following the Covid-19 pandemic, meaning that we had the country basically all to ourselves. Even Santorini was not as packed as it normally would be, and we couldn’t wait to start exploring the island!
We decided to rent a car for our three days in Santorini. In hindsight, I think we could have just taken the bus to most of the places we wanted to visit, but taxis are incredibly expensive in Santorini, and I thought a car would be the best option for getting around the island. We arrived early in the afternoon, picked up our car, and drove up to the northern tip of the island to find our Airbnb, just outside of Oia.
Where To Stay in Santorini
If you’re thinking about a trip to Santorini, chances are you have already discovered there are essentially three main towns where most people stay: Oia, Fira (also spelled Thera), and Imerovigli. All three are located on the caldera side of the island (meaning the side with the dramatic views Santorini is known for). Fira is the largest town, and where the ferry port and airport are located. Imerovigli is the most secluded (read: romantic). And Oia is the prettiest (read: most expensive). I debated and debated where to stay on Santorini, but ended up choosing Oia for one main reason: pictures. I love taking pictures, and I wanted beautiful pictures of Santorini like the postcard shots that made me want to visit Greece in the first place. In a place as popular as Santorini, even during a pandemic, the only way to get those pictures is to get up very early in the morning and explore while most people are still sleeping. I decided it was worth it to stay in Oia so I could get those pictures.
In the end, we booked an amazing Airbnb in a village about ten-minutes walk away from Oia, which was perfect! The Airbnb was incredibly charming, and we were close enough to Oia to make site-seeing and photography easy, while far enough away that we could avoid the hustle and bustle when we wanted. If you have an unlimited budget, there are tons of spectacular hotels with caldera views and plunge pools to choose from, but for our purposes, the Airbnb was exactly what we wanted.
Santorini Sunset
After settling into our Airbnb, we walked to Oia to do the one thing everyone says you have to do in Santorini: watch the sunset. The number one spot to watch the sunset is Oia castle, but be forewarned that everyone else on the island has the same idea. After having places like the Acropolis in Athens all to ourselves, we had to battle crowds for the first time to find our spot. But the sunset was very pretty, and we felt we could tick that one off the bucket list.
Day One in Santorini
The next morning, I made Ben get up early to do a sunrise photoshoot in Oia. One thing I can say for Santorini is that it is beautiful. It lives up to the pictures, for sure, and I was very pleased with the photos we got. Before the trip, I had googled all the best photo spots, but I didn’t really need to. Oia is not that big, and all the famous photo spots are right off the main road. If you wander a little, you’ll find them.
We went back to our Airbnb for breakfast, then started on the activity I was most excited to do in Santorini: hike from Oia to Fira.
The hiking path between Oia and Fira is about 6.5 miles along the caldera side of the island. As a quick side note, the island of Santorini was actually formed during a catastrophic volcanic eruption, and the island is what is left of the volcano. So one side of the island is relatively flat with a gentle upward slope, while the other side, which would have been the mouth of the volcano, has steep cliffs. The steep side is called the caldera side. Anyway, most people hike from Fira to Oia because that direction is mostly downhill, but we are pretty experienced hikers, so we decided to hike from Oia to Fira, and, depending on how tired we were, hike back after lunch.
The footpath is easy to find and very clearly marked. Even in May, it was already quite hot during the day, so best start this hike early. We were awed by the views the whole way, and while the walk was not exactly easy, we really enjoyed it.
We had to walk along the road very briefly around the halfway point. I’m not sure if you have to do this or if we just missed a turn somewhere, but otherwise the path was on volcanic dirt except when going through the towns.
One thing that was fun about this hike was that we got to see Santorini’s three main towns up close. We left from Oia, walked through Imerovigli, and arrived at Fira. If I’m being honest, Imerovigli was not my favorite, and perhaps highlights one of my main issues with Santorini. One of the things that makes Santorini so scenic is that all the villas, hotels, and houses are built right next to each other all along the cliffs. But that meant while walking around, we were walking right past people’s rooms. We were separated by just a gate from a couple enjoying their plunge pool, and while this felt the most awkward to me in Imerovigli, we generally felt limited in how much we could explore because we felt like we were invading people’s privacy. I’m sure that many of the more exclusive hotels do not face the public paths, and this would solve that issue, but this was just my impression while walking around.
While in Imerovigli, we made a brief detour to Skaros Rock, a large promontory with a few ruins that offered a great view of the island in all directions.
We reached Fira in time to explore the shops a bit before sitting down for lunch. We ate at a little wine bar called Pelican Café that was amazing! We sat on their beautiful outdoor patio and enjoyed a delicious lunch that was very reasonable by Santorini standards. While not as picturesque as Oia or Imerovigli, I enjoyed walking around Fira more than the other towns on the island. It is, perhaps, a little less pristine, but it had a lively atmosphere that I really enjoyed.
After our meal, we decided we were feeling energetic enough to walk back to Oia. This may have been a mistake because by that point in the afternoon, it was hot, and I mean really hot. There is no shade at all on the trail, so we were feeling a little exhausted by the time we made it back to Oia. (By “we,” I mostly mean “me,” since Ben generally isn’t affected by temperature all that much, but even he was happy to get out of the sun when we made it back to the Airbnb.)
Day Two in Santorini
The next day, we explored Santorini by car. (May as well get some use out of that thing!) We started off at the opposite end of Santorini: Akrotiri Lighthouse. There’s really not that much to see at the lighthouse itself, but you get a nice view of Oia from that end and drive past several wineries on the way. The wineries in Santorini are very interesting because since the island is so windy, they can’t grow the grapes on traditional vines. Instead, they shape the grape vines into little basket shapes close to the ground.
Our next stop was Red Beach. There aren’t really any beaches on the caldera side of Santorini, so if you have beaches in mind for your Santorini vacation, you’ll need to get to the other side of the island somehow. Red Beach is one of the more popular options because the sand is, well, red. Santorini is a volcano, remember, so the sand is made from red volcanic rock and looks really unusual. The beach was pretty crowded when we were there, so after a quick swim to cool off, we were ready to move on to our next spot.
Our next stop was maybe my favorite, which I wasn’t expecting. It was a visit to ancient Akrotiri. I said before that Santorini was formed in a massive volcanic eruption. Well, there was a civilization living there when that eruption happened. Their city, called Akrotiri, was covered in ash, almost like Pompeii in Italy, and is still being excavated today. I probably get a little more excited about ancient history and archaeology than most people, but this place was really cool!
Although it was still relatively early in the day, Ben and I were both feeling pretty tired by this point. I think we were still recovering from hiking thirteen miles the day before. The final stop of our day was Perissa Beach, but we ended up just grabbing some lunch there before heading back to the Airbnb for a little nap.
In the evening, we walked down to Ammoudi Bay in Oia for a very nice meal at Ammoudi Fish Tavern. This is not a budget friendly place, but is not bad by Santorini standards, and I think it was worth it. The food was amazing! And the view was spectacular. It was the perfect place to enjoy a special final meal in Santorini. If you go, make sure to get the grilled octopus. It was one of the best things we ate in Greece!
Day Three in Santorini
The next day was our final day in Santorini, and it was really only a half day, since we had an afternoon flight back to Athens. We started the morning with a final walk around Oia. After checking out of our Airbnb, we went out for brunch and wandered around Fira a little more before dropping off the rental car and heading to the airport. I had hoped we would be able to do some wine tastings before our flight, but we simply ran out of time.
Is Santorini Worth the Hype?
So, the big question is whether or not Santorini is worth the hype. Honestly, I have mixed feelings. Let’s start with the good. First, the landscape is incredible. I was mostly interested in visiting Santorini to see the cute towns, but it was the natural landscape that impressed me more. Next, the food and wine are delicious. While pricy, everything we ate was fabulous. Finally, it was full of surprises. Things like ancient Akrotiri that were not even on my radar ended up really wowing me.
On the flipside, however, it was expensive. Okay, no surprises there. It was crowded. We were traveling during the pandemic, and it was crowded. I can’t imagine what it would be like during a normal summer. But the thing that I disliked most about Santorini was that it was not oriented towards my style of travel. Let me elaborate. I hate when people say “Oh, don’t go there. It’s so touristy.” Like, places are touristy because lots of tourists go there. And tourists go there because there’s something cool to see. I’m a tourist, and I like to go to cool places. So it feels wrong for me to say Santorini is touristy (although it definitely is.) But in Santorini, it felt like the island is made for people who want to relax in a villa with a beautiful view, not for people like me who want to explore and have adventures. It’s not bad. It’s just not for me. I was eager to love Santorini, but I leave feeling only okay about it.
With that being said, I’m still glad I went to Santorini. It fulfilled all my Greece dreams, and it would be impossible not to appreciate how stunningly beautiful the island is. My advice, make the trip and decide for yourself whether or not Santorini is worth the hype.
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