Santorini is one of the most magical places we have ever been. The views are absolutely breath taking and don’t get me started on the sunsets. Ok since you asked, the sunsets are, I’m just going to say, some of the best in the world! They are amazingly beautiful and definitely post card worthy!! Now, ladies I know most of you have already seen the movie Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, and already have Santorini on your radar. Who wouldn’t want to spend an entire summer in Santorini visiting family, falling in love, and sharing magical pants with your best friends!?!
How to Get There
We added Santorini on the end of our Italian vacation, so we flew to Athens first, then took a flight from Athens to Santorini. Santorini’s airport code is called JTR (Thira). It used to be a very small airport but was recently redone. It is still small but definitely got a good upgrade. We flew with Olympic Airlines or Aegean Airlines. Aegean Airlines owns Olympic so you can book with either website but they should have the same or similar flight schedules. You can also take a ferry to Santorini, but it takes hours to get there from Athens. If you are island hopping in Greece, the ferry will be probably be cheaper, but if you are coming from another country, a flight is your best option. The best place to book ferry tickets is on a website called ferry hopper. They will send you your tickets electronically so you don’t have to worry about printing them off. They have an app you can download and you can also check the status of your ferry through the app. The ferries are known for running behind so that tool is useful so you can see where your ferry is at.
How to Get Around
Taxis are hard to come by in Santorini. They are there, but it is not like it is in a big city where you can just wave a taxi down. You can walk and walk and never see a taxi. They do have a public bus system you can use as well. I will tell you the best way to get around Santorini, and that is to rent an ATV or also called a quad. Not only is it a good way to get around, but it is so much fun!! They also have scooters to rent or cars, but the ATV was so much fun, and easy to park!
Pick a Town to Stay in
Before you try to find a hotel, you need to decide what town in Santorini you want to stay in. If you rent an ATV, this is not that big of a deal, but if you are planning on walking everywhere, it matters more what town you stay in. There are four main towns in Santorini with the caldera views: Oia, Imerovigli, Fira, and Firostefani.
Fira is the biggest town in Santorini and if you are on a budget this would probably be your best bet at cheaper hotel rooms and near the caldera. There are tons of restaurants, shopping, and nightlife in Fira.
Oia is the picturesque village you most likely see on postcards with all the blue domes. If you want an expensive hotel that is very good, with a pool or hot tub on your balcony, you will find a lot of those in this town. At night, everybody gathers in this village to watch the sunset, and it gets very crowded. There is shopping and restaurants here, but not as many restaurants as in Fira.
Imerovigli is the closest to Oia in distance as far as villages go. It is more quiet in Imerovigli and you can also find great hotels here with the pools and hot tubs on the outside. As I said everybody gathers in Oia to watch the sunsets, but we stayed in Imerovigli and had the best sunset view ever without all the crowds!! There are also several good restaurants, but again, not as many as in Fira.
Firostefani is a town that is about a 10-15 minute walk away from Fira. Along with Fira, this is the best town for cheaper hotel rooms.
There are beach towns in Santorini, if you prefer to stay near the beach instead of the caldera. When I say beach though, don’t think you are going to see your traditional beaches with white sand. They are black sand beaches and pebble beaches. Santorini was formed from a volcano erupting after all!
Where We Stayed
I will go ahead and tell you that Santorini is not the cheapest place to find accommodations if you want to stay somewhere with those spectacular caldera views. Do you have to spend $3000 for a hotel with an outside hot tub? No, but you aren’t going to find a $99 a night hotel here either with the views you are wanting. With lots of research and planning, you can find reasonably priced rooms though. I however, wanted to stay in luxury for this trip and I wanted to have a hot tub on my private balcony.
We stayed at Astra Suites in Imerovigli. This hotel exceeded all my expectations! The hotel staff, service, rooms, everything was amazing! We stayed in one of the luxury suites with open air jetted tub. The suite had a huge living room with a couch and kitchenette, and a big private balcony with a lounge bed and couch outside. There was a table and chairs on the balcony, where they would serve you breakfast in the morning. And of course, the hot tub on the edge of the balcony. The view from our balcony was the best!! We could watch the sunset every night from our own hot tub. The hotel also has an amazing infinity pool for the guests to enjoy. There is a bar next to the pool where you can order delicious drinks and a full menu if you are hungry.
Things to do
I could have literally sat at my balcony or at the hotel’s pool all day long and enjoyed the views and been perfectly happy. That is how breathtaking it is. However, you don’t go all the way to Santorini to sit and not explore what it has to offer.
- One of the best things and free things to do is to walk from Fira to Oia. You will be rewarded with spectacular views the entire way there. There is a walking path to follow and it is a pretty easy walk. There were a few places that got a little tricky, and one little stretch where you had to walk on the side of the road, but nothing dangerous. Since our village was in-between the two, we just started from Imerovigli. They say it can take anywhere between 3 and 5 hours, depending on your pace. Since we started in Imerovigli, it took us about 2 hours, but it seemed like we stopped a lot to take pictures. We only saw one place to stop for water, so it is probably best if you bring a water bottle.
More things to do in Santorini:
- Take a wine tour
- Boat Tour
- Scuba Diving
- Open Air Cinema
- Eat fresh seafood and swim in Ammoudi Bay
- Kamari Beach
- Red Beach
- Ride the Cable Car
- Visit Akrotiri
- Wander the streets of Oia, Imerovigli, and Fira
- Watch the Sunset!!!
Whatever you chose to do while in Santorini you can’t go wrong! You can make it as chill as you want or as adventurous as you want. Just relax and have a good time because you are in one of the most beautiful places in the world!!!