We arrived in Santorini with very high expectations, as many friends had visited the island for travel and had only good things to say about the trip.
Accolades included:
- one of their top travel destinations
- beautiful scenery
- place for the most amazing sunsets in the world
And we were not disappointed, slotting Santorini near the top of our favourite and most romantic places to visit in Europe.
Santorini Background
Santorini (or Thera) is shaped like a horseshoe around a still active volcano. The island's caldera is the remains of an enormous volcanic eruption of 15th century BC that supposedly wiped out the Minoan civilization. Some historians have suggested that Santorini is the mythical city of Atlantis that disappeared from the known world almost overnight.
Travelling off-peak
One of the benefits of travelling in 'low season' was that we managed to escape the crowds that normally clog the island. There was also no need for us to rent a car or quad bike for transport as the buses were cheap, frequent and accessible to all the main tourist sites. However, we understand that in the Summer season it may be difficult to find a seat on the bus.
Fira Donkeys
Santorini has a number of small towns with the most popular being Fira and Oia. Both towns are located at the edge of the caldera, with stunning whitewashed buildings set on 300m high cliffs where donkeys are used to ferry people and cargo from the boats in the harbor.
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| Watching the daily donkey parade |
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| The donkeys appear comfortable at walking down the stairs |
Cosmopolitan Suites
We stayed in Fira, at the Cosmopolitan Suites - a boutique hotel that was recommended by our friend Farrah based on the location and infinity pool that overlooked the caldera. The pool area was perfect for watching the sunset on a deck chair with a drink in your hand.
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| View of the caldera, our suite was the one of the right closest to the pool |
Welcome Drink
After we arrived at Santorini Airport on the Sunday evening, we used the pre-booked shuttle service as transport to the hotel. The receptionist met us on the main street to give us directions and assist with the luggage. At night, the pool is lit up with neon blue lighting and we were also given a champagne welcome drink.
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| The pool lit up at night |
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| The monogram of our hotel |
Souvlaki Pita
We then briefly explored the town, stopping in at Souvlaki Pita, a place we visited a number of times during our stay in Fira for a quick dinner.
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| Souvlaki, chips and beer |
Sunrise Views
The next morning we woke up to a pretty sunrise and view of the volcano - located in the middle of the caldera, last eruption taking place in 1941.
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| The volcano and visiting cruise ship |
Breakfast on the terrace
Breakfast was served in a little deck area next to the pool where we could observe the visiting cruise ships that bring in daily income to the small businesses on the island. Breakfast included freshly squeezed orange juice, a platter of cold meat and cheese, fruit and greek yoghurt and an omelette on request.
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| The breakfast spread of food |
Ohi Day
As Monday was a Greek public holiday for Ohi Day, we found out from the receptionist that there would be a small parade of school children up the main street. We stayed in town to watch the student groups marching in school uniform, traditional outfits and then do a mass set of Greek dancing.
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| Ohi Day band |
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| Children carrying the Greek flag |
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| Traditional costumes |
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| Students performing Greek dancing |
Oia
Around midday, we caught the bus to the town of Oia, famous for its sunset view as it is the last town on the caldera facing west. Walking around the town, we took many photos of the white washed buildings and famous blue domes. The scenery was postcard perfect against the clear blue sky.
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| We found the famous photo spot |
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| An old church |
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| Contrasting pink bell tower |
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| One of the main squares |
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| A yellow church |
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| Could stay here forever |
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| This photo was taken by walking down a small alleyway near the main path |
Thalami Restaurant
Walking around the town, we stopped off to eat at a small restaurant - Thalami where we ate fried halloumi cheese and courgette fritters. Our intention was to stay in Oia for the sunset and then head back by bus to Fira.
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| The view from Thalami restaurant |
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| Grilled halloumi |
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| Courgette fritters |
Drinks at Castro
Dinner was booked at Castro, a spot well-known for its sunset views. We arrived early to settle in for a cocktail drink and observed the drama of another couple who wanted their balcony view seating 'reserved' but did not want to sit in the sun and started to get irate and confronting every-time new diners walked into the restaurant and took those seats.
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| Mojito cocktail where the mint was picked from the pot plant in the corner |
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| Flowers on the balcony |
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| A cactus plant |
Oia Sunset
Sadly for them, the sunset that night wasn't worth the trouble. The colour in the sky was very muted and the majority of the tourists left before the sky bloomed with a rich red-pink that only happens about 15-20 minutes after the sun dips below the horizon. We had honed our craft at watching sunsets on-board the ferry from Helsinki where we had stopped watching too early (ie. as soon as the sun set) only to walk out on deck about half an hour later to see the sky brimming with colour - in our opinion the best part.
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| The sun begins to dip towards the horizon |
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| The best colours come out after the sun has set |
Food at Castro
We ate a lemon pork chop and a lamb stew before we headed back to the bus. We were glad that we hadn't opted for a self-drive option as there were only a scarce number of cars and no street lamps resulting in complete darkness along the winding roads; and our bus decided to tailgate a number of ATV (quad bikes) which must have felt quite intimidating for those tourists.
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| Lamb stew |
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| Pork cooked with lemon |
Kamari and Ancient Thira
The next day we decided to do a road trip to the south side of the island where we visited the black beach of Kamari and climbed up to 360m to Ancient Thira with remains of temples and buildings of important Greek and Roman citizens. From the top we had an amazing view over Santorini and the airport.
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| Ancient Thira is on the top of the ridge |
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| Halfway up the hill |
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| Remains of a temple |
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| Taking in the view |
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| Ruins of the city wall |
Stis Varkis
After the hike down (a lot faster than the 55minutes it took to ascend) we headed to the beach where Olie took a dip in the Aegean sea, where Mei decided that eating grilled seafood at the restaurant Stis Varkis was a better option than swimming in the freezing cold water.
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| Kamari black (volcanic sand) beach |
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| Drinking ouzo before jumping into the Aegean |
Fira Sunset
Returning to our hotel, we made sure to be properly positioned around the pool to watch the sunset from the deck chairs. We did venture to the supermarket to buy some wine but it was of poor quality and acidic that after one sip we threw it out.
We were not disappointed by this sunset on our final night in Santorini. The cloud cover gave the sunset an interesting texture as the sky changed from grey with a hint of orange, into bold strips of gold and crimson; before waning down into pastel purples and pinks. Definitely one of the best sunsets we have ever seen.
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| Looking out at the volcano |
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| Getting ready for the best show of the evening |
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| Waiting on the deck chairs for the sun to set |
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| A few colours start to come out |
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| Almost show time |
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| Pretty pink, orange and gold banding |
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| Goodbye sun |
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| Getting ready for a blast of colour now the sun has set |
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| From pastel shades of pink and purple |
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| The richer tones start to appear |
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| Olie to takes a photo from the side of the pool |
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| The towards the end of the sunset |
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| Our last night in Santorini |
Salt and Pepper Tavern
Dinner that night was at a small tavern - Salt and Pepper that came with highly recommended reviews on TripAdvisor. It is a very small restaurant and we were lucky to be seated without a reservation. The host was very friendly and assisted us with meal choices. We started with complementary dolmades and tzatziki then followed with a plate of grilled eggplant that was a local white variety indigenous to Santorini. Our other starter was fava beans - a traditional dish of the island. Our main course was lamb chops and grilled octopus and even though we were so full from the food we couldn't resist the free dessert of ice-cream in a biscuit - a Greek version of the Maxibon.
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| Dolmades and the dip we ate everywhere in Greece - tzatziki |
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| Grilled eggplant |
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| Soup like fava beans |
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| Greek version of a Maxibon |
Santorini Museum
On our last day in Santorini (and we were a bit sad to leave) we visited the museum that had artefacts from the excavation of Akrotiri - a Minoan colony that was destroyed by the eruption of 15th century BC.
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| Ancient Greek pottery |
Goodbye Santorini
We walked up the coastline road and enjoyed a couple of last moments of the stunning view.
Close to midday (and after one last souvlaki) we boarded the bus to the port. Lucky for us, we booked a seat in the business class lounge so we didn't have to fight for seating and were able to order food and beer from the ferry restaurants - highly recommending the burger chain Goody's for very tasty burgers as we chilled out for the 10 hour journey to Athens.
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| Looking back at the town of Fira |
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| Look at the doggy in the window |
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| Goodbye Santorni |
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| Enjoying beer in the ferry's business lounge |
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