Santorini, Greece
Sun, Dec 30, 2018
Santorini was the first stop on our Grecian holiday! This island is such a dreamy place…it felt like being in “Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” and I’m not going to pretend it didn’t. And even though I made a list of dozens of things I wanted to do on the island, my favorite thing ended up being our time just wandering the paths of the island and taking in the beauty. The charm of Santorini, and the village of Oia especially, are what draws you in. I hope that comes through in my photos because there is really no place like it. So here’s a list of all my travel recommendations for this incredible greek island!
Where to Stay
Oia
Oia is easily the most famous village in Santorini and because of that, the most expensive. Even with it being pricey, I thought it was worth staying there because we would have spent the most time sightseeing in Oia anyway. The views there were some of the most beautiful I’ve ever seen and even though it can get very crowded in the summer, it really is the perfect little village.
There are small hotels and resorts to stay in, but we decided to stay in an airbnb because I wanted to stay in one of the traditional cave houses. We stayed at “Evilio’s House” and it was one of the best parts of our entire Greece trip. The listing has jaw dropping views and a patio that overlooks the small portion of the village that has a view of the sunset (you’ll see “Watch the sunset in Oia” on about every list of things to do in the Greek islands.) It was amazing to spend every evening there with a glass of wine. I would stay here again the next time we go, which I very rarely say about any accommodation.
Eats & Treats
Coffee: Coffee Island
Breakfast: Vitrin Cafe Creperie
Lunch: Pitogyros
Snack: Chillbox
Dinner: Pelekanos
Dessert: Lolita’s Gelato
Drinks: Santos Wines Winery
Also great…Katharos Lounge, Dimitris Ammoudi Taverna, Kastro Oja Restaurant, Kyprida, Galini Cafe, Volkan On The Rocks Cafe And Cinema
Things To Do
- Boat Cruise. We took a half day boat cruise around the island with Santorini Gems “Small Group Sailing Cruise on a Catamaran. I did a LOT of research on what boat cruise to take because there are dozens of options. I picked this one because it only allowed 25 people max on each boat (compared to 50+ people on the same size boat for other cruises), so the boat wasn’t crowded at all, and it felt much more like a private boat cruise. It also gave the option for a half day cruise (5 hours) instead of only offering a full day cruise (9 hours) which I preferred because I didn’t want to spend the entire day on the boat since we only had 3 full days in Santorini. It also got great reviews for the lunch that they bbq on board (the food was very very good). It was a little more expensive than the average cruise that’s offered but worth it for the above average experience.
- Explore the famous town of Oia (prounounced “ee-ah”). This is the quintessential Santorini town that you are picturing in your mind. It has the famous views of the cave homes and blue topped churches. It was my favorite place by far and I loved being there. Make sure to walk the entire length of the town to get all the Caldera views and stop in at the shops along the way.
- Hike Fire to Oia, it takes a couple of hours and the views are amazing. Plan to do this in the morning before it gets too hot in the afternoon.
- Go to Volkan on the Rocks Cafe and Cinema for dinner (or just drinks) and an outdoor movie! They alternate viewings of Mamma Mia and My Big Fat Greek wedding every night! The sunset before the movie is amazing from their balcony seating as well!
- Visit Atlantis Books in Oia, it’s one of the most famous books stores in the world, and you’ll see why! It’s honestly incredible to walk around, even if you aren’t a reader.
- Explore Amoudi Bay, not only should you have dinner down here (Dimitris Tavern was amazing and also one of the only restaurants in the bay where you can actually see the sunset while you eat) but explore the bay. If you walk past all the restaurants you’ll come upon an area where you can cliff jump or just watch other brave souls do it. We walked around here before dinner and it was so pretty as the sun was going down.
- Spend an afternoon at the wineries. The most well known one, and for good reason, is Santos Wines Winery. The views are unbeatable and the wine was so so good. We had the best afternoon just relaxing there for a few hours.
