Greece has always been high on my bucket list so when I had the opportunity to go on The Yacht Week – Greece, I decided to tack on a few extra days to explore magical Santorini. It lived up to all my day dreams of white, blue, and pastel perfection!

How to get there:

• Fly- There are daily flights from Athens on discount airlines like Voltea, Agean Airlines, Ryanair, etc. We flew SkyExpress for $200 round trip with all our bags.
• Ferry- There are a couple options with daily trips from Athens. Bluestar takes about 8 hours or Hellenic can get you there in 5 hours.
• For a great detailed guide on the ferries and all options getting to and from the island check out this informational blog from a guy called Santorini Dave.

Where to Stay:

First, you need to determine what village you want to stay in. The Island is not as small as you might think. You can’t walk from village to village. Here are the main 3 villages dotted with boutique hotels you can find on Hotels.com or Booking.com:

• Oia– This is the most picturesque part of Santorini, the village with the blue domes and pastel houses. Accommodations are typically more expensive in Oia so if your staying a few nights it’s really not necessary to stay here. You can experience it all during the day.
• Imerovigli– This is a smaller village between Oia and Fira. There are not as many restaurants and shops in walking distance. It would be a good place to stay if your going for a romantic escape and want to avoid the crowds. Many of the hotels have private pools or outdoor bathtubs.
• Fira– This is where I would recommend staying. It is quite a bit cheaper then Oia and still gives you all the feels of Santorini. Once you get off the main road it’s foot traffic only and lots of bustling shops and restaurants with delicious Greek food. A huge added benefit to staying is Fira is you can watch the famous Santorini sunsets from the comfort of your own balcony. The way the island is shaped most of the hotels in Oia actually don’t see the sunset- you have to join hoards of people at the end of the island to watch it.

• My specific recommendation is Hotel Thireas in Fira. I can’t say enough good things about this place, but here are a few.
• The customer service is bar none. They bring complementary breakfast to your room every morning (pictured above). They greet you with a bottle of wine. They picked us up directly at the airport then carried our bags down the winding streets to the front door and did the same for our departure.
• Every room has a private balcony- perfect for watching sunset. They also have a communal deck with great views and since it’s a small boutique hotel there is usually no one else there.
• They have a pool for relaxing afternoon dips. It overlooks the town of Fira and the sea.
• Its location in Fira is perfect. It’s just far enough off the main walkway to not be inundated with tourist, but close enough to walk everywhere in Fira. Restaurants, bars, shops, and convenience stores are all within a few hundred feet.

Getting Around:

• Like I said the island is bigger then you may think so you’ll need some form of transportation other then your feet. Don’t worry there is plenty of options.
• Rent a four wheeler or motorcycle. Rentals are plentiful and reasonably priced. We rented from Motor Inn and they were great. They dropped off the motorcycle and 4wheeler walking distance from our hotel and when we were done we just left it there with the keys in the storage compartment- couldn’t have been any easier!

• There is a public bus service with many stops around the island. Find out times, services, and pricing here.
• Taxi is of course always an option too.

What to do:

• Wander through Oia. This is one of those places like Venice, Italy where you are best just getting lost on walkways and discovering perfect little homes, doorways to nowhere, and every view better then the last.

• Hike down to Amoudi Bay. This is a great thing to do if you arrive in Oia at the same time as a bunch of tourist busses like we did. The packed streets were less then magical so we headed north down the main walkway towards the castle where you’ll find a long winding set of stairs that goes down to the bay. There you’ll find great seafood at restaurants with tables that practically fall into the water. I recommend Dimitris Amoudi Taverna- everything was delicious and you can watch them cook whole fish and octopus on the grill.
• Go cliff jumping in Amoudi Bay. Keep going past Dimitris and you’ll be lead down a trail that takes you around a bend to a little swimming spot with people laying out. From here you can swim out to an old church that has a drop off about 15ft high. People take the stairs up and the brave ones do flips off. Just jumping was thrilling and so refreshing. You also get a great view of Oia from below.
• Take a ride on a donkey. If you don’t want to hike back up all the stairs to Oia there are donkeys waiting to give you a lift. By the time we got back up to Oia all the tourist were gone and we had the place all to ourselves to explore.

• Go to Perivolos Beach. This beach has black sand, crystal clear waters, jetskis for rent, watersports, lounge chairs with tiki umbrellas, wait service and fruity drinks. It’s the best beach on the island.

• Feast on tzatziki, gyros, saganaki and seafood. Being an island the seafood is obviously top notch. This was my first time having saganaki- fried feta cheese, and I had to order it at every meal. Tzatziki is served in every restaurant so check the price on the menu and you can quickly gauge the overall pricing. If we were looking for a cheap spot for lunch that’s how we could quickly tell. Most places don’t need reservations unless it’s a restaurant in Oia during sunset.

• Explore Fira. Although Oia is the main attraction, Fira has just as much to offer and hidden gems around every corner. You can also go shopping down the main walkway and grad some tasty gelato. Even if you don’t stay in Fira its worth a stop.

• Enjoy those Santorini Sunsets. The famous spot to watch sunset is from the old castle at the end of Oia. To say this place is packed would be an understatement. I suggest finding a restaurant with a west facing rooftop patio and make a reservation if you’re set on seeing sunset from Oia. The other option is to watch it from Fira. The sun sets out over the sea and dips behind the mountainous islands in the distance. Grab some tzatziki, meats, cheeses and champagne and enjoy sunset on your private balcony. It is breathtaking and was my favorite part of everyday.

• Cruise to other parts of the island. We spent our last day cruising around on our motorcycle. Towards the south end of the island you’ll find Red Beach. We also hiked to a lighthouse lookout with great views of the sea and surrounding islands. Riding the motorcycle down curved roads on the edge of cliffs was most of the fun and finding mom and pop restaurants to stop at was great for a bite to eat along the way.

There’s plenty more to do from wine tours to catamaran trips, Santorini has so much to offer! I hope to make a trip back one day. Thanks for reading and feel free to comment if you have any questions or suggestions of other fun things to do.

Cheers!