The Island That Will Steal Your Heart: 8 Must-Dos in Santorini
Santorini, or Thera, is one of the Greek Cyclades islands located in the southern Aegean Sea. Whether you are craving for picturesque Greek coast settlements, romantic walks on the beach, majestic views from a volcanic caldera, breath-taking sunsets, or delicious local flavours, Santorini will assuredly leave a mark in your heart.
Famous for the volcano that formed the island and gave it its unique terrain morphology, Santorini’s west volcanic caldera and outstanding views represent a big part of its natural beauty. Santorini is composed by a wide variety of scenic villages and towns around the island with their own distinctive charm. The most well-known are Fira, the capital of the island and the most cosmopolitan settlement of Santorini (it has the best night life too) and Oia, the most picturesque spot and most visited for sunset viewing. Oia is known worldwide for its astonishing sunsets and the spectacular portrait it provides of white and blue architecture majestically raising on the coastline of the island.
The best way to reach Santorini is either by plane through a national or international connection, or by ferry from Athens. My suggestion is to first go to Athens and spend 2–3 days in the Greek capital, and from there you can easily take a plane (45 minutes) or a fast ferry (5 hours). I advise you to take the ferry as the transport is in itself a great experience and you can enjoy fresh air and beautiful views of the Aegean Sea, as well as being cheaper too. Santorini’s airport (Thira or in Greek Θήρα) has multiple international destinations and you will quite likely be able to fly directly to your home destination.
Once in Santorini, what must you surely not miss?
1. Tour the island with an ATV
Public transport can get a bit chaotic in the island so mostly everyone opts for renting their own way of transport. You can get a car, but I strongly recommend renting a quad, which you can easily share with somebody else. Travelling like this will not only give you an incredible feeling of freedom, but also let you enjoy the weather and astonishing views as you move around. Other perks are that it works better for going off roads and it is much handier for parking! When touring around, keep your eyes open for traffic sings, as there are multiple around the island but it can get easy to miss them.
2. Walk around Oia’s streets
Santorini’s most well-known portrait is without a doubt the one composed by the white and blue architecture from Oia. And I can promise you: it will take your breath away. These white buildings with their unique blue domes (which are Greek Orthodox churches) raising along the rest of the village offers a majestic view painted by shades of white and blue on the sea line that is hard to ever be forgotten.
Enjoy wandering around Oia’s (unfortunately crowded) streets, discover the innumerable picturesque spots and have a delightful drink in one of the many terraces with views to the sea. If you are interested in very colourful and charming bookstores check Atlantis Books.
This area of the island is also known for the high-class hotels located on the side of the coast with beyond-amazing infinity pools where you can enjoy stunning views and sunsets (expect quite exorbitant prices also).
3. Enjoy the sunset at Oia
Considered one of the most beautiful sunsets in the world, the sunset in Oia provides every visitor with harmonic hues of colours playing with the volcanic islands as the sun hides behind the line of the Aegean Sea. Make sure to be on time to get a good spot in the streets as it can get really crowded. You can also enjoy the sunset while having dinner in one of the many restaurants (they clearly announce sunset spotting) but make a booking with enough time (even days) in advance.
If you would prefer to enjoy the sunset in one of the areas of the city, you can go next to grab a bite at the sea level below the cliffs at Dimitris at Ammoudi Bay (check number 8) and grab a dessert from Melenio.
4. Experience the night scene in Fira
Fira, being the capital of Santorini, is also the best nightlife city. Bars, nightclubs and late night eating spots can be found all over the place. Start your evening by a late-coffee and early-drinks by Galini Cafe at the Galini hotel. Just outside there is a small graphic tavern called Aktaion that is definitely worth a visit! Afterwards in Fira follow a small path by the cliffs that starts in front of the Galini hotel. Around Fira go for cocktails and stunning views at Franco’s or Tango, and for clubbing check out Koo Club and Enigma Club.
5. Wander around the island and discover the multiple beaches
Driving around the island becomes even more of a fascinating experience when you are doing so with the quad. There are only a few standard roads so many times you cannot simply follow the coastline and will need to go back inside the island, but you will sure discover different multitude natural spots while filling your lungs with tons of fresh air! The island is small so you can reach most of the parts of the island within 30–60 minutes. While you tour around the island you can stop at several beaches that you encounter along the way and in which you can enjoy some chilling, sunbathing and swimming. Some of the beaches that you definitely should not miss are:
- Perivolos for a volcanic-type of beach, and it has the best beach bars and nice taverns around. For the latter check Ta Dixtya.
- Kamari Beach for enjoying a beautiful sunrise.
- Black Beach
- Red Beach that is made of red sand. I would though not recommend spending the day here but rather come to see the beach and take some pictures as the beach is quite small and uncomfortable with a rocky terrain.
6. Get a taste of Santorini’s ancient history
For archaeology enthusiasts you have the change to get a taste of ancient civilizations through the ruins of Ancient Thera and the Akrotiri Archaeological Site. You can walk around the good preserved archaeological ruins, definitely worth the money.
7. Hike Fira to Oia
And now for the nature and hiking enthusiasts: make sure you take the hike from Fira to Oia. It is one of the highlights of the visit to Santorini and lets you enjoy the views from the caldera cliff as you pass through Fira, Firostefani, Imerovligi and Oia. The hike takes between two to four hours only.
8. Enjoy a day in Amoudi Bay
Located just 300 steps bellow Oia, this picturesque small port is not so well known but provides the visitor with romantic sunsets, beautiful swimming spots and traditional taverns.
And you, do you have other Santorini’s Must-Dos? Share them in the comments below!
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This post was originally published on my travel blog Wandering Serendipity. All the pictures and the text presented are made by me.
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