SANTORINI TRAVEL GUIDE
GETTING THERE
We took another ferry from Direct Ferries to get from Mykonos to Santorini. This time instead of taking the slower boat we took the fast boat for a little bit more money. This wasn’t planned but looking back we were happy to have a shorter boat trip. It was about 2 hours to get to Santorini. Prior to the trip we had no idea how we were going to get from the boat to the hotel but once we arrived to the island, everyone and their mom wanted to take us. AKA it was easy to figure out. We just sort of shuffled off the boat and into a bus line(there were probably 50 companies wanting to take us). We basically decided we just needed to pick one because they were all really the same price. We paid $45 to get us both dropped off at our hotel. We just told them the hotel name and they knew where to go! Easy, just how I like it! I put a lot of tips for Direct Ferries in this post here!
WHERE WE STAYED
We stayed at Aeolos Studios and Suites, it was so perfect! The staff was honestly incredible and so willing to help us. They called and made reservations for us, they brought us breakfast to our room every morning, brought us treats and drinks every night. We seriously came home to something cute every night! They were so happy that we were there and ready to help us at the drop of a hat. The only downside was that our jetted tub that was out on our patio wasn’t heated at all, so it was chilly for a May vacation! Also, a tip for arriving, it’s a little difficult to find. We had to go down the steps to find the reception, but once we found it, they came up and got our luggage for us, so we didn’t have to take it down any steps.
ISLAND VIBE
I think Santorini had just as many people on it as Mykonos but it was much more spread out. Oia was very crowded in the evenings! The vibe of the island was MUCH calmer though, we really enjoyed the slowness that the island had. But when I say that I don’t mean service was slow or anything, just slower paced than Mykonos and definitely slower than Athens. We loved it and it was absolutely gorgeous. Basically, lots of food, wine, relaxing and laughing! The best kind of trip!
WHERE WE ATE
Avocado - lunch here, watch out, you will start and end your meal with a shot of tequila haha lunch here was so yummy though! I got the chicken caesar salad and a side of French fries lol and Dustin got the Seafood pasta! Both were delish!
Vanilla - we ate here two times! The pizza was to die for, the views were breathtaking, and they kept the wine coming! When it’s good, it’s good.. ya know?! haha we ate on the rooftop and it was just perfect! It was chilly from the wind, but they gave us blankets to keep warm!
Da Vinci - again, I ate all the pizza that was in Greece.. if you go there and aren’t able to eat pizza it’s because I ate it all. We had lunch here and it was very good! Dustin got the Risotto Agli Scampi. When we were eating here a couple was trying to get their ATV to start and they just couldn’t figure out how to get it to move forward.. We felt horrible and Dustin was going to go help but then they started arguing so we didn’t. It was sooo awkward but so funny to watch.. haha are we horrible?!
Buddha Bar Beach Santorini - Another restaurant with STUNNING views! Absolutely gorgeous views of the caldera. We sat outside at this restaurant as well. They had fun drinks and even better appetizers! We recommend the calamari!
Skiza Cafe - We stopped in here one night when we were in Oia, the sun had just set we were so freaking hungry lol we sat on the roof and ate pizza.. I literally ate pizza every day in Greece, no I don’t see the problem. haha
GETTING AROUND
When we were in Santorini we rented an ATV to get around, this was a bit pricier than the moped in Mykonos but definitely worth it! Plus, we could go faster on the ATV, which was good for going from one side of the island to the other! It cost us about $70 for two days, but they let us park it there whenever we needed. It was perfect, we parked there and walked like two minutes to our hotel room!
SITES TO SEE/THINGS TO DO
Kissing Fish - WHAT AN EXPERIENCE haha I had done a fish spa prior to Greece but Dustin hadn’t. It was hilarious! Yes, you will be nervous, yes it will tickle, yes you will laugh until you cry. Hands down you need to add this to the list of activities!! It was also a beautiful facility and the staff were so nice! Update: unfortunately, when I was updating links in 2022, I found out this place has closed.
Santo Winery- It was beautiful here! We ended up bringing a couple of bottles home from this winery! The staff was so knowledgable of the wines and really helped us figure out what to order based on what we liked! We sat there for at least three hours drinking all the wine, eating all the cheese and looking at the breathtaking views of the caldera!
Perissa Beach - This was a more publicized beach, there were more people and tons of restaurants and bars. We only spent about an hour here. It looked like you could rent jet skis here as well, lots to do on this beach!
Akrotiri Lighthouse- This was a fun unplanned half day trip! It was the cutest lighthouse called the Akrotiri lighthouse. It was first built in 1892!🤓 This wasn't even something we planned on doing, we just sort of stumbled upon it on our search for lunch, but we ended up spending so much time here(disregarding our hungry stomachs) lol
Vlichada Beach - We got stuck at this beach.. literally our ATV broke down here(the company was so awesome, they came and brought us a new AVT). BUT if we were going to break down anywhere I would prefer it to be on this gorgeous beach! It had a cute little restaurant here too but we didn’t stop because we were preoccupied with getting off the beach.. lol we definitely recommend visiting this one! It was also fun because we found so so many clay tiles (we think from old buildings) that had washed up on the beach. This is also the beach where the dock was for Caldera Yachting day trip!
Caldera Yachting - this was one of our favorite days of the entire 11 day Greece vacation. It was so relaxing and beautiful. We went snorkeling, and swimming in multiple spots. Plus, they would get you beer or wine, just ask and it’s yours! Also, there was a chef on board who made the most incredible assortment of foods for lunch. It was seriously so much more amazing than you could have ever imagined having food prepared on a boat. Plus you could smell the delicious food the whole time you were swimming! It was also so much fun to get to know the people that were on the boat with us, like where they were from, how their vacation was going and things like that. We love meeting new people! You can get 15% off your tour by using the code caldera2019 when you pre-book your cruise! We would definitely recommend the day trip just because its warm enough to swim and you can dry off in the sun! I think if we would have taken the sunset trip it would have been very cold, especially in May. While it would have been romantic, I think we would have been over it after the sun went down.. ha just being honest!
