The Santorini Guide

Jun 6

I’m not sure what first inspired me to visit Santorini, but — probably like most millennials — Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants II definitely played a part. Perhaps that’s why I didn’t find it strange that my first time on the island was with two dear college friends (who also happen to be my Book Club buddies) and not with my husband.

We spent five days and four nights on the island, and while we toyed with the idea of island hopping, we decided to focus all our energy on Santorini, and Santorini only — and I’m so thankful we did. Although Santorini is known to be a honeymooners’ destination, it’s more than just romantic sunsets. Anyone who enjoys the sea, great views, hiking, meeting friendly people, and eating delicious, fresh food can enjoy Santorini.

While we did get to explore most of the main spots on the island, there is still more beyond what I could capture in this post. But if you, like me, are a first-time visitor and want to know the key places to hit up, this guide is for you. (And if you are more of a visual learner, you can check out this video on my YouTube channel, kchoi.)

Where to Stay: Fira vs. Oia

Deciding where to stay was like a game of Tetris as we balanced price, convenience, and ambiance. While Fira is generally cheaper, Oia (pronounced ee-yuh) is known to be romantic with dreamy views. But because Fira is the capital, it is much more convenient to get to and from various places around the island, while Oia is a bit more remote (or as remote as you can be on a small island).

Speaking of our hotel, we stayed at Altemar Suites, which is located just up a small hill from the city center, and is in a very central location on the island. With an all-white exterior and a jacuzzi for every unit, it had the essence of luxury at a fairly affordable price. We also got tons of great food recommendations from our hotel manager, Dimitris, which made the trip that much better.

*Our map with handwritten recommendations by Dimitris*

Because tourism is such a big industry for Santorini, I would personally recommend staying in a hotel vs. an Airbnb — for pretty much the same cost, you’ll get better amenities and service, and support a local business.

Of course, Fira and Oia aren’t the only places to stay — you could also stay in Imerovigli (a village located between Fira and Oia), Finikia (a small village just outside of Oia), or many other spots around the island. It all depends on how you plan to get around and what activities you’d like to do.

Getting Around

*One of the bus schedules at Fira bus station*

There are several ways to get around Santorini, including taxi, bus, rental car, and even ATV. We opted for the first two, as we didn’t want to deal with maneuvering any small roads and finding parking. If you’re staying for a week or so, a rental car might give you more freedom to explore much more of the island, but for our purposes, taking the bus and taxi was perfect.

Bus: The bus system in Santorini was definitely designed for tourists. There is a central station in Fira (another reason Fira is a convenient location to stay in). We noticed that the buses seemed to leave Fira on time — sometimes even a few minutes early — but the timetables were merely a suggestion when coming back to Fira, so plan accordingly. You’ll want to have cash for the bus (€1.80-2.20 per ticket depending on the destination), but don’t need exact change as the bus attendants will carry some.

Taxi: When we booked our hotel stay, they helped arrange a taxi pickup from the airport, which was €12/person (€36 total for us). Once our driver dropped us off, he gave us his card so we could contact him via WhatsApp for any future rides. We also discovered that Uber does in fact work on the island, but every ride is, for some reason, €36.

For more info about getting around Santorini, check out this blog post.

Activities

Now for the fun part — what do you actually do in Santorini? With our four-night itinerary, we aimed for a balance between physical activity, relaxation, culture, and food, and I think we delivered.

Sunset Caldera Tour

We knew that we wanted to do a sunset tour of some kind, but decided to wait until we checked into our hotel to book one. Luckily, Dimitris had lots of options to share with us, and we ended up choosing a sunset sailboat tour with Dream Cruises. For €150 per person, we got hotel pick-up and drop-off, snacks, dinner, and unlimited drinks on a 4-5 hour tour (which ended up being 7-8 hours because of the late sunset). Sailing is a great way to see the island from afar and learn about its geography. Had the weather been a few degrees warmer, we also would have gone swimming in the hot springs (fun fact, they are not actually that hot) and other bays/beaches, but instead we stayed on the boat and enjoyed the cool breeze and the sunshine. The finale and highlight of the day was the sunset on the water. Pure magic.

Hike from Fira to Oia

Another great way to see the island is by doing the 11 km hike from Fira to Oia (or vice versa). The hike is fairly easy to intermediate in some areas, with a variety of terrains like cobblestone steps, dirt paths, gravel roads, and the side of a highway. Just make sure you have water, sun protection, and comfortable shoes with enough grip. For more tips on this hike, check out this blog post (which helped us out immensely).

Sunset from Oia Castle

There are a handful of things you can do in Oia, including browsing the dozens of jewelry stores, walking down to Ammoudi Bay, grabbing some fresh seafood at Katina Fish Tavern, and enjoying a refreshment at Meteor Cafe, but the highlight for us was watching the sunset. We opted to stake out a spot at Oia Castle about three hours before sunset. Unfortunately (and as to be expected), it got more and more crowded as time went on, but as the sun got closer to the horizon, everything stood still and we all admired the glow of the sunset on the white buildings of the village. Even though the sunset from our sailing tour was much more relaxing, the sunset from Oia was enchanting and just what I had pictured in my mind before even stepping foot on the island.

Perissa Beach

The day after our long hike, we decided to spend a few hours relaxing and took the bus from Fira to Perissa. (Perissa Beach and Perivolos beach are basically one long strip of black sand, and we technically walked down to Perivolos.) All the restaurants along the beach had complimentary beach chairs and umbrellas for customers. We ended up at Filippos (per Dimitris’ recommendation, of course) and enjoyed some smoothies and Greek side dishes. The beach itself is nothing extraordinary (although it’s of course nice and clean), but the chill vibes were just what we needed.

Akrotiri

I guess you can’t go to Greece without taking in some ancient history, so on our last day, we took a small excursion to Akrotiri, which is an archaeological site of an ancient city buried under volcanic ash 3500 years ago (Santorini’s “Pompeii”). Tickets were €13 each, and we spent a little less than an hour walking around the site, reading about the ancient city, and even watching a short video that showed what a typical house may have looked like back in the day. I would say this visit was interesting, but not necessary — and we were just glad that the site was indoors!

Red Beach

A short walk from the Akrotiri museum and bus station is Red Beach. While Perissa Beach was nice but sort of underwhelming, Red Beach was better than we expected — the combination of the aqua blue water and red stone that make up the backdrop was beautiful. The beach itself is quite small, but it seemed like a pleasant place to sunbathe or take a dip.

Food

The thing I was looking forward to the most on this trip was the food. I’ve always enjoyed Greek food: tzatziki, feta, grilled fish, olives…my mouth is watering again just thinking about it. I only wish we could have stayed in Santorini longer, just to enjoy the food a bit more. (Note that all of these spots are in Fira.)

Lucky’s Souvlaki

This was the first and last stop on our trip, which should tell you something. A simple shop, Lucky’s has pita with gyros, souvlaki, chicken, or falafel, and comes wrapped up with fries, tomatoes, onion, lettuce, tzatziki, and various seasonings. The bread was crisp on the outside but fluffy on the inside, the meats were flavorful but not greasy, and the veggies added the perfect freshness. I’m determined to find a close-enough equivalent here in New York, because I’m still dreaming about this pita.

Selene

I’m not one for fine dining, but Selene became the exception. Located literally a two-minute walk from our hotel (albeit up some slippery cobblestone steps), the restaurant is located in an 18th century monastery with a serene outdoor courtyard where we dined.

We opted for the €200 pp “Full Moon” prix fixe, which consisted of 13 courses that celebrated elements of Greek food and culture. My favorites were the “Ode to Santorinian Tomatokeftes” (Greek tomatoes are phenomenal, so having tomatoes three ways was a treat) and the pre-dessert palette cleanser, “Santorini Anhydrous Cherry Tomato” (fresh tomato puree topped with Greek yogurt sorbet and a few pieces of arugula). However, all of the dishes were exploding with flavor, and the service was also second-to-none. This was such a special meal, and I’ll not only cherish the memory but also manifest dining there again.

Eggomio

Another spot right by our hotel, we passed by Eggomio every morning and finally decided to check it out on our last day — what a great decision that turned out to be. A small cafe with both indoor and patio seating, we got a few breakfast dishes but the standout was the pancakes. We ordered the Greek pancakes, which came with Greek yogurt, honey, and chopped pistachio, which was a great combination of sweet, tart, and crunchy with the fluffiest pancakes we’ve ever had. We loved them so much that we left our mark on the wall (which is covered with fun messages from guests coming from all over the world).

Iriana Cafe

For a more decadent breakfast spread and a beautiful view, Iriana Cafe is the place to go. They have a couple of breakfast combos that come with different varieties of eggs, yogurt, Greek pastries, bread, coffee, and juice. The combos are pretty big, so at the recommendation of our server, the three of us shared two breakfast combos and ordered some pancakes to share. The pastries and Greek yogurt (with honey) were my favorites, and the beautiful view from the restaurant was the cherry on top.

Ouzeri

Located across the promenade from Cafe Iriana, Ouzeri is a traditional Greek restaurant where we ordered spicy feta dip, tomatokeftedes (tomato fritters, a Santorini specialty), Greek salad, and grilled branzino. Everything was fresh and simple but flavorful, which are all the reasons I love Greek food in the first place.

I’ve always wanted to visit Greece, and I’m so glad I got to experience a small slice of the country through Santorini. I know that the island itself has even more to offer (not to mention all the other islands and the mainland) so I’ll definitely be looking for more opportunities to make my way over there. I hope that you, too, can take a trip to Santorini (whether on a honeymoon, girls’ trip, or anything in between) and enjoy the sea, sunsets, and souvlaki yourself.

Kristina Choi