SANTORINI
- Hannah McDonald
- Jul 10, 2023
- 11 min read
Updated: Jul 30, 2023
The Ferry
Santorini is one of the most famous Greek islands, white buildings and blue roofs lining the cliffs and filled with tourists. There are two ways to get to the island—airplane or ferry. We opt for the ferry—a seven hour journey through the Aegean on a large, stable boat. It stops at multiple islands, the last being Santorini. We board the ferry nice and early, picking an inside seat with a table for card playing. When we arrive at the first island, we realize the production of the Greek ferries, churning tourists through the islands. Hundreds of people pour out of the boat onto the island, while police officers blow their whistles in an attempt to direct the foot traffic and the cars, all exiting the boat at once. Behind them, there is a long line of tourists waiting to board the boat for their next island stop.
We pass our ferry time sleeping, playing cards, and blogging before joining the swarm of tourists flooding the island of Santorini. A driver picks us up at the port, and I am relieved we are not driving. Traffic is dense, cars passing each other with mere inches of room between vehicles. The road is steep and bendy to reach the top of the cliff. Our driver shares some information about the island, including that Santorini has about 1,500 permanent residence and that much of the vegetation is grapes growing close to the ground to protect them from the wind and dust. All the plants here can survive without water because the soil absorbs humidity, and the grapes support the 21 wineries on the island.
Our Airbnb is excellently located once again, outside the busy-ness while just a short walk from tourism’s heart in Santorini—Oía.
Oía Walking Tour
As we well know, it gets HOT during the day, so we wake up early to do an Oía walking tour mom found on an app. This one is self-guided, rather than a group. There are five stops in Oía, not the island’s capitol but the island’s tourist capitol, if you know what I mean.
Church of Panagia Platsani: This Church is found in the main square of Oía and was originally constructed inside the Castle of Oía. After the earthquake of 1956, it was moved to its current location in the town square. Townspeople decided to build the church to honor the icon of the Virgin Mary that was found in the sea by fisherman. The townspeople placed the icon in the church, but each time they did, it miraculously moved to the castle. So, the church was built where the Virgin Mary placed the icon, and today, she overlooks the sea to bless all the vessels.
Windmill of Oía: Santorini is a windy island with about 70 traditional windmills, originally used to grind flour and house bakeries. Today, the Windmill of Oía is a villa with two bedrooms, a bathroom, a small kitchen, and great sunset views.
Amoudi Bay: This is the port just below Oía with a few restaurants. It can be accessed by walking the 200+ steps, by donkey, or by driving the extremely hectic road. Dad did the steps, with each numbered, while Mom, Jo, and I only visit with our boat tour when leaving from the dock—someone drives the hectic road for us.
Oía Castle: Oía Castle dates back to the 15th century and was built to protect the island against pirates. When pirates attacked, people fled to the castle to hide their valuables in pits underneath it. The castle was heavily damaged in the 1956 earthquake, with much of it falling into the sea. Today, the castle ruins are a popular sunset-viewing location. Dad found his way to lower levels of the castle, including a chapel, but Mom, Jo, and I missed that.
Naval Maritime Museum: This museum is located in a 19th century two-story mansion that was a captain’s house. The museum has recently been renovated and is quite amazing. Mom, Jo, and I are the only ones here, so we get a personalized tour. There is even a periscope from a submarine in the back courtyard that we get to use to view Santorini all around us.
Karma Restaurant: While not an official stop on the walking tour, we add it to ours, grabbing food and shade before walking the mile back to our Airbnb in the heat and busy streets. The chia pudding here is delicious.
The walking tour is a good overview and fills us in on some information. Early is the time of day to be out, before the heat and before the crowds. By 10:00am or 11:00am, the streets are bustling, with everyone packed shoulder to shoulder as they push their way through the narrow streets. Amid all this, we see someone repainting a small wall white, which I only imagine someone will lean on while the paint is still wet.
Swimming!
Our Airbnb has a small dipping pool to escape to during the heat of the day. The emphasis is on small, and I think it is just filled with hose water and cleaning agents. It is a nice touch and sunset-viewing setting.
Joelle watched the first Oía sunset from here, while Mom, Dad, and I rushed into Oía chasing a sunset spot while looking for food (turns out we did not even make it halfway to the good spots, which were likely too packed to get a good view anyway).
We all enjoy another Oía sunset from the pool. It is hard to describe it, but there is something different about the sunsets here. They are colorful and magical, unlike anything we have seen. The sun looks to be taken from the Lion King and the colors look like something out of a Disney movie.
SantOrganics Farm Tour
One of Joelle’s activity finds is a tour of a local farm that produces capers, raisins, prickly pear, herbs, and olive oil. Everything on Santorini happens at sunset, so naturally, it is a sunset tour.
We are greeted on the farm with a warm welcome from Maria, who leads us up the trail to the farm where her husband Dimitrius joins us. The views looking out to the water are beautiful. We learn about the farm and the different plants. The capers grow naturally, not planted by the family, and have beautiful firework-like flowers blooming off the buds. The grapes hang off the leaves, and the prickly pears are small leaves with fruits on top. Every couple years, they take the best leaves from the prickly pear trees and replant them on their own to produce more prickly pear.
The cave built into the side of the mountain has herbs hanging to dry, including thyme. Here, Maria and Dimitrius show us the products the farm makes, including olive oil and prickly pear serum that helps with wrinkles and scarring.
We end the evening on top of the hill to enjoy the sunset. We eat snacks, including some yummy cookies, prickly pear juice, and olive oil. It is amazing. The olive oil is not meant for cooking but for consumption raw, like as a salad dressing.
The sunset is once again stunning, and it is a very peaceful place. Maria and Dimitrius share that Santorini is essentially a micro-climate under an umbrella formed by the three surrounding volcanos. The volcanic gasses may be what create such stunning sunsets.
Maria and Dimitrius send us with olive oil, prickly pear serum, and snacks. Their hospitality is incredible, and it is clear how passionate they both are about what they do, excitingly ensuring they share all the information with us. They are farmers first and only offer small tours every other day to maintain a quality and personalized experience.
Family Pictures
This is mom’s dream trip, and we have not done family photos since 2015. Joelle and I decide it is time for an update. Jo found us a photographer months ago, and just a couple days before pictures, mom gets a mosquito bite…on her eye… Fortunately, the extreme swelling mostly goes down before pictures.
We start at 5:00pm in Imerovigli, a town in central Santorini (Oía is just too busy for pictures). I am sure we are quite the site: Nice outfits, desperately trying not to be dripping in sweat. It is so hot out. We are not alone, as others are doing the flying dress photo shoot.
We stop at three locations—a church in Imerovigli to get the white building and blue roof, The Venetian Castle in Akrotiri, and the photographer’s once-secret spot overlooking the ocean and the cliffs (where a bride is also getting her photos taken). The castle is tucked behind a maze of narrow streets we walk through and is something we would not otherwise find. It is a mix of seeing some new places and getting some updated pictures. Hopefully we do not look too sweaty in them.
Mavro Restaurant Sunset Dinner
So far, we have eaten at a few places in Oía and cooked some meals at the Airbnb. On our first night, we walked the main pedestrian street in Oía, passed many fancy restaurants with ocean views and, mostly, an assortment of meat dishes until we found a street food stand around back with some falafel. That is our favorite place thus far, plus our nightly stops at a gelato stand for sorbet.
Tonight, we decide to eat in Imerovigli, since we are already outside Oía from family pictures. Finding vegan food on the island has been surprisingly difficult. Most restaurants say “of course” when we ask about vegan options, which is shortly followed up by a “but it won’t be good” as they take most everything out. For example, mushroom risotto becomes mushrooms and rice. Our travel clothes of running shorts and t-shirts also have us standing out a bit, perhaps in the underdressed category. On our first afternoon, our waiter at lunch brought us menus and commented we looked “too sporty for wine” when giving us the wine menu.
With all that, when we stumble upon a restaurant with a beautiful sunset view, six course vegan meal, and happen to be in our nice family photo outfits, we have to eat there. Dinner includes what I will call a cold onion soup that holds together like Jello, sponge bread, fancy carrots, spinach pie, beet root, mushroom risotto, and dessert—espresso pudding, chocolate truffles, and pumpkin bites. Each is a small serving, with our favorites being the sponge bread, the carrots and spinach pie, the risotto, and the chocolate truffle (so most of the meal). The chocolate truffle is the best truffle we have had before. The delicious meal is accompanied by the most beautiful sunset of the trip.
Sunset Oía Boat Tour
One of the musts of Santorini is a boat tour. A car picks us and others up from the hotel and drives us to the Amoudi port, along the dreaded busy road. Our driver impressively backs the bus down the steep hill, until a car parked in the middle of the road blocks his way, leaving us to walk the rest.
Our first stop after leaving Amoudi port in is the Hot Springs to swim. Hot Springs might be an overstatement. It is more of a Warm Springs. The water is heated here from the volcano, but it mixes with the rest of the ocean water, which cools it down. Our boat crew gives many warnings before swimming, from damaging jewelry to turning white swim suits orange to complications with various health conditions. After that caution, Joelle and I are among the few still eager to jump in the water. Dad joins and, eventually, a few others from the boat do as well, but Joelle and I are the only ones they have to call back to the boat when it is time to continue on. The water is very nice, and while it does not turn my black swim suit orange, it does turn my body orange. It looks like I got a bad spray tan.
Our next stop is at Red Beach. This beach is difficult to access and has been closed due to rock slide hazards, but you can still see people making their way down to the beach, which still seems to have a sort of beach club. Must not have been a successful closing. The beach sand seems to be white, so I imagine it gets its name from the red cliffs above. Joelle and I are excited to jump in again, knowing the water may very well be cold. Many others get ready to jump in as well, while asking just how cold it will be. Joelle and I’s philosophy is just jump! It is cold but not bad enough to not swim. The water is bright blue and crystal clear—magical. The many fish swimming below us can be seen, even without the snorkel gear (the crew throws in some bread to draw them out).
Next, we stop at White Beach, where we eat the dinner our crew barbecued off the back of the boat. There is also a swimming option, but we are just starting to dry off in the warm sun and our bellies are full.
Our last stop is to watch sunset from Oía. As we sail back, it seems like we are going to miss the sunset. The sun disappears behind the cliffs of Oía, and we wonder if we will make it around the point before the sun sets. Of course, we do, and it is another magical Oía sunset.
Through the boat ride, we explore the Caldera and cliff sides of Santorini, going past Aspronisi, the Ancient Lighthouse, Akrotiri, and Indian Rock. We also meet many people, one who has a mutual friend with Dad as it turns out. It is a great trip and definitely best to be in the AC or the water during the day’s heat.
After sunset, many boats need access to the small port, so we float in the water awhile, enjoying the sky filled with beautiful post-sunset colors and watching the chaos that is the road out of the port, back up the cliff side. Eventually, a small speed boat comes to get us from our boat and take us to the port. Everyone packs on the small boat, Mom, Jo, and I bouncing at the front on the makeshift seats while water spurts out from under the boat on either side. An eventful way to end the night!
Fira to Oía Hike
One of the most popular hikes on Santorini is the trail from Fira to Oía. Mom, Dad, and I wake up early to try to get it done before the daily heat kicks in. We rent a car for the day, so we can drive to Fira and start from there (many take the bus but we want an earlier start). The first section of the trail is essentially walking the pedestrian street through town, with a view of the ocean and Santorini coastline. We pass familiar areas from family pictures, and eventually, the path turns to trail. The views are beautiful particularly on the narrow section of the island where you can easily see the water on both sides. There are many churches along the way and a high point that overlooks Oía. I imagine this would be a great spot for sunset, and there is a nice breeze to cool us off. It is scenic, and we finish before it gets too hot, stopping at the market for some additional breakfast and snacking rations.
Perissa Beach
For our last afternoon, we decide to head to the beach. Most of Santorini is cliffs, but there are some beaches. We head to the one in Perissa. Our first stop is to get lunch. Dad found a nice vegan spot right next to the beach called Tranquilo. It stands out from the rest of Santorini with everything colored orange instead of white and blue. The vibes down here are much different than Oía—very relaxed and down to Earth. We eat lunch, relax in the hammocks, go to the beach across the street, and have dinner back at Tranquilo. Joelle even went for a (30 second) swim. With dinner, I ordered one of their homemade lemonades without sugar, and it was yummy but tart. This is a nice, relaxing way to end the Santorini section of our trip and to get excited for all the beaches in Milos.
Bonus: The Sunken Cruise in Santorini
The same driver who picked us up from the port dropped us back off at the port for our ferry ride to Milos. On the way down the cliff, I spot a large circle in the water and ask the driver about it. Apparently, a cruise ship sunk there in 2007 and has been there ever since. Two people are missing and presumed dead, while everyone else survived because the rocks in the water prevented it from sinking quickly. The sunken cruise poses an environmental hazard, but no one wants to pay to recover it.
Fabulous! Photos too!