Our last stop of our three week long honeymoon–at this point, I’m not sure if I’m excited to be somewhere hot and by water to experience true “honeymoon relaxation” or sad our honeymoon is close to being over. If you’ve been following along, you know we’ve had quite the busy honeymoon and were in Athens, Greece prior to this and you can read that here. Below is how M and I traveled Santorini in three and a half days.
After the thirty minute flight from Athens to Santorini, Greece, I remember landing and thinking to myself how beautiful and bright it was. We pre-scheduled a car to pick us up from the airport through our hotel (Santorini Princess Spa Hotel) and recommend doing the same or scheduling transportation prior to landing through Viator or another website you prefer. Once we checked into our hotel, we had them schedule a car to take us to Ammoudi Bay for dinner. The taxis are expensive in Santorini so expect to pay around forty-fifty dollars one way from one part of the island to the other. Our hotel was located in Imerovigli and it cost us around thirty dollars each way to get to Ammoudi Bay/Oia. The ride takes about twenty minutes one way. Please see my tips for visiting Ammoudi Bay down below. We ate at Katinas fish and it was excellent, the best fresh octopus I have had. We went back to the hotel for sunset views and dinner at the hotel restaurant (which we loved and decided to eat here every night the views and dinner were THAT good). We booked the honeymoon suite at our hotel and enjoyed our personal jacuzzi on our patio after dinner.
Our first full day in Santorini started with breakfast at our hotel restaurant (shocking, I know). If you’ve been reading along you know we love eating breakfast at our hotels and have done so at every hotel we have stayed at on this trip. We pre-booked a semi-private catamaran day via Viator prior to us arriving in Santorini. This included a pick-up from our hotel the morning of our sailing day, all inclusive food and drinks on the boat, three stops around Santorini and also a drop-off at our hotel after the tour was completed. We booked Spiridakos sailing cruises and were very happy with our day on the water. We met friends through this sailing trip and would 10/10 recommend.
Our third day (second full day) in Santorini included breakfast at the hotel, taxi to Oia to explore the town/shops, swimming and cliff jumping in Ammoudi Bay. The shops/boutiques in Oia are adorable and have the cutest decor and apparel. Note the shops can ship home from Santorini if you do not have room in your suitcase 🙂 Accessing the swimming/cliff jumping area in Ammoudi Bay takes some adventure but not much. If you are at the restaurants at Ammoudi Bay, keep following the walking trail around the cliffs (there will be others walking to/from this path as well so you’ll see it) and you will eventually arrive at the man made “swimming area” where others will be swimming. This is not an actual swimming area so please be careful getting to/from this area as well as cautious while swimming in this area. There are sharp rocks and the tide can be strong. We relaxed at this area for about an hour and a half and M cliff jumped while I videotaped it. M said the ladder to access this cliff jump is not safe and there are large boulders and an anchor where you jump but overall many people did this cliff jump and I did not see anyone get hurt. Kind reminder to plug your nose when you jump though because you are pretty high up there 🙂
Our fourth day (third full day) included breakfast at the hotel followed by a couples spa day. The Santorini Princess spa itself was “cave like,” dark and relaxing. We rated the couples massage a 7/10. We laid by the pool after and ordered lunch before we went to our private wine tasting tour at the Estate Argyros. (Loved the red, not a huge fan of the white). Later returned to our hotel for sunset dinner at our hotel’s restaurant.
The last day we were there included an early morning wake up for our private transportation from our hotel to the airport (around thirty minute drive). One thing I want to note is the hotel staff at The Santorini Princess Spa Hotel went above and beyond every single day to make each guest feel like they were the only ones at the hotel. Truly, I’ve never experienced such lovely, accommodating, friendly, genuine, informative and happy staff. I will rave about this staff and remember them forever. Every other hotel in the world, take notes from these people!
- Many visitors rent ATV/4-wheelers to avoid the taxi costs and to travel from one part of the island to the other. We did not do this simply because I would be nervous driving/riding on an ATV so close to the edge of an island because the roads are very high obviously with a lot of twists and turns. If you do decide to this, please wear a helmet and purchase the insurance if they ask when renting it 🙂
- IMO, you want to stay on the West side of the island. This provides the best sunsets (which Santorini is known for).
- A lot of instagram and social media portrays these beautiful white buildings with blue roofs/domes everywhere which is NOT the case. The white buildings and blue roofs/domes are located sporadically throughout the island with most of them being in Oia. Fun fact: there were very very long lines or “queues” to get that “famous instagram shot” in front of a white building with blue roofs/domes and it was entertaining to see because that’s ALL you see on instagram yet not ALL you see when you are physically in Santorini. True example of do not trust everything you see online.
- Santorini is expensive. Some restaurants charge fish dishes by the kilo (which you do not know or will ever know the kilos of the fish you are actually eating) so please be aware of that prior to ordering.
- The stairs from Oia to Ammoudi Bay are slippery and covered in donkey shit. If you are not physically fit or young in age, you most likely are going to need some assistance going up/down these stairs. They provide donkey rides up/down the stairs but IMO it is so sad to see the donkeys suffer providing this service. You can always take a car down to Ammoudi Bay but you most likely will have to walk up the road to get picked up as cars /taxis typically do not drive down the hill.
- The hike from Fira to Oia is something we looked into and ultimately decided not to do (haha that sounds SO lazy). Hear me out though, we decided not to do this only because it was SO hot (remember we went in early September), there is NO shade along the way, I did not bring sneakers, the hike is somewhat deserted (not many shops/hotels/restaurants along the way) and is on the edge of the cliff overlooking the underwater caldera. We did see many people complete this hike and many of my friends have completed this hike so if this interests you, please plan ahead and pack sneakers, hat, sunscreen and water bottle/backpack. We heard this hike takes about three hours one way.
- Oia in August/September (and I’m assuming the summer months) is BUSY. When we toured Oia, we went early and it was still very populated and somewhat difficult to maneuver around the shops.
- Try your hardest to make reservations at the restaurants in Ammoudi Bay before you travel to Santorini if you can or have your hotel book once you arrive. We booked an early dinner and spontaneously ate a late lunch at Ammoudi Bay without reservations after we swam/cliff jumped, but we only needed a table for two so it was easier to be seated at that time.
- There are catamarans/boats available for sunset cruises and if we had more time on this trip, I think this would also be fun.
Overall, I felt very safe while in Santorini, Greece and although it is a slower and relaxing island, three and a half days was the perfect amount of time we needed to enjoy everything we wanted to.
What was your favorite thing about Santorini? Did you cliff jump at Ammoudi Bay or hike from Fira to Oia?
Xx @thedailyallis
