Major bucket list destination= checked off! I spent a weekend in Greece's most beautiful and picturesque island, Santorini. It truly was a once in a lifetime kind of trip. Read all about it below!
Getting There
I always thought it was difficult to get to the Greek Islands, however, after doing more research it is fairly easy to get a flight from a major airport in the EU to a major airport on one of the Islands. The biggest airport and probably most common to fly into is Athens, however we were able to get a direct flight from Rome to Santorini. Since Florence is not considered a major airport, travelling to Rome was the best option which is only 2 hours from Florence. This flight we had was only $80!! One thing about the airlines we fly on is that bags and seat selections cost extra. After travelling Europe for a few months, we've gotten pretty good at stuffing backpacks and/or sharing a carry-on and splitting the cost. Since Greece has warmer weather, or so we thought, we didn't have to pack any heavier items so splitting a carry-on was very doable.
I took this trip with a group of 6 friends who all go to UC. We had two different trains to Rome that we ended up taking on a Wednesday evening. We met around 10pm at the airport wanting dinner and after seeing there was a KFC we just had to go! Except.... it was past the security lines. The security lady laughed when we asked where the KFC was. We think we blend in as Italians and then we do stuff like that... Did I mention that our flight wasn't until 6am the next day? Yep, we were getting ready for an airport sleepover! Although we were planning on sleeping at the airport we learned then and there that you can't even go through security until 3 hours before your flight. Sooooo we ended up joining the other 50 people who had the same sleepover idea with no KFC:(
Our airport sleepover was honestly just a laughable experience. We talked, made funny videos, snacked and "slept". Yeah not really, but it was such a fun experience looking back. I actually did think I was going to get some sleep around midnight. We all were sprawled out on the tile floor, hiding our faces from the light and tired enough to get some shut eye. Or so we thought. We woke about 30 minutes later to the sound of a jackhammer and beeping. The Rome airport was doing construction on their ticketing area....We thought it was a joke, but it wasn't. From 1am to 3am when we went through security we relaxed to the sound of drilling and constant construction lift beeping. Fun times!
The next morning was a fog and after getting an hour or so of sleep at the gate, we got on our plane to Greece! Although typical for a lot of the flights we've taken, they took us on a tram to our plane on the runway where we climbed the steps to board the plane to GREECE!
Day 1
We arrived in Greece just after 9am with the entire day ahead of us. I booked an airbnb right by the famous Santorini Oia town and it was the best airbnb experience I've had. First, there are not a ton of taxis to just pick people up at the airport, but our airbnb host scheduled a private pick up for us. Surely enough when we got off the plane, our driver was waiting there and he took us directly to our airbnb. The drive to the airbnb was very scenic. It also only took us 25 minutes to get from the airport to the airbnb (which is half the island too btw). When we arrived at the airbnb our host was waiting for us and gave us a tour. We arrived not knowing they could check us in earlier than 3pm so getting in right away was amazing!!!! Below is our cute little airbnb perfect for our group of 6. (airbnb link at the bottom of the post).
Spending a few days in Greece was a much needed relaxing trip. The island of Sanorini is pretty small so there was only so much to see and do. We spent our morning on the first day exploring the town of Oia. The town was exactly what I pictured but better. Our breakfast was amazing, but mostly because it was different from the croissants and toast we'd been eating for breakfast in other countries. I got an omelet which came with a salad. We got some shopping done and enjoyed our rooftop (and a nap) in the afternoon.
After some rest after getting no sleep the night before, we watched the sunset on the roof and went to dinner. It was amazing how we could see the famous Oia sunsets from our rooftop!!
For dinner we went to a restaurant that was suggested to us by our airbnb host. For all of our dinners in Greece we ate family style. This was the best way to try all of the greek dishes we wanted to try! For this meal we had lots of different kinds of meat, risotto, potatoes and so much more. The atmosphere was also perfect for our first dinner in Greece. It gets colder at night when the sun goes down, but this place had heaters and comfy seating outside. Night 1 was perfect!
Day 2
Day 2 in Greece was even better than day 1. This day was especially important to me in general because Taylor Swift was dropping her 10th studio album, Midnights. It was dropping at Midnight in the US which meant 7 am our time. I always listen to the albums when they first drop so we Betsy and I woke up and listened to it. If you know me and how much I love Taylor Swift, this was soooo exciting!! AND we woke up in Greece. Even better!
We had a slower start to the morning and took a bus to Fira to explore. Fira (also spelled "Thira" is another town on the island of Santorini and also the capital of the island. Its similar to where we were staying in Oia, but has a larger port which is a popular stopping point for cruise ships. We had breakfast at a place on the edge of the cliff and I have never had a breakfast with a better view. We all got something slightly different and the menu had a lot of options. I absolutely loved my meal. I ordered mini pancake bites with fresh fruit and pecans on top. The iced coffee was also to die for. We had to eat well because we were about to walk across the island. Literally though...
The Hike
We walked from Fira to Oia which is over 7 miles and literally half the island. The image to the right is the walking route we took. Parts of our walk went through towns along the way, but a lot of it was walking along a dirt path. We were surprised to see that many of the resorts along the way were empty, and not a lot of people were on the hike as well. If you ever want to visit Greece without the crowds October is the time to do it! The weather was perfect for this hike because although there is no shade, it is super breezy on top of the cliffs. Also, with it being an October day there were more mild temperatures than on a summer day. The views were amazing and we had a fun time chatting and singing.. ha. I was also not expecting how high the island sits above the water. It was just something that the pictures I'd always seen didn't show.
The town of Fira and the beginning of the hike:
Greek architecture along the hike: (love!!!!)
We heard from a friend that at a certain point in the hike we would stumble across some donkeys that we could ride the rest of the way back. The entire walk we were so pumped thinking we'd get to ride a donkey for some of the way, but when we arrived at the donkeys THEY WERE CLOSED. It was basically just a shack with donkeys out back but no one was there and the sign said there were no donkey rides. We still are not sure if the rides were out of season or if they were just on lunch break. Either way we had no donkeys to ride and 2 miles left to go. This was also the part that was the most hilly and windy. We felt like we could have been blown over. Below are are more pictures from the hike.
We were almost home when my roommate, Betsy, twisted her ankle. Thankfully we only had 20 minutes left to go, but still a bummer for her. It ended up just a little swollen the next few days. We finally made it back to Oia after our 5 hour hike. Instead of going back to the airbnb we went straight to a gyro stand. It was the best gyro I have ever had!! I got chicken with potatos inside. For the rest of the trip we were wanting to go back, but sadly we never got the chance. 10/10 recommend!!
After hanging out at the airbnb for a little we went to dinner in town. The town itself was a short walk away. It took us maybe 5 minutes to get anywhere and there were always shops to look at as we walked. All of the shops were so cute! Santorini by far had the best shopping.
Our dinner place we went to was an open air patio overlooking the edge. It was dark at this point and we couldn't see the water but the idea was there! Once again, we were able to get multiple dishes and just share them all. This night we got potatoes, eggplant lasagna, spicy hummus, lamb, pork, shrimp (which was my favorite) and more. After dinner we wanted to spend some time at our cute little airbnb so we had a girls night in drinking wine and listening to music. So fun!!
Day 3
Saturday was our last day in Greece. We had yet another amazing breakfast and shopped around one last time. We had a later start to the day so the morning flew by and pretty soon it was time to meet for our excursion. We had a boat waiting for us in the afternoon!
"If you are ever visiting Santorini you must do a cruise! Seeing the island is one thing on land but even more beautiful from a boat."
The tour that we did was through Sunset Oia Sailing Cruises which we found on trip advisor. Many of these tours have transportation included which is nice since the ports are further down the cliffside. There were many types of cruises for all different kinds of budgets, but the one we did is linked below. I would recommend if you have a tight budget, but still want the same experience with a meal included.
There were only 10 people on our boat which was nice and 6 of them were us. It felt like a private excursion! It was a 5 hour sunset tour so we got to see the sunset from the water. BEAUTIFUL!!
Day 4
We got picked up by our airbnb host in the morning for our 10am flight out of Santorini. A+ on the transportation situation with this airbnb host! (I'll link the place below). We flew to Rome then hopped on a train back to Florence.
Overall rankings of Greece:
Food: 9/10
Cost: $$$/$$$$$ (average)
Activities: 7/10
Natural Beauty: 10/10
Architectural Beauty: 10/10
Friendliness: 10/10
Airbnb Link:
Comments