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My wife and I will be visiting Santorini next week for the first time. We will have 4 full days. We have booked 3 nights in Akrotiri at the Apanemo hotel (#1 ranked on Tripadvisor) and will have a rental car to explore from there. I was hoping the community could assist me with the following:
1) what are the must-do’s in Santorini (we will do the sunset experience in Oia and the archaeological site in Akrotiri. Possibly take a boat trip too.
2) we have to find somewhere to stay for our last 2 nights. We were thinking of either Imerovigli or Fira/Oia. Need with nice views, breakfast and free parking😊. Any recommendations welcome.
3) any general advice or insider secrets gratefully accepted.
Many thanksHi a visit to a cave winery is a must buses are good boat trip around the volcanic island swimming in the warm water great fun we stayed in kamay on the flat side nice beaches and boat taxi
Went in April last year. Did an evening in Thira and an evening in Oia. Boat trips popular and look fun so if you have the chance to organise one then probably worth it. A lot of people use the buses but we found it was worthwhile having a car as we could explore different beaches and spots all around the island. Have your camera ready during landing, plenty of great views of the islands as you fly in! We had a power outage for a couple of hours at one point, sounds like it happens with some frequency there.
The water will be chilly for swimming at about 18C: fine for a refreshing dip, but not for a sustained swim or snorkelling without a wetsuit.
Best thing to do in any Greek island is to make enough time to relax and properly enjoy the food. Just beware of creeping Americanisation; if a restaurant serves truffles, lobster, any Italian dishes, or burgers, go somewhere else.
If you like hiking, do the walk from Fira to Oia. It’s gloriously beautiful with stunning views of the caldera, and you should have perfect hiking weather in April.
Thanks for all the great advice.
Has anyone stayed in Kamari (beach resort area) on east side of island. I am not sure whether to stay here or perhaps have my last couple of nights in Imerovigli.
I’d stick with the caldera edge. The beach areas aren’t that exciting, compared to the views from Fira and Oia!
I am surprised you didn’t get told not to go there, as I did the other day 🙂
https://www.headforpoints.com/forums/topic/athens-santorini-hotel-recommendations/
I am surprised you didn’t get told not to go there, as I did the other day 🙂
https://www.headforpoints.com/forums/topic/athens-santorini-hotel-recommendations/
@PeteM – you are quite right about wanting to go to Santorini; it’s a spectacular and very different island with some incomparable views and hikes. The downside is that it has become horribly over touristy and correspondingly overpriced and not very Greek. I think @jj views of this and other places stems from visiting these places many years ago.I first went to Santorini in 1980 for work. The main street wasn’t paved and there was really just one hotel, the rest of the accommodation was B&B’s or rooms. Obviously no international flights, just a few Olympic Airways on a YS-11 or a SkyVan. I went back a few times at that tune and then not until 2008 and with my wife; in my view it’s overbuilt (which has spoilt many views), overtouristed and having to fight your way through the crowds to walk from A to B is not for us. I speak Greek so we were able go to more authentic tourist free places and away from Thira and Oia is less busy. Like Mykonos, Santorini has become a playground for rich international tourists. Zakynthos (Zante) in a different island group used to be a super quiet, sleepy place as well.
If you go, you definitely want to do so out of season. If you want a more Greek, more relaxed and less expensive experience, I would probably also try and spend time in Tinos, Naxos, Sifnos or Serifos.
It probably goes without saying that islands without international flights offer a very different experience but the extra travel time is well worth it.
PS Dubai and Abu Dhabi were rather nicer in the 1980s with the added attraction that good wine was less than half the price of the UK. Hong Kong is also sadly now no longer what it once was.
Thanks for all the great advice.
Has anyone stayed in Kamari (beach resort area) on east side of island. I am not sure whether to stay here or perhaps have my last couple of nights in Imerovigli.
I’ve stayed at Kamari beach and think it’s great. There’s a broad pedestrianised walk along the seafront with loads of different restaurants, you can go for a different one each night.
I’m sure I was on a BA holidays trip and the hotel was on there. If you go definitely take a trip up to Pyrgos it’s beautiful and provides great views of the Island. Oia worth a brief visit, but as JDB says you’ll be swamped with cruise ship daytrippers.
It brought back lots of memories as my first trip to Santorini was in 1978-happy days! Edit to add, sleeping bags on the beach in those days.
@PeteM – you are quite right about wanting to go to Santorini; it’s a spectacular and very different island with some incomparable views and hikes. The downside is that it has become horribly over touristy and correspondingly overpriced and not very Greek. I think @jj views of this and other places stems from visiting these places many years ago.
I first went to Santorini in 1980 for work. The main street wasn’t paved and there was really just one hotel, the rest of the accommodation was B&B’s or rooms. Obviously no international flights, just a few Olympic Airways on a YS-11 or a SkyVan. I went back a few times at that tune and then not until 2008 and with my wife; in my view it’s overbuilt (which has spoilt many views), overtouristed and having to fight your way through the crowds to walk from A to B is not for us. I speak Greek so we were able go to more authentic tourist free places and away from Thira and Oia is less busy. Like Mykonos, Santorini has become a playground for rich international tourists. Zakynthos (Zante) in a different island group used to be a super quiet, sleepy place as well.
If you go, you definitely want to do so out of season. If you want a more Greek, more relaxed and less expensive experience, I would probably also try and spend time in Tinos, Naxos, Sifnos or Serifos.
It probably goes without saying that islands without international flights offer a very different experience but the extra travel time is well worth it.
PS Dubai and Abu Dhabi were rather nicer in the 1980s with the added attraction that good wine was less than half the price of the UK. Hong Kong is also sadly now no longer what it once was.
Many thanks @JDB – that very much fits in with what I am expecting. We’ve managed to get a two-bedroom villa for four people within walking distance of Fira town centre and with car parking for about £1,100 for 5nts which I can live with. Reviews on Airbnb are positive, so hoping it’ll be good.
I am very late to this party (opened 2016 apparently) but with astonishment and a little despair I see that the golden arches can be found in Fira. The march of progress.
Hope nobody minds the thread hijack, but I’m planning on staying 1 night on Santorini in Sept before flying out after a week of island hopping.
Does anyone have any hotel recommendations? Happy to splurge within reason.
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