While editing our recent Santorini vlog, I found there were a number of tips, suggestions
and observations that just didn’t fit into the story.
Talking points such as how much cash should you take with you, are there any vital items
to pack, the need for booking restaurants in advance, where are the best places to stay,
what to expect at the airport and a few things in between.
If you’re new to the channel, we aim to make travel movies where the location is king,
hoping you might just find your next holiday inspiration.
If you’re also looking for things to do on this beautiful island, take a look at our
full length travel vlog which I’ll link to below.
This is Suitcase Monkey with 10 things to get the most out of visiting Santorini.
First up I want to talk about things that will need to know before you arrive and then
I’ll get on to things that will help once you are there.
So the first question is, where should you stay.
And for me, it starts with 2 distinct choices.
Do you want to be in the heart of the action, meaning everything’s on your doorstep but
with extra cost and more noise?
Or, do you want to be outside the main towns, in a more relaxed environment: Does anyone
want to stay in a Windmill?!
Power generating buildings aside, living off the beaten track is usually cheaper but can
require extra travel time.
For us, we wanted to be in the thick of things, so that meant it was between Thira and Oia.
And spoiler alert we ultimately settled on Thira and for a couple of reasons, mostly
practical ones since I am a very practical man, much to my wife’s disappointment.
Compared to Oia, Thira is the more central of the two.
So if you are going to be travelling around the island, then you are usually halfway to
your destination before you’ve even begun.
Second, if you are going to be using public transport, Thira is the main terminal on the
island, meaning it goes everywhere.
Whereas, coming from Oia, you can often find yourself needing to change buses at Thira
station.
More on transport later.
For a bit of balance however, the main benefit I could see of staying in Oia is that it is
arguably the more picturesque of the two, and definitely has more of those classic Santorini
sunset locations.
Knowing that your bed is just around the corner means getting back home is a lot easier when
compared to Thira.
Next, how many days should you stay for?
We opted for 4 nights which worked great for us but potentially, we could have had one
extra day if anything.
If you really want to explore everything Santorini has to offer with some extra relaxation thrown
in, then 7 nights would be ideal.
Our 4 nights gave us a full day at both Oia and Thira, a more relaxing excursion day (which
I’ll cover later also) and a final day of milling around our favourite spots.
Again, take a look at our full length Santorini vlog which covers everything we did over these
4 days.
In terms of the best times to visit, the peak is July and August, which is the hottest time,
the most expensive and easily the busiest.
The shoulder months on either side can therefore be a great option and so we visited in mid
June which was still busy but not overbearing.
December and January are in the early teens temperature wise, with more chance of rain
and more chance of places being closed but crowds will be scarce and prices at their
lowest.
Once you have all that decided, let’s get into once you’ve actually arrived.
One thing I wish I’d known beforehand is to book your favourite restaurant ahead of
time.
If you really have your heart set on a particular dining spot, be sure to speak to them the
day of or the day before to secure your table.
We saw some great reviews for places you could enjoy the sunset from but, it seems, so had everyone else.
The first day we went here, they were completely full, so we ended up booking the next night
and were treated to this awesome view as a reward.
We also had the same thing happen to us on day 2, where we wanted to eat at Melitini
in Oia, but being the number 1 rated restaurant on Trip Advisor meant we had little to no
chance of sitting down without a reservation.
And quickly while we’re on the subject, my 3 favourite restaurants we visited were
Moji, a sushi place with an amazing view of the caldera, which was perfect for lunch.
Rastoni which is split over multiple levels, again with great views for the sunset and
Parea Tavern, which was facing away from the sun, but we had a really tasty Greek shared
starter and this amazing fish course which was prepared right in front of us.
All links below.
On the topic of paying for things, we found the acceptance of credit and debit cards to
be a bit hit and miss overall.
Although most places accepted card, a few smaller shops flatly denied them.
We did however have 3 mysterious occasions where technical difficulties meant their payment
device wasn’t working so it’s always good to have some cash as a backup.
There are a few ATMs dotted around in the more populated areas, so you wont ever have
to sell your body for some feta cheese.
Unless, that’s what you’re into.
But overall, have enough cash for maybe a meal and a shopping trip per day where your
plastic is not accepted and that along with your card should easily see you through.
Next up is Cost and this is really just so you have the best expectation.
As with everything you can always find expensive or cheaper eats wherever you go.
But overall I would say compared with other European cities we’ve been to, Santorini
ranks around the higher end of cost but mostly not insane levels.
To throw out a few real world examples, these 2 lattes came to €10 as a take away, an
evening meal soft drink could be €4, a starter around €8, mains anywhere from €10 to
€20 on average.
So I’d suggest if it’s something that concerns you, use a filter on Trip Advisor
and you’ll be fine.
One important thing to mention when it comes to packing, is to not underestimate the power
of Santorini’s sun.
This was us after climbing the 300 steps from Amoudi Bay in the afternoon heat.
We travelled in late June, which although isn’t the hottest time to go, was probably
the hottest late 20s I’ve ever felt and I found myself shadow hunting just for a bit
of respite.
And I’m also not ashamed to say I often found myself drawn into the many boutiques,
not only for their creative displays, but for their lovely air conditioning.
So definitely be prepared with a good hat, clothes that breathe, sunglasses and plenty
of water.
I would also recommend a good pair of walking shoes.
You will probably be doing lots of it, but there are also a number of unexpected steps
dotted around.
My scuffed shoes were either evidence of surprising stairs, or a sign of fatigue.
There are a number of options you have in terms of getting around Santorini.
First I’ll go through a quick overview of the ones we didn’t use but have some research
on and then what we finally chose ourselves.
The two main taxi ranks are again based Oia and Thira, both near the bus terminals.
There may be a wait sometimes but despite this, it is obviously the most expensive but
simple way to get around.
Your hotel can often help you with this also.
A second popular option is to rent either a car, scooter or quad bike.
This obviously works best when staying outside of Thira and Oia since parking is easier.
We also walked passed loads of places advertising them so it could even be booked on a whim
to help getting to that hard to reach location.
It’s probably the best way of getting around and seeing all of Santorini’s multi coloured
beaches, smaller towns, lighthouses, and ancient ruins.
Personally speaking, when I think of myself riding a quad bike, all I see are the headlines,
“Silly English YouTuber tragically dies after road accident”.
And that my friends, is why we chose option C, which was the bus.
Without repeating what I mentioned earlier, the most important good news is that for €1.80
you can get to pretty much anywhere.
And because we were staying near the bus terminal it was even easier.
The buses are of good quality, they take cash only and tickets can only be bought on the
bus itself.
There are a number of downsides however.
The buses can easily reach capacity.
And we saw numerous occasions where passengers were left waiting at the bus stop because
of this.
Again, the benefit of staying near the first stop meant we always got a seat, except for
our late night return from Oia where we were stood crammed into the exit steps.
Santorini’s airport is incredibly small for the number of passengers wanting to go
through it.
Maybe we just saw them at their worst and it’s not normally like this, so please comment
below with your own stories if you have them.
For your return flight, I would suggest getting there with plenty of time to spare.
There was this massive queue snaking all the way outside just to get into the building
and through security.
Once inside, there were no seats and barely any floor to sit on, and with only 2 overwhelmed
places to grab some food and drink.
There isn’t much you can do with this information, apart from managing your expectations for
this busy end to your trip.
On arrival into the airport, we had booked a taxi through Hoppa which I’ll link to
below.
We’ve used them on a number of holidays and generally found everything to go as planned.
It cost us £30 for a return trip to and from the airport which worked for us.
You can as alluded to before, get the local bus for €1.80 which will go straight to
Thira so that would be the cheapest option.
I would strongly recommend you spend a day on a Santorini excursion.
Again, there were loads of shops all offering pretty much the same packages and you can
also book them easily though your hotel but I’m pretty confident there will be something
in there for everyone.
Trips to historical sites, beach days, boat trips, helicopter rides, wine tastings, it’s
all there.
We opted for the popular Volcano tour with Hot Springs swim, which was good fun and I’d
suggest to check out my full length Santorini vlog which covers this in more detail.
If you think there’s something I missed, please share your knowledge in the comments
below and give us a thumbs up to help us spread the word.
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until the next one.
Thanks for watching Suitcase Monkey.