Heaven on earth doesn’t begin to describe Santorini.
I know right….. WOW
Its everything you would ever want and after you go…… well its the only thing you will be able to think about. The fresh air (sometimes tainted with donkey), and the fresh food will literally make you feel like a million bucks.
While in Greece, I spent a 5 nights in Santorini and let me just say…… I could have moved into my hostel and stayed forever. For a few reasons.
1. Everything on the island tasted like gold (seriously Tomatoes tasted like sunshine, and even my wine hangovers were enjoyable)
2. There was soooo much to do. Walking, boating, scamming water and cold towels from the cruise ships at the port. Santorini really has something for everyone.
3. Beaches !!!!! Those beaches though ! We spent some time at Parissa beach soaking up the sun and trying to ward off a UK bachelor party. It was great.
With this being said there are some absolute Must Do’s while you are in Santorini. Check out my top 3!
Must Do’s
Open Air Cinema
If you do not go to the Open Air Cinema, why even go to Santorini at all. The theatre is located in Kamari and plays well known American based movies ! Luckily for English speakers the movie is played in English with Greek Subtitles. To get into the movie is cheap and you can take the bus there !
We watched Overboard which was hilarious. Unfortunately some was in Spanish and since there was Greek subtitles we didn’t know what was going on. But the Spanish guy behind it was laughing so loud it must have been hysterical.
If you get thirsty, hungry or cold during the movie don’t worry ! There is a full bar, and select foods available. They also hand out blankets to snuggle in before the movie !
2. Amoudi Bay
If your in Greece you will see tons of people making there way down to the Oia port trying to find Amoudi Bay. The bay is a excellent location to do some cliff jumping and sunset watching. Be warned, it is treacherous walk. Much of the walk way has worn away and at some points you must jump from rock to rock until you get back onto solid ground.
Tip: If you are gonna be having a few wobbly pops while at Amoudi, bring a insulated cooler bag and add some sea water to keep the beverages cold. Nobody wants hot Mythos while bumming around in the sun.
But the walk down the stairs and across the port is well worth what you will find when you reach your destination !
Tip: DO NOT touch your feet to the rocks under the water. There is sea urchins and they will ruin your day, your week and maybe even your year.
3. Wine Tour
I know what your thinking. Your just a regular white girl who likes starbucks and wine. Well if you are then your absolutely right. With that being out in the open, you should also know that Santorini Wine Tours are for everyone ! Wine lover or not. You get to learn about how grapes are grown on the Island in such a ungrowable climate, you get driven around the island taking in the views in a air conditioned shuttle, and you get to stuff your face with wine and food
Question : What could be better? Answer: Literally nothing.
You can find tours within any price range. Groupon, and TripAdvisor are great resources to book on !
Tip: You do need to have a group of 2 or more to book a wine tour. If you are traveling alone, don’t fret. Do what I did, force some unsuspecting people to be your friends. They wont even know what hit them.
Santorini is really non stop fun. You could fill years with the awesome things to find, see and do. Aside from the things I mentioned above the island is also home to the worlds oldest book store, great hikes, endless shopping and is rumored to be the birth place of Atlantis! If you believe in that stuff, which you obviously do. What kind of adult wouldn’t.
If you have any Santorini questions please contact me ! Id love to share all things Santo !
So you wanna go to Greece but you have no idea what to expect, what to plan or how to plan it ? Luckily for you, I’ve been and I know a few secrets.
Santorini
Lets start with a quick Greek overview:
Greece is a country in southeastern Europe with thousands of islands throughout the Aegean sea. It is often called the cradle of Western Civilization and is jam packed with rich history and culture. It is very well known for the food, beaches, and laid back atmosphere.
The Greeks are often portrayed to be loud, obnoxious people, but that cannot be farther from the truth. They are beautiful, compassionate, easy going people who are very kind and genuine. Of course you need to be careful in any new country especially when you are traveling alone, but I can say with 100% certainty that there was not one moment in my time in Greece that I felt unsafe. When I visited Greece I went for 15 days and spent time in Athens, Santorini, and Mykonos. In that exact order.
I would suggest staying on Crete or Ios as well, as it is much less touristy and far more budget friendly.
Country Information:
When to go: I would suggest going during high or the shoulder season. May to Aug or Sept to Oct. I went in June and it was bloody hot. Like imagine lava and then you living in the lava.
Note: It rained while I was in Greece and everyone was running around like chickens with their heads cut off. I doubt that will happen to you……but just incase play it cool. You may get a free Mythos out of it !
Currency: Euro ! People lied to me and told me it would be hard to find an ATM. Not the case. This is 2019 there was ATM’s everywhere.
Languages Spoken : Greek , but honestly I realized a few days in that if someone didn’t speak English they were probably just pretending and didn’t want to talk to you.
Population: 10.7 Million
Best Drink: WINEEEEEEEE or Mythos beer. Do not under any circumstances order a Pina Colada. It will be 8 euro.
Not an Espresso Frito. This is Turkish coffee. Also good for your hangover.
How to order iced coffee : Greeks don’t know what your taking about if you ask for “Iced Coffee” instead ask for” Espresso Frito”. It will be just espresso and ice. No Tim Hortons like substance will be served. But it will help with a Mythos hangover and your jet leg.
Safety Scale : I personally give this a top rating of 10/10. Remember to be smart and to be aware of your surroundings. It can be hard when your constantly stuffing Baklava in your face but try your best.
Planning Your Trip:
While in Greece I stayed in Budget hostels and planned my trip to be cost effective ! I started planning 3 months in advance as I wanted to leave nothing to chance.
Tip: Use Hotelworld in conjunction with Expedia to find the best bang for your buck. I would often cross reference the prices between Hostelworld and their listings with Expedia to see if it was cheaper on one site and then book with the site that had a better price. If the same, I would book with Expedia and pay all upfront. That way I didn’t have to worry about paying as I went.
Accommodation:
Athens : Athens Backpackers
Cost : Low. $35.00 ish CAN a night. Would totally stay there again.
Room type : I slept in 6 all female room. They also had mixed and mens. Beds were comfortable and there was air conditioning.
Tip: When sleeping in a Greek hostel, sleep with the remote to the air conditioner. That way nobody can turn it off in the middle of the night. Its very very hot, please do not be the person to turn the AC off. People will hate you. I hate you.
Overall : I would give a 8 outta 10. They have a bar on the roof, a cheap walking tour, and a GREAT location to the acropolis ! There sister hostel is just down the street and tons of people I met were staying their ! They had a sports bar and chilled wine.
Walking tours are a great way to meet people in your hostel ! Who knows you could make a friend for life…. or an enemy for all eternity. Your choice.
Santorini:
Kykladonisia Traditional Settlement
Cost: Medium. $ 65.00 ish CAN a night.
Room Type: Well let me tell you, I decided to sleep in a 8 bed room for one night and then a more expensive single room for the rest of the time their. I figured I would get it in-case I needed to cry myself to sleep. Which I did not. Well in Santorini that is. The room was AMAZING ! Well for a backpacker. It came stocked with a mini fridge and your own bathroom ! (I should note that toilets on the Greek islands cannot handle flushing items, even toilet paper. So when you do 1 or 2, use the waste basket next to you. Don’t you worry nice Greek ladies clean it out daily)
Tip: Stuff your Mini fridge with litres of rose wine from the super market. While your there also get some peaches. While you eat the peaches drink some wine. I call it sangria in your mouth.
Overall : This place was amazing ! It was located a 4 minute walk from Fira, had a pool, a great selection of rooms and the workers were super nice ! They will even book you trips, help you when you are lost, and talk to you when you get lonely.
Mykonos
Mycocoon Hostel
Cost: Low.
Room Type: I slept in a 10 person mixed dorm during my time in Mykonos. But get this. This accommodation either has 10 room dorms or like 25 ppl dorms. I would not be caught dead in those bigger dorms but if you book early enough that wont be an issue.
Tip: When you are sleeping in a mixed dorm sleep with your back facing the person next to you. Because a situation could occur when a drunk Brazilian man decides to sleep naked and you get a good eye full. I’m not saying it happened mom, I’m just saying it could.
Overall: Place was good to stay in as long as you got a smaller accommodation. Otherwise Mykonos is small so it was easy to find, had security at night, had an affinity banging pool, and was super clean !
Transportation: Well the cheapest is obviously walking….. I think you can figure that one out. Each place within Greece will have their own ways to get around. In Athens it was taxi, and on the Islands charter bus’s. What you really need to know about is flights and ferries. They are also the 2 most likely to leave you stranded all alone.
Flights: When I decided to go to Greece I priced out all of the ways I could get there and what was the cheapest. Flying into Athens was the cheapest way to get into the country.
Tip: BOOK ONE WAY TICKETS. Don’t be scared. Its not hard and it can save you tons of dolla bills. I booked one way to Gatwick and then Gatwick to Athens ! I paid under $400.00 to London and then under $100 to Athens. Just check it out. Trust me.
Flying was easy, and the airlines in Greece are awesome ! Don’t believe anyone when they tell you that Santorini and Mykonos don’t have airports. Because they absolutely do and you can definitely fly in and out of them. I found it was cheapest to fly from Athens to Santorini and much quicker than taking a ferrie.
Ferries: Riding a ferrie in Greece is like a episode of True Detective. You will have absolutely no idea what is going on and you kinda just sit around waiting for things to happen. The ferries do whatever they want. You may have a ticket saying it will be at the port at 7:00 am but I wouldn’t expect to much, It might show up at 12:00 pm if you are lucky. If you are on a tight schedule, I highly suggest flying.
Tip: If you are being a budget friendly traveler and don’t care about time, take a Ferry and book a student ticket. Lets me honest this is Greece, nobody’s gonna check to see if you are actually a student. Tip also works for all museums and paid attractions.
From there have fun, don’t let your plans get in the way of you have some misadventures and meeting some stellar friends. If you need help planning your Greek vacation or need someone to convince your mom its safe let me know !
Santorini is literally the most amazing place I have ever been ! Though most travelers categorize it by its staple white and blue exterior I would say that it is home to the best food, nicest people and saltiest water ever. Everything about this island makes me yearn to return. The fresh salty air (possibly the best place to gain the effortless beachy hair look), beautiful buildings, and rich history.
BUTTTTTTTT just like every place in the world I had a few misadventures during my time there. Don’t let this fool you as Santorini is definitely a MUST DO ! But when you go make sure to learn from my mistakes. Check out my top DO NOT’s for Santorini:
DO NOT : Get caught infront of a donkey stampede on the Karavolades Stairs
I know your thinking ” What exactly does that mean”. Its very straight forward. A herd of donkeys running down 588 marble stairs, unable to stop and unwilling to let anyone stay standing. I lived to see any-other day but barely.
What you should know:
Greek Donkeys are more like horses… that bite, stink and poop everywhere. They travel up and down the stairs giving rides to tourists and making cash for their owners. But when there are no tourists at the top to make the most money their owners start herding them quickly back down the stairs to find paying customers at the bottom. But when I say quickly I mean that the owners need them at the bottom ASAP so it turns into all of the donkeys freely running down the stairs racing to get to the bottom.
Walking behind a donkey on the stairs is also a DO NOT as it is sketchy AF.
Karavolades stairs is a set of 588 stairs that connect Fira to the port. On a hot day (so everyday) the stairs become very very slippery so each tourist who likes keeping their feet on solid ground walks down with great caution. There is always allot of people walking up and down the stairs (even though it smells like donkey poop and urine). Don’t be turned off, the views are worth it.
So here’s what happened:
Little old me was feeling good and had made two friends while in Santorini. We collectively decided to walk to the bottom of the stairs to find the boat that would take us our evening sunset cruise. This was the second time I had walked down the stairs so I was familiar with the winding stairs and the many donkeys who frequented it. When we arrived at the stairs I mentally noticed that there was a TON of donkeys waiting at the top. LIKE A TON, like I’d say 100 but it was probably more realistically around 20. So like any tourist would we started on our descent down the stairs, gazing and marveling at the amazing views.
Karavoldes Stairs
I would estimate that we were about 1/4 down the stairs and that it usually takes a good hour if not longer to walk down them. Suddenly there was very loud clanking noises coming from above us and all the tourists walking has stopped and turned around to see what all the commotion was. In a blink, people started running down the steep stairs as we all realized that a herd of donkeys has began to rush down and their was no place to stop and wait it out. I myself instinctively started to run and survival mode kicked in. Luckily for myself I have very long legs that can carry me quickly when I want them to. As I ran down the stairs, people next to me were falling, trying to crawl over the edge of the stairs out of harms way (really bad idea, cause its a cliff…) and leaving their friends and family members behind.
Me on the stairs before the great donkey run of 2018.
I reached the bottom of the stairs in 15 minutes. My new friends were nowhere in sight and there were very loud Greek men screaming at the tourists looking for safety at the bottom of the stairs. I right away got as far away from the donkeys and the screaming as I could and waited to see if my pals had made it down in one piece. They eventually turned up dustier, sweatier and smellier (one had stepped in a donkey turd on the way down) than they were when we got separated. We ended up finding some super cool things to check out at the bottom and loved the boat ride. However the experience did make us rethink walking back up the stairs and we instead got a donkey free ride back to Fira in a cable car.
Moral of this misadventure:
Pay attention at the top of the Karavoldes Stairs. If it looks like there are no tourists taking the donkeys down, wait a few minutes and follow the donkeys to the bottom rather than have them chase you to the bottom.
Other DO NOT’s:
Cliff Jumping is amazing, and you should totally check it out ! My favorite place was Ammoudi Bay. But be careful getting into the water. There are see urchins attached to the walls that will make you shout F*** if you step on them ! (Side Note: Do not bring valuables, there was so many tourists crying about their engagement rings that now belong to the sea) Check out Lonely planet for more info: https://www.lonelyplanet.com/greece/oia/attractions/ammoudi/a/poi-sig/1381222/1336112
Ammoudi Cliff Jumping
2. FYI the ocean surrounding Santorini is the Saltiest on PLANET EARTH. DO NOT jump in, mouth open thinking that its gonna be drinkable fresh water. Its NOT. If you do your insides will feel like dying and you will be forever thirsty. You’ll thank me later.
3. The bus system on the island is honestly the best way to get around. If your paying for a taxi then your doing it wrong. It super super cheap and honestly super easy to understand. The 2 main stops are in Fira and Oia. But DO NOT listen to anyone when they say you can pay the 2 euro bus fair with a 100 euro bill. You CANNOT and you will get allot of eye rolls, rudeness and Greek men loudly making fun of you. Just make sure to carry 5’s or change. It’s just not worth the hassle. – Disclaimer : I did get a free ride though because nobody could break my 100 euro bill. Wasn’t worth it.
Want to know more about Santorini ? Check out My Santorini Must Do’s in the Destinations Uncovered page !
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