My Favorite Place; Santorini, Greece
Well if you clicked on the link and got here, congrats & thank you! At least a few times a day I get asked, “where is your favorite place you’ve visited?” I always tell everyone the same answer, and if you have been one to ask you’ll remember. Drum roll please……. SANTORINI, GREECE!
If you are wanting magical this is your place. Greece in general is a gift from heaven but once you venture out to the Aegean Islands, which includes Santorini, you are treating yourself to an experience of a lifetime.
If you are ever planning on visiting any of the Aegean Islands I would plan for at least a week. We had limited time since we had already been in Athens, Greece for a week.
Now, we did a long Europe trip. My dad, sister & I flew directly into Paris and stayed there for a few days. We then traveled to Athens, Greece. My dad is a huge history nerd and wanted to see the Acropolis among a bunch of other sights! My dad caught a flight up to Frankfurt, Germany, while my sister & I made our way to Santorini.
Pictured: Boarding Flight to Santorini operated by Ryan Air.
When my sister & I arrived we were surprised to see that the airport was on flat land. We ordered a taxi to drop us off near our bed & breakfast. Car’s on the island can only go so far, so we had quite a long walk from where the taxi dropped us off too where we were staying, the heat and the weight of our bags didn’t make it easy! We stayed at a lovely couples B&B, they were so sweet and accommodating. We had a tiny room, with a cute little bathroom. Warm water is very scarce, so use wisely.
Once we got situated, had a nap, we NEEDED to go see the island. Our walk to the bus stop was about 1.5 miles or 20 minutes, which was UPHILL. The bus would take you to different parts of the island, there were 5 stops in total. We were staying in Thira, which is “the downtown” of the island of Santorini. Each day we would walk to the bus, of course get a coffee and breakfast pie on our way, then catch a ride to another part of the island.
Pictured to your right was our first stop to Oia on our first evening. It was breathtaking. This picture DOES NOT do justice. There will be more pictures of Oia below.
In Oia we saw a famous church, and got some fresh Greek food. Boy was it delicious, you would never think a Greek salad would taste so good if you are devouring it in GREECE! I think they just know how to actually make it, lol. Took 100’s of beautiful pictures, watched the sunset, then it was time to head back home (Thira.)
If any of you know my sister or myself, I am certain you can guess where we went when we got off the bus. To the local bar. In Santorini, a very small amount of locals speak English, so I highly suggest learning the key components of the language. Anyway, we met tons of wonderful people, two of which were from Chicago! After a lovely night out, we hit the sack.
Pictured to your left was Day 2, Red Beach in Akrotiri.
The next morning we woke up extremely early because our stomachs raged with excitement. Today we were heading to Akrotiri to see the Red Beach and do a little hiking. When we arrived, we got off the bus and looked down a very long gravel road. Apparently that was the way to red beach, there was nothing around. On the walk we found a cute local shop where we found some beautiful handmade souvenirs. Once arrived, the red beach was red, surprised? As pictured above it is mainly just the rocks that stand out. Locals were swimming in the water, kids were running around, it was fun.
On our walk back we were hungry! I added a picture below that says Taverna and has dolphins all around it. That was all we saw. But decided why not check it out? We walked down the stairs and approached a family eating lunch together, kind of awkward haha. Well ending up being a small little restaurant right on the water! The service was spectacular and they seemed to enjoy our presence. After that, there was nothing else to really see in the area so we headed back.
Pictured are the famous donkeys on the island! That is their mode of transportation. They dress them up in different colored jewelry to distinguish who is who.
The next few days we just stayed around the area, we got a fish pedicure, shopped, had some good local food, went to the local bars a few more times, and just embraced the atmosphere.
As soon as you knew it, it was time to take our flight back to Athens and slowly make our way home. The trek to Santorini is long and tiring, but it is more than worth it. It will forever be my favorite trip with my favorite person, my sister.
As always, will attach a bunch of pictures below. Hope this gave you some motivation to start saving up to go see the Aegean Islands! Tata for now. XOXO
