The Perfect Place To Relax - Santorini, Greece
Oia, Santorini at sunset
Photo taken on iPhone 14 Pro
There is a lot of hype when it comes to Santorini.
So many people told us it was a must-see while we were in Greece. Many travel accounts on the internet came back with “it’s overrated” and suggested less hyped-up islands that were supposed to be prettier and less busy.
We were nervous that we’d end up disappointed and that it really would be overrated - similar to our feelings about Athens overall. We were worried we had made the wrong choice about which island to go to…
To be honest with you…
We absolutely loved Santorini.
It didn’t feel overrated, it was worth all of the hype and it wasn’t busy at all.
They say tourist season in Greece starts on April 1st (which made sense because our Airbnb that went past the 1st was definitely more expensive than our earlier ones. But we discovered that April 1st is the start of the early tourist season and May is truly when things pick up.
We were in Santorini from March 24-28th; right before early tourist season.
In the part of town that we stayed in it felt like we were the only tourists, which was great. It wasn’t busy at all.
We easily got into the restaurants we wanted, the beaches weren’t crowded, the attractions had no lines (and The Ancient City Of Thera only had us - Watch out for this blog post later) and our hike was amazing and felt like we were the only people in the world (Will also be doing a blog on this). We even got an upgraded room at our Cave Airbnb because there was availability.
And while going before tourist season didn’t come without its challenges (restaurants had more limited hours) many of the restaurants that had closed for the off-season were starting to open when we were there to get ready for the influx of tourists. But even if not everything was open we still had plenty of options (and many were the ones the locals went to which meant they were even better!).
We stayed in an area called Pyrgos Kallistis in a cave house. If you go to Santorini staying in a cave is a must. The experience is so fun. However, if you happen to be 6 foot 1, like my husband, watch the doorways because the caves really are made out of solid rock… His head can confirm.
The Airbnb host was incredible. She went above and beyond.
Scott and I were put on Standby for getting there and only I made it on the flight so I got there a few hours before Scott. They arranged a car to come collect me at the airport and take me to the Airbnb. When I arrived I was met by Zoi, the host. She gave me a tour, upgraded our room and then put me in her car and took me to dinner (which she bought!). Then she took me out to eat on the balcony of another place she had just purchased that she was in the process of renovating.
She also told us a couple of things about the island.
First, there are no addresses on the island. This was an interesting experience because to find something we had to be given specific directions and Google Maps was quite comical. Every “street name” was essentially the same because there weren’t any street names. We figured everything out but we often found we had to re-route because there were places Google told us to go that cars just couldn’t go.
Second, Santorini is, in fact, not an island at all. It is an active volcano.
This was a really neat experience. We didn’t notice the ash floating around that much but the beaches were cool! We went to one called “Black Beach.” The name comes from the fact that the sand is completely black. They also have one called “Red Bach” and I bet you could figure out why it’s called that.
On our hike, we were able to see almost a 360-degree view of the island and we could see the volcano. I’ve never seen one from that view before.
Third, the white stone caves are white because they are painted, they are not naturally white. It turns out that it’s the law that you have to keep them white… Citizens are constantly having to paint their caves. We witnessed this happening as our Airbnb was being painted while we were there.
Apparently, the ash floating around constantly falls on the caves and starts to make them a little gray and the photos just wouldn’t be as good if the caves were gray instead of white.
Fourth, Greeks have a very different idea of hot and cold than Canadians. Scott was disappointed because the pools weren’t open and he was really looking forward to the pool. Our host told us it was uncharacteristically cold and “no one would swim in them this cold.” Scott greatly disagreed.
The temperatures were between 18 and 23 degrees Celcius (64.4 and 73.4 degrees Fahrenheit) while we were there. For the Canadians it was solid summer weather, for the Greeks, it was cold. We saw this in action one day at a restaurant. It was 22 degrees C and the sun was hot and beating down on us. We were in shorts and tank tops and sweating buckets. A Greek family sitting next to us finishes their food, stands up to leave and they’re in long pants and they put on down-filled puffer jackets before heading out the door. It floored us.
Photos taken on iPhone 14 Pro
We particularly loved how laid back and relaxed everything was.
There really is something about that “island time.”
But there was no crime and so much trust. We drove a random local back to his car after a hike and he chatted our ears off and gave us a fantastic restaurant recommendation for that night to watch the sunset.
We were told the best sunset on the island was in Oia, which was high on our list to see.
We went to the restaurant he recommended (which was amazing) called Thalami. Oia had more tourists than where we were staying but still not a huge amount.
The food was incredible, the view was incredible and the sunset definitely met our expectations.
The real beauty of the island was the sunset (which I, of course, took a zillion photos of). I thought the sunset was beautiful everywhere on the island but seeing it in Oia was definitely an unforgettable moment, one of my favourites of the trip.
Oia has a really cute little strip you can walk up filled with shops. When you reach the end you get an amazing view of the caves and sunset. Enjoy literally watching the sun set with the large collection of photos of the sunset at every point on its way down.
Photos taken on iPhone 14 Pro
Yes, Santorini comes with a lot of hype and while we cannot speak for what the experience is like during peak season I can tell you, we had an amazing time and would absolutely go back.
I’d love to see more of the islands but for our first time in Greece, I absolutely fell in love. We both were disappointed when we had to leave and while there isn’t necessarily as much to do as the big city of Athens if you enjoy a quiet, slower pace to just relax, unwind and explore, Santorini meets that need.
The end of March was a great time to go as things were opening back up but it still wasn’t overly crowded with tourists.
