SANTORINI, GREECE

Nina's Travels

Nov 22, 20186 min read

Updated: Nov 23, 2018

Hi, it's been a long time right ?

But I am back at it, more motivated than ever to let you guys know about my latest awesome trips !

This article is dedicated to Santorini, and I just wanna apologize because I'm about to include a bunch of viewpoints pics, but that's what we love about this island, amirite ?

We traveled from Paris to Santorini with Transavia from the 13th to the 18th of October and the flight ticket was about 150€ p/p.

This period is so good cause you avoid the tourists tsunami (except in Oia, which is all year long, obvi) and the whether is still so amazing you can definitely have a sea dip ! (be careful, it becomes chilly and windy at night, so plan a pullover or a thin padded coat)

We decided to split the travel and sleep into 2 different hotels, in order to see both sides of the island.

We slept the 3 first nights in Smaro Studios in Fira, and let me tell you we absolutely loved it !

What we understood as soon as we checked in the hotel is YOU DON'T NEED TO BOOK A HOTEL/ BNB IN OIA TO BE WELL LOCATED.

Oìa hotels were 3 to 8 times more expensive than Fira ones, and for sure not all of them as amazing as Smaro Studios.

The staff of Smaro Studios is so cute and careful, the breakfast very good, the room spacious and comfortable and we had the jacuzzi right on our terrace. What I loved the most is waking up with a unique view on the city and the ocean.

Smaro Studios

About this town : Firostefani is a charming little "village", only 15 min by foot to Fira which is one of the must-see cities in Santorini. Firostefani is full of amazing restaurants, cute shops and charming streets. Sleeping there was absolutely perfect for us, also very easy to stay there to visit around if you did not rent any car (bus station located in Fira). Also, good restaurants were just right down our feet and we ate at least 3 times at Remvi Restaurant in 2 days haha (LOVED the food, the people and the place) and had an amazing experience at Aktaion, recommended by locals and absolutely delicious !

View of Fira

On the way from Firostefani to Fira

Fira is a city you can't miss wherever your hotel is. The town is located on this black rock cliff, it looks like foam running down the hill ! It's lively, the shopping there is AMAZING : from handcraft boutiques to luxury shops or necessary ones as groceries or drugstores, you'll find everything you look for there !

On top of this, it's so easy to catch a rooftop to admire sunset (most beautiful I had ever seen in my life), the one we preferred was in V Lounge.

View from V Lounge Bar

What you basically need to remember about Fira is : you'll spend all of your money in Greek sandals, trendy boutiques, mojitos on terraces but what you'll probably love the most is just wandering around, getting lost and be amazed by the view at every corner of each street.

Fira

We really wanted to enjoy a day doing nothing by a pool and a nice view, so we ended up at Athina Luxury Suites and little did we know how splendid this spot would be. We've been very warmly welcomed by the staff that gave us drinks, towels and time to tell us everything about the hotel.

We absolutely adored spending a day there, I recommend it 100% if you feel like bathing, relaxing, enjoying an awesome view.

Athina Luxury Suites

We got the opportunity with Booking to make an island tour which included a catamaran boat ride for 5 hours and an afternoon visiting the whole city with a bus and a tour guide, and ended the day enjoying the sunset in Oìa. Everything was so interesting and so well organised, I definitely would advise you to trust NSTravel company if you wanna do such an island tour.

NSTravel catamaran tour

The catamaran brought us to small cricks, clear blue waters, black and red cliffs, very impressive landscapes. The bus drove us to Venetsanos Winery for a wine tasting, Profitis Ilias (the highest point on Santorini's mountain, from which you can see both parts of the island), Pyrgos city, Emporio's castle and Oìa.

Venetsanos Winery

Castelli of Emporio sightseeing

As said before, the day ended up perfectly catching sunset over the two most famous blue domes in the world. A one lifetime show <3

Sunset in Oìa

We loved so much this sunset in Oìa that we dedicated a full day there the day after.

We took the bus from Fira (circa 1,30€ p/p and 30 min drive) and spent the day in this stunning town that looks like a painting straight out from paradise.

Be careful with sunset time, tourists are everywhere on roofs, walls, alleys ... invading every inch they can to catch sunset (which is unmissable, I have to agree)

I would just advise you to walk around and get lost, strolling around from North to South, East to West (the town isn't that big, exploring it doesn't take too long).

Head first to the old castle Agios Nikolaos (also very well knwn to be a great view point at sunset time) and simply enjoy the view cause it's UNIQUE.

View from Agios Nikolaos Castle

For lunch, I've been recommended several times to go Melitini, this restaurant is inexpensive, food is very good, waiters are so friendly and the place is very charming.

On your way, you can have a drink at Meteor Café which is so cute and central and it's right next to the most impressive bookstore I have ever seen in my life : Atlantis Books shop, that owns books in every language and any subject you look for.

A nice place to chill at on a sunny afternoon is Lioyerma Lounge Cafe Pool Bar that offers a beautiful view, and a pool that you can use as soon as your order a drink.

We had dinner in Terpsi N Oìa Restaurant with a splendid view over the domes as the sun was setting, very lovely opportunity since every rooftop gets overwhelmed with tourists more than one or two hours before the sun goes down (so you need to be very foresighted and book your place in advance or just being very lucky haha)

View from Terpsi N Oìa Restaurant

Sun setting in Oìa

The second part of the stay, we slept in Sigalas Hotel located in Kamari town.

The hotel is great : rooms are big, facilities are various, service is flawless, restaurant is qualitative.

The hotel is right on the volcanic (black sand) beach, very handy + very pretty !

The terrace of our room in Sigalas Hotel

10 min walking from the hotel starts the promenade where you can find tons of shops, hotels, pools, restaurants that makes this part of the island also very dreamy.

Though we liked it less than the other coast cause we felt it was less "Greek" and authentic, but if you stay only one day like we did, it's very fun and enough to explore this little town.

If you fency a drink, head to Prince Bar, the decoration is boho and the atmosphere is chill.

Prince Bar in Kamari

Last but not least place I want you to go to when in Kamari is doubtlessly Bellonias Villas. We discovered this hotel as we were just wandering in town, and got shocked by its beauty ! This place is just soooo gorgeous and chic, if I had known about it earlier, we would probably have slept there. We still enjoyed a magnificent dinner in their restaurant and it was one of the yummiest food ever, surrounded by a perfect taste setting.

Bellonias Villas Hotel

SO, here I stop, enough blablabla for today, thank you for reading until here !

What can I say about Santorini, except that it was probably the best trip in my life and would push you hard to go there if you ever have the opportunity to !