Notes on Santorini, Greece

Santorini is as beautiful as people say! I really enjoyed our time there and although, yes, it is very busy and touristy (not complaining, we’re very much tourists ourselves!) but I felt much more relaxed here than I did in Mykonos.

We were in Santorini at the end of September 2022 as part of a 3 week trip, so all my notes are based around my experiences at that time. Please do check any dates/opening times/locations etc. if you’re planning your own trip – things change! Links are to websites if I can find useful ones, or Google Maps locations if not, so you can see where they are. Please also note this post contains some affiliate links, indicated with a ‘*’ – if you click them and decide to buy something I may receive a small cut of the payment, but it won’t cost you more. Thank you!

Instax photograph of cliffside white-washed houses in Santorini with a windmill at the top, with blue sky above and blue sea in the distance. The Instax print is on a grey background.

You can read my notes on what we got up to below, but if you are short on time here are my top recommendations on what to do in Santorini, plus you can take a look at my more general notes on travelling in Greece: Athens, the Peloponnese and a few islands, too:

Travel:

Ferryhopper: Pre-book a ferry to Santorini. We came from Mykonos so we got the 9:50 ferry, which arrived about 12:10. We used the Ferryhopper app so we could check in online in advance (48 – 2 hours before departure)

Do/see/visit:

Wander around Oia early to avoid having to queue for views and have a bit more space.

Use Rick Steves’ ‘Greece: Athens & the Peloponnese*’: for planning, a self-guided walk around Fira and other useful information.

Drink:

Porto Fira Suites: cliffside bar in Fira with good coffee and amazing views.

Art Café: another cliffside café in Fira with good coffee and stunning views.

Eat:

Krinaki: lovely restaurant in Finikia, just outside Oia, with really delicious food.

Flora: lovely restaurant in Oia, with good food and reasonable prices.

Perivolas Market: well stocked mini-market just outside Oia, with plenty of choice and some tasty wraps.

Stay:

Ianthe Apartments and Villa*: gorgeous hotel just outside Oia, with a pool, terrace and excellent breakfast.

View of Oia, Santorini, Greece, from Castle of Oia, showing the white buildings on the hillside, and the land leading around the sea, with blue sky with a few clouds above.

Travelling to Santorini

We travelled to Santorini from Mykonos, which wasn’t too long a trip, just over two hours, on a fairly big ferry with nice allocated seating and (for reasons I’m not aware of), one of Jos Verstappen’s F1 cars. We arrived in the chaotic-looking port where the local bus was clearly signposted for us to get on and up to Fira, but you want to move quickly – they fill up fast! We were staying in Oia, so we got another bus from the bus station in Fira, which again looked chaotic at first but was very organised and we got straight onto the next bus up to Oia.

How we spent 1.5 days in Santorini: first afternoon

Aimless wandering around Oia, scouting for restaurants in Finikia, eating delicious food

Fira is the main town but Oia is where the famous sunset and blue domed-roofs are, so we decided to base ourselves there. I’m pleased we did – it looked so beautiful there and our hotel, Ianthe Apartments and Villa*, was really lovely and the woman who owns it was so nice, talking us through the map of the town, making recommendations showing us the pool and terrace and our lovely room, with loads of space (even an extra bed on the mezzanine) plus a welcome wine in a little cut glass carafe, which was a nice touch!

We popped to the local mini market to buy some food and water (as always a brilliant, well stocked shop), then set out to explore the town – so beautiful!

There were a few people on professional photoshoots wearing super-long flowing dresses, queues for the key views and people wearing blue, but somehow it didn’t feel as bizarre as Mykonos. I was expecting pretty much all the buildings to have blue rooftops but that’s not really the case – there’s one spot that seems to have become ‘the’ photo to represent Santorini, which is strange really because there are so many beautiful places there.

We just wandered around the streets, had a look at the view from the Castle of Oia, looked in the windows of the shops and took random turns just to see what was there.

Ianthe Hotel, Oia, Santorini, Greece, a white building with outdoor tables, chairs and parasols around it, blue sky with wispy clouds above.
Saint Georgios Oia Holy Orthodox Church, a yellow church with a blue dome roof, with trees planted in openings in the concrete in front and blue sky with a few clouds above.
Saint Georgios Oia Holy Orthodox Church
Church of Panagia Akathistos Hymn with a square in front, which people are walking in, and clear blue sky above.
Church of Panagia Akathistos Hymn
View of the Castle of Oia, showing the white buildings on the hillside, and the sea and other islands on the horizon, with hazy blue sky.
View of Oia, Santorini, Greece, from Castle of Oia, showing the white buildings on the hillside, and the land leading around the sea, with blue sky with a few clouds above.
Steps in Oia, Santorini, with numbers 218, 217, 216 and 215 painted in red. There is a plant in bloom climbing the wall ahead and a blue door to the right.
View across Oia, Santorini, Greece, showing white buildings on a hillside, with windmills towards the top of the frame, and hazy blue sky above.

After a bit of exploring the main town we headed in the other direction from our hotel, to Finikia, the village the woman at the hotel had mentioned. It was really quiet and lovely and we had a look at where to go for dinner, aware that everyone else was headed in the opposite direction, to see the sunset.

Rather than join the queue for the sunset this evening we picked up some beers and had them on our terrace instead, before heading to Krinaki, one of the recommended restaurants in Finikia which was really lovely. I had a glass of white wine, Dorado on a bed of greens which was absolutely delicious, and we shared a chocolate semi freddo that was divine!

Sign saying 'Welcome to Finikia', against a beige wall, with buildings behind and a telegraph pole to the left with lots of signs for hotels and restaurants. A dark shadow frames the bottom and right sides.
Photograph looking up at tall bamboo against a clear blue sky.
Detail of the top of a door with red woodwork between arched glass panels, a small lantern above and a white cross on top of a white border above a yellow curved wall.
Photograph across a field to the sea with pinky-blue sky above, in the blue light just after sunset.
The view from our bathroom window in the evening
Photograph of a plate with fried fish on top, with a green dressing drizzled around, on a red and white checked tablecloth.
Photograph of a plate with two slices of chocolate semi freddo and 4 blobs of compote on the top with two spoons, on a red and white check tablecloth.

How we spent 1.5 days in Santorini: a full day

Early exploring in Oia, bus down to explore Fira, hiking back to Oia, watching the sunset

We got up early-ish and headed in to Oia to beat the crowds and see the views that had huge queues the rest of the time. Finally we saw the famous blue roofed churches. I still think it’s odd really that they are pretty much the only image used from Santorini, though. It was nice to wander a bit more freely around the town, too!

We got back to our hotel for 9am and breakfast was delivered to us on the terrace, which was so, so lovely! Boiled egg, bread, yogurt, honey, fruit, cake juice and coffee.

Photograph of the famous blue domed churches in Oia, Santorini, amongst cliffside buildings, with a cloudy sky above.
Photograph of containers holding cat food, decorated with paintings and the words 'Oia's Strays', with a bottle of clear liquid and a bucket full of water to the right, all against a plain wall.
Detail of the top of Church of Panagia Akathistos Hymn, showing bells and domed roof, with blue sky behind.
Church of Panagia Akathistos Hymn
Photograph of a place set with breakfast of marble cake, a boiled egg, a slice of white bread, knife, fork, spoon, a bowl of yogurt, a bowl of sliced banana and white grapes, a glass of orange juice and a cup of black coffee, all on a beige placemat on a wooden table.

We headed to the bus station and went down to explore Fira. I think we stayed in the right place. Although there were more cheaper places to eat it was a lot busier, plus we would never have got to Oia early to walk around unless we’d stayed there.

We of course did Rick Steves’ walk* and got a good sense of the town, saw some lovely tucked away shops and galleries (the WD Concept Store had some really lovely pieces and I was tempted to get some earrings – I can’t find it on maps, but it was near The Greek Wedding show because it is/was run by the same people, I believe).

We stopped at the bar at Porto Fira Suites to sip a cappucino freddo and watch the port, which revived us enough to think we could do the Fira to Oyia hike. It was very hot, and quite steep in parts, over the 5ish miles. There were some stunning views but I’m still not sure it was the right move! Thankfully there was a tiny snack bar at one point and we eagerly dug into a huge slab of delicious walnut cake and topped up on water (but no toilets so not too much!!) It was interesting peeking at the wellness hotels as we went past, the tiny churches seemingly in the middle of nowhere, and little lizards crossing our paths.

Mural of a person shading their eyes from the sun on a wall in Fira, Santorini, with the Catholic Church of Saint Stylianos visible in the background.
Photograph looking across Santorini with the town of Thera to the right, closest, and Oia in the far distance.
Detail of the Catholic Church of Saint Stylianos, with the clock tower visible through an arched aperture in a cream wall, with another arched wall in the foreground.
Catholic Church of Saint Stylianos
Domed roof of the St. John the Theologian Holy Orthodox Church, with the sea behind
Photograph of a cappucino freddo in a glass, milky coffee in the lower half and foamed milk in the top, with a black paper straw sticking out, on a wooden table with the sea in the background.
Looking back at Thera from the hiking trail to Oia, with buildings across the top of the rocky island and the sea to the right.
View of a path to a rocky outcrop on the hiking trail from Thera to Oia, with sea behind.
Photograph of the word 'OIA' and an arrow pointing left, painted on a large stone at the side of a road.
Photograph of a footpath leading through hills in Santorini, with white buildings visible further along.
Closeup of a very geometric plant with spiky branches and small berries.
Photograph of a piece of walnut cake on a white plate on a brown table, in the sunlight.
Looking back towards Thera from the hiking trail to Oia, with buildings across the top of the rocky island. and the sea to the right.
Photograph of The Assumption of the Virgin Mary Holy Chapel, photographed from below, so only part of a peach-coloured church and a white arch with Greek flag flying from a white and blue striped pole can be seen over the edge of a rocky hill.

Finally we were back near the hotel and we showered, washed our extremely sweat-sodden clothes and headed out first to the market for beers and snacks and then across town with everyone else to watch the sunset. If you want a good spot at the top I think you have to get there very early. We found a spot on the steps down to Ammoudi Bay where we could sit on a wall next to the donkey poo and watch the sun go down. There was a nice celebratory atmosphere, as people applauded the sun when it set!

We headed back up the steep steps and went for dinner at at Flora – baked feta, pizza and red donkey beer, watching people passing by. We were given spoon desserts and mastica – very tasty!

Photograph of hillside buildings in Oia, which overlook the port, in golden light as the sun sets.
Photograph of sunset in Santorini, with boats lined up to watch in the sea.
Photograph of hillside buildings in Oia, which overlook the port, with a windmill top centre, in blue light as the sun sets.
A slate topped with two spoons filled with creamy dessert topped with chocolate and a piece of strawberry, icing sugar and two glasses filled with clear liquid.

Leaving Santorini

The downside of staying in Oia is that you have to get back down to Fira to get to the port for your ferry. Although the ferry was at 15:00 we headed down on the bus for around midday, to make sure we didn’t miss it. The buses line up with the ferries so we couldn’t catch one until 14:00, which made us nervous but we should have just had faith and remembered that the Greek transport had all worked perfectly for us so far so there was no reason to doubt it now!

While we were waiting in Fira we went to Art Café for cappuccino freddos with a view and somewhere to sit quietly out of the way with our bags.

We went to the bus station at about 13:45 and they were starting to let people on the bus so we secured seats and waited for the twisty journey down the steep, steep hill. We waited in the gate 5 pen for the boat, thankfully shaded, and were soon on board for the short journey to Folegandros.

Photograph of Saint Dimitrios Oia Holy Orthodox Church in Oia, Santorini, with a blue dome roof, with pink bougainvillea flowers in the foreground and blue sea and sky behind.

Santorini is wonderful – really beautiful, lots to do, not ridiculously expensive if you plan well and ask for recommendations. I’d definitely go back.

Next stop: Folegandros

Notes on Travel is a blog by photographer Jayne Lloyd, noting the things I found useful to know when I was visiting Ancient Olympia in September 2022 as part of a 3 week trip around Athens, the Peloponnese and a few islands. I’ve tried to be accurate but please do check for up-to-date information before going as things are always changing! I apologise for any mistakes, please do let me know if you have more recent info.

* This post contains some affiliate links, indicated with a ‘*’ – if you click them and decide to buy something I may receive a small cut of the payment, but it won’t cost you more. Thank you!

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