Greece part two, coming at you! We spent a whole week in the lovely Oia which gave us plenty of time to fit in loads of activities. I've heard people say that they thought a week would be too long in Santorini but I could have spent even more time here!
One of the best activities we did was a half day boat trip on a catamaran. There's tonnes of boat companies around so take your time to check them all out and find the best deal. Yes it was expensive but it was definitely worth it.
We climbed aboard along with 13 others and took a sail around the island seeing the red beaches, white beaches, caves and swimming out to the thermal springs. We even got taken to a private spot where we could jump in and snorkel to get sight of the underwater life. Lunch was provided and it was delicious, they had an on board BBQ serving up giant prawns, chicken, and beef as well as pasta dishes, salads, breads and dips.
Drinks were unlimited (including booze!) and everyone on board including the staff were extremely friendly so provided a lovely chance to meet other people as well as providing stunning views and an all round great day and something a lot of us would never get to do normally. A worthy investment!
We opted for the morning trip but if you were willing to splash a little more cash they did sunset sails which parked up so you could view the famous Santorini sunset by sea which I'm sure would have been incredibly special.
Halfway through the trip I woke my family up bright and early to hike from Oia to Thira (the main town on the island) before it got ridiculously hot and walking anywhere would be out of the question. The path was easy to find and follow and gave us chance to see the island in a way we never could have by sticking to the roads. As we made our way over the hills we were greeted by the sun rising on the other side of the island with no other people around, which was worth the early morning alone.
If you want to see some seriously beautiful scenery, do this walk. It takes about 3 hours and can be pretty tiring at times but it's so worth it - once you get to Thira do what we did and treat yourself to a breakfast from one of the luxurious sea view cafes.
Although I wouldn't recommend spending too much time in Thira (it's very busy and nowhere near as lovely as other parts of the island) make sure you go so you can visit the new archaeological museum.
Only a few euros to enter (free if you're a student) you can see some of the treasures found in Akritiri on the island, preserved because of a volcano. Being a classics graduate I obviously found the museum great, some of the art work on show was really revolutionary stuff at the time it was painted and its beauty is still obvious today - especially the wall paintings.
Getting around the island is really easy with buses running to all the main towns from Thira for a couple of euros max pretty regularly (about every 30 minutes usually). Being a small island it also takes hardly any time to get around so you have time to see everything without it taking too much time out of a day. A lot of people rented quad bikes, although I'd say day to day this really isn't necessary to see the island (and in some ways the amount of quad bikes whizzing around at certain points ruined the atmosphere of the island so I wouldn't encourage renting one if you don't need it) if you wanted to explore some of the more inaccessible parts of the island they could be a good option.
After our hike to Thira and a look around the museum we hopped on a bus to Akritiri where the "Pompeii of the Greece" is situated aka the preserved ruins of ancient Akritiri. Nicknamed this because of the way it was preserved by a volcano like Pompeii I'd say the similarities stop there. Unless you go with a lot of prior information or pay for a tour guide (10 euros each) I think the site could be a bit dry since there's very limited information available to read. For something so archaeologically important I would have thought they'd have made more out of it, especially since I was so impressed with the museum in Thira.
Being at Akritiri does give you chance to visit the Red Beach though which is a lovely spot albeit busy. On the walk there be sure to look out for the sun dried tomato stall two women own, you can literally see the tomatoes drying before your eyes and they sell little pots of jams and spreads you can buy, all home made of course.
Although by this point my sister was hating me for all the walking I was making her endure I was determined to climb to Ancient Thera, located at the top of one of the islands mountains between Perissa and Kamari. I'd recommend in the morning heading to one of these beach towns to enjoy the sea, most restaurants along the front allow you to use their sun loungers if you buy something even if it's just a drink!
After you've readied yourself start heading up - the site closes at 3 so don't be caught out and get there too late. It's a really great spot with loads of buildings and streets visible and even an ancient theatre (what a view to see a play performed!) and unlike Akritiri there's lots of info dotted around explaining everything. Once you've taken in your fill of the ancient world head down the other side and grab some food from one of the sea food restaurants in Kamari and catch the last bit of the sun before heading back.
There's so much more of Santorini I would have loved to have seen and I'm already planning what island I'll next be visiting so if you have any recommendations of your own or bits of Santorini you love it'd be great to hear them. In part 3 I'll be going through all the food I ate while I was out there (trust me, there's a lot).
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