know before you go: santorini, greece

Oh Santorini! We've all heard about it and seen it in movies (The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants anyone?) and it' one of those places that's on everyone's bucket list. Unfortunately, to me, it also felt like one of those places I was visiting just to check it off my list, you know? Not to say I'm not 100% grateful and didn't enjoy or take advantage of my time there, but it wasn't my favorite island in Greece. Now that I have the disclaimer out of the way, let's dive into what makes Santorini a must-visit destination and what you can do to make sure you enjoy your vacation to the most visited greek island.

how to Deal with the crowds

Alright! This is the first thing we are talking about because this is what is going to make or break your trip. It doesn't matter where you stay or what you do, if you are not ready for the crowds, you are not ready for Santorini, and I am saying this with love as a person who was not ready for Santorini. We had no choice but to visit in July in the peak tourist season, but if you can visit in shoulder season, there would be a tiny bit less people. I'm trying to be funny, but I'm not lying. From what I have seen and read, you can basically visit Santorini with crowds, or visit in the middle of winter when nothing is open. But there are ways to still enjoy your time without being completely overwhelmed during your whole trip.

We found that the crowds mostly stick to Oia, and while the village is absolutely beautiful and deserves to be seen, there are plenty of other sights to see and villages to visit outside of Oia. We did visit Oia in the morning while it was bearable, spent the afternoon at peak crowd hours away, and came back in the early evening to get ready for sunset (we'll come back to that later). All of that to say, I encourage you to venture outside the crowded alleys of Oia and discover all that Santorini has to offer. You won't regret it!

Where to stay

You will find accommodation in Santorini, in summer, in the range of 100$ CA per night to multiple thousand dollars per night. At first glance, it seems impossible to find anything affordable, and while I wish I was the type of person who could afford (or who got offered) a suite in a cave hotel with a turquoise infinity pool and a view on the caldera, I am not that person, and chances are, you aren't either. Once again, I encourage you to venture outside of Oia, or even the main villages on the caldera. Here are your options:

• By the beach, on the opposite side of the island from the caldera, you'll find plenty of larger hotels for every budget. While you will be further away from the action, you'll have a room by the beach and the opportunity to escape the craziness when you are done with it.
• There are hostels in the center villages. That is the option we went for. While we weren't by the beach or by the caldera, we were a short bus or ATV ride from either. We ended up paying 115$ CA for a private room in a hostel with a pool. Our central location allowed us to take the bus easily almost everywhere, being in a village where actual locals live allowed us to have grocery stores and plenty of restaurants close by while enjoying fair prices, plus, we got to walk in the quiet little white village when we had enough of the crowds, but still wanted to explore. You'll find below a picture of the view from our room. Maybe not Instagram worthy, but perfect anyway!
• If you absolutely want the caldera view, you'll find more affordable prices the further south you go. Oia will have the most expensive rooms, Imerovigli will be a little better, Fira will have a decent price range, etc. I'm not saying it won't be a splurge, but it might not cost a kidney.

how to get around

We spent our whole trip to Greece using public transportation, and while each island had a different way of doing public transportation and it was always an adjustment (hello to you Santorini buses making everybody climb aboard until it was jam-packed and then having the bus driver go around for everyone to pay him), we found it was pretty easy and very worth it financially. Saving up on every other island, allowed us to rent an ATV for one day in Santorini. We could have visited all of the spots we visited using the bus system, but it was a lot faster and more direct using the ATV and it was a fun activity. One-day cost us 50 euros plus the tank of gas that was not cheap, but I found it worth it for the time that we saved. There is no way we would have been able to see as much as we did in one day without it. Plus, we only needed our canadian drivers license to rent it and insurance was included.

what to visit

There is so much to see in Santorini!

On our first full day on the island, we rented the ATV and visited the ruins of Akrotiri which are still being excavated and are basically a Pompei where people had time to get away. The ruins are so well preserved and it was a fascinating visit. We also went to the red and black beaches. You can read my article on my favorite beaches in Greece for more information on those here. We went to the highest peak on Santorini for a view on the island and caldera, we had a wine tasting at a winery, which included a tour and was so interesting as the vines grow completely differently than the would everywhere else due to the high winds and heat, and went to Imerovigli for sunset. What a complete and exhilarating day on Santorini. Except for the red beach, there were no crowds anywhere,and we really got to enjoy every moment!

On day two in Santorini, we took the bus to Fira, and then Oia, early in the morning to explore the streets of Oia without the crowds. The village is so pretty and there are plenty of little alleyways to explore, shops to visit and churches to photograph. We even found a nice little book store in the basement of a house. When the heat and the crowds got to be too much for us, we climbed down the stairs to Ammoudi bay to go for a swim. There were a lot people there, but it was still a nice swimming spot and we really enjoyed the atmosphere of the bay. We had gelato before we felt ready to go back up the stairs to Oia. There are donkeys to help you up the steps, but in the heat I felt really bad for the poor animals. We stayed for sunset (more on that later) and took the bus back after dark.

On our last day in Santorini, we had to be back on the bus by noon to catch our ferry, so we spent some time by the pool and relaxed for a while.

I would have liked to visit Fira and see more of Imerovigli, but with the heat and crowds, I had reached my limit of stimuli.

how long should you stay

You could definitely spend more time in Santorini, but I had enough after three days. I needed to go relax on a quieter island and I needed less expensive food. I wouldn't have shortened our stay though. Less time would have felt really rushed and we wouldn't have been able to see everything we wanted to see or take the time to enjoy it. I think two full days would be the bare minimum. I didn't feel at any point like we didn't have enough time though. Two full days, an evening and a morning was perfect to me.

The summer heat is something you do need to take into consideration while planning the number of days you want to visit though. I don't mind the heat and we always organized our days in Greece to be close to a swimming spot in the afternoon, but if you know the heat might be an issue for you, I would plan for more days with time in the afternoon to relax, go back to your accommodation or at least find some shade and cold drinks.

tips for sunset in oia

Here we go, sunsets in Oia! I need to start by saying, now that I have seen it, I get the hype. Now that I have lived it, did I fully enjoy it? Sadly, the answer would have to be no. Is it worth it? I think I would have regretted not going, but I have seen better sunsets in more enjoyable places.

If you do want to see the sunset in Oia, you need to be ready for it. Crowds started gathering at 6 PM for an 8:30-9 PM sunset and crowds can really bring the worst out of people. Keep in mind that it is hot. If you plan on waiting in your spot for a while you will need plenty of water and I would recommend fruits and some kind of salty food so you don't get too dehydrated. We decided to go to the ruins of St Nicholas castle and brought plenty of snacks and cold water. We brought our books and waited for hours, but if you're going to do sunset in Oia, you might as well commit, right?

Once the sunset starts, no matter how early you got there and no matter the spot you chose, people will be climbing over you to see and putting their cameras in your face to get a picture. I'm not going to lie, it was a circus. I had a lady sitting on my hand, I bumped my head on someone's camera when trying to turn around, I was almost pushed off the edge at some point, but when the sun hit the water, people started to leave and we got to enjoy blue hour by ourselves, which was completely worth it.

Although Oia is probably the only place where the sun will set over the water, I did really enjoy the sunset in Imerovigli. Over there, the sun sets over the village of Oia and there was literally no one but us. If you aren't willing to brave the crowds of Oia, this would be a very good option in my opinion.

After all of this, I hope I didn't discourage you form visiting Santorini. There is a reason the island is so popular, and while I enjoyed my visit of other islands more, I don't regret choosing to add Santorini to our itinerary. Is Santorini on your bucketlist? Let me know in the comments!

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