Santorini island is the ideal paradise

Santorini island is definitely an oasis – this was my most relaxing stay during this trip to Europe. We flew Olympic (operated by Aegean Air, one of my favorite airlines) to the small airport in Thira on their one-a-day 7:00 am flight. When we arrived I realized I’d screwed up our airport transfer but thankfully there’s a company Yafy that will take you to Oia for 12 euros per person, which was cheaper than the 35 euro transfer I’d booked but only operates for arrivals (if you book a return it is 45 euros). I definitely recommend Yafy!

Our hotel was super central in Oia, the picturesque town you imagine for Santorini island. There are other areas like Fira and Imerovigli but we didn’t make it to them during our short stay. Although if you have the time there are public buses that operate between the villages and I would have liked to hike to Skaros Rock. Oia is filled with luxury cave hotels but I think our choice of accommodation, Oia’s Sunset, worked out perfectly. The hotel has a nice pool and bar area and rooms come with a private balcony, which was perfect for reading.

On the first day we walked all over Oia. To the right we walked as far as we could and ended up in the windmills area. To the left we walked past all the luxury hotels and restaurants. We located the famous three dome church photo spot, which was PACKED at 4pm, so we decided to come back early in the morning. We also had an afternoon drink on a rooftop bar – so perfect. Santorini also has some great nightlife options.

For dinner I had read about vegan baked feta at Katharos Lounge so we made the trek down to the beach (about 45 min walk outside of the village). Unfortunately it was closed! They were renovating to open back up for summer in a few weeks. So we walked all the way back up and then settled on Blue Sky near our accommodation. This restaurant had the friendliest staff! The Greek dish Briam was a vegetable casserole with potatoes, zucchini, eggplant and more that my mom particularly liked. I had a vegan pasta dish with a Greek salad feel (olives, onion, tomato sauce, etc). You can get several pieces of pita bread here for a euro. We made the mistake of trying a different restaurant the next night that had a trendy, rooftop feel and ended up leaving to go back to Big Sky. During the day I highly recommend a vegan chickpea burger at Z Burger, complete with a charcoal bun. The local craft brew from Santorini, Crazy Donkey, pays homage to the history of donkey transport on the island.

As I’m sure you will read everywhere… Oia is CROWDED. The nicest times to walk around are from about 8am to maybe 11am and then in the evening. Starting at noon huge groups of tours arrive off coaches and clog the narrow streets. It is super unpleasant, but we were so relaxed in our accommodation it wasn’t a huge deal to not be able to walk around at this time. Oia village is small and it is possible to see whatever you want in just a few hours in the morning.

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