| Holiday Ratings | |
| Recommended days | 7 |
| Budget | £ |
| Difficulty | Easy |
Visiting
An island holiday on Santorini was not on my radar at all at the beginning of this year. Due to Covid knocking out various other bookings we had and meaning that certain locations were off limits I settled on the island as a kind of ‘use it or lose it’ destination. Typically, 2 weeks before we were due to go, the government added it to the list of quarantine locations which kinda defeated the object for us. I won’t pretend to understand the reasoning but I have to say the island felt far safer to us than being back in the UK – every cafe or attraction had hand sanitiser for use and masks were compulsory in indoor public areas.
My Experience
I think this holiday I realised how old I am getting. The thought of a 4AM start followed by 2 hours in an airport and a 3 hour flight did not elicit the usual bodily thrill, this time it was almost resignation. Covid doesn’t help, many attractions and business having to close or have limited opening hours or capacities. On the plus side, I have been practising social distancing for years before Covid started!
We took the shuttle bus from the hotel to Gatwick North Terminal, the South Terminal being closed due to flight restrictions destroying demand. As always, I naively believed the bumpf from Easyjet about having to arrive early due to extra checks and procedures so we sailed straight through security and then had 90 minutes to wait before our gate opened. I used the time by buying the sunglasses Sofia recommended (spending by surrogate – all the gain and none of the pain so good choice #2 child!) and having a leisurely coffee.
When we boarded the flight it was actually quite sad. Maybe 30 of the 200 plus seats were used. So that was 170 people not visiting attractions, staying in hotels and eating out on an island where tourism is pretty much the only industry.
As always I spent the time productively watching iPlayer, Top Gear and 2 parts of a series on the Highland Clans this time, before a somewhat bumpy landing. The airport looked a little overgrown and quiet – only 4 planes in sight and you expected to see tumbleweed roll past. Security was quick though and we then collected our car. Easyjet had done a splendid job of not notifying their hire company that the flights they’d booked us on had both been changed so we were actually picking the car up 12 hours early and dropping it back 2 days early. That took a while to sort but then we drove at a very sedate 50kmh on some very twisty roads to our hotel.
We were staying in Akrotiri at the Alafropetra Luxury Suites, booked through Hotels.com and I have to say it was a damned excellent choice. We were met at the property by Debbie who showed us around and then drew a map and marked on the main sights plus also recommendations for places to eat at. There was certainly enough eating places to keep us busy all week! The apartment was superb with two private terraces, views over the caldera and the Venetian fort and very well appointed inside. Good broadband is always a plus too!
Akrotiri Venetian Fort
After an afternoon bumbling around, relaxing outside and catching up on work stuff we headed out for a walk. The weather was still deliciously warm at 5PM and we walked to the Venetian fort, a few minutes up the hill. The fort was basically a jumble of crumbling building, rubble and building materials. There was no information about it on site and walking around it there was nothing to justify it as a fort other than the dogleg passageway by the door. There were no towers, embrasures, battlements or crenelations so I need to do some research on it.
After leaving the alleged fort we meandered through the village and then stopped for a light dinner at Porta Bello before doing a couple of night photos and heading back to our apartment. Obviously Deb wanted the AC on when we got in because me actually being comfortably warm is not allowed…..
Well the next morning was delightful, bloody cockerels crowing from about 4AM even though it was pitch black. I eventually got up at 5.30 to have a wander and watch the sunrise. So thank you cockerels, although I’d have strangled you all the peace and solitude and just stillness of the early mornings is always worth it. I walked up to the Venetian so called fort and watched the sun rise from behind the Profitis Ilias monastery before making my way down through the town and through some scrubland to take pictures of the tiny Holy Trinity Church.
Akrotiri Holy Trinity Church
I got back around 8 and had a cuppa and sorted the photos whilst Deb slowly got ready ….. Anyone would think we were on holiday! We actually left after 10 for the extended 0.9 mile trek to the ruins of Bronze Age Akrotiri. I know, who could possibly drag their feet when such excitement awaited?! I was honestly only expecting to spend about 10 minutes there even though it was our most expensive trip so far, €5 parking plus €12 to enter the site.
Bronze Age Akrotiri
The whole excavation was roofed and the route to view it was well laid out with plenty of information and curators on hand to assist. Although it was, largely, just a pile of stones it was a very important pile. The settlement was finally destroyed (after a few earthquakes) by a volcanic eruption that buried it under a river of lava. Very similar to Pompei I hear you say but this is 2000 years older than Pompei and from a civilisation that very little was known about. At the time us Brits were living in wooden shacks these guys had three storey stone houses and indoor plumbing. Other than the lack of wifi, the houses would still make perfectly decent homes now.
I think we spent over an hour on site and I was actually ready to leave before Deb. I was suprised at the amount of wood used in the buildings (replaced with painted concrete now to preserve the stability of the buildings) considering there are so few trees here. I wonder if there’s a connection? ….
Red Beach
Our next stop was a few minutes drive and we actually only spent 5 minutes there. This was Red Beach, named because of the colour of the cliffs above it. Very pretty, take a picture and off to the next place.
Emporio windmills and the Tower of Nimborio
Stop number 3 was down some delightfully small roads to visit the windmills of Emporio. I had seen these lining the ridge when I was doing the sunrise pictures this morning. We parked up and walked around the first one and just took some pictures as one windmill is pretty much like another. These had no sails although the first couple had been restored. We had a quick diversion to the Tower of Nimborio on the opposite hillside, built by the Venetians and now a cracked and inaccessible ruin.
Perivolous beach and Tranquilo Cafe
Our final stop had been recommended by the hotel owner, a cafe on the beach in the south of the island. We arrived around 1PM so our fun packed day had actually only taken 3 hours, one of the benefits of a Santorini island holiday – you can cross the length of the island in an hour. Our table was overlooking the black sand beach of Perivolous and shaded by some pine trees. It was actually quite idyllic and we spent over two hours there, partly I confess, because we had ordered so much food we couldn’t finish it all. The food was superb though and excellent prices which set us up nicely for the intrepid 20 minute drive back to our apartment.
Akrotiri lighthouse sunset
After a quick shower and change we drove to watch the obligatory Santorini sunset at the Akrotiri lighthouse. We parked up along with pretty much every other tourist in the area and sat on one of the rocks watching the sun go down. Yes, very kitsch and touristy but no less enjoyable for that. It was pretty much silent too other than one Spanish twat who was on speakerphone the whole 40 minutes we were there.
It is strange the attraction sunrises and sunsets still hold in our modern souls and it’s easy to see how it was a form of worship centuries ago. We watched as the sky turned yellow and then red as the sun dipped and yachts sailed by before we then all got back in our cars/squads/scooters to head back home and wait for the comments on Insta. Apart from me who didn’t upload anything as I didn’t have my glasses so had no idea what the pictures looked like.
After another quick turnaround of dumping our stuff we went into the village for a drink and to enjoy a warm October evening. It was so nice to just sit outside at the Paradise restaurant and chat at 8PM in just tshirt and shorts so we enjoyed a couple of drinks before the inevitable photo sorting and ‘note writing before I forget it all’ routine. We were starting to settle into the Santorini island holiday mentality though and have a lot more free time than we’d normally allow ourselves.
Ancient Thera
Friday morning I didn’t wake until 6 so I wandered out into the village in time for the sunrise again before breakfast. We had to leave, or rather I wanted to leave, by 8.30 to visit ancient Thera. This is a Hellenistic/Roman city that is on the top of a mountain with a single narrow and very winding road to the top so I wanted to avoid any crowds! It was a very interesting drive but luckily when we reached the top only one other car was parked. It was actually very lucky because ‘parked’ is the wrong word. There wasn’t really any parking area so it was just a case of abandon the car on a bit of relatively flat wasteland and hope for the best.
Apparently there are two hiking routes to the city from either side of the island but both involve a hike up a 350m cliff face with no shade. To be honest, the journey isn’t worth the destination. There are a few carvings and the floorplan of the city is easy to see although it seems to lack any major streets and city may be a rather grand term for it. There are none of the colonnades, mosaics or gateways expected in a Roman town and very little is left above knee height. The theatre is pretty much gone which was a shame because I was expecting a cliffside marvel like Pergamon.
So overall a bit of a let down as a Roman sightseeing destination but the views were fantastic. We could see the Monastery of Profitis Ilias, the highest point on the island and also look down on the airport. No planes were flying while we were there which was a shame for my photos but a far bigger shame for an island that relies on tourism for its livelihood.
Pyrgos town
Driving back down the hill was entertaining as we seemed to meet another car on every corner but eventually we reached the main road to Pyrgos. We weren’t really sure where to park so we just stopped the car somewhere outside the centre and made our way to the top of the hill on foot. Like all the old towns here, the centre part has streets that are about a metre wide (easy to defend) so pedestrian only. Social distancing would be a problem if the place was busy though!
We spent a while meandering through the streets, heading vaguely upwards and admiring the cactii and bougainvillea. The town almost seemed organic with houses flowing into each other and steps going up to front doors or down to others. Some of the houses were well cared for on clean streets, others were decidedly run down or dilapadated. Every street seemed to have it’s own church or chapel though and Greek flags were in profusion, along with the two headed Byzantine eagle. Some of the buildings were really rather impressive, obviously medieval in construction and some looked like Troglodyte houses, more suited to Tatooine.
We stopped for coffee at Franco’s Cafe, next to the monastery on the summit of the hill. I enjoyed a delicious cold coffee with proper whipped cream, not canned rubbish, while overlooking a panorama of the island. It was very relaxing, soft jazz music, a profusion of colourful flowers and a gentle breeze.
We walked down through the town by a different route and by some genius luck of navigation, arrived pretty much where I’d parked the car. We were going to visit Megalochori village but as it’s just more of the same we decided to leave it for another day. Instead we stopped at the Lost Atlantis Museum.
Lost Atlantis Museum
This is a new museum with plenty of parking and a thoroughly modern approach. We paid our €24, donned our gloves for the touch screen displays in a covid world and were then guided through the origins of the Atlantis myth and how it relates to Santorini by various interactive exhibits. The 9D film of the destruction of Thera and the volcanic eruption was great fun – water sprays, vibrating seats etc so it was very immersive (excuse the pun). The tour continued with a diorama of what Plato’s Atlantis looked like and how it was run and then alternative locations for Atlantis and their origins.
It was a fantastic time and would be great for families too, it’s just a shame that we were the only visitors. It was certainly money well spent and the staff were great, very helpful and enthusiastic with better English than most Bristolians! I’d go as far as to say it was one of the highlights of our Santorini island holiday.
We left the museum to go back to the apartment for lunch and then Deb could sunbathe whilst I wrote notes and sorted photos. We also spotted our arch enemy, the cockrel and realised why he was so noisy – there were actually four of the little buggers lined up behind our balcony, probably working out a shift pattern of crowing to keep us awake.
The evening was spent at another different dinner venue, this time the family run Greek taverna just round the corner from our apartment. I actually had a proper Mousaka and the egg topping was so light it was actually more like a souffle. We watched the sunset again before another liqueur coffee and back to the apartment to pack for our next location, staying in the capital of the island.
Breakfast at the Paradise Restaurant, Akrotiri
We’d agreed to go for breakfast at the Paradise Restaurant, just down the road from us, as we’d had coffees there the last two evenings, sitting in the jasmine scented garden and we were very tempted by their breakfast menu. It turned out to be an excellent choice that would have satisfied a halfling! We were there over an hour indulging in a variety of courses and to cap it off, the lady had made us some delicious biscuits to finish with, there was certainly no danger of me wanting an early lunch!
Megalochori village
We walked back to the apartment and then drove the few miles to our last visit in this area, the village of Megalochori. This had been recommended by several people as a very pretty village and in truth it was but it was also very small! We parked the car and probably spent 45 minutes in the village walking the main street. There was a cave house advertised that we visited and saw the huge caves that tunneled into the hillside and were used as earthquake shelters. The main square with the church was pretty and there were the usual very narrow side streets but, even if I’d had space for a coffee, I’d have been pushed to spend an hour there.
We got back to the apartment, loaded our cases and headed for our next stop, Fira, where we were staying just outside of the town. The drive didn’t take long and we soon parked up, unloaded the cases again and worked out what to do next. Actually, thinking about it that’s a lie. We took the cases to the room and I then sat on the bed and fell asleep for 90 minutes! Deb couldn’t unpack as she didn’t want to wake me so she probably planned 101 ways of suffocating your husband, until I eventually woke, still patting my food baby.
Fira – Karavolades Stairs and old harbour
We walked the five minutes to the outskirts of Fira and it was an immediate culture shock! Although not crowded it was certainly busier than Akrotiri and had a profusion of shops certainly aimed at tourists. We made our way through the streets, pausing only for me to succumb to an ice cream, before we started to walk down the Karavolades Stairs. These 588 steps link the town with the old harbour and were certainly quite a trek. There were plenty of donkeys at the top for those that wanted to take that option. We are too conditioned to animal exploitation so we walked but the donkeys did look well cared for and I’m sure if no one uses them they would be worse off. Hmmm, difficult one!
The old harbour was very small and pretty, we actually sat at the cafe for over 90 minutes whilst Deb ate her lunch/dinner and I had some tzatziki and pitta in between wandering around taking photos. It was interesting looking up at the town – from above it looked like the houses flowed down the hill but from the harbour you could see that they really only occupied a ridgeline and most of the hill was much too steep for housing, or indeed anything else.
Rather than climb the steps we took the cable car back to the town, €6 well spent as it saved about 30 minutes climbing! We then sat in a tavern overlooking the town and watched the sunset. Although it was lovely, another beautiful evening on the island, it was also rather sad. We could see lots of other restaurants and bars lining the hill and capacity was maybe 10% at best, on a Saturday evening.
We walked back to our hotel for the usual rituals and a most welcome shower! Early start tomorrow for my Sunrise Photography Tour. After a restless night I got up at 6 and then walked around outside the hotel, enjoying the stillness of the early morning. About 6.45 the lady text me to say she wasn’t feeling well so I sat on our balcony and watched the sunrise over the outer islands which was certainly good for the soul, accompanied by the ringing of church bells. Sadly, from about 7.30AM a local farmer decided to spend an hour cutting wood with his chainsaw, probably much to all his neighbours delight!
Archeology Museum of Fira
We left quite early to have breakfast and Deb found a local cafe that could cater to her requirements. We had a nice breakfast sat outside before heading off for a fun Sunday morning of Museums. The Archeology Museum was a very short visit as they only had one exhibition open and it was only in Greek and French.
Museum of Prehistoric Thera
The Museum of Prehistoric Thera was very different and had a lot of the finds from the excavations of ancient Thira. The wall paintings were really quite incredible, as was the pottery. Especially taken in context that it was nearly 4000 years old and we didn’t reach that level of sophistication until the Romans forced it upon us nearly 2000 years later. We spent nearly an hour there before wandering back to the hotel around 11 so we could relax in the sun for a while.
Fira sunset and Cafe Galini
We were intending to go out at 4 but got delayed by footling so it was gone 5 before we left. We walked the clifftop route through Fira to our eventual destination, Cafe Galini, as recommended by our previous host. She didn’t disappoint, the food was superb and we had a corner table so could see the whole spread of the bay. I actually indulged in my first proper dessert of the holiday, with a bitter chocolate and banana crepe. We sat down there for two hours, relaxing and watching the sunset with a periodic helicopter flypast for those with money to burn.
On the way back to Fira proper we stopped several times to take in the view of the town and do some night shots. It was 8PM and still delightfully warm although far too quiet for a tourist town. We stopped at Dr Fish (the place the kids and I had visited in Athens) for a fish pedicure. This was really enjoyable and the 20 minutes seemed to go too quickly as they were still feasting when we had to stop. A very pleasant and relaxing day.
Sunrise Photography Workshop
Monday morning I was up at 6 for my second attempt at the sunrise photography tour. Konstantina met me on time and we drove to the Profit Ilias lookout point, just below the summit with its monastery. The sun seemed to take forever to rise and when it did it was pretty hazy. We took some photos there and then towards Pyrgos and Oia. We drove into Pyrgos for coffee and milk pie (I think that’s what they were called – very lightly sweetened custard centre with flakey pastry outer) and chatted in one of the squares there before our final stop.
This stop was just next to the beach and had some gorgeous shapes carved by the wind into the soft pumice and now used by nesting birds. The light was still surreal, almost blending the sea and the sky into one. I think because we were chatting so much the tour lasted an hour longer than intended but it was a very enjoyable time. Obviously when I got back to the hotel the photos I had created in my head were not matched by what I’d actually taken but any fault was mine.
Oia
Most of the rest of day was spent doing nothing. We actually had a siesta for a couple of hours and then around 4PM we drove to Oia, on the northern tip of the island. There were plenty of car parks on the outside of the town and we walked a few side streets before reaching the main street. This was rather a misnomer as it was usually only 1m wide, maybe 2m at the widest points.
The town is rightly known as the prettiest on Santorini – it seemed to have less houses in disrepair and be generally better maintained than Fira and there were hordes of bouganvileas on display. The shops were certainly more upmarket, mostly crafts shops like ceramics, jewelry, clothing and paintings. As the hillside curved, the view changed from looking over to Fira to the other side of Oia bay. This is the classic Santorini shot with the sunset and the windmills and maybe even a blue domed church.
Although it wasn’t as busy as we were expecting it was still crowded and the first place on the island we saw coaches disgorging passengers. We found a restaurant and had a cliff edge table so we could watch the sunset with our meal. The food was actually excellent although we obviously paid a premium for the location. A couple of times I had a quick foray to do some photos between courses but the cloud bank meant the sunset was a bit of a let down. I shouldn’t have left it until our last night on the island, a lesson there!
It was an interesting 20 minute drive back to the hotel and we were then exhausted after being out of bed for a whole 5 hours! It was actually 29 degrees when we were having our meal, a delicious temperature and my new favourite!
We had a most welcome lie in on the Tuesday and didn’t leave until 9. We walked in to the town and chose a different breakfast venue this time. Deb had a kind of American-Greek fusion of chorizo, bacon and fried eggs. Mine was a far more sensible yoghurt and fruit option which I then followed with waffles and ice cream. We had a brief waddle to the viewpoint for our last look over the sea and islands before going back to the hotel.
Deb had sunbathing to do and I had work stuff and the form filling admin for our flight home. We chatted to the lady at the hotel, Maria, who told us it was hotter now than in August. We showed her the UK forecast which she thought was hilarious!
Although we are all (currently) in the EU and governed by the same rules the Greeks seemed to have a very different attitude to road safety to us! Seat belts were very much optional, we often saw kids sat on laps on the front seat, phone use while driving was prolific and helmets on bikes were certainly optional. This casual attitude seemed to extend to road and property maintenance too. On the other side, the friendliness of the locals (to each other, not just visitors) put us to shame – they would all be greeting each other as they walked or drove down the street. They also bothered to scan our Covid compliant QR forms in Greece, unlike the UK!
A fantastic break, far more relaxing than normal but that’s not a bad thing. Some beautiful scenery and sunrises, great food, excellent museums and villages and friendly people. A Santorini island holiday is pretty much an ideal destination for a week long, relaxing break in the sun so get booking now!
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