Ok, unpopular opinion coming in hot…we didn’t love Santorini!
Yes, the views are BEAUTIFUL and the sunset is pretty much unmatched, but that’s such a small part of the experience you have while on the island. So quick fact to start; the island is only populated by about 12,000 people year round, but during the summer over 500,000 tourists roll though. That just means that Santorini is a tourist destination and it’s really designed with a tourist in mind. We were there in the middle of Jun,..aka in the heat of it…so you may have a different experience if you’re going at the start, end, or outside of tourist season. Just something to keep in mind as you’re reading through!
I’m going to go into where we stayed and what we did, because there definitely were a lot of highlights (including a sunset boat ride that I’ll remember forever and ever) but I’ll end with a few things we learned about Santorini and break down we didn’t love it!
Before I move onto trip details, just a quick reminder that I’m creating a ton of posts recapping our honeymoon. You can find them all here (adding links as they go live):
- Part 1: Our Experience in Crete, Greece
- Part 2: Santorini + Why It Wasn’t Our Favorite (this one)
- Part 3: Don’t Sleep on Paros
- Part 4: How to Spend 2 Nights in Athens
- Part 5: Flytographer Shoot + Tips for Getting the Perfect Greece Photo
How We Got There
We took a ferry from Crete to Santorini, but there’s an international airport on the island as well! The ferry cost around 100 euro per person and took two hours. We actually really liked that first ferry experience – we grabbed our tickets through the Ferry Hopper App (which was super easy to use) and the boat seemed pretty new and modern. There was a little snack bar where we grabbed coffee and breakfast (hiiii freddo cappuccino) and there was WiFi for purchase and AC. It was a smooth ride and we got there right at our scheduled time.
Where To Stay
Before I go into our Airbnb, I just wanted to make a quick note about where to stay. I read 867894 blogs about this and kept going back and forth on which town to pick. Oia is the city that you see all over Instagram, it has the famous sunset views and blue domes and it’s what most people think of when they picture Greece/Santorini. A lot of people said if you want to do Santorini right, stay there, so we decided to take that advice knowing things would be a bit more expensive. If you want to save a bit on hotels or just get more bang for your buck, Fira (the capital) and Imerovigli are two cities that also have caldera views and luxe accommodations for less.
Our Oia Airbnb was a last minute “rare find” and we LOVED it. It was a little studio apartment on a cliff towards the center of town with gorgeous views of the ocean and a quaint balcony. The host, George, was very accommodating and helped us arrange transport to and from the ferry port and even had someone available to help us with our bags. Since the apartment was located in the center of the cliff, there were a LOT of steps to get up and down. Not a bad thing because the view was well worth it, but if you struggle with hills/stairs, I would probably pass on this one!
We loved the location and the Airbnb though and I would 100% recommend it to anyone going! You can watch a video of it here and view the listing here. I mean…that balcony!
Where To Eat
There are a TON of restaurants in Santorini and, from our experience, the food was good…but not great. There was a heavy tourist price tag on everything, so sometimes it just felt like you were paying too much for what you were getting. BUT we did get some meals that we loved and I think are worth mentioning!
Ambrosia: This was one of our more expensive meals, but a lot of people recommended it so we made a reservation a few weeks in advance! The views were beautiful and it was a very quite and romantic spot. Ben and I both liked the appetizers we ordered and then I loved my entrée (artichoke pasta). It’s definitely a great place to be at sunset, but make sure you make a reservation and request to be outside!
Pitogyros: Head here if you’re looking for no frills gyros. We did a casual lunch here and thought it was fantastic. No reservation is needed, but you might have to wait a bit for a table to open up. They have a little bar where you can grab a beer or cocktail outside, so waiting was easy 🙂
Sunset Tavern: We didn’t love the food here, but it was located in Amoudi Bay which we did love! There were a handful of restaurants in the area, so I would recommend trying Dimitris or Katina Fish Tavern based on reviews/what was recommend to us by locals! If you go at sunset, make sure to make a reservation.
Santo Wine: We went for a wine tasting and lunch and really enjoyed it! The food was fresh and the views were beautiful. There are a handful of wineries on the island, but this one seemed to have the highest reviews!
What To Do
There is a lot to do on the island of Santorni, but here’s what I would suggest based off what we did!
Sunset Boat Ride: This was hands down our favorite part of Santorini! Ben and I really wanted to do a private boat tour, but when we looked online, all of the companies that offered that seemed to be really expensive (1K+). We initially booked a semi-private catamaran tour, but saw a few of them while we were there and decided it wasn’t for us.
Just when we thought our ideal boat cruise wasn’t out there, we stumbled upon My Blue Cruises…literally, we like fell into their shop lol that cobblestone is slippery! But it was EXACTLY what we were looking for.
My Blue Cruises is probably not one that you’ll see online – they have a website, but in all my searching it never popped up! The cruise was incredible though and truly tailor made to what we were looking for (2 hours + sunset) and was $160 per hour. We were on a tiny boat which we loved and our captain was SO sweet and took us all around the island, gave us facts about Santorini, served up local wine and beer and then he ended the night perfectly situated in the caldera for sunset.
We loved the experience would definitely recommend, but you’re looking for more of a catamaran/party boat type of day, then here are two options I’d check out based on my research – Spiridakos Sailing or Sunset Oia. They both offer 5 hour semi private cruises with dinner where you can meet new people and just be out on the water for a few hours before catching the sunset!
Wine Tasting: If you look online, you can find organized tours to winery’s on the island, but we just took a cab to Santo Winery and did our own little tasting/lunch and had so much fun! There’s another winery, Venetsanos Winery, that’s within walking distance if you wanted to knock out two, but you could honestly spend a few hours at Santo Wine doing tastings and then getting lunch. The views were amazing and everyone was really nice!
Explore Oia (or Fira): If you’re not staying there, a day trip to Oia would be great! Walk down the cobblestone pathways, check out the castle and windmill, pop into shops, and grab dinner or drinks in town! If you go, I would definitely suggest getting to town before 10am to beat the crowd and then booking a dinner reservation for sunset.
If you’re staying in Oia, then a daytrip to Fira (the capital city) would be fun! The cities are pretty similar in terms of having the same types of shops and restaurants, but it’s still cool to see a different area! We actually did a day trip to Fira and Santo Wines which was the perfect bundle!
Check Out Amoudi Bay: Head down to Amboudi Bay for dinner/drinks/sunset. There are 300 steps to get down there from the top of Oia, but you’re not into walking you can 1. Take a donkey (but, for real) or 2. Have a car bring you down.
Once you’re down there, you can do a drink or a meal or, if you want, follow a little unpaved pathway to a small beach for some sun and cliff jumping. If you head down for lunch you should be good without a reservation, but like most places, if you’re trying to go at sunset, make sure you have something booked 🙂
What We Learned
And that was our trip! We were in Santorini for 3 nights total and looking back, we did a few things we really loved, but overall wished we only spent 1-2 nights there. Here are a few things we learned and why the island wasn’t our favorite:
- Santorini is PACKED..like jam packed..in the summer. I’ve been to some crazy busy cities and have never seen anything like it. The streets in Oia and Fira were tight, so we were just constantly engulfed in a sea of tourists and selfie sticks so it just didn’t feel super authentic. If you can go early in the season (April/May) or late (September/October) you might have better luck with crowds!
- Finding a spot for sunset is no joke. People are vying for certain locations and it’s just a madhouse and a photo frenzy. I would make a reservation for a restaurant with a sunset view to secure a secluded spot or pick a hotel/airbnb where you get get those views!
- Oia is very expensive and the food wasn’t the best. Accommodations in Oia start at around $400/night for a no frills Airbnb (but you’ll pay upwards of $700+/night for a little cave house with a pool) and the food cost is pretty much on par with a large city like New York. While we expected to spend a good amount of money on food in Santorini, we just felt like price tag didn’t match the quality.
- It’s hard to get around the island. Unless you rent a moped or a car, you’re really just at the merci of the bus or taxis which aren’t always reliable. There were a few times where we were just totally stuck and couldn’t find transportation. If you have somewhere you need to be, I would always make sure a taxi is arranged (airport, ferry, somewhere with a reservation time, etc.) Usually a hotel or Airbnb host can arrange that for you or if you go somewhere for a meal, the restaurant can typically help as well!
Ok, so those are the big things we learned and kind of molded the “we don’t love Santorini” opinion. Everyone’s travel expectations are different through and cost is relative as well – so these are just things that we didn’t expect and to potentially consider before booking your own trip!
Have you been to Santorini before? What did you think?
