Hey guys after 7 AMAZING days on Santorini, I would like to take the time to share my experiences with y’all. Since it was our first trip there, we were kinda nervous about how the stay is going to be, how the weather is going to be like and how things in general going to turn out… So for those who haven’t been there but planning to go: here my personal suggestions!
1) the stay:
We stayed at STRAVOS VILLA. The stay is in Karterados which is basically in the center of the island. For people who are able to rent a scooter or car, its a perfect spot. Its far away from the mainroad and you’re in Fira within 5-7mins. By walk it takes you a good 30min walk but only because the way up to the main road takes you already 15mins lol (it goes up hill the whole time!). You find a supermarket, a bank and couple café and breakfast places as you walk up the hill towards the main road, from which you can also take the bus to get to the airport or to any other town. (Super cheap btw – 1,80€ one way!!) The stuff at the Villa is super nice and helpful. They organized us a scooter (18-20€ per day) and a shuffle transport (20€ one way) from and to the airport. The owner of the villa is super leaned back and charming. The room we stayed in was clean and big enough. We had a little fridge and a dining table inside and outside on the terrasse. A “flat screen tv” is also included but we don’t have to talk about that since it was super tiny and didnt work anyways B-) The bathroom was stunning, i loved the style of it, and again it was super clean! Big shower and big washtub. One negative thing tho, you barely have sockets to plug in your phone or the hair dryer or whatever… but we managed it anyways. Outside you find a nice pool area where the sun shines basically all day long. Pool is clean, the water is refreshing, the tanning chairs are in very good shape – only the outside of the pool would enjoy a little scrub 🙂
2) the weather:
So we decided to fly end of may since high season starts in June and we wanted to avoid the whole tourism hype. At first I was a little bit sceptical if the weather would be warm enough to get the summer feeling, but it turned out to be just perfect! The weather was very steady – 25°C, lots of sun and only on 2 days a little bit windy. During night time we often needed a little jacket but at least this way we slept better since it cooled down a little bit. I would definitley choose the time of the year again because summer gets really hot and fall time gets super windy. So for us it was just perfect!
3) food
One thing i wanna suggest right away is: go and try out the bakerys on mainstreet!!! So worth the money (not expensive at all!) and super delicious! Mind blowing what kind of choices you have in there!! We tried two different once and both were really good!! Coffee was also nice btw 😉 What i wouldn’t suggest is to order breakfast at the stay… way to expensive and really not special. You get like an simply omlette with two toasts, marmelade and butter and a coup of powder coffee… and that will costs you 7-10€. BUT we really didn’t take that as bad as it sounds because this way we had the chance to try out different breakfast spots (and the bakerys!! 🙂 which was a great experience we wouldn’t want to miss. Dinner is a little bit more tricky…
Dining with sunset view will ALWAYS cost you!! I do think you should at least get the experience once, because it is a freakin nice view which you certainly don’t have at home but for those who travel on a budget there are cheaper -with even better quality- options. We tried for example this tacos spot inside of Fira. Vegan, Veggie – anything was possible and they served self-made ice tea which i think was fabulous! Really loved it! And The tacos were like 8€ (not 100% sure but definitely way cheaper than any restaurant), so the best thing you can do is buy one of those, go and find a nice spot to see the sunset and enjoy your meal there 🙂 Breathtaking you’ll see!!!
4) Red Beach – Be AWARE!!
The red beach is a very popular and famous spot for tourists. However, nobody tells you how difficult it is to actually get there!
Since we had our scooter, we decided to take a ride to the red beach and check it out. Everything was fine until the road started to get really bumpy and sandy. Small stones made it hard to drive and things got even worse as the road started to become steeper and steeper. At one point we decided to park the scooter and walk since we understood that not only driving down is apparently hard but driving up will be even harder. So we walked – and boy was it steep!
At the beach itself you’ll find a little shop for drinks, snacks and ice cream. You can also rent some umbrellas, but we decided to lay at the water by using out towels – doable but be careful: THE SAND GETS HOT!!! After a few hours of tanning and enjoying cold Iced Tea we headed back to the scooter and remember: the road was steep! So walking up was living hell! It would have been a hard exercise either way but the heat and the sun hitting the road, didn’t make it easier! But thank god our karma or whatever was good that day and some other tourists saw us while driving back up themselves, saw us suffering and offered us a ride 🙂
So nice and funny experience but not as relaxing as promoted *lmao*
5) Last but not least: travel time
From June til September/October its high-tourist-season in Santorini. Which is why i decided to book a flight for may. I was afraid the weather is not gonna be as nice and warm but eventually it was the best thing i could have done! The weather was steady – super warm and sunny every day, the nights sometimes got a little bit chilly but we enjoyed that since it was better to sleep that way. Also the town Fira was busy but not as insanely as it supposed to be in high season. And not to mention the fact that the flight and the accommodation was way cheaper that way! So, whenever i wanna go back to Santorini, i will definitely choose May as travel month again!!
