4 Days in Santorini- Where to stay and What to do

Yes, I’ve walked over the polished cobblestones from one end of the Island to another that is Oia to Akrotiri and also I walked over the ashes and steams of Nea kameni volcano. 

Santorini is one of the Cycladic Islands of Greece. It is gifted with unique natural beauty. This pretty Island is most famous for its iconic white and blue-topped buildings and beautiful caldera. It is also known for the two small islands of black lava positioned at the Centre of the basin of Santorini. Santorini offers a lot of things to do… Astonishing Red, White and black beach, Boat Trip, The Active Volcano Walk, Scuba Diving and of course it’s famous Golden Sunsets from Oia and other spots. Four full days in Santorini allowed us to fully appreciate almost everything on the island. We did all the above ‘touristy’ things and loved each of them.

This island has long been a tourist hotspot. A combination of rugged natural beauty, whitewashed houses, and stunning sunsets produce a very romantic atmosphere. People from all around the world choose to either get married or enjoy their honeymoon here. You can see divine and wild scenery all around the island which is created by the volcanic eruptions. 

When to visit Santorini

In the warmer months of the year, Santorini is a little slice of heaven centered in the midst of the beautiful azure waters of the Aegean Sea. The high season runs from around May to September. The best times to visit Santorini are May, June. During these times, the weather is warm and pleasant. The weather in the winter months- November to March, is not ideal because definitely you can’t go in for a beach dip. Some tour operators, restaurants, and also even some hotels/ accommodations will be closed for the season, although this is beginning to change as more tourists are visiting during these months. Note that prime time/high season is between late June to early September, and hotel prices will naturally reflect that. June is one of the best months to visit Santorini. The first few weeks are less crowded and the waters around popular beaches like Black Beach and Red Beach are warm enough to swim.

How to reach Santorini

There are two ways to reach Santorini - by sea or by air.

By Air:

Santorini got its own airport Thira (JTR). Few of the airlines land here e.g. Easyjet, British Airways, Tui. You can check connectivity or direct flight. Price may be bit costlier and there are not many flights. It’s a small airport so infrastructure and facilities are not so great but it’s only crowded in peak season so make sense to keep it running and not investing much on it.

We took a direct Easy jet flight from London Gatwick Airport and it took almost 3.5 hrs. to land.

By Sea:

Santorini Island is close to Athens, lots of people prefer to take ferries from Athens port. There are few ferry companies operating from Athens and you can reach Santorini Thirassia port in almost 5-6 hrs. If you love to spend some time in sea then you can go for this option but you may need to plan so that you don’t waste much time or alternatively you can stay a day or two in Athens and then take ferry.

FerryHopper.com is the best way to research ferry schedules and book tickets for the Greek islands.

Where to Stay in Santorini

When one starts planning for a summer holiday, the first question is obvious where to go but the next question has the same weight- where to stay? Tourists choose to stay in four main villages of Santorini, as listed below.  However, wherever you do decide to stay, I highly encourage you to opt for a hotel with an infinity pool overlooking the caldera. 

This decision also depends on number of days and your budget. If you are planning for a long trip say 10 days then you can split your stay in Oia, Fira and Akrotiri but if you are there for four days then doesn’t make sense to change hotels. If budget is no constraint then you can choose any hotel in Fira/Oia with an infinity pool overlooking the caldera but in case if you are looking for mid-level hotels near sea side then I would suggest trying hotels in Akrotiri. Distance is not a factor in choosing hotels as you can get bus from one point to another easily and it’s not very costly or you can rent a car or ATV as per your choice.

We were there for four nights and stayed in Hotel Mathios Village. This hotel is next to caldera beach and near to Red beach. This hotel has a big swimming pool and awesome bar cum restaurant which serves excellent house wine. When we reached there a surprise was waiting for us, got a free upgrade to a suite with swimming pool view and balcony. This Hotel has a very nice swimming pool, luxurious lobby, garden full of flowers and pool facing the restaurant and bar. Enjoy pool with a fancy cocktail, have some Greek food and relax on a sun bed, what else you need on a sunny day. Hotel Manager Mr. Konstantinos Papalexis was quite friendly and absolutely fantastic person! He arranged transportation to and from the airport for us, had someone meet us to carry our suitcases to the car & greeted us there when we arrived! We asked him for tours and plans and he suggested to rest for the day and arranged some wonderful trips for us as per our leisure. If you are into adventure sport then this hotel and this area makes more sense as you can try scuba diving at caldera beach. Santorini scuba diving centre operates at this beach and I saw other scuba teams there as well. I would highly recommend this place to my friends and family if they plan to visit Santorini in the future.

If you’re planning on visiting Santorini during high season, it’s best to book your accommodation at least 6-8 months in advance. Yes…, I’m not kidding. Hotels in Santorini book up super-fast if you’re visiting during June, July, August, or September. Summer season is quite crowded there and you may not get good rooms or prices if you are late.

Things to do in Santorini-

Make sure to spend at least three days in Santorini! This tiny island has so many things to do! As usual I am trying to put things in order like we did there but you can switch around as per your choice and interest.

Day 1-

A beautiful sunny clear sky welcomed us in the morning and we had only one plan for this day, boat trip ending with sunset. Pretty excited but first thing first, breakfast and then don’t forget your hat, sunglasses and sunscreen.

Boat cruise to Nea Kameni, Hot Spring water and Thirassia-

A day boat trip which covers hiking to famous Nea Kameni volcano, swimming in hot springs followed by lunch at Thirassia. You should not miss this if you are visiting Santorini. There are different options available from different tour companies but cheapest is from Water Blue travel agency which starts from 38 euros per person. Tour start from Athinios port and based on your plan ends at same port or you can get down at Oia for sunset and take agency bus from there. If you are in luxury mood then you can try other boats which give sun bed and limited seats per couple. If I remember correctly then cost starts from 110 Euro per person.

Don’t worry about reaching at port as travel agency bus will pick you from your hotel and will drop there in the evening. So it’s better to ask about pick and drop while booking. 

This boat trip first takes you to hot spring water where you can swim and enjoy natural phenomena. Only condition is that you need to know basic swimming to reach there as boat stops bit further from hot springs, so you need to jump from boat and swim to spring waters. If you are not comfortable with swimming then you can stay on boat and take pictures like we did. 

After that it takes you to Nea Kameni volcano and you can hike there to the top. It’s not tough hiking and even kids go up there. There is 2.50 euro entry fee and then your boat guide will go along to explain about this volcano. At top you will find active parts of the volcano and steam coming out. You can dig with your hands and can feel hot mud. It was really an amazing and educational experience. 

Last stop is island of Thirassia where we stopped for lunch. You can swim there in crystal clear water and relax for some time. If you have some energy left and weather is good then you can go up on that island by climbing stairs. 

From that point boat goes to Oia port first and if you opted in for Oia sunset plan then you can get down there. Your guide will explain you details about bus and pickup point. If you haven’t paid for that in advance even then you can talk to them and pay there for bus trip. If you been there already then you can stay on boat and get down at Athinios port where you started. We got down at Oia port and then climbed up to town. You have two options to go up, either on foot or take special Oia taxis!! Did I say taxis for stairs? Yes, famous Oia Donkeys which are known as taxis. Oia is literally a perfect picture-postcard town. It is also the place to end a day watching a sunset and enjoying an evening meal.

Golden Sunset in Santorini-

Sunset in Oia is pure magic. It gets quite crowded really ridiculously crowded, so arrive before an hour or two in order to get a good spot! You will also get some stunning photos of the town and cruises on the water at the same time. Of course, Oia isn't the only place to watch a sunset in Santorini. You can watch sunset from four different spots- Oia, Caldera beach, Santo winery and from light house and. We saw sunset from all places except from light house. Oia has the classic view of church domes and windmills silhouetted against an orange sky, but it also has the crowds to go with it. Sunset from Caldera beach was mesmerizing and with way less crowds. Wherever you are in Santorini, the views and sunset seems really amazing!

That was enough for that day we were pretty tired till that time. So we headed to the bus parking where our bus was waiting for us to take us back to our hotel. We reached hotel almost at 10 and then enjoyed our late dinner, courtesy to hotel restaurant which reopened kitchen for us only.
Oia Sunset-

Sunset from Caldera Beach-

Sunset from Santo Winery-

Day 2-

On the second day we had a customized tour as per our choice which covers some beautiful points but Nature had a different plan for us so we had to reschedule little bit. Once again our hotel arranged a car with driver for this day trip and I would say that was pretty convenient. We started around 11 AM in completely relaxed mode.

Pyrgos:

Our first drop off point was Pyrgos. Pyrgos is the highest point in Santorini. The village is a lot quieter and really super lovely, take some time walking up. You can see panoramic views of the whole island all the way to the village of Oia from there. On the hilltop you can find ruins of ‘Kasteli CastleIf’ and a couple of wonderful hillside cafes where you can sip on a glass of your favorite drink and breathe in the sunsets with panoramic views. On the way to hilltop you will see many pottery and jewelry vendors selling beautiful stuffs on the stairs. We stick around there for one hour, took lot of pictures and then headed to our next stop Fira.

Walk from Fira to Oia:

The island’s main town is Fira – or Thira. It’s the capital of the island where you’ll find tons of wonderful restaurants, the best nightlife and shops on the island. Walk from Fira to Oia was stunning. It took us between almost 4 hours to cover almost everything at that area. So make sure to bring some water, hat, and sunscreen! There were magnificent views all around. Wandering around to the cliff side by walking down random steps, you will find those spectacular views you came for. I must say Santorini is a maze of beauty, no matter which road or path you take you’ll be greeted with amazing places, views and sometimes donkeys! 

At this time we were little tired and hungry so took a break and enjoyed our lunch with wonderful view at Galini Cafe. After having lunch, enjoying our walk from Fira to Oia and taking a lot of pictures there, we headed to our next stop- black beach.

Black Beach:

Weather was not quite friendly that day. It started raining heavily while we were on the way to black beach. But it didn’t last too long, so we didn’t cancel our plan. Black beach is known as the best swimming beach in Santorini. The water temperature was nice and warm. Perissa has black volcanic sand and pebbles. The beach is filled with sun loungers and comfy beds, so apart from swimming; you can enjoy your favorite drinks also. Generally it gets very crowded in summers but because of rains at that time it was quiet. We had our two sunbeds already booked in advance, complimentary by hotel. So we enjoyed few drinks lying down there and as it was high tide at that time so my husband took a quick beach dip.

This brings us to the end of second day but good thing is our driver was already there to pick us so we headed back to our hotel. Our original plan was to reach hotel and then go to Santo Wines for sunset but due to weather we dropped that idea which gave us option to wander around hotel and book scuba diving for next day. We walked down to the Caldera beach as rains stopped for a bit but that was kind of trap. Halfway to the beach, it started raining heavily and we literally had to run to take shelter. Luckily it stopped after 15 mins and then we witnessed one of the clearest sunset in Santorini. 

Day 3-

We kept this day as reserve to do things without planning like going to beaches, take a dive and enjoy sunset with Santorini's special wines at Santo Winery.

Red Beach:

Red beach is one of the most beautiful and famous beaches of Santorini. It is the most unique spot and not to be missed! It is close by to Akrotiri. And from our hotel it was at just 30  minutes’ walk. It is quite small beach and sand is full of volcanic pebbles. Because of peak season it was way too crowded. We spent there half n hour took some pictures and then headed to our next stop Caldera Beach, which was at 5 minutes’ walk from our hotel.

Caldera Beach:

Today sky was clear and no rains so we decided to enjoy this beach. Luckily we brought our mat and swimming costumes but before that my husband went for his scuba beginner class. That takes almost two hours which includes explain basics, dive in shallow waters and then 30 mins dive in deep waters. After that we just lied down on beach and relaxed for a long time.

Scuba Diving:

Santorini has crystal clear ocean waters, so suit up, put on your gear and go below the water!  Never been scuba diving before?  Don’t worry at all– there are many companies which are offering ‘Discover Scuba lessons’, who will teach you all the necessary requirements before suiting up and getting into the water.

We booked this last night when we came down to caldera beach for sunset. Santorini Scuba center has its own place there and cost was quite reasonable. For beginners it was 60 euros and for intermediate level 90 euros. I thought to give it a shot and to try something new. Initially I was bit nervous as I was getting used to breathing from mouth using mask but when I reached in deep waters that became normal routine. You don’t need to know swimming a lot for beginners’ dive as trainer will be with you but it’s good to know basics to enjoy and not to be afraid of water. One more important point, if you are planning to take dive then try to book it as early as possible as you are not allowed to dive on your flight day.

Even for beginners level we stayed in water for almost 30 mins and dived up to 6-10 meters. After five minutes you start feeling that you belong in sea and then you can enjoy sea life easily. If you don’t have Claustrophobia then I would recommend trying this at least once.

Santo Wines:

Attention wine lovers!

After scuba diving, swimming and getting tanned its time go back to your hotel which was 5 minutes away in our case, clean up and dress up for a classy wine experience at ‘Santo Winery’.

Most wineries are in the south of the island, but just outside Fira is Santos Winery where you can do a tour and tasting session with a caldera view from their terrace. Here you’ll sip on some of the best wine in Greece. They serve you the sample of 12 different wines, with cheese, crackers and Greek olives. You’ll also be treated to a jaw-dropping view of an unforgettable sunset over the Aegean Sea.

Wine’s been grown on Santorini back since the time of the Romans. You won’t see the traditional rows of vines here though; instead the vines are grown coiled up in a dip in the black volcanic soil to protect them from wind and heat. There’s also a special wine- ‘Dessert wine’ that’s made from sun-dried grapes, it’s fruity and ultimately delicious! Definitely worth a visit if you have time!

This brings us to end of our journey and time to say goodbye to magical Santorini until we meet again. Now that you know everything that you need to know about Santorini, you can book your trip and explore this beautiful island and everything that it has to offer.