Spending one week in Santorini means enjoying sun-soaked mornings, exploring whitewashed streets and long evenings that revolve around the sunset. We split our time between exploring villages, taking boat trips and simply soaking up the views. This trip report shares how we spent our one week in Santorini and our recommendations for your first time visiting.
One Week in Santorini
Ohmygod - we're married!! After getting engaged during our road trip around Germany, Oli and I have now tied the knot and to celebrate, we spent one week in Santorini for our mini-moon.
Day one
Having stayed the night at the Gatwick Sofitel, we woke up nice and early for our 7am flight. We flew with Easyjet and as always, had a wonderful flight experience with them. The flight from London to Greece offered some spectacular views over Germany, Croatia and mainland Greece.
We hired a car for the week with EuropeCar, which we picked up at the airport. We had a cute little white Fiat Panda (which we named Feta) and headed off to our accommodation!
Oli did all the driving but the roads are well maintained and are also pretty quiet, so driving is super simple. We stayed in an area called Finikia, about a 20 minute walk from Oia. Driving here was only about 30 minutes from the airport so it doesn't take long to get around the island.
Airbnb - our home or our one week in Santorini
Before I dive into our one week in Santorini, I have to say our accommodation was perfect! Our honeymoon is later in the year when we go to Thailand, so this trip was meant to be a cheapy little break where we could chill out and enjoy some sun.
If you want the iconic, luxury Santorini experience then yes there are some very high-end places in Oia. But if you're on a budget and don't want to be too far out of the way, then this place is perfect!
We stayed at the Fava Eco residences, which we found on Airbnb. We stayed in the Aloni Suite, which was a studio and en-suite, with private terrace, hot tub, and lovely views out to sea. Honestly, it was perfect.
We were advised to park at Finika Car Park, about 5 minutes walk away. Just a note: the car park is quite cosy and a little chaotic, we managed to grab a space on our first day but were unlucky for the rest of our trip. There are spaces on the main road though. All parking is free also! We were greeted at the car park by a member of staff who kindly took our bags.
During our stay, we had breakfast delivered to our door every morning! We had a basket filled with preserves, tea, coffee, orange juice, fruit and bread rolls, plus a tray of scrambled eggs and bacon, or an omelette with little sausages (alternating between days), greek yoghurt and feta cheese. We were kept full all day!
Dinner in Oia
Following a trip to the local supermarket (15 minutes walk away), we got ready and headed straight out for dinner in Oia. The views on the way into Oia are stunning! We couldn't wait to have a little explore and eventually found a cute little bar overlooking the caldera and did some restaurant scouting for dinner.
For dinner, we came across a place called Strogili, and had an amazing first evening in Oia. We hadn't reserved a table, but they managed to secure us a little table for two on the roof terrace, which one hour into dinner, gave us the most beautiful sunset view we could have wished for on our first day.
We had two courses each (the most delicious baked feta parcels for starter!) I had a spaghetti feta dish for main, Oli had chicken, and we shared baklava for dessert, along with two rounds of cocktails. Yummy!
After dinner we had a little explore around Oia. Just after sunset is when Oia really comes to life and we were awestruck by just how beautiful everything was. The photos really don't do it justice!
Day two
POOL DAY!
Our first full day and we kept it super chilled. Lounging in the sun, sitting in the hot tub, chatting and sharing a few drinks. The hot tub was under a canopy too, so if we'd had too much sun, it was lovely to escape for a bit. We bought some gin and beers from the supermarket and decided what to do with our evening.
On our first night, we looked over the town from our Airbnb and saw a cute, bustling little restaurant. Having scouted it out during the day, we decided we'd eat local and popped into Lefkes. No table booked, but staff managed to sort something and 20 minutes later, we had a lovely little table on their top terrace. The place got busy quickly and had a lovely atmosphere, with everyone drinking and chatting, waiting for that famous sunset!
Once again I had the baked feta & sesame seed parcels and Oli had traditional meatballs. For mains, we had pork shanks with gnocchi, and Oli had a pork dish. We then headed to another local restaurant for drinks before calling it night for some shut eye.
Day three
Loving our one week in Santorini already, we woke up early and decided to take Feta out for a spin! We headed south for a trip to Ancient Thera, enjoying the views and the sleepy towns and villages on the way.
From our AirBnB, the trip must have taken 40 minutes and was a nice easy drive. We got to the bottom of a very big hill, with our sat nav telling us Ancient Thera was at the top! A quick Google of others' experiences told us it was a windy, steep incline to the top and could be a little hairy at times, with the road wide enough only for single traffic. The other option was to walk, and looking at the incline in 30C heat was a definite no for us, so decided to give the drive a go!
Actually having done it, it wasn't that bad. Although the hairpin bends are super blind, as long as you're careful the drive up is fine and there is plenty of space to pull over for traffic. Coming down was also much easier as you could see the bends below you and see if there was oncoming traffic.
There is a car park at the top (not massive) and by the time we got there at 10am it was already full, so we ended up parking on the road (which was wider, so enough room for everyone). Entrance into Thera was just a few euros and from there you are free to explore, as you climb up the steps even higher.
From the top, you are rewarded with (almost) 360 degree views across the whole island and the views are spectacular! Including a clear view over to the airport, where you're the same height as incoming planes! You can watch them land from here, which was great to watch.
From the top, you also have views across to the highest point on the island, which also has a monastery on top. You can visit if you're feeling up to it! This massive hill (I was informed by a local it is a hill, not a mountain) seemed to have it's own weather system going on. The rest of the island was beautiful, sunny and clear skies, whereas big thick clouds seemed to loom over this hill.
It made for a welcome break from the heat though, and made walking round the ruins easier. The ruins themselves were really interesting, and there are information boards dotted around telling you about their history, how they found and possible theories. You can spend as much time as you want walking around the ruins, but we were probably done in about 45 minutes - 1 hour.
Megalochori
After that we made the fun descent down the hill and made our way to a local village called Megalochori.
This place was absolutely gorgeous and aside from one small walking tour, we didn't come across anyone else, other than a few locals. We parked Feta easily enough (free parking) and loved having a little wander and explore.
We popped into a local bar for a drink and some ice cream before hopping back in Feta for our final stop-off at Fira, the capital of Santorini.
We parked up, finding another free car park, but it didn't take us long to work out we really didn't like Fira. It was SO busy and filled with crowds! The longer we stayed the worse our time in Fira became.
What Fira does offer however, are your standard cutesy side streets, plus incredible views down the island and out to the volcano.
We decided to walk down to the old port and see what that had to offer. It's a long way down to the bottom - you can either get there via cable car, walking down the steps, or donkey ride. We opted to walk down, which wasn't too bad and it's easy enough on your legs. It was gone midday, but there was a nice strong breeze and we enjoyed the views out to sea.
Once at the old port, there's not a lot to see or do. There's some restaurants along the front, but mostly lots of cruise and tour companies. It's also the main arrival point for all the cruise liners, who were offering passenger boat trips. We stopped off a drink and to refresh ourselves, when we realised how long the queue was for the cable cars back up! The waiter advised it would have been well over an hour long, as the cable cars can only take a max of 1200 people per hour. We decided to bite the bullet and walk all the way back up to the top (about 540+ steps)! But we weren't prepared to wait in the queue and there was no way we were going to get a donkey up to the top...
Please don't ride the Santorini Donkeys
This was really the main reason why we didn't enjoy Fira. On reflection, we must have just picked a bad day. We came back to Fira later in the week for a tour and it was much quieter! It must have been a busy cruise liner day, but all the passengers wanting to get to the top were either in the cable car queue, or riding the donkeys to the top. The sight of those poor donkeys was so distressing.
On our way down, we saw the men shouting at them, hitting them and one point, one man was running all the way down the steps, making a donkey run behind him. Many of the donkeys seemed to slip on the steps as they made their way down towards the port and it made me nervous about them slipping or falling over.
By the time we were walking up it was about 2/3pm and these donkeys had already done several hours work. We didn't notice them being given a break, but were on rotation, so once at the bottom, they were tied up until it was time to take people up the top again. Some of these donkeys looked physically exhausted, they were dripping with sweat and at one point a group stopped next to us and the sound of their heavy breathing broke my heart. They were clearly out of breath (me and Oli were out of breath and also dripping with sweat! It was boiling hot, well over 30C and we weren't carrying anything, or anyone!). I couldn't help but cry because I felt so sorry for them. Meanwhile tourists happily filmed themselves sat on the donkeys and taking selfies like nothing was going on.
This has been going on for years and campaigns have been set up to improve the welfare of the donkeys, but they're not being enforced by local groups. This will continue to happen all the time tourists are paying for this! If you're travelling to Santorini, please think about what those poor donkeys are being put through. Get the cable car, or walk. Yes, you will sweat your entire body weight and your legs will resort to jelly, but just think about how the donkeys must be feeling, and you can take comfort from the fact you did not support animal abuse.
Here's some articles for further reading if you're interested:
We drove home and got ready for dinner in Oia. We were a little later than planned and the streets were full of people making their way towards the best sunset spots. Having had our fill of crowds for the day, we forgot about the sunset and dove into a little bar for some pre-dinner cocktails. We nabbed a table next to the window, which had beautiful views over the ocean and along the Santorini coastline.
For dinner, we came across a Greek tapas place called Melitini and we had the best meal here (Greek tapas is just the best idea). We were too ravenous to remember to take photos, but from memory I think we ordered: cheese pies, grilled sausage and a lush pasta dish, plus a baked cheese on bread with peppers. There was also a lot of selection on the menu, so definitely something for everyone.
Day four
POOL DAY!
Having crammed a lot in on the previous day, we decided to have a chill day and lounge by the pool with our books, gin/beer and soak up the sun.
After a perfect, chilled day, it was our favourite time of day again - DINNER!
It was easily the hottest day of our 1 week in Santorini, and the hottest evening! We got ready early for pre-dinner sunset cocktails. We headed straight for Vitrin. We had passed earlier in the week, and saw it had undisrupted sunset views, so we made a mental note to check it out.
We must have arrived about 6pm (so 2.5h before sunset) and we were lucky to get a table right at the front of their terrace. The setting and position of Vitrin is perfect, but the service was SO slow! Our advice would be to double up on your cocktails (they were at least good cocktails). We enjoyed our front row seat, drinking and chatting away. The atmosphere was lovely, as the area got busier and people lined the walls ready for the 'show'.
The sunset was beautiful! But as the sun set everyone around us clapped... which was a bit funny at the time, but a nice atmosphere. From the bar, you can walk down a few steps towards the old castle. Although the sun had set, the sky was still a beautiful golden colour, so we decided to head down and check out the views (honestly, probably the best view point we found!)
For dinner, we headed to Karma, which is nicely tucked away off the beaten track, and aside from Melitini, was easily our favourite meal during the trip!
Day five
Having booked a day trip to the volcano online with Dakoutros earlier in the week, we headed back to Fira. We checked in for our trip and were boarding by 11am. We headed for the hot springs first. Oli and I didn't swim here as we had another trip lined up which included the hot springs (more on this later!), so we stayed on the boat and enjoyed the sun.
The trip itself was a lot of fun and delivered exactly what we wanted. The only downside was that we were quite a big group and usually we prefer something smaller.
After the springs, we made our way to the volcano. Entry was a few euros and we had a guide who took us to the first crater, and told us all about the history of Santorini and the volcano itself.
From there we were allowed to explore. Oli and I decided to head up to the top - it was boiling hot, but a bit of a breeze helped. Feeling victorious at the top we were greeted with incredible 360 degree views!
After 1 hour, we were back onboard and heading back to Fira. As we came into port, we had views of Fira above us and visibility over the winding path we'd taken a few days before to the top (and therefore the path those poor donkeys have to take). Thankfully Fira was quieter on this day and we managed to get a cable car back to the top!
A little slack on the photos this evening, but we enjoyed some pre-dinner drinks in Oia at Passaggio - which quickly become our favourite pre-dinner drinks spot. We had a couple of rounds here and then headed to Kyprida for dinner.
Again, a lovely little place in Oia, but off the beaten track. We hadn't booked, but the waiter managed to grab us a table for 2 (despite most tables having reserved signs). After dinner we enjoyed another explore around Oia, before finishing the evening back at Passaggio.
Day six
This was the highlight of our trip! We booked a sunset cruise online during the week. We spent the morning chilling by our pool, reading our Kindles and were picked up from the Finikia Car Park at 2pm.
We had a fab driver (Jimmy) who picked us up plus a few others going on the trip from their hotels. He gave us a tour of the island and told us lots about it, as we headed south to the local marina where we departed for our trip.
At over £100pp, we spent more than we normally would on a trip like this. But it was well worth the money! As already mentioned, it was the highlight of our trip, and the max number of guests is only 16, which was perfect!
On the way to the marina Jimmy informed us that our catamaran was brand new, at only 40 days old and what a beauty it was!
On our way to the hot springs, we stopped off at a few beaches, including the red beach, which you can only reach by boat. It looked incredible against the backdrop of red rock.
As we stopped off at the beaches, we had the opportunity to go swimming if we fancied and the crew started getting the drinks flowing (our booking included unlimited beer and wine!) and the local Santorini wine was very nice!
Sunset Cruising
At our last beach stop, the crew served up the most amazing lunch! We had white fish (a bit like cod - neither of us are seafood lovers so this suited us ), prawns (no thank you) and pasta - plus massive doorstop bread, which was lovely!
We then set sail for the springs, where things got interesting! Having left the peaceful waters of the beaches, we were now out in the open ocean. Sitting next to the netting meant we got the full force of the choppy waters, spraying up on the deck. We all thought it was hilarious, screaming with laughter.
We arrived at the hot springs, and had lots of fun swimming out to them. The water is a horrible rusty colour from all the sulphur and you're advised to wear swimwear you don't mind (possibly) getting ruined or discoloured from the sulphur.
By the time we'd finished, the sun was beginning to set. With the drinks were still flowing, we headed back out to sea and opened the sails allowing us to just bob and float about for a bit whilst we watched the sunset.
This day was so much fun! We highly recommend this trip if you're after a sunset cruise. Unlimited wine and beer (we definitely took advantage), lunch supplied, a nice small group, lots of stops, hot springs, plus the most beautiful sunset and the crew were all so much fun. They made us feel so welcome and had us laughing all day.
Day seven
Sadly our one week in Santorini was drawing to a close. We decided to spend our last full day chilling by the pool and zoning out for one last day. Two books down, I was excited to start something new on my Kindle.
We chilled all day and got ready for dinner for a 'best of' from our one week in Santorini. We headed to Passaggio for drinks, before dinner back at Melitini. Once again we were greeted with the most beautiful sky at sunset. A perfect last day to round off our trip.
Day eight
Sadly nothing exciting to write home about on our last day. We didn't need to be at the airport until 12pm, so we packed our bags and took one last wander into Oia. We'd seen a few bits in stores that we wanted to buy as some nice gifts and souvenirs. We spent an hour shopping in Oia, before checking out and enjoying our last drive in little Feta.
We had an incredible time in Santorini. I can see why it has the reputation it does. There is so much to do if you want lots to do. But equally it is such a beautiful island for chilling and switching off. Not to mention being spoilt with all the amazing bars and restaurants (and we only ate in Oia!) Jimmy said all the best restaurants are south in Kamari, so that's still on our list if we ever go back.
I hope our one week in Santorini trip report has helped if you're planning a trip soon! It's a beautiful place and I will remember our time there very fondly. We had the best minimoon - now time to start planning the honeymoon!!
Hope you enjoyed this, feel free to add comments or questions below!
