- Santorini tips and information
- Advice on how to get around
- Advice on where to stay
- Typical dishes of Santorini
- Itinerary advice
- History of Santorini
- Beaches of Santorini
- Gallery Santorini photo
Santorini tips and information
Last summer my boyfriend and I decide to leave for the beautiful and romantic Santorini island.
It was an unforgettable journey.
Now I'm here to remember it with you.
I will try to give information and advice on the island, I believe that a traveler who visits the island for the first time needs it!
Our trip to the island of Santorini lasted a week, the last of August: in this period the climate is very hot, but it didn't bother, since the island is constantly beaten by the wind and there is no heat.
Here I start with my tips:
Advice on how to get around
A Santorini the best way to get around is the moped.
You will find many rental points all over the island, but for those who do not want a moped, there is a very efficient network of buses, which take you everywhere: the only problem is that there is always a crowd on the bus and another problem is the ease with which the drivers drive on the narrow and curvy roads, overlooking the sea.
Santorini where to eat well and spend littleThere are tons of petrol stations along the roads and refueling is not a problem, so go for the moped.
Advice on where to stay
A Santorini you will find accommodation for all tastes: from luxury hotels to unpretentious guesthouses, it is also very common for people to meet you at the airport to offer accommodation with them.
However, each structure is fully equipped to accommodate tourists.
Francesco and I stayed in a family-run pension, close to the center of Fira, along a large road, where there were bus stops and moped rentals.
The guesthouse was clean and welcoming, with a very pleasant internal courtyard, where you could hang towels and bathing suits and, in addition, the rooms all had private bathrooms.
Typical dishes of Santorini
A Santorini we eat spicy or honey-based dishes typical of the Turkey more than the Greece, such as BaklavĂ s, a very sticky honey cake.
I believe the famous pork skewers (souvlaki) are also of Turkish origin, but I'm not sure.
Instead, I recommend eating fish, it is really very good and, of course, the moussaka.
The ideal dish, however, especially at lunch, is the Greek salad (tomatoes, black olives and feta) but, be careful, you must like the onions that always abound in all salads, cut fresh and thin, in the form of a ring and placed on the plate in large quantities.
Yogurt is very popular as a dessert, served with pieces of fresh fruit cut on top.
It is the only yogurt I have seen that contains nothing more than milk and lactic ferments, no added sugars or flavors, it is rarely found in fruit.
Santorini beaches guideLo yogurt it is therefore always natural and can be found in two versions: normal o straggled, that is concentrated (it means that before processing the milk to make yogurt, all the watery part of the milk itself has been removed), very creamy and good.
Other typical sweets are the galactoboùreco, which, due to its heaviness, is not recommended in summer and the risòghalo, a sort of milk cream with rice.
To drink there is wine and then the classic ouzo and retsin.
As in all of Greece it is wonderful to stop in typical places (taverns), eating on spacious terraces overlooking the sea, where you seem to be suspended between the sky and the sea.
Some places, on the other hand, are very small and getting around is not easy, also because the owners, like good business owners, manage to fit countless tables in small spaces, to have more customers.
Itinerary advice
A Santorini you can arrive by plane, but there are those who prefer the ferry.
If you choose the latter solution, it may be interesting to get to the town of Fira on the back of a donkey climbing the cliff.
Since Santorini is a very small island (maximum length 12km and maximum width 6), it is not possible to speak of a real itinerary.
You can easily visit it all in one day, following the route that everyone prefers.
History of Santorini
THESantorini island was born from the explosion of a volcano and legend has it that it is theancient Atlantis.
From this explosion, an island in the shape of a semicircle remained.
Over the centuries, two other islets have emerged from the sea that are always part of Santorini and which are located in the center of the semicircle: the first emerged is Palea Kameni (Old Kameni) and the second is called Nea Kameni (New Kameni).
On these two islets-satellites there is not much to see and the ferry connections themselves are infrequent.
Since it is of volcanic origin, there are very few real beaches with sand and the main feature of these beaches is that the sand they are made of is made up of lava debris: therefore it is black.
The other seaside resorts are rocky.
Beaches of Santorini
The most famous beaches are called Kamari e Perissa and they are both located on the east coast of the island.
To the north, towards the city of Oia, there is a seaside resort called Columbos and a rocky beach: “Red beach”, with the color of the rocks.
Generally all these locations are not equipped, in the classic sense of the term: there are no kiosks or toilets directly on the beaches, but this is not a problem since the beaches are all very close to the inhabited centers and that the roads they overlook numerous refreshment points and many shops, come to touch the beaches.
The most important cities are two (but there are other very pretty small villages, like Emporium): the "capital" of the island, Fira and pleasant Oia.
Both of these cities are small and surrounded by a sort of "periphery" which can be reached by means of transport.
In the city centers, on the other hand, you have to enter on foot, because there are no real streets, but narrow, sloping alleys and, at times, with steps.
In the evening, the alleys come alive with people, especially young people, and the sleepiness typical of hot and southern locations gives way to a swarm of activity and people.
The alleys are "invaded" by stalls and tourists who stroll and chat while waiting for the time to go to the disco.
The colors of Santorini are the white of the tuff with which the buildings are made, the bright pink of the numerous bougainvillea and blue: blue like the sea, like the sky and like the domes of local churches.
In fact, throughout the island there are numerous churches and each church has its own dome, usually of a beautiful blue color. Only the Catholic church, instead of having white walls and a blue dome, has pink walls and a white dome.
Even the smallest chapel has a dome! If you go to Santorini, one of the first things you hear about is the fantastic sunset show that you can admire from Oia.
Oia it is located on the extreme northern tip of the island and, past the center, there is a place overlooking the sea, where, every evening, a small group of people gathers to admire the sunset, absolutely not to be missed.
A little inside, on a promontory from which you can enjoy a fascinating view of the sea, there are the remains of the ancient "capital" of the island: theancient Thera.
It goes without saying that the landscape is priceless: centuries-old trees bent by the wind, ruins and… all around the sea.
On the walls of the cliff, like almost everywhere, sea lilies grow, low and large white flowers: I had never seen them before and I loved them.
The road signs and the kilometric signs are a little defective: we happened to find signs that indicated 1000 meters from the petrol station, when instead, after a few steps there was already one! For children, perhaps it is not the ideal holiday, due to the heat and the non-sandy and somewhat inaccessible bathing sites, even if in the most luxurious hotels there are swimming pools.
However Santorini remains a real daydream.
An unforgettable holiday in a unique place in the world.
To organize your holiday in Santorini by choosing from the best offers from the best tour operators, see SANTORINI HOLIDAY AND LAST MINUTE OFFERS
For all the information necessary for a perfect vacation in Santorini consultation:
- Santorini most beautiful beaches
- Santorini night clubs and discos
- Santorini where to eat well and spend little
Gallery Santorini photo
