This is the postcard view that you see in any Santorini travel guide, promotional materials and every postcard. This is Santorini and it was always my dream to come here on a holiday! My dream finally came true when I had a trip to Europe with JD and we had some time to squeeze in some other locations. Santorini was my top priority, despite the air ticket being really expensive. A One way ticket from Munich - Santorini was about 500sgd (there was a transit at vienna), while a one way ticket from Santorini - Bologna was also 500sgd. It was so expensive that I thought we should stay here for a couple of days to make thr trip worth it.
About Santorini
Santorini is a volcanic island in the Cyclades group of the Greek islands. It is famous for dramatic views, stunning sunsets from Oia town, the strange white aubergine (eggplant), the town of Thira and naturally its very own active volcano. Santorini is also a name for the family of islands surrounding Thira, once forming a single island prior to a major volcanic event in approximately 1628 B.C.E.
Accomodations
We had 4 nights at Santorini and it was hard to find accomodations for 4 nights in a row at locations with nice view so I split 2 days at Firostefani, and 2 days at Akrotiri. In that case we are able to explore the surroundings of the location we stay.
For the first 2 night, it was at Vallas Appartment at Firostefani. I wanted Firostefani instead of Oia or Fira as they were too noisy and crowded. Prefer staying at a place less touristy yet get a beautiful view of the caldera. We got upgraded to a Suite and I was so delighted! The only con was that there was quite a number of steps in the house and I strained my ankle in Zugspitze so was quite painful to be climbing all over.
I like the cute little blue gate. It wasn't all that secure because anyone can just unlatch the gate and get in. It was more for aesthetic purpose and territory marker.
Breathtaking view of the beautiful caldera outside the house. There's even a table and chair to chill out while enjoying the scenery and I love it!
Getting around
There's a few options getting around Santorini.
Cheapest would be public transport but it would be very infrequent and would be quite limited to the timings of the buses which may only have 1 bus/hour. If you miss it, could have to take a cab which is quite expensive.
ATV is the cheapest form of self drive. It's fun and adrenaline pumping, but safety may be compromised. It's almost like riding a bike, once not careful may get injured easily.
Safety is important to me, hence I chose to rent a car which is a pricier option but at least protected with the aluminium covers. There's a few car rental companies at the airport and I chose to rent with Avis. It's abit pricier but at least a reputable company whereby it's easier to solve any dispute as they wouldn't ruin their reputation as a global company. It's a small 2 seater car. Apparently the 2 seater cars were more expensive which I didn't get it. On the last day, we followed the GPS to the airport and they led us to roads in the residential area. The roads were sooooo narrow only one car can pass through at a time. We were lucky it wasn't a busy time and there's no other cars travelling in the opposite direction. Even the turnings were so sharp that any car longer than a 2 seater would find it problematic. So now I was glad we had a 2 seater mini car.
The other good thing about self drive is how I could stop at any scenic locations and snap a picture!
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