How to Spend 24 Unforgettable Hours on Santorini Island

Santorini. The most picturesque and romantic island in the world. It has such a special atmosphere that you just forget about everything and are afraid to put down your camera for fear of missing a good shot. With multi-coloured cliffs soaring above a sea-drenched caldera and cute white Cycladic houses, Santorini looks like a giant slice of layered cake.

Santorini Island

The island attracts couples from all over the world who want to spend a romantic weekend together or even say “I do” to each other. With its fascinating past (some say that the island was part of Atlántida) and unstable future (the island is located on the second most dangerous active volcano in the world which, in the 16th century, created the Santorini we know today), nobody can resist the breath-taking views the island affords.

The Old Port

Astarte Suites
Wearing Slow swimming suite

Don’t come here on a one-day excursion. You have to spend a night or even a few nights on Santorini to really feel it. And you should stay at a hotel with a caldera view to say you’ve experienced the real Santorini. Yes, it’s pricy but so beautiful you will never forget it. I would suggest a hotel with an infinity pool to make the most of your stay, for example, the Astarte Suites in Akrotiri, voted one of "21 amazing hotels to visit in the world before you die”.

Astarte Suites

Astarte Suites

Infinity swimming pool in Astarte Suites

Astarte Suites

Astarte Suites

Lying on a sunbed by the pool high in the rocks and watching white yachts and ships down below travelling around the Cyclades, you can’t help but agree with this assessment – this is the place to be, the place where sea and sky meet in perfect harmony.

Astarte Suites

Astarte Suites

Astarte Suites

Astarte Suites

Astarte Suites

Remvi Suites

We also stayed at Remvi Suites. This hotel is simpler and without an infinity pool (it makes up for this with huge terraces for every room), but it has the best location – right in the middle of the island, in the beautiful village of Firostephani. It is less crowded than Oia, but no less beautiful and, to my mind, it has the most stunning views of the caldera.

Amazing View from Firostefani

Breakfast in Remvi Suites

Santorini Gourmet experience

Santorini is the place for a truly gourmet experience. There are excellent wineries, a unique microbrewery and some of the Cyclades’ finest dining experiences.

Amazing Santorini

We tried some of the 10 best restaurants on Santorini and our absolute favourite was Psaraki. It is the best seafood/mezédes taverna on Santoríni, offering views over the island’s main fishing/yacht port. Savour mullet bottarga with cream cheese and lemon, chunky white aubergine salad (unlike their too-creamy fáva), grilled marinated rooster, lakérda or palamída (types of bonito fish) perfectly medium rare (a difficult feat) – and save room for desserts like lemon sorbet or pear poached in assýrtiko wine.

Santorini Island

The restaurant that occupies the top spot on most lists disappointed us. Yes, it was delicious, but it was not an extraordinary experience. And it made me even surer that in Greece you should eat in tavernas, not restaurants.

Sunset in Oia

If you are a first-timer and in Santorini for just one night, go to the gorgeous, traditional, hilltop village of Oia. The sunset there is spectacular because of the buildings on the hill - the reflection on the buildings and the glow of the orange and red on the cliffs can be truly spectacular. You can’t miss the best spot to watch the sunset as hundreds of people go in the same direction at this time of the day. This is also a disadvantage, as watching the sunset in a crowd where drunk people are singing and kids are crying is not as enjoyable as watching it alone or with your loved one.

Sunset in Santorini

So, my advice to those who value their privacy is to stay on your balcony or, better yet, go another part of the island – Akrotiri – where, at the old lighthouse, you can watch the big red sun slowly disappearing into the Aegean Sea alone or maybe with a few other people.

Shopping in Santorini

Wine. They say the wine from Santorini is the best in Greece and I totally agree.

Assyrtiko is the most popular grape varietal, rich in minerals and very tasty and used in most of the white wines. Mantilaria is the most popular grape in reds and is also dried and used to make sweet red wine. My favourite wine is Vinsanto – it has 365 sunny days inside each bottle. They make it by drying Assyritiko grapes in the sun and then putting them in oak barrels for 5 years or more.  As a result, it has a very strong sweet taste you just can’t forget after you’ve tried it.

Shopping in Santorini

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I fell in love with traveling much earlier than I fell in love with my first man. And I'm still faithful to that love (But I have exchanged some men since my first one). I have never had a reason to regret my passion. I constantly dream of going further, it gives me indescribable emotions and meaning to my life.

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