Part of me really wanted to hate Santorini. It’s full of tourists and pretty much all the locals are involved in the tourism industry. While in other parts of Greece people confused me for being Greek, in Santorini I hardly heard any Greek spoken. Yet, I couldn’t do it. Santorini is such a beautiful island, but there is still so much more than those sunset pictures you’ve seen everywhere.
A Bit of History
First of all, Santorini is the Latin name for the island. Italians came to the island and named it for Saint Irene. To the Greeks, it is Thira. Both names are used, however.
One of the things that absolutely fascinated me while in Santorini was the story of Atlantis. Locals truly believe that the basis for Atlantis came from this island. Santorini was once called Strongyle. Which meant “the circular one”. See, Santorini was once a circular island. If you take a birds-eye view, it looks like a crescent moon instead. Back in 1700 BC, there was a huge volcanic eruption that took place.
This volcanic eruption collapsed the center of the island into the sea. A tsunami wave went down and destroyed the coast of Crete. By boat, it takes two hours to reach Crete from Santorini. The wave is estimated to have hit in twenty-two minutes. Further evidence that may give this claim some truth is the presence of buried civilization, but more on that later.
Whether Santorini was truly the inspiration for Atlantis, the volcanic eruptions that formed the island give it such a unique appearance. There are many different layers: green for copper, red for iron, black for volcanic rock, and brown for limestone. The layers tell a story and a history of the island better than a history book.
Oia
Pronounced “EE-uh”, this is the world-famous place where you have seen the sunset pictures from. White houses and buildings grace the side of the mountain, with blue domes from the Orthodox provide it a pop of color. Oia sits at the very northern end of the island. It’s also the most expensive part of the island.
Oia has gained fame for the go-to sunset spot. If you decide to see the sunset there, make sure you get a spot early. People start marking their territory an hour or more before. The castle fills up very quickly. Although it was pretty, it was a bit like a movie. We watched, and then the sun set into a cloud. Immediately after, everyone got up and walked away like it was a movie.
For an equally amazing sunset view, but a lot less people, check out Imerovigli. You can reach it in fifteen minutes walking from Fira. There was also a great geographic rock there. You can climb to the top, but it was a bit too windy for me to chance that!
Yes, Oia is very beautiful, but in my opinion, it is over-rated. It’s much more expensive there than the other parts of the island. I had my hotel in Fira, the central part of the island. From Fira, it’s possible to catch a bus every half-hour (or more frequently during the summer) to Oia, which only lasts about 20-25 minutes. If you want a challenge, you can walk to Oia, but that is going to take you about three hours.
Fira
Fira is the capital of the island, although not very big. This is where you can see all the shops, cheaper (but still somewhat expensive) restaurants, and take the cable car. Fira is centrally located, so it makes it very easy to move around the island from there.
Let me talk to you about the Old Port. You can take the stairs, ride a donkey down the stairs, or take a cable car to get down there. I decided to walk down. I am in good shape but walking DOWN made my legs shaky. Because of that, I decided to pay the 6€ for the cable car back up. That is too much money. Don’t take a donkey either. Those poor things. Or, you could just skip the Old Port because all that is down there is some more souvenir shops and some restaurants. Save the money and shaky legs and stay up top.
Because Fira is central, this is where all the buses leave from. Want to go to Oia? Get a bus here. Airport? New port? Akrotiri? Take the bus from here. The prices of the buses depend on where you are going, and the buses leave every hour to half-hour, depending on demand.
Akrotiri
I was fascinated by the story of Akrotiri because it is often referred to as the Greek Pompeii. Akrotiri is the civilization that lived on the island when the volcano erupted. Back in 1956, the lost civilization was rediscovered. There were no bodies found, like at Pompeii, so people believe that it may have been evacuated in time.
Akrotiri is nowhere as big as Pompeii. It is still a pretty new archaeological site. They even developed a special building for the ruins to protect them according to the four elements (earth, wind, fire, air). For me, if I hadn’t had free admission, I would have felt ripped off. I was not feeling well, and I basically walked around in thirty minutes.
Akrotiri is also home to the (in)famous Red Beach. The Red Beach is best accessed from water because it is technically forbidden to walk the trail to the Red Beach. People still do it anyway. However, do so at your own risk because rocks can fall down. A few years ago, six people died from falling rocks. Also, some fishermen put their supplies in a cave on the beach. The cave collapsed, and their supplies were lost.
Santorini by Boat
One of my days in Santorini, I took a catamaran tour. It was not cheap to book, but I think it is the best way to see the island by sea. Our boat tour started in the Akrotiri area (with hotel pickup). They took us to the hot springs (although in mid-April, I heard it was more of a “warm spring”. We then headed back to the southern side of the island to dock outside the Red Beach and another beach.
It was too cold for us to go swimming, although I did jump in the water at one point, more to shock my system and to say I swam in the Aegean Sea. You see, it was really windy that day (like 30 MPH winds), and I also started to get pretty sick. That led to some pretty bad seasickness. I should have taken my Dramamine … Lessons learned.
A Seal of Approval
Even though I got pretty sick (I spent most of my last day in bed), it was still a great experience. The scenery is perfect. Every turn was filled with a new and amazing picture. It is a little more expensive than the rest of Greece, but it is still affordable. So whether you are a young, solo traveler, or a married couple, Santorini should be something that everyone should witness at least once.
