Santorini

You are in Satorini for 3 days, what do you?

Take a donkey ride? Walk 12km along the island? Watch sunsets? Become best friends with the bouncer at the club?Soak up the sun at a beautiful beach?

You can do it all!!

Santorini is classified as the place for lovers, probably because of its beauty and the gorgeous sunsets. BUT if your aren’t travelling with your partner, you can still enjoy its beauty.Island life in Santorini consists of beautifully coloured beaches ranging from white to black to red. These are caused by the active volcano located below the surface of the sea.

So let me tell you how you an cram all of these five things into three days, and why you should even do it.

Donkey Ride

If you want an iconic picture on a donkey, there are two places to do this: 1) Thira 2) Oia. The purpose of the donkey ride is to bring people up to the town from the ports. The Thira port is no longer active but the staircase that leads down to the port is a tourist attraction for the number of the steps and its history. A donkey ride costs 10 euros for the round trip.

If you only want to do the donkey ride one way, there is a dolly in Thira to take you up and down from the port. There are also many boat tours you can do that tend to end in Oia, meaning you will have to take a donkey up to the town. There is no other option!!! The hill is huge and even when you get off the donkey you still have to walk up quite a bit to get the town.

12km Walk

Walking 12 kilometres might not be something you think about when you plan a vacation. But after spending a week on the beach, it seemed like something unique to do. Plus, I heard great things about the view – you be the judge based on these pictures:

The walk connects Oia and Thira. We decided to start the walk in Oia,you basically walk  along the top border of the island, overlooking the Aegean sea. Fair warning: it is ALL uphill. But if you walk from Thira to Oia, at a half way point a Greek genius set up a donkey ride to take you the rest of the way. We started walking in the early afternoon and got to watch the sunset along the way. Yup, it took us forever! But it was really cool to see the town ahead and behind us, the different coloured rocks – red & black – as well as the different churches in the middle of nowhere.

Sunsets

Santorini is known for its sunsets, this might be why the island is a common honeymoon destination. You can watch them in Oia. At the tip of the island you get a perfect view.Many people watch from a torn down castle, while others just find a place along the border of the city on a ledge to see it all happen. Warning: It’s chaotic to get out of the town once the sun disappears. If you can do a day or half day tour on a boat, choose one that finishes in Oia.

Clubs, clubs, clubs.. I feel like my blog posts have a theme… pretty sure it’s not a problem. Right?!

Thira has some amazing clubs all located within a 3 kilometer radius of each other and a block away from McDonalds (perfect for that 4am craving). All the clubs are different sizes and people have no problem cramming in. All the bars and clubs you go into have two sections, some have a bar on one floor and another at a lower level, while others have an outdoor section and an indoor section. Just follow the music. Every place is beautiful, with a great environment, friendly staff and free cover for women. So take  advantage like we did and run from one to another chasing your favourite song.

Check out these locations: Murphy’s Bar and Mamouina Club.

Tip: Some popular suggestions you may have found are the Two Brothers, but i recommend not going to this location as it is extremely small and tends to fill up with dudes. It’s a sausage party. The Koo Club is also highly recommended by tour companies, but we did not enjoy the music there.

Beaches

Choose your colour. The volcanic activity underneath Santorini has caused erosion of the island and created uniquely colourful beaches ranging from white, red and black.

Where to stay:

If you are travelling by yourself or with friends you do not need to stay in Thira or Oia (the two main towns). These two cities have expensive hotels due to the beautiful view of overlooking the water – most have individual pools. Now if you can afford staying in one of these places GO FOR IT!! You won’t regret it. Otherwise, stay somewhere near a beach with frequent public transportation.