My UK visa was about to expire, so I (we) had to leave the country. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately), at the time we started looking to travel several countries had started to go into lockdown again, which left us with only a few easy to get to countries – one of the options just happened to be beautiful Greece.
We have been trying to get to Greece for years, we’ve planned to go several times and then something always comes up that keeps us from actually going. I keep brushing up on Greek mythology but have never had a chance to use it. And we almost thought that wasn’t going to happen again this time…but I can happily say we finally made it to Greece.
And we were not disappointed – due to off season and covid, we may be too spoiled and never able to return. In Oia on Santorini there was hardly anyone around. I mean no one. At night, sitting on our veranda, it is silent. Oh, so peaceful and wonderful (never to been seen like this again).
When searching for somewhere to stay we realised that prices for accommodation in Oia was much cheaper than normal (like a lot). So, we decided to really stay in style! Our accommodation was amazing… we booked a cave house with our own hot tub, a large veranda area that overlooked the Caldera and all of the beautiful white and blue dome churches. The view was postcard perfect. And the inside of the cave house was just stunning and quite large. We had a small kitchenette, large dining and living area, a huge bedroom, and a good size bathroom! And we get all of this for about a half of the normal price this time of year (and a fourth of the price in peak season)! Crazy!
To get to Santorini we flew with a budget airline from London direct to Santorini island. Having only lived in the US and Australia I still can’t get over the cheap flights around Europe (and how short they are – but then again, all flights seem short once you’ve travelled from Australia).
We arrived late at night, which was a shame since we couldn’t see anything from the air or during the ride from the airport to our accommodation. When we arrived in Oia we were met by our host (a must or you will never find your place!) and were guided through the walkways of Oia. Once we came off the main path, heading towards the Caldera, the view was amazing – even at night! You could see the white buildings perched on the cliff edge, the light reflecting on the private hot tubs and pools were dancing on the walls, and the paths were lit up with soft lights that made everything glow. It was jaw-dropping beautiful.
The next morning, we were soooo excited to wake up and see the view in the day light. Wow! It’s hard to put into words – stunning.
When we arrived, we found out that Santorini was increasing restrictions due to covid in two days’ time which meant that restaurants would not be allowed to serve food on-site and that indoor museums would be closed. So, we decided to spend our first full day visiting whatever museums we could. Unfortunately, a few of them were already closed due to the time of year and previous restrictions. We checked the local websites for the opening hours of the museums and the website said that they were all closed until later in the week (which would be after restrictions came into place). Turns out this was not the case for some of the museums – so don’t always believe the website and check locally if possible.
Since Fira was a short bus ride away we decided to take the chance and see if any were open. Worse case we walk around Fira, which we wanted to see anyway.
Getting the bus from Oia to Fira is relatively easy. All of the bus lines start and end in Fira. If you want to go further than Fira from Oia, you have to change buses in Fira.
In Oia, outside of the pedestrian area, is the bus stop. There is a timetable displayed on the bus stop shelter, but you can also visit the KTEL website (https://www.ktel-santorini.gr) for a timetable.
The bus arrived pretty much right on schedule, everyone got off (since Oia is the last stop on the line) and then everyone heading to Fira gets on. You buy your ticket on the bus once it leaves the station. Less than 20 minutes later you arrive in Fira (last stop on the line).
The two museums I really wanted to visit were The Museum of Prehistoric Thira and the Archaeological Museum Fira. There were others, like the Folklore museum, that I was interested in but, we had to pick our top choices since we only had one day to get everything done.
The Museum of Prehistoric Thira is near the bus stop, so we started there. At first, we thought it was closed because the gates near the entrance door were locked, but it turns out there was another gated entrance around the corner, which was open. Luckily, we saw someone walking into the building entrance otherwise we would have assumed it was closed and missed out.
The Museum of Prehistoric Thira contains ancient artifacts from various excavations on Santorini, including Akrotiri. It was incredible to see items, such as pitchers and vases, from 17th century BC. That’s over 3,500 years ago and most of the items were in amazing condition – delicate vases without any cracks or breaks.
While we were there the museum was empty, we were actually the only ones plus a few employees. We took our time, read the information boards, and admired all of the artifacts. We visited the Akrotiri site a couple days later, but I’m glad we visited the museum first. It allowed us to picture some of the items and the amazing wall paintings inside the buildings at Akrotiri.
After the Museum of Prehistoric Thira we tried to visit the Archaeological Museum, but unfortunately the museum was closed. They did have an exhibition on that you could visit, but we decided to skip that and try another museum. Turns out, nothing else was open for us to visit.
Instead we decided to explore Fira by wondering through the walkways, checking out a few shops and taking in the amazing view. There’s a great viewpoint next to the cable car which allows you to see the Fira cliff edge and the ferry port at the bottom of the hill. You can walk down to the ferry port, take the cable car, or ride a donkey. We did see a few donkeys going up and down while we were taking in the view.
While we were in Fira we decided to see about booking a boat trip to explore some of the beaches and the volcano over the next few days. We weren’t sure if any boat trips would be running due to the new covid restrictions, but we thought we would give it a try. Turns out they were running, and we were able to book a trip for the following day.
At the end of our first full day, we returned to Oia for dinner. We wanted to eat at one of the local restaurants since this was our last chance to eat in (restrictions the next day meant take away only). We found a lovely restaurant with views of the cliff edge.
We then returned to our house for a soak in the hot tub – which we ended up doing every evening.
The next morning, we had an early start for our day on the boat. The boat trip included pickup from Oia (we met them at the bus stop area) and drop off at the boat on the south end of the island. The boat was very nice. There were only three couples, so six of us, plus two staff members on the boat. We all had plenty of space to spread out and relax. It was a bit windy and a little overcast on the day, but just nice enough to enjoy the boat ride.
Our first stop was Red Beach. We anchored the boat and had a chance to swim. The staff warned us that the water was freezing, but we decided to give it a try. I dipped my foot in the water and was pleasantly surprised – it didn’t feel that cold! I usually stay away from too cold of water – I only swim in Australia in the middle of summer when it’s hot outside and the water is warmish. The water here, felt warmer than Australia, so I was happy. All of us ended up going for a swim. The water was super clear, you could see to the bottom. After a bit of swimming we climbed out and headed for the next stop.
We passed White Beach, which had beautiful white cliffs surrounding the beach area. This beach is only accessible by boat. After the beaches we went around the lighthouse, which is the oldest lighthouse in Europe. Then we circled the volcano. On some boat trips they stop at the volcano and you can climb to the top (for a fee). Past the volcano (the old volcano) we stopped at the hot springs (or the new volcano).
We anchored the boat again, this time we swam a short distance from the boat to access the “hot springs”. I would have to say that the springs were not very hot, they were barely warm. And it was a strange mix with warm patches of water and then normal temperature water – which only made us all colder. The normal water, outside of the “hot springs” felt much warmer because it was a consistent temperature, rather than a warm and cold mix.
In the hot springs area, there is an older gentleman that lives in his boat. The white church, in front of the hot springs, is his church. As you swim around, or behind the church, you enter the hot springs area. There you will find a beach-ish area with picnic tables and a small food bar. It wasn’t open while we were there, so it was just a bunch of empty picnic tables.
After the hot springs, we all headed back to the boat where we enjoyed a lovely BBQ buffet lunch. Shortly after lunch, we slowly made our way back to shore. It was a great 5-hour long boat trip, and the coastline is beautiful from the water. Next time, I would like to do a bit more swimming and climb the (old) volcano.
After the boat trip, we jumped back in the van to make our way back towards Fira. When we booked the boat trip, we also booked a hire car with the same company. After the boat trip we planned to stop in Fira and pick up the rental car so we could have it for the entire next day.
Once we picked up the car, we decided to go for a bit of a drive and explore the area. We ended up driving towards Ancient Thera, but they weren’t open on that particular day, but we were able to confirm that they would be open the next day. After the drive back down from Ancient Thera we decided to stop at Kamari Beach. There wasn’t much open along the beach front, but it was a lovely area. The black sand (which looked stunning from the hill top) was quite striking and the pedestrian area along the beach looks like it would be nice (with lots of shops and food options) during normal times.
After the beach, we made our way back to Oia. One nice thing about Santorini is that there is lots of free parking options. Just outside of Oia, near the bus stop area and further around the curve, are two large parking areas – completely free (so unheard of these days).
We ordered some pizzas and took them back to our veranda to enjoy another peaceful evening. Followed shortly by another relaxing soak in the hot tub.
The next day used the rental car to drive to the south end of the island and visit the archaeological stie of Akrotiri. We were both looking forward to this visit as it has been described as the “Pompeii of Greece”. The story is the same – a volcanic eruption in the 16th century BC covered the settlement in ash, which allowed it to be preserved until it was found and excavated in 1967.
The excavated site has been enclosed in a state-of-the-art facility that allows the ruined settlement to be well protected from the elements. It also allows archaeologists to work throughout the year in a temperature-controlled area.
The enclosed building has a walkway that allows visitors to walk around the exterior of the excavated site. It’s higher than ground level of the settlement, so you get to look down over the buildings. There is a small area at the end where you can get a bit closer to the buildings and see them from what would have been ground level at the time of the settlement.
The site is a lot larger than we expected – and they estimate that only a small percentage of the original settlement has been excavated. There is one building where there were several vases found during excavation, and they left them near to where they were found. Most of the artefacts have been removed from the site and moved to museums.
The site was very impressive to view, but we were a little disappointed that there was not too much information available about the site. There were information boards around the walkway, but they were fairly high-level and some were a bit hard to understand (issues with translation).
Overall it was fascinating to see the site and the museum with all of the artefacts.
After Akrotiri, we headed to Ancient Thera. We didn’t know what to expect from this site, but we were thinking that it would be ruins, with outlines of buildings rather than full buildings. I don’t know why we thought this, but we did. However, once we got there we were pleasantly surprised – we were totally wrong. There is lots to see and much more than wall outlines. There are structures with walls and some areas that you can still make out the engravings in the stones.
One of my favourite things about the site was the large number of statue bases. You can actually see the imprint or outline of where the statue’s feet would have been. Even though the statues weren’t there, it was still interesting to see the bases.
The site contained a number of buildings to walk around and does take a little bit of time. We were there for about an hour, but we were rushing a little bit because the site was closing.
Note – When visiting the site be prepared for some super strong wind while at the site. It’s at the top of the hill, right along the coast. My hair was a mess after our visit!
Before returning the hire car, we decided to stop and take a stroll through Pyrgos on our way back to Fira. Another beautiful town on the island. Everywhere you look is just picture perfect.
On our last full day (or at least we thought it was our last full day) we decided to explore Oia. We wondered around the streets of Oia, visiting the various shops and taking as many pictures as possible. We got some great shots of the blue dome churches, the castle ruins, and the windmills. Everywhere we went was absolutely stunning. Everywhere you turn there is something worthy of a picture. We had a great day wondering around.
At some point during the day we heard from our next accommodation on the island of Crete. They were informing us of Greece’s nationwide lockdown that was starting on Saturday (in two days). We were trying to figure out what to do as our (rather expensive) ferry tickets from Santorini to Crete were non-refundable. A short while later, we received a message that our ferry to Crete was cancelled due to weather. How lucky for us. We ended up booking a ferry to Athens instead for earlier in the day. We figured we would get to Athens and then find a flight out of the country – not sure where to yet, but we were looking at heading to Croatia or Albania or some other country that was still open and accepting tourists.
After we got everything sorted, we went back to enjoying the rest of our day on Santorini, including another soak in the hot tub!
The next morning, we got up and were getting ready to grab a bus and head for the ferry port. About 30 minutes before we were planning to leave, we received another notification that our ferry to Athens was cancelled.
We tried to find flight options for the same day, but nothing was available. Then we started looking for flights for the next day. We somehow lucked out and found a decently priced flight to Tirana, Albania via Athens. We were so lucky that our accommodation host in Oia allowed us to stay another night and how ever long we needed to the following day. Any other time of year, I think the house would have been fully booked and we would have been trying to find somewhere to stay for the night. But we didn’t have to worry about that – everything worked out perfectly.
Due to the travel issues, we got to spend another day and a half in Oia – no complaints there! We walked around Oia a bit more and then just had some down time at our accommodation. The next day, was the start of the full lockdown, so we weren’t supposed to leave our house unless absolutely necessary. So we stayed around the house, enjoying the view and soaking in the hot tub some more.
Eventually, we had to leave to catch our flight to Athens. We arrived in Athens with no issues, hired a car, and then headed to an AirBNB for the night. We weren’t able to do anything in Athens due to the lockdown, so we just drove from the airport to the accommodation and back to the airport the next day. I would have loved to explore Athens and actually see some of the amazing sites, but that wasn’t possible. Instead we got on a flight to Albania.
Be sure to keep an eye out for our next blog post on our time in Albania.