Part 3 - Santorini

From Crete, we hopped on a high-speed ferry to Santorini. The ferry was cool, but because it was high speed, passengers aren't allowed out on the deck, so we missed out on some of the views. But, better than the alternative of the very slow ferry.

I think Santorini was probably the highlight of the trip. It is a tiny, special island. The towns along the coast are built on the cliff edge of the caldera, which is the big crater that was left when the volcano that was Santorini erupted a few mil years ago! So, the sea now fills the area where the tip of the volcano used to be, making Santorini a reverse 'C' shape.

We stayed in the town of Oia, which was at the top of the C. The place we stayed in was so fantastic, it deserves its own blog entry - so I'll do that next.

We spent the first afternoon exploring Oia, and having a fantastic lunch overlooking the blue roofs and white buildings. No cars can fit in the winding tiny paths that make up the 'streets' in these wee beautiful towns, so we braved the heat and wandered through them. There were lots of tiny special stores, selling the most beautiful jewellery I've ever seen. They get big cruise ships stopping in and the tourists pour up to the town and, I guess, spend a lot of money on expensive jewellery!

As we were there in mid-June, it was still considered the off season, so it wasn't too bad actually. Our second day there, there was no cruise ship, and it was peaceful bliss.


We ended up renting a car there - one look at the huge steep cliff leading up from the ferry port, and we gave up our ambitions of 'backpacking'. It was way too hot and too treacherous for worrying about the bus, or taking a taxi, or walking. Because it wasn't peak season, we negotiated a really good rate for the rental car, and it was so worth it because it gave us time to explore the whole island. We went to a bunch of beaches on the second day - Santorini has some amazing ones - The Red Beach with red sand and the Black Beach with black sand (obviously!). Pretty spectacular, though the black sand underfoot was insanely hot!



Both nights there, we made a point of getting back to our house to catch the sunset. The sunsets from Oia, overlooking the Caldera, are reputedly some of the best in the whole world, and they didn't dissapoint for our two nights there.

I would go back to Santorini in a heartbeat! I wish we could have stayed for a week. I would recommend the off-season though! I think July and August would be way too hot, and way too busy to be properly enjoyable.