SANTORINIIIIIII. I know a lot of yous have been looking forward to this post so I had to deliver! Btw, yous is the plural form of you – it’s a tristate/Philly thing, I guess! I often get questions about it from folks who are not familiar with the area so just wanted to quickly clarify as I say it quite a bit on my socials. LOL. Anyway, let’s dive in to why you’re really here!

The story of how this Santorini trip came to be is actually so funny because as most of yous know, I tend to do just solo trips. I was sitting my somewhere when one of my friends, Akua TheeDee, messaged me that she wanted to travel. We somehow settled on Italy or Greece, but the way I have envisioned my first time in Italy, I need a solid 3-4 weeks to enjoy the full experience. Since I didn’t want to take that much time off work due to other upcoming trips, we decided on a week-long trip to Greece.

For lodging, we stayed at the Apeiron Blue Santorini and trust me when I say the views you see on their website is exactly how it is in real life – if not better. However, the rooms, at least the one we stayed in, was very basic and did not offer much. Our room had a balcony facing the caldera so it was really lovely during sunrise and sunsets but the rooms alone could be better – it was just very basic. (Include shot of balcony)

Also, our room was extremely close to the main road so you could hear ALL the cars when they passed by. Not the best option when you are trying to relax and sleep in during your vacation so highly recommend avoiding rooms 1 through 12 (or 11, can’t remember) if you decide to stay at Apeiron. The running joke I kept telling Akua is that we’re definitely paying for the VIEWS and not much for the ROOM with Apeiron, LOL.

The restaurant onsite at Apeiron is called 1888 meze bar. I didn’t really enjoy their dinner options but I liked a majority of their breakfast options. Give me bread, egg, and tea (cooked differently multiple days) and I am good to go! LOL. However, I will note that Akua did not enjoy the food at all so keep that in mind if you do decide to book. One of the highlights of our stay at Apeiron was meeting a fellow Ghanaian! One of the staff happened to be Ghanaian and it was really nice just speaking with him.

Originally the plan for the Greece trip was to spend 1-2 days in Athens, a couple of days in Santorini and then do a day trip to a nearby island from Santorini. I did not make the time to plan everything out well so we ended up spending 7 days in Santorini. Personally, 7 days in Santorini is entirely too long as the island is really small. There are lots of things you can do but I think spending 3 full days in Santorini is more than enough. In our itinerary we ended up doing one major activity per day to break it up but a lot of the activities can be combined.

Once we settled in, we did a full tour of the island the following day. I highly recommend this guided tour by NST Santorini Tours. I booked ours via GetYourGuide but I believe you can also find the same tour from the same company on TripAdvisor. Although it is a superrrr long tour, it really gave us a good overview of what the entire island had to offer from soup to nuts. We went from Akrotiri, to Emporio. This activity being the first thing on our list was really ideal because we were then able to spend more time re-visiting places if we felt we needed more time. We ended our day in Oia watching the sunset, strolling through the streets, and Akua got gelato from Lolita’s Gelato – a must visit when you are in Santorini. I didn’t get any treats to cap the day as I had ice cream after my lunch LOL, so I wasn’t really craving it and didn’t want to buy it just for buying sake.

On Day 2, our main activity was to try lots of different wine aka we did a wine tour. Santorini is an island with over 20+ wineries. Ky3r3 s3, if you’re really into wine, I highly recommend booking a wine tour while there. Even if you’re not a wine drinker, I think it’s a really good experience and some of the wineries have INCREDIBLE views. Our wine tour was by Kamari Tours and we had a blast! One of the stops included a visit to the Santorini Wine Museum and it was really fascinating learning more about Santorini’s wine region. After the tour, we returned to our hotel and rested a bit to get ready for Akua’s birthday celebration dinner. For dinner, I chose Pyrgos Restaurant. I made reservations prior to arriving in Santorini and I highly recommend that you do the same. The ambience was great and Akua enjoyed her food so that’s all that matters. LOL. I did not enjoy my food much as I ordered pork chop and I honestly thought it was going to be small-ish but the portion size was ridiculously huge. While it was tasty, I am not much of a meat person so I didn’t really enjoy it much as the sides were not that great.

We used the following day to mainly rest but took a little island stroll in the afternoon. Akua doesn’t know that me I am a wanderer LOL. We walked and walked saaaa to Fira Square, then we explored the town a little bit. I found THE best gyro spot and had what I think is the best gyro of my life at a place called, “Why not? Souvlaki Pita – Gyro.” The pork was so well seasoned, tzatziki was fresh, and the fries were golden and crunchy. Highly recommend checking out this place if you visit.

On Day 4, we went on a lovelyyy sunset cruise! You definitely cannot visit Santorini without doing a sunset cruise so make sure to include that in your enjoyment budget! We booked the cruise with Spiridakos Sailing Cruises – one of the popular companies in Santorini and we had a fab time! The food onboard was actually really good and everyone we met during the cruise was just good vibes! Since we went in early October, the water was a bit cold so just make sure to plan accordingly if you plan on snorkeling during any of the stops. Another tip: when booking a sunset cruise, make sure it’s either semi-private or charter your own boat if you have the budget. Our cruise was a max of 20 people and in the end, I think we were about 18 or so. I think that’s the perfect size to have a good time while still enjoying some privacy. Some of the cruises have like 50+ people and personally, that is not ideal.

When two foodies travel, the trip will definitely not be complete without a cooking class! Oh man, I am SOOO glad we did this activity! We booked a Greek cooking class with Raki Restaurant prior to arriving in Santorini and I enjoyed it so much. The food was SPECTACULAR, honestly the best Greek food I had while in Santorini because it was so fresh, we cooked it ourselves, and our chef was great with explaining techniques and just a great guy; very witty, but I enjoyed his company!

Overall, I had a fantastic time in Santorini. The only thing is I wish I had more time to really plan out the 7 days well. The initial plan was to spend maybe 1 full day in Athens, then fly to Santorini and do a day trip to a nearby island but that ended up not happening as I really did not have the time or mental energy between work & other things to accurately plan. I think 3 full days in Santorini is more than enough. It’s a small island, so you don’t need 7 days – unless you just want to be based in one place and not move around too much.

I included Santorini highlights on my Instagram so if you missed it, definitely check it out: Greece Highlights 1 and Greece Highlights 2. If you have any questions as you start to plan our perfect Santorini getaway, I am always a DM/email away!

Stay adventurous, dear friends, and always remember to stay golden.

Sincerely,

Rich Auntie Sammie