Santorini: Ask the Girl Who's Been There
May. 4th, 2008 08:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
multiplezI spent four days on Santorini in June of 2005. It was awesome and I loved every minute of it, the island is gorgeous and I love it wildly, but basically, here I am to be your helpful resource for the duration of our stay!
And now, a brief guide to the island without having to go through all those websites Karal linked yesterday. Though you should totally read those too. :D
For starters, you can't be in Santorini. You are on Santorini. There is no town on the island named Santorini; it's not like Fandom. Here, this map will be our guide. There are several small villages, but the main towns are Fira (or Thira) and Oia (pronounced EE-ah). Thira's a lot bigger, and has lots of nightclubs and shops and restaurants, and I swear the entire town is uphill. Oia is kind of a hip artists' town, with one main street of shops winding along the cliffs. Oia is also home to Atlantis Books, the coolest bookshop in the world. Oia is famous for its sunsets, supposedly some of the best in the world (it was cloudy while I was there); there's an old lookout tower where people gather every evening just to watch the sunset. Most people in Oia and many people in Thera live in cliff houses--you can see these in just about any picture of the island on Google. Everything is white and blue, because we're in the Cyclades, people. And everything looks like a freaking picture postcard.
At the southern tip of the map, you will see a place marked 'Akrotiri.' Akrotiri is not exactly a town. Akrotiri is an archaeological site, because, okay, you see how the island's shaped kinda funky? And there are two other islands? They all used to be one big island, but then the volcano BLEW OUT the middle of the island. Akrotiri was a Cretan merchant settlement; it was apparently abandoned just before the blast and buried, then rediscovered a la Pompeii. You can tour the excavation, it's all very cool and vaguely creepy, but the most valuable pieces have been moved to a museum in Thira. Some of them are quite famous, particularly the frescoes.
Akrotiri. Separate because I want to point something out for anyone planning a tour: see the metal roof? The whole excavation is under that big metal roof and climate controlled to protect it from the elements.
There are I believe three main beaches, but I only remember the names and locations of two: Red Beach and Black Beach. Both are rock, not sand. Red Beach is right by Akrotiri, you walk past a seafood restaurant and a church and down a steep hill and there you are. Boats also anchor off Red Beach and let people swim in, and there are chaises and umbrellas and all those nice things. I didn't actually go to Black Beach, but it's near Thira and more of same.
The anchor on the map denotes the port. I think this is the big port where cruise boats dock. There's a smaller port in Thira that tour boats leave from, and they go all around the island and out to the active volcano on the uninhabited one of the smaller islands. You can hike up the volcano, and sometimes you can see smoke and steam and stuff. The port is kind of at the bottom of a cliff (there are lots of cliffs), so there are two ways to get down there. You can walk down the steps, which, it's a long way down and the steps are made for donkeys, not humans (watch out for manure) or you can take a cable lift, but then you have to pay. There's a bus system with a couple of different routes to the various villages and towns, rides when I was there were from like a euro to two euros. But it's not a big island, really. Some of my friends walked from Thira to Oia and back one day just for the heck of it, and the bus ride from Thira to Oia was like ten, fifteen minutes. While in Thira you have to listen for the buses because they are FAST and the streets are twisty and um not much bigger than the buses. It's a good way to almost die. Several times.
You can get a decent gyro for a euro twenty, ouzo tastes nasty, retsina's not that bad, especially with dark chocolate, there are cats everywhere, jewelry is surprisingly inexpensive, replica pottery, NOT SO MUCH. And...I think that's about it.
I hope y'all find some of this information helpful. I will be available for questions via the comments here, e-mail, or IM for the duration of our stay. Enjoy your stay by beautiful virtual Santorini!
And now, a brief guide to the island without having to go through all those websites Karal linked yesterday. Though you should totally read those too. :D
For starters, you can't be in Santorini. You are on Santorini. There is no town on the island named Santorini; it's not like Fandom. Here, this map will be our guide. There are several small villages, but the main towns are Fira (or Thira) and Oia (pronounced EE-ah). Thira's a lot bigger, and has lots of nightclubs and shops and restaurants, and I swear the entire town is uphill. Oia is kind of a hip artists' town, with one main street of shops winding along the cliffs. Oia is also home to Atlantis Books, the coolest bookshop in the world. Oia is famous for its sunsets, supposedly some of the best in the world (it was cloudy while I was there); there's an old lookout tower where people gather every evening just to watch the sunset. Most people in Oia and many people in Thera live in cliff houses--you can see these in just about any picture of the island on Google. Everything is white and blue, because we're in the Cyclades, people. And everything looks like a freaking picture postcard.
At the southern tip of the map, you will see a place marked 'Akrotiri.' Akrotiri is not exactly a town. Akrotiri is an archaeological site, because, okay, you see how the island's shaped kinda funky? And there are two other islands? They all used to be one big island, but then the volcano BLEW OUT the middle of the island. Akrotiri was a Cretan merchant settlement; it was apparently abandoned just before the blast and buried, then rediscovered a la Pompeii. You can tour the excavation, it's all very cool and vaguely creepy, but the most valuable pieces have been moved to a museum in Thira. Some of them are quite famous, particularly the frescoes.
Akrotiri. Separate because I want to point something out for anyone planning a tour: see the metal roof? The whole excavation is under that big metal roof and climate controlled to protect it from the elements.
There are I believe three main beaches, but I only remember the names and locations of two: Red Beach and Black Beach. Both are rock, not sand. Red Beach is right by Akrotiri, you walk past a seafood restaurant and a church and down a steep hill and there you are. Boats also anchor off Red Beach and let people swim in, and there are chaises and umbrellas and all those nice things. I didn't actually go to Black Beach, but it's near Thira and more of same.
The anchor on the map denotes the port. I think this is the big port where cruise boats dock. There's a smaller port in Thira that tour boats leave from, and they go all around the island and out to the active volcano on the uninhabited one of the smaller islands. You can hike up the volcano, and sometimes you can see smoke and steam and stuff. The port is kind of at the bottom of a cliff (there are lots of cliffs), so there are two ways to get down there. You can walk down the steps, which, it's a long way down and the steps are made for donkeys, not humans (watch out for manure) or you can take a cable lift, but then you have to pay. There's a bus system with a couple of different routes to the various villages and towns, rides when I was there were from like a euro to two euros. But it's not a big island, really. Some of my friends walked from Thira to Oia and back one day just for the heck of it, and the bus ride from Thira to Oia was like ten, fifteen minutes. While in Thira you have to listen for the buses because they are FAST and the streets are twisty and um not much bigger than the buses. It's a good way to almost die. Several times.
You can get a decent gyro for a euro twenty, ouzo tastes nasty, retsina's not that bad, especially with dark chocolate, there are cats everywhere, jewelry is surprisingly inexpensive, replica pottery, NOT SO MUCH. And...I think that's about it.
I hope y'all find some of this information helpful. I will be available for questions via the comments here, e-mail, or IM for the duration of our stay. Enjoy your stay by beautiful virtual Santorini!
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no subject
Date: 2008-05-05 01:34 am (UTC)The other gorgeous sight is when you're sailing into the caldera of the sunken volcano as the ship approaches the port. Everyone was up on deck for that.
no subject
Date: 2008-05-05 02:48 am (UTC)euro to two euros
Or approximately five billion dollars American. ;)
no subject
Date: 2008-05-05 03:26 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-05 03:27 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-05 03:36 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-05 03:39 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-05 03:49 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-05 08:51 am (UTC)NATCH.
/five years old