Best of Santorini and Mykonos, Greece
- montbleuco
- Jan 7
- 7 min read
This year I visited my ultimate bucket list destination with my daughter, Elleana, and it exceeded all expectations. I distinctly remember in my youth seeing a picture of Santorini's iconic blue domes overlooking the Caldera and thinking, "I will go there someday." As I became an architectural photographer, my desire to visit only grew stronger. There's something captivating about the simple, unadorned Cycladic architecture with its clean lines, minimalist decor, and organic materials that speaks to me. It's truly unique. The whitewashed houses are nestled into the cliffside, overlooking the Caldera—resilient, adaptable, and rich in history. There's magic in the air as you navigate the narrow cobbled walkways, wondering what stories these streets might tell of years past if they could speak. Just when you think the days couldn't become more enchanting the sun sets and the skies transform from amber to cotton candy to amethyst and all along the cliffside people are quiet in reverence, soaking it all in, as the sun kisses their face too. Below is a glimpse of a little bit of that magic through images and words and all of the best things we found in the Aegan Sea.
Best of Santorini:
March 25th- April 2nd 2024
Best Airbnb- Villa Oasis in Oia
Amazing Photos taken of Villa Oasis by owner/professional photographer, Barbara
This airbnb was an absolute gem. Every aspect was meticulously attended to, ensuring this place felt like our home away from home; from the personalized care and attention, to a clean and charming space, to the prime location on the island with views of all the activity. My 15 year old daughter and I also felt completely safe here, in fact, we felt safe through all of Greece. Greece is a wonderful place for a mother/daughter or girls trip. The travel was completely smooth and easy, and never was my mama radar up with any signs of danger.
Best Restaurants-First off...best food!! Tzatziki and Fresh Pita Bread!! You guys!! I can't even tell you how amazing their homemade Tzatziki and homemade Pita bread was. We literally, and I am not exaggerating, ate it at every meal every single day. Sometimes it was our only meal and we had double batches. To say we were obsessed was an under statement.
Best Breakfast/Lunch: Kookoo
Fourni Bakery
Best Dinner-Ambrosia
Best Excursions-
This was a great catamaran tour. A bit commercialized, but a great way to see the Aegan Sea and the view of the towns from below. We met some new friends on the boat, had an amazing meal, and took a dip in the frigid Aegan Sea. No sea life to report, but the waters were crystal clear and absolutely stunning.
Hike Oia to Fira- This hike was 2.5 /3 hour hike from Oia to Fira. I thought it'd be no problem, and even leisurely compared to the mountains we have climbed. I figured we'd hike there and back, 6 hours, easy peasey right? Holy moly was I wrong. HAHAHA This is an uphill hike the whole way to Fira. I made the mistake of not bringing water. I figured we would just stop at towns along the way get a gelato, a glass of water, no big deal. But alas...no water or gelato in sight! It was a hot, arduous climb. We finally made it to Fira, drank a gallon of water, and paid an exorbiant amount for a taxi driver to take us back to Oia. HOWEVER, I would still rank it as one of the best excursions, and I'd do it again in a heart beat. You have an incredible sense of accomplishment upon finishing, and the breathtaking views of the Caldera make it all worth it.
Bit of advice; Bring water, wear great tennis shoes or hiking shoes, go early in the morning to avoid the warmest part of the day, wear sunscreen, and consider taking a taxi to Fira and then hike to Oia which would be an easier hike.
Best Day Trip- We hired a driver for the day to take us around Santorini. We toured Emporio, a charming maze like village, an instagrammers dream location for photoshoots, Pyrgos, a greek village of yesteryear with a castle dating back to late 1500s and Akrotiri which was a settlement in the Cycladic Bronze Age, fifth millenium -BCE. Like the Roman ruins of Pompeii, Akrotiri was buried by volcanic ash during an eruption.
Things to note:
We flew out March 25th on Delta to Athens with a layover in NYC. We arrived in Athens and promptly boarded an Aegan Air flight to Santorini. I knew I wanted to capture architecture in Santorini, so we spent the majority of our time here (4nts). There were pros and cons to traveling at this time as it was their off season. I would still choose to travel during this time again, or October as recommended by locals.
PROS:
The island was quiet with very few tourists. I cannot even imagine being there when it is busy. I have seen the videos and heard that people are wall to wall in the paths, just like cattle being funneled through the streets. This alone is enough for me to overlook any con. We mostly had the place to ourselves. It made it magical. Do you recall the scene in Beauty and the Beast where Belle is going through the village singing Bonjour! Good day! How is your family? Bonjour! Good Day! How is your wife? That is what we felt like. We would start our morning greeting our Airbnb hosts who also owned the store below us, "Kalimera! Good morning! How is your family?" We'd greet the masseuse who stood outside below us, the baker, and many of the tourists we saw each day of our trip. These friendly faces made our vacation here so special.
We were able to walk up to any restaurant and be seated without reservations.
Costs, this one should go without saying, but I am guessing we spent less than half of what we would have in the busy season and we had the most enchanted time for it.
CONS
No bouganvillas in bloom. Such a bummer. They bloom closer to end of April/ May depending on the weather.
The off-peak season is also known as construction season. Everywhere you go a fresh coat of white paint is going on the buildings in preparation for the summer season. There is a lot of hammering and construction noise during the day.
Many of the resorts were closed, their pools were drained and their umbrellas down, which wasn't super ideal for architectural images. I really wanted some beautiful twilight shots with a city aglow, but with resorts closed nothing was lit up.
No nightlife. This one is not a con for me personally, but I think it should be noted because we did meet some college kids while there and they were bummed at the lack of nightlife. If you are a nightlife person and want to spend an evening dancing or bar hopping this would not be the time to go.
Best of Mykonos:
We traveled Santorini to Mykonos via Ferry Hopper on the high speed ferry. It took approximately 2 hours. It was all very easy to book and navigate. The seas were calm when we went so we didn't have any issues getting sea sick, however some college girls we met said they took the high speed in a storm and everyone on the boat was violently ill. Travel Tip: pack your Dramamine just in case!
Best place to stay: Harmony Boutique Hotel
Usually, if I don't find an airbnb in a destination, I look for a boutique hotel. We stayed at Harmony Boutique hotel and it looked like it was straight out of a Serena and Lily catalog. It was so darling and perfectly located within walking distance to town.
Iphone pics of our hotel
Best Restaurant: We ate at Blu blu a lot. Not only for the convenience of it being next to our hotel but also for it's amazing menu and views. We always seemed to get a great table overlooking the sea. I highly recommend their molten lava cakes. Worth every calorie.
We also ate lunch and dinners downtown right on the beach. You can't miss them. Every one we dined at had beautifully decorated interiors, great service, and amazing food. I can't say a single bad thing about them, there just wasn't one that stood out to me as better than the others.
Best Breakfast Restaurant: Nice N Easy
This café is located in an area known as Little Venice, just beneath the town's windmills. It's a must-visit spot because it's incredibly charming to sit by the sea and enjoy the picturesque surroundings.
In Mykonos, we didn't go on any excursions, instead, we mostly explored on foot and ate our way through the local cuisine. Getting lost in the Mykonos maze was a lot of fun!
Elle and I departed April 2, 2024 on Sky Express to Athens and promptly boarded a Delta flight back to the states. All inter-island travel via planes and ferrys were great, we never encountered a single issue.
Additional Takeaways- I did a lot of research on which islands I wanted to hit up on this trip, and ultimately decided to hit the two most popular tourist islands while the crowds would be low. We spent 4 nights in Santorini and 3 in Mykonos. Personally, I think we could have squeezed in one or two more islands! As an architectural photographer, I am thankful for all of the time in Santorini which allowed me to capture different areas in different lighting situations, but if you are just island hopping, 2 nights in each location is sufficient in my opinion.
Other islands on my list that I found in my research that I would put at the top of my list to visit; Paros, Milos, Naxos, Zakynthos, and Crete- Crete was the number one place locals told us to visit.
Outfits for Greece
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