Here are just a few images of Santorini. It is definitely the most unique island out of the Greek islands I have visited. Of course it is probably the most photographed and famous one of them. The island itself, as you drive through it is fairly bland, with a few small towns throughout, some vineyards, a few scattered homes along the highway and of course the occasional small old church.
On the one side of the island is where the beaches are, The White beach, the Red beach and the Black beach, where we stayed. All great beaches to get your toes wet in those hot summer months. As you head to the opposite side of the island, you begin to notice the land rising further and further from the water, with high cliffs overlooking one of the most beautiful coastlines. The two major ancient towns on this side of the islands are Fira and Oia. Both with amazing panoramic views of the beautiful blue sea down below, and the horizon which offers some of the best sunset scenes. The typical white homes, with blue accents as well as the churches throughout the cities with their famous blue domes add so much to the experience and make it the unique one that it is.
Both towns can be reached by bus, or a rental car would be much better, as some of the beaches are not accessible by bus. There are also several daily boat tours. The one we took was the Volcano island hike, with a stop at the nearby Thirassia island and the tour ends at the town of Oia just in time to catch the magical sunset, I highly recommend this one.
On a side note, I would also recommend visiting one of the many wineries on the island, which I didn't get a chance to do. But the process with which the grapes are grown is quite interesting and different which produces some very fine wines. As the island gets very windy at night, the grape vines are wrapped into a basket on the ground for safety and warmth so it looked really interesting to me. I did purchase a couple of bottle from which one is now my favorite sweet wine, called Vinsanto. The sweetness is solely from the sun dried grapes, no sugar has been added and it is truly fantastic. This coming from a person who doesn't really like sweet wines. :)
Enjoy the pictures and I hope everyone gets a chance to visit this magical place...
On the one side of the island is where the beaches are, The White beach, the Red beach and the Black beach, where we stayed. All great beaches to get your toes wet in those hot summer months. As you head to the opposite side of the island, you begin to notice the land rising further and further from the water, with high cliffs overlooking one of the most beautiful coastlines. The two major ancient towns on this side of the islands are Fira and Oia. Both with amazing panoramic views of the beautiful blue sea down below, and the horizon which offers some of the best sunset scenes. The typical white homes, with blue accents as well as the churches throughout the cities with their famous blue domes add so much to the experience and make it the unique one that it is.
Both towns can be reached by bus, or a rental car would be much better, as some of the beaches are not accessible by bus. There are also several daily boat tours. The one we took was the Volcano island hike, with a stop at the nearby Thirassia island and the tour ends at the town of Oia just in time to catch the magical sunset, I highly recommend this one.
On a side note, I would also recommend visiting one of the many wineries on the island, which I didn't get a chance to do. But the process with which the grapes are grown is quite interesting and different which produces some very fine wines. As the island gets very windy at night, the grape vines are wrapped into a basket on the ground for safety and warmth so it looked really interesting to me. I did purchase a couple of bottle from which one is now my favorite sweet wine, called Vinsanto. The sweetness is solely from the sun dried grapes, no sugar has been added and it is truly fantastic. This coming from a person who doesn't really like sweet wines. :)
Enjoy the pictures and I hope everyone gets a chance to visit this magical place...
As always very beautifully composed and executed, both the photographs and thoughts.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Edmond jan :)
DeleteA shorter write up but I think I covered all the basics :) and besides the pictures tell a lot more than I could with words
DeleteThese pictures are amazing. This is one of the places I've always wanted to go.
ReplyDelete