The bakeries in Athens opens as early as 6am. While we were taking a taxi, heading to the harbor to catch the ferry going to Santorini, I was surprised to see open stores, which tuned out to be bakeries. That reminds me those breakfast places in Taiwan and I can’t help but compare their similarities and differences: they both open early but breakfast places in Taiwan usually offer a much wider variety of food choices.
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Santorini Day 1 Itinerary
I had a list for what I wanted to see, do in Santorini. But for the first day, I didn’t have any concrete plan. The goal is to walk around and explore! Here’s the simple plan:
Explore Fira
Enjoy sunset at Airbnb
Eat yummy Gyros for dinner!
Tips for Logistic
⛴️ You have 2 options getting to Santorini: Flight ✈️ (45 mins) and Ferry ⛴️ (5-8 hrs depending on your Ferry type). The ferry is obvious longer, but for the experience reason we still chose it. We departed by ferry and returned by flight.
⛴️ For ferry, you can buy tickets from either Blue Star Ferries or Seajets. We chose Seajets because it is quicker.
⚓️ Piraeus is the port to take a ferry to Santorini. The ticket you buy will show the Gate to take the ferry, you just need to find the gate at Piraeus Port. They have signs that guides you to your ferry (but it only shows departure time). So if you are not sure, you can always ask someone who looks like an employee of the ferry companies 😂
🚗 You definitely need a car in Santorini unless you only plan to stay in the same area all the time. Santorini has steep and zigzag roads (especially when you drive from the port to the the central area), so I recommend renting a proper, powerful car but not too big since parking is not always easy there. We made a mistake by renting a 2 door car (didn’t pay attention to the photo then 🥲), and didn’t feel that safe every time we needed to stop on a steep road because of the traffic.
🚗 We used CarHub to rent a car in santorini. The staff parked our car around the port and took us to the location. It’s also nice that they give us detailed instructions with photos to accommodate our need of returning car in early morning.
Buy sunscreen in Athens beforehand! I witnessed the same brand sold more expansive in the central area of Santorini. I was glad that I prepared in advance.
People taking sunrise photo on the ferry
Inside the ferry
My experience
Am I visiting Little US?
Fira is one of the vibrant areas in Santorini. It’s close to the port so it’s the first point that many tourists stop by. My first impression of it was - I thought I was in the US! It’s quite often to heard US accent English while walking on the street. I guess Santorini is a popular vacation destination for American.
Walking between houses painted in white felt special and romantic. A kind of flower - bougainvillea definitely brings the romance to another level. Weird. Bougainvillea is actually quite common in Taiwan, but I never found it beautiful here 😅. Now in Santorini, suddenly I felt it attractive. That’s the power of being abroad ha.
White houses with Bougainvillea
Overlooking the coastline of the island
After passing through several gift shops, we reached to a view point (near Holy Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist) that can overlook the coastline of the island. I realized the island is quite high - on the edge, it’s steep cliffs that extend to the ocean; on the top, it’s those beautiful white houses. Since the houses are high up there, it definitely makes sense to paint it white or other lighter colors. Morning Santorini was super hot. But when I touched the white wall, I realized the white color protected the house from haunted by heat devil.
view point in Fira
Enjoying sunset at Airbnb
Even though I’m from tropical, the heat in Santorini still felt so strong that soon I was beat up and fled back to our Airbnb. Finally around 7pm, it started to feel cooler outside. I opened the window of the room, and a picturesque scene was vivid in front of me! White terrace with dark blue ocean and light pink sunset clouds. It was beautiful and romantic.
The view I saw when I opened the window of our Airbnb in the evening
Photo taken from the rooftop of our Airbnb
Yummy Gyros and the main street in the evening
Since the weather was cooler, it was time to head out and be with other human beings. We decided to get some food for dinner first and then head to the main area later. FalafeLAND, a shop labeled as vegan on Google map quickly got my attention, and didn’t let me down! I got a Mushroom Gyros (it’s a greek name and similar to a wrap). The bread is just right (not too dry or too moisturized), the ingredients were rich, and the mayo ties them perfectly. Recommended if you want to have something light 😊.
My mushroom gyro
Apparently, evening Santorini is more vibrant than in the morning (probably because of the heat). I saw couple taking a walk, friends hanging out in groups, and family eating in restaurants. Everyone was enjoining the moments. While walking on a street which is relatively empty but still close to the the main area, I randomly had a thought: “if this was in Taiwan, we probably already had food vendors setting up on 2 sides 😂.” No, I think it’s better to put that idea away and enjoy Santorini kind vibrance;)
Evening Fira
The street that could be setup with food stalls if it’s in Taiwan 😂😅
Stay tuned! A real Santorini exploration starts from next week! 😊😊
