One Day In Santorini

FINALLY. Here is my LAST post from my study abroad travels. I did a lot of trips, I spent a lot of loooooong weekends hopping all over Europe, and saw and did more things than I could possibly blog about. I took so many pictures that I probably forgot about 90% of them.

I had a blast. I would not trade this experience for anything. I can’t tell you all how much I learned, not only about myself but about others and about living in another country. 

But enough about that (I will reflect on my time abroad in another post). Let’s jump right into Santorini.

We knew we wanted to see Santorini- it was pretty much non-negotiable when we planned our trip to Greece. We booked a really cheap flight out of Athens, where we left early in the morning and came back late that night. It made for a very long day, but by the end of the semester we were pretty used to that. 

100% worth it. I cannot even describe Santorini’s beauty, you just have to see it for yourself. 

Living out all of my ‘Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants’ dreams. 

Our first stop was in Oia, in the northern part of the island. Oia (pronounced ‘eeee-ya’) is what you picture when you think about Santorini. Whitewashed buildings, blue domed roofs, houses stacked on top of winding hills. 

I wish we had stayed in Oia all day, or made it our last stop and stayed for hours. Oia was the most beautiful part, and was more perfect than we had imagined. 

After Oia, we jumped on one of the many buses that rolls around the island every few minutes (note: this got old, and I wish we had rented scooters or ATVs so that we could be more mobile). 

We ended up in Kamari (I think), where the beaches were black like in parts of Hawaii. We walked around and went kayaking (highly recommend), before taking a recommendation to head over to the Red Beach. 

The Red Beach isn’t really a beach, it’s more a rocky inlet that you have to hike to get to, and once you’re there, this is it. Just a small, red clay strip. It’s cool and worth seeing, but not exactly what I would picture as a ‘beach.’

Still regretting not staying in Oia, we headed back into Thira, the main city in Santorini. We wandered up and down the narrow, hilly streets, peeking into shops and waiting for the sun to set over the island. 

I feel in love with Santorini, and I really, really, really want to return. I would love to island hop around, hitting up the small islands that I missed- Hydra, Poros, etc.- and then heading out to Santorini and Mykonos. While I don’t regret my week in Greece, it could have been better planned.

But honestly I’m not complaining. I spent a week in Greece and got to see Santorini, more than most people have done. I loved Greece, it was a beautiful country, everyone was so welcoming and the food was amazing. Currently counting down the days until I return…

And with that, we have reached the end. We spent one day in Salamina and a final day in Athens, visiting last minute sights and shopping around- nothing too blog-worthy. It is crazy to me that I have finally finished all of my study abroad posts, almost 5 months after coming home. But, sometimes things get in the way!

Now that my travel recap posts are done, I’m hoping to delve into all the tips and tricks that I wish I had had before I left. What would you guys like to see? For people studying abroad, what do you want to know before you go?