A Weekend in… Santorini

A lot of people say “you are ALWAYS off on holiday” and I guess that’s kind of true… There’s just so many places in the world that are begging to be visited, and rather than staying for one week or more and totally exhausting that country/city/island, hopping across for just a long weekend is a great way of discovering the best bits, whilst still leaving enough places undiscovered for any future work trips/weddings etc. Dubai is the centre of the world travel wise, and especially for Europe, Asia and Africa, there’s plenty of weekend-long excursions just begging to be booked!

What constitutes a long weekend destination? For normal people – I believe it’s max 4 hours away by plane? But I have been known to take the odd 9 hour vacay to Cape Town and Jo’burg… I think the key here is to make sure you’re not crossing too many time zones – that way you won’t lose a day and won’t be too groggy when you get back for work the next morning.

My latest travel adventure was to the sunny white isle of Santorini, Greece. Well, at least it was supposed to be sunny…I have to say, it was a total toss-up between Mykonos and Santorini when we were booking this trip, but a very helpful blog gave us exactly the advice we needed – Santorini has more than you think it does, it isn’t all couples and there are enough bars to keep any singles happy 🙂

Landing in Athens, it was a quick 45 min transfer on Aegean Air to the island, where we were met at the airport by a private chauffeur. A mere 20 mins from the airport is the beautiful capital of Thira – (Fira). We stayed at THE most incredible hotel – The Tsitouras Collection. Seriously – I can see why it’s booked up already for most of the summer – it’s a 5 bedroom ex-mansion on the side of Firostefani (a seriously scenic and beautiful) walking distance from Fira. Each room is dedicated to a different collection of arts. Ours was the room of porcelain. Next door had a Picasso above the bed!

What started off as slightly wet weather – the odd little drizzle, quickly became a brilliant storm! We had just finished our sunset drinks on the balcony as the sight of two water spouts off the coast sent us back to the room to grab warmer clothing (of which I packed none!). Within 5 mins of heading back in, it hit, and it was brilliant! I’m a big fan of a glass of wine and a game or two of cards whilst a storm lashes outside, but this was so dramatic thanks to the white walls and beautifully clean terraces.

Once the storm faded, we headed out for dinner to a lovely local fish restaurant (the oldest on the island). George, who was the son-in-law of the owner of our hotel is the most fantastic guide. He literally had our trip organised for us, which may seem off-putting to people who like the spontentaity of travel, but trust me, he knows best! Everywhere he sent us, we wouldn’t have found without him, and we would want to head back to again. One of the most awesome places we visited was the black volcanic beaches of Perivolos. There was an awesome bar/restaurant called Sea Side that you must visit if you are Santorini bound… Although during the summer, book ahead as the sun beds book up 4x days in advance!

We rented a car (fiat 500 convertible) while we were there (again on George’s advice) which really was a godsend – never mind the rain intervals, we had to get away from all the (license-less) tourists driving around on ATV’s. It also gave us the opportunity to visit Oia for dinner, where there was a cliff side tavern that was another of George’s expert recommendations.

If you’re visiting Santorini, i’d recommend you stay in Firostefani (Fira), shop local (gorgeous jewellery and leather shoes galore) and eat Greek – I’m craving some Tzatziki! A couple of things I don’t reeeeally recommend are 1) The boat trip around the Volcano – it’s long and unless it’s BOILING outside – it will be cold. Also the hot springs – not hot, but the sulphur is supposed to be good for your hair… 2) Greek red wine – bring your own favourites in through duty free… you are likely to be disappointed in the local varieties 😛 or just enjoy the sunset cocktails instead!