What you need to know when visiting Santorini, Greece

What you need to know when visiting Santorini, Greece

[Music] Santorini is one of the most beautiful islands in Greece. The crescentshaped caldera was formed by a volcanic eruption 3600 years ago. The most popular villages are FRA and Ia. Ia has the famous blue dome churches. Fra has the cable cars and steps. Santorini doesn’t have a dock for cruise ships. This is a tender port, so it gets really crowded here when there are multiple cruise ships visiting on the same day. You can check how many ships will be there on a specific date at what’sinport.com. Thousands of people crowded into narrow walkways gets really chaotic. It’s really crazy in IA to get photos with the blue domes. And again in FRA getting on and off the cable cars. It’s 588 steps to climb up or down if you want to walk it. You can also take a donkey ride. The steps are very slippery and you have to move aside if the mules are there. It’s kind of a nightmare. Add to that having to tender back and forth and it’s hot in the summertime. We booked an excursion to visit Ia and to avoid some of the delays in tendering. We had an early tour called Charming Ia and Winery. We took a tender and got on a motor coach that took us up the hill to Santo Wines. Here’s a look at the main locations we’re visiting in Santorini. We’re taking a tender to Athenos, the ferryport, because they have roads here that can take you all over Santorini. and our wine tasting is up at the top of the cliff. Then we’re going north to Ia where the blue domed churches are. Then we’ll go to Fra, the capital of Santorini. It’s a much larger city. That’s where the cable car and steps are. Most excursions end in Fra, and everyone needs to get back down that hill to get to the tender back to the ship. Here we are at Santo Wines. [Music] They have lots of outdoor seating. They have beautiful views. We enjoyed the local food and wines. [Music] They have a nice gift shop with wine, food, and souvenirs. [Music] Then we got back on the coach and headed 30 minutes north to Ia. [Music] If you have more time here, there is a beautiful 6 and 1/2 mile cliffwalk from Fra to Ia with amazing views. And if you can stay until sunset, Ia has the best sunset views. The village is beautiful, lots of shops and restaurants, but the crowds here are terrible. Everybody is pushing and cutting in on those narrow walkways to get a good view of the blue domed churches. We went near the main photo spot. [Music] Then we did a little shopping and had a local beer. [Music] [Music] We got back on the coach and got dropped off in Fra with cable car tickets to come back down at our leisure. There’s more space, restaurants, and shops here in Fra. We went to Dionis in Atlantis for lunch. We tried the local beers and traditional Greek dishes. We enjoyed it all. [Music] They have a nice courtyard with beautiful views and friendly staff. [Music] We walked around to see more of the village and then we headed to the cable cars. [Music] [Music] Earlier in the day, the line was long and people were cutting in and causing problems. When we got there, they were monitoring to make sure people don’t cut. We thought it might take an hour or two, but the line moved pretty quick. It took us about 35 minutes to get on the cable car and we got right onto the tender, so it wasn’t bad. If you can visit Santorini when there aren’t a lot of ships visiting, it will be a much more relaxing and enjoyable experience. [Music] [Music] Thanks for watching Taste for Travel. Please subscribe for all our latest travel tours, tips, and reviews. Cheers. [Music]

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