Day 1:
We arrived at Santorini (Thira) International Airport early afternoon. After picking up our rental car we drove to our hotel (Avant Garde Suites) in Akrotiri. After freshening up we decided to have lunch near Kamari Beach.
Greece had just reopened post-covid and many places in Santorini were still closed (or work being done for reopening). We were lucky to find Soul By Splash restaurant open, right on Kamari Beach. It was amazing having wonderful food while hearing waves a few feet away.
After lunch, we walked along Kamari Beach but the very cold water along with rough pebbles on the beach dissuaded us from staying longer here.
Next we drove back to Akrotiri and proceeded to Red Beach.
Seeing all the boulders along the path, as well as numerous posted warning signs about landslides, we decided to just look at it from a distance.
We drove back to our hotel and enjoyed the sunset from the pool deck. Later in the evening we walked to nearby restaurant, Theofanis for dinner.
We had an amazing meal at Theofanis. The eggplant with feta was good but what made the meal was the delicious lamb shank with sweet potato puree.
Day 2:
The 2 most important towns for sightseeing in Santorini are Oia and Fira. On our first day we drove from our hotel in Akrotiri to Oia. Sometimes you have to drive a bit around town to find free parking spots.
We did not want to do the very popular but long/hot hike between Fira and Oia and just decided to walk around Oia and enjoy the beautiful cliffs, caldera and the white hotels on the rim of the caldera.
It was quite hot outside and without much breeze we were getting tired walking around. We decided to stop by a restaurant to get some rest and shade. We found Lotza Restaurant by the cliffs which offered some great views. We ordered some homemade lemonade (which was very tasty and refreshing albeit 5 Euro/glass).
After some more walking around we were hungry and stopped by Pitogyros for lunch.
After lunch, we drove back to our hotel and spent the rest of the afternoon by the pool.
Late afternoon we enjoyed the sunset with some wine and baklavas from Grigoris bakery.
Day 3:
We drove from our hotel to Fira early in the morning.
Fira had a lot of hotels on the caldera, similar to Oia, but the views were not as pretty. We walked around for about a couple of hours.
We stopped by Falafeland for some delicious falafel.
After lunch, we drove back to the hotel and spent the rest of the afternoon again by the pool.
Late in the evening we walked to nearby Portobello restaurant. We ordered a plate of Tzatziki with pita bread and Kalogeros (eggplant with meat). Both the items were very delicious and the chef/owner offered us some complimentary Tiramisu ice-cream.
After spending 3 nights at Santorini, we left for the island of Naxos by ferry the next day.