One thing I absolutely loved about our Honeymoon in Greece is that it just kept getting better and better.  If you haven’t yet, head over and read about how fabulous Athens and Mykonos were.

From Mykonos we headed to Santorini via high speed ferry called Sea Jet. It took just under two hours and was a very smooth ride.  We were so excited as we pulled in to the port in Santorini.  As you arrive there are swarms of tourists, buses, taxi’s, and rental car booths.  I would suggest coordinating a private transfer with your hotel which most will be happy to do. Because Santorini is literally all built on top of a volcanic ridge you have quite the journey to get up to where everything is.  It looks like this…

And then on to the good stuff.  We arrived at our little boutique hotel, Altana Traditional Houses, after walking through what felt like a cliff-side maze of white washed walls.   As we turned the corner to walk in to the lobby, our jaws dropped, and stayed that way for the next five days pretty much.

We were so warmly welcomed by the staff at Altana.  They gave us a little orientation of the island, the hotel, and things to do while we sipped on a delicious local wine. 

Altana is located in the village of Imerovigli, the highest village on the caldera side of Santorini.  We absolutely loved staying here!  Not to mention how quaint and surreal it is staying in these cave-house suites.  We loved our room and it wasn’t even the honeymoon suite!

Our hotel was also just steps away from Skaros Rock.  So our first afternoon we decided to hike out to it and really take in the view.  Literally every single corner you turn on Santorini is breathtaking.

Talk about a view!

Our first night on Santorini we of course had to watch the world renowned sunset.  A lot of visitors flock the the village of Oia to watch the sunset but we were perfectly pleased by our view right at our own hotel.

It’s like the entire island just stops for the sunset.  It was one of the most beautiful and peaceful things I’ve ever witnessed.

One thing that I was really excited to do in Santorini was hike to Oia.  The villages of Fira, Firostefani, Imerovigli, and Oia are all connected by a cliff-side path.  It took just under three hours to hike from Imerovigli to Oia.  We started pretty early in the morning to beat the mid-day heat. It was a beautiful hike, a good challenge at times, and so so rewarding when you arrive in Oia!

We arrived in Oia!

Oia is gorgeous!  It is at the tip of Santorini and famous for it’s marble walkways, high end shops, and astonishing sunsets.  We were a bit sweaty from our hike so buzzed through it, knowing we would come back to visit for dinner.

Now one of my favorite places on the island of Santorini came next.  We walked all the way to the very far tip of Oia and then down 250 steps to get there!  This is the stunning Amoudi Bay!

Once we finally made it down here we thought we were reward ourselves.  This was one of our favorite meals on Santorini!  The freshest grilled octopus and prawns that I’ve ever tasted from the restaurant Katina’s.

After lunch we walked around the cliff to the hidden spot that I head read about on a blog.  We found a little secret hang out where people were enjoying the sun, swimming, or even cliff jumping off the rocks.

The next adventure we embarked on in Santorini was a day exploring the vineyards on the island (there are about 30!).  Our tour was very intimate with only one other couple and a local woman who took us in her own car!

The following we day we set out on a sunset cruise aboard the Dreamcatcher with Santorini Sailing.  It took us snorkeling, gave us lunch, and cruised past the Red Beach to watch the sunset over the Aegean Sea.  It was awesome…obviously!

On our final day we decided to rent a car and explore the other side of the island where the beach towns are.  We stopped at Perissa, one of the black sand beaches and grabbed a mid afternoon cocktail.

On our last very bittersweet night in Santorini we enjoyed the Sunset at our hotel again.  We will definitely be back Santorini!

Let me know if you have any questions about visiting on your own.  There so many great details and things to know and I just couldn’t possibly fit them in to one post.