Refer to below links for more Santorini April Spring trip blogs:
1. Executive Summary: Executive Summary
2. Day 1 & 2 (Imerovigli): Day 1 & 2 (Imerovigli)
3. Day 2 & 3 (Fira/Firostefani): Day 2 & 3 (Fira/Firostefani) Blog4. Day 3 & 4 (Oia): This Blog5. Day 5 (Pyrgos): Day 5 (Pyrgos) Blog
6. The Most Instagrammable Places in Santorini, Greece:
The Most Instagrammable Places in Santorini
Oia
Average Time Spent: 1 day/2days
Highlights: Most famous among all villages in Oia, boasts as one of the most photographed place around the world, treasure of Santorini, super beautiful and nice view, romantic dining, luxury and private hotel, relaxing stay, main street with souvenirs and shops
Suits: Nature lovers, romantic lovers, luxury hotel lovers, shopping lovers
Personal Star Rating: ★★★★★ (Must Go)
👉 Background & History:
👉 Tips:
👉 Tips:
👉 Tips:
👉 Background & History:
👉 Tips:
👉 Background & History:
👉 Tips:
👉 Tips:
Random Walk @ Oia
👉Spacious cave house for us. All houses are unique in Atrina Canava hotel. For example we have chosen honeymoon suite for our stays, they will choose randomly to you as there are few types of honeymoon suites in the hotel, each with different suite name. For us, we are given Canava suite.
👉 Canava suite is very spacious cave house with a big living room to watch TV, a kitchen with coffee maker machine and free capsules to you, a king bed, and even a small space for us to enjoy reading books in a comfortable sofa, what's more they provide branded bathing amenities for us, their shampoos are from well known brand which is Apivita, not only they are natural ingredients, they smell great too!
👉Hotel staffs are very friendly and accommodating. They helped to carry our heavy luggage down all the staircases from hotel lobby to our room, did the proper housecleaning and brought us breakfast directly to our hotel room. Did I mention that we got a complimentary whole bottle of white wine upon arrival? 💖👍
👉 Background:
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Highlights: Most famous among all villages in Oia, boasts as one of the most photographed place around the world, treasure of Santorini, super beautiful and nice view, romantic dining, luxury and private hotel, relaxing stay, main street with souvenirs and shops
Suits: Nature lovers, romantic lovers, luxury hotel lovers, shopping lovers
Personal Star Rating: ★★★★★ (Must Go)
Where to GO?
Pink Staircases @ Kastro Oia Restaurant
- Kastro Oia restaurant is a famous sunset restaurant which is situated on the cliff of Oia village
- Walk the trail on the way to Amoudi Bay
- Before the 300 steps which leads you to Amoudi Bay, you will see this pink staircases on your right hand side
👉 Tips:
- Go for early in the morning if want to avoid all crowds
- During peak season, this place will be full of tourists, so those who want to take a good photo of yourself only, can avoid during the famous sunset hours
Amoudi Bay
👉 Background & History:
- Tiny fishing port located about 300 steps below the Oia town
👉 How to Reach:
- Look for Kastro Oia pink houses
- A pathway with 300 steps staircases just beside the Kastro Oia pink houses will lead you to Amoudi Bay
- There is steps number written on the staircases as well
👉 Tips:
- Best photo spot is the one at the end which overlooks the red volcanic rock and white buildings of Oia at the top of the cliff, together with the beautiful Aegean sea view
- The staircases are quite filled with donkey shits, please beware when you make any move! 😁
- Don't make your 300 steps go wasted, book yourself a nice sunset seafood restaurant here in Amoudi Bay! The spectacular view and eating just beside the Aegean sea, together with the most famous sunset, you can really spend few hours of your time here! Scroll down for restaurant recommendation in Amoudi Bay
Byzantine Castle Ruins
👉 Background & History:
- A great viewpoint to enjoy panoramic view of Oia villages, cliff, Aegean sea
- A remains of 15th century castle between Oia and Ormos
- Boasts the most beautiful sunset viewpoint spot in the world
- Listed as one the most photographed place in the world
👉 How to Reach:
- Walk to the end of Oia village, turn left hand side and go up staircases to the castle
👉 Tips:
- Best photography advice: Come here 2 hours before sunset time (non peak season) and 4 hours before sunset time (peak season) to grab the first row best spot which overlooks the stunning sunset view and avoid all crowds in your photos
- Photos with angles overlooking Oia's windmill, white buildings, Aegean sea and beautiful sky as below are the first row best spot point of view. FYI, we arrived here 2 hours before sunset time and so lucky, we secured the last available spot! Can you really imagine the crazy crowd daily to see the best sunset view of the world? 😲
- We stay from evening till night. Both have different kinds of vibes which are charming in it's own way. What's more there is a person who is singing and playing guitar on the spot, so you can enjoy the relaxing and much more romantic atmosphere.
- During the evening, Oia has the most romantic scene which is a mixture of windmill, white houses, cliff, boat, port, Aegean sea and etcetera. We watch the sun slowly falling on the horizon, and hear a loud cheering at the end when sky turns dark. Everyone is clapping the hands to give applause to this spectacular sunset view in Oia.
- When night is here, Oia becomes more romantic, when the little houses turn on the light slowly. The golden light starts to sparkle just like stars on the sky. On top of that, swimming pools in Oia hotels which have the soft blue light are being turned on as well, which makes me falling in love with these soft yet romantic night scene more than sunset hours.
The Sunset Windmill
👉 Background & History:
- Traditional cycladic style windmill used formerly in Santorini
- Has been transformed to a modern accommodation for travelers in Oia
👉 How to Reach:
- When you walk to the end of Oia village, turn to left hand side will lead you to Byzantine Castle Ruins. Turn to right hand side and walk further down the road will lead you to The Sunset Windmill
- Book the accommodation early if you are going in peak season
- This is closed when we visited in end April 2019, it seems like some renovation is ongoing, but we have a chance to take some beautiful photos outside
Meteor Cafe
👉 Background & History:
- Small and charming cafe which is the coolest and favorite bar among travelers in Oia
👉 How to Reach:
- Walk along the main street in Oia and walk your way to Byzantine Castle Ruins
- At the start of the walking trail, you will see this cute building at your left hand side
👉 Tips:
- Best spot to take the photo is outside of the cafe. The special exterior outlook of the cafe which boasts the soft blue and cute pink colors definitely make it an insta-worthy photo during your trip!
Atlantis Books
👉 Background & History:
- Listed as one of the world's most beautiful bookshop to visit in your lifetime
- Unique artful store fulls of fiction and non-fiction books in Greek, French, English, Spanish, Chinese and more languages for your discovery
👉 How to Reach:
- On the main shopping street of Oia
👉 Tips:
- Best spot to take photo is the outside of the bookstore. The store is at the underground, just walk few staircases down to visit it. Where else can we get such a cute exterior look of bookstore in the world? It is so Greek style as well!
3 Blue Domes
👉 Background & History:
- Most famous spot in Oia, you must check in here because this is the real stuff in Santorini!
- Listed as one the most photographed place in the world
👉 How to Reach:
- From Panagia Platsani (main square in Oia), turn right and walk down the main street
- Keep walking for few minutes and look out for a jewelry shop called Bvlgari Alexandros
- Right before the Alexandros jewelry shop, there is a small pathway on your left hand side
- Walk down the small pathway and you will reach a dead end which you can choose to turn only left or right, both also overlook the 3 Blue Domes
👉 Tips:
- If you prefer to have a zoomed-out view of the 3 blue domes photos, then turn left hand side
- If you want to have a closer look of the 3 blue domes photos, then turn right hand side
- If you don't know how to make a decision, go to both sides! See which queue is shorter then take photos at that side 1st before heading to the next one! 😂
- If you want to take the photo of cute pink and blue dome together, then you need to go up the main street and walk further down the road
Panagia Platsani
👉 Background & History:
- The main square of Oia, closest attraction from the Oia's bus station
👉 How to Reach:
- From Oia's bus station, turn to left hand side and walk down the road for few minutes
- You will know you reach here because it is always crowded, we see couples pre-wedding shooting here too, and places for you to sit and take a rest, you will easily recognize the main square
👉 Tips:
- Always crowded, so come here in the early morning if want to take proper photos
Agia Ekaterini Church
👉 Background & History:
- One of the church in Oia
👉 How to Reach:
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When you walk to the end of Oia village, turn to left hand side will lead you to Byzantine Castle Ruins. Turn to right hand side and walk further down the road will lead you to here
👉 Tips:
- Not so many people crowded here for photo, can come here anytime you like, but best to come in early morning to have the photo all to yourself
- Stand at the end overlooking Aegean sea is the best photo spot
Saint George Church
👉 Background & History:
- One of the church in Oia
👉 How to Reach:
- When you walk to the end of Oia village, turn to left hand side will lead you to Byzantine Castle Ruins. Turn to right hand side and walk further down the road will lead you to here
👉 Tips:
- Not so many people crowded here for photo, can come here anytime you like, but best to come in early morning to have the photo all to yourself
- Stand at the end overlooking Aegean sea is the best photo spot
Saint George Church
👉 Background & History:
- One of the Greek Orthodox church in Oia
👉 How to Reach:
-
At the beginning of Oia village, nearer to the hotel that we stay, but is a bit walking distance to the most crowded street in Oia
👉 Tips:
- Not so many people crowded here for photo, can come here anytime you like
- Santorini unique soft yellow church, is different compared to most of the white color church in Santorini island
👉 Background & History:
- One of the Greek Orthodox church in Oia
👉 How to Reach:
- At the beginning of Oia village, nearer to the hotel that we stay, but is a bit walking distance to the most crowded street in Oia
👉 Tips:
- Not so many people crowded here for photo, can come here anytime you like
- Santorini unique soft yellow church, is different compared to most of the white color church in Santorini island
Parque Oya
👉 Background & History:
- Oia's most famous park, although the area is not big, but there are a lot of couples come here for pe-wedding photoshooting, especially for the blue white church and tower bell
👉 How to Reach:
-
At the beginning of Oia village, nearer to the hotel that we stay, but is a bit walking distance to the most crowded street in Oia
👉 Tips:
- Not so many people crowded here for photo, can come here anytime you like
- One of the must shooting place for a lot of couples
👉 Background & History:
- Oia's most famous park, although the area is not big, but there are a lot of couples come here for pe-wedding photoshooting, especially for the blue white church and tower bell
👉 How to Reach:
- At the beginning of Oia village, nearer to the hotel that we stay, but is a bit walking distance to the most crowded street in Oia
👉 Tips:
- Not so many people crowded here for photo, can come here anytime you like
- One of the must shooting place for a lot of couples
Random Walk @ Oia
👉Just get lost in Oia! And you will come to these kinds of surprises awaiting you!
Where to STAY?
👉Tips during hotel booking:
➤ Please take note on the reviews or comments left from visitors in each hotel and look at the photos so you not come to any surprise during your vacation, especially a lot hotels which are located in the main street of Oia may not have full privacy as what you have expected, such as pedestrians may pass by the staircases nearby your room and so on.
➤ If you are a person who loves the lively village with the must go attractions especially for 1st timer, you can consider to stay in Oia. (most expensive and famous village)
➤ If you are a person who loves the lively village and loves to hunt for cheap souvenirs, you can consider to stay in Fira. (main village nearest to the main bus stop from airport and has the cheapest souvenirs among all)
➤ If you are a person who loves quiet, adores privacy and do not mind to travel a while from Oia (the most famous village) or Fira (the main shopping village), then you can consider to stay in Imerovigli. (not as crazily far as Oia village, only about 10 minutes away from Fira village by car or bus)
Atrina Canava 1894
➤ Please take note on the reviews or comments left from visitors in each hotel and look at the photos so you not come to any surprise during your vacation, especially a lot hotels which are located in the main street of Oia may not have full privacy as what you have expected, such as pedestrians may pass by the staircases nearby your room and so on.
➤ If you are a person who loves the lively village with the must go attractions especially for 1st timer, you can consider to stay in Oia. (most expensive and famous village)
➤ If you are a person who loves the lively village and loves to hunt for cheap souvenirs, you can consider to stay in Fira. (main village nearest to the main bus stop from airport and has the cheapest souvenirs among all)
➤ If you are a person who loves quiet, adores privacy and do not mind to travel a while from Oia (the most famous village) or Fira (the main shopping village), then you can consider to stay in Imerovigli. (not as crazily far as Oia village, only about 10 minutes away from Fira village by car or bus)
Atrina Canava 1894
What We Love?
👉At the beginning of Oia main walking street, which means you are not too far away from the hustle and bustle, yet quiet enough to have private moment with your loves one. (Note: Those hotels located in the Oia main walking street are not truly private, as pedestrians may walk by your hotel, so you may not have 100% privacy if you use the outdoor jacuzzi. Some hotels do have the limited access to only the lodgers who stay in the hotel.)
👉Spacious cave house for us. All houses are unique in Atrina Canava hotel. For example we have chosen honeymoon suite for our stays, they will choose randomly to you as there are few types of honeymoon suites in the hotel, each with different suite name. For us, we are given Canava suite.
👉 Canava suite is very spacious cave house with a big living room to watch TV, a kitchen with coffee maker machine and free capsules to you, a king bed, and even a small space for us to enjoy reading books in a comfortable sofa, what's more they provide branded bathing amenities for us, their shampoos are from well known brand which is Apivita, not only they are natural ingredients, they smell great too!
👉Hotel staffs are very friendly and accommodating. They helped to carry our heavy luggage down all the staircases from hotel lobby to our room, did the proper housecleaning and brought us breakfast directly to our hotel room. Did I mention that we got a complimentary whole bottle of white wine upon arrival? 💖👍
More details of the hotel?
👉 Hotel Name: Atrina Canava 1894
👉 Hotel Room Type: Honeymoon Suite with Outdoor Heated Jacuzzi (Canava Suite)
👉 Stay Duration: 1 night (28/4/2019 - 29/4/2019)
👉 Total Cost (for 2 people per night): SGD511
👉 Booking Website: https://www.booking.com/hotel/gr/atriva-canava-1894.en-gb.html
👉 Hotel Rating in Website: 9.5/10 (Exceptional)
👉 Personal Rating: 4.5⭐ (Recommended)
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| Cheers to our last night in this beautiful Santorini island! 敬美丽圣岛的最后一夜 |
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| The breakfast which got a good review online, although they don't have too much varieties, but the food quality really is good! 酒店早餐得到了很多网上的一致好评，虽然不会太多样化，但胜在食物品质都很棒！ |
Where to EAT?
Some of the recommendations which I feel truly good as listed below:
👉 Background:
Melenio Cafe
- Pastry shop to serve dessert and beverages
- Receive very good online review regarding the magnificent view and nice dessert
- Tripadvisor shows Certificate of Excellence Winner from 2016 to 2019 (Rating 4 among 740 reviews, as of Mar 2020)
👉 Operating Hours:
👉 Tips:
- Daily 9am - 11.45pm
👉 Tips:
- Remember to try baklava and kataifi if you are interested in Greek dessert, they are super sweet though 😆
- Order dessert and drink for each person is compulsory if you want to sit at the corner seats which overlooking the beautiful Aegean sea coastal view together with the famous blue domes.
- There are underground cafe and terrace cafe available. Both of them are usually packed with tourists especially the terrace which offers the beautiful view. So if you want to visit, please be patient to queue for your turn, and bad thing is they don't accept any reservation, so just walk in and enjoy!
- My best tea time moment ever in my lifetime with the insanely beautiful view!
Ammoudi Fish Tavern
- Serve Greek Mediterranean and seafood cuisine
- Receive very good online review regarding the fresh seafood and beautiful view
- Tripadvisor shows Certificate of Excellence Winner from 2016 to 2019 (Rating 4 among 1978 reviews, as of Mar 2020)
👉 Operating Hours:
- Daily 11am - 1pm (Note: Only opens from April to October)
👉 Tips:
- Visit for sunset dinner and you will be blown away by the view of the restaurant which is situated at Amoudi Bay with the red big rocks, white washed buildings, blue Aegean sea, sunset, and boats view.
- Reserve 1 month in advance if you want to have front row table seating for the best lunch or dinner experience, which is just literally beside the ocean!
- Go to the official website to do the reservation. You need to pay 10 Euro for the table booking. It will be forfeited if you do not attend the reservation. The table booking fees will be deducted from your total bill and you just need to pay for the rest. It is just to ensure we do not stand up the appointment, as their tables are often fully booked especially during sunset time.
- Super amazing view with quite a steep price especially for fresh seafood which they count by weight. (Price: $$$)
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| The water is so so so so so clear!!! It is a blessings to be able to sit in the front row seating, just directly beside the Aegean sea! 这爱琴海的水也太清澈了吧！能坐在爱琴海旁边吃一餐，真是一个福气啊! |
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| This ocean is just beside us! My feet can even touch it if I want to! 这爱琴海就在隔壁！如果要的话，我的脚还可以动到勒！ |
Karma
👉 Background:
- Serve Greek and European cuisine
- Receive very good online review regarding the good delicious food, nice atmosphere and friendly service
- Tripadvisor shows Certificate of Excellence Winner from 2016 to 2019 (Rating 4.5 among 991 reviews, as of Mar 2020)
👉 Operating Hours:
- Daily 9am - 11.30pm
👉 Tips:
- Hidden restaurant at the quiet alley in Oia, just off the main walking street.
- We have the most special dinner here in Oia and perhaps the whole Santorini! The delicacies are prepared beautifully with a twist of Greek and European menu, it almost feel like fine dining experience here.
- I got my eyes fixed on Kataifi prawns, we know kataifi is a famous Greek dessert, I wonder how they will use this concept to cook with prawns, indeed they fried the kataifi to become crispy and wrapped the prawns inside, which is truly special! Kudos to the innovative team! My husband has the tastiest dinner here with his flavorful meat dinner.
- Reserve in advance through the official website as this restaurant is truly famous among travelers due to the well raved high quality of foods served here.
- No view here, but it comes in a cozy seating for you, especially the garden courtyard view which is often fully booked, and romantic candlelit will be given in every tables at night, the price is slightly price (Price: $$-$$$)
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| Appetizer recommended by them 他们极力推荐的前菜 |
Lycabettus Restaurant
👉 Background:
- Serve Greek Mediterranean, European and seafood cuisine
- Receive very good online review regarding the michelin stars food, romantic atmosphere, high end restaurant, special occasion celebration and impeccable service
- Tripadvisor shows Certificate of Excellence Winner from 2017 to 2019 (Rating 4.5 among 413 reviews, as of Mar 2020)
👉 Operating Hours:
- Please check with the hotel directly if interested
👉 Tips:
- A top notch and probably the most expensive and most romantic fine dining restaurant in Oia! It is located in Andronis Luxury Suites hotel
- The most beautiful balcony to dine in the world
- Dine on the edge of the cliff with infinity Aegean sea view surrounding you
- Reserve thousand years in advance! Especially for the lovebird seating! There is only a table provided at the edge of the restaurant, and it has the most private and romantic table setting in Oia or even Santorini!
- Perfect for special occasion celebration, be it honeymoon, anniversary or even proposal. Impress your loves one and you will have a truly memorable night for your lifetime.
- Perfect ambiance, perfect view, perfect table, perfect romance, and the price is perfectly high too, well once in a lifetime right! (Price: $$$$)
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| Credit to Lycabettus official website |
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| Credit to Lycabettus official website |
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| Credit to Tripadvisor |
Refer to below links for more Santorini April Spring trip blogs:1. Executive Summary: Executive Summary
2. Day 1 & 2 (Imerovigli): Day 1 & 2 (Imerovigli)
3. Day 2 & 3 (Fira/Firostefani): Day 2 & 3 (Fira/Firostefani) Blog4. Day 3 & 4 (Oia): This Blog5. Day 5 (Pyrgos): Day 5 (Pyrgos) Blog
6. The Most Instagrammable Places in Santorini, Greece:
The Most Instagrammable Places in Santorini
Oia wanderlust ends here! Interested to venture more of Santorini? Refer to the links for other posts! Please share with me if you have any comments or inquiries. Follow me in Facebook and Instagram to get updated on new blog posts and photos too! Xoxo 💗
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💗 Author: Ng Mei Lian/ Adrian Yeoh Aun Hong
👉 Date: 27/4/2019 - 29/4/2019
