Well the trip has started off a bit rough 🙁 we arrived at Santorini airport early in the morning from Athens. Then we took a 20€ taxi for 7mins and arrived at our accomodation with no receptionist there to greet us. We had to wait something like 10mins before someone came out to us only to be told we would have to wait 3 hours before checking in.

Allergies and a trip to the doctor’s

At this point, we had realised we both had red welts that were itchy. Much worse for me following my allergic reaction in Plitvice. So we went to the pharmacy and I legit passed through three different people for all of them to gasp and be shocked at the condition of my skin. They didn’t quite know whether it was an allergic reaction or bug bites and that made me worried.

So we went to the Santorini Clinic for me to get checked out, hoping it would go away soon so we could enjoy the beautiful Santorini island.

My doctor gave me an injection to help ease the rashes but it instead gave me immense pain and I admit I have such a low pain threshold that I almost went into shock.

Eventually the pain subsided and I was good to go.

Villa Soula

You know when you open the door to new accomodation and the tone of the trip is literally determined on whether it’s a good first impression or not? Well our accomodation was such an upgrade from our last hostel where it felt like we were attacked by bed bugs, that we failed to see the smaller details which would actually be annoying.

The shower head was broken, the towels were too stiff and all these small things. But it was still a roof over our heads and it was super cheap and under budget for us. It came out to 240€ for 3 nights, and between us two that is 120€ equivalent to about $200aud.

If you aren’t a stickler for details, Villa Soula is not bad! You can rent beach towels for free and they can organise ATV hires and airport transfers. It is also basically in the centre of Fira which can be reached by foot within 5-10mins.

The receptionist gave us a map of the island which was super helpful for us to plan out our next 3 days.

We would go onto explore the Fira town centre on the first day. Go to Ammoudi Bay and Oia for cliff jumping and the sunset respectively on the second day. And beach hopping around the south of the island on the third day (see map below).

Renting an ATV

The best way to explore the island is either by car, buggy or ATV (which is a four wheeled quad suitable for 2 people).

We hired an ATV by asking our hotel. We told them how long we needed it for and they organised the rest. We rented a 310cc motor which is the third strongest engine category (you don’t really want anything weaker otherwise you won’t move on the roads and that’s dangerous!).

It came out to be 45€ a day + gas. To fill up gas go to any gas station and the attendants will fill it up for you – just tell them how much you want to spend. A hint for this is, you don’t need to fill the tank up the whole way (20€ for a whole tank of about 10L). Half a tank will suffice for two days if you take similar routes and trips as us. Simply ask the attendant to fill it up by 10€.

Walking around Fira Town Centre

After my trip to the doctor’s, we actually took a much needed nap following our 3:30am wake up in Athens.

I honestly don’t mind waking up later or even going out later in the European summer, because it is way too hot to go out during the day haha it is actually so much cooler and more bearable after the sun goes down.

But I digress. We managed to make it to the caldera in Fira and snap some shots.

We saw donkeys as part of the tourist trade being used to transport people across the town. They looked so sad 🙁

We did a bit more shopping – me on my search for Birkenstocks that fit me was to no avail again 🙁 but I found a really nice sunhat that has been brilliant – and was only 10€. As well as some Rayban knock-off sunnies with a rose pink reflective lens and aviator style that I fell in love with at the airport but could not afford. So the 12€ sunnies were good enough for me! [see below with the accessories from day 2].

I’ve also been pretty sad that the distressing on the right side of my shorts below have been falling. But I cannot expect anything more from $10 cotton on shorts haha I just love the wash and fit. If anyone knows any brands that do shorts like the ones I’m wearing below – let me know please!!

Dinner at Argo

We then had to make a choice for dinner. We had two recommendations given to us by our accomodation – Argo and Mama’s House (both had good recommendations).

We found ourselves closer to sunset (around 8:30pm here) and we were getting tired and hungry. As we walked along the coast, there were so many restaurants trying to lure us inside with their views and food options. But upon reading the google reviews none of them seemed that great.

We finally settled on Argo and found ourselves at a small table to the side. You can reserve a seat on the roof which will give you better access to the sunset – but we walked in and also enjoyed a sunset with our dinner. At first the shade was down and I was afraid we wouldn’t be able to see the sunset – but the did put up the blinds and it was a magical sight to end day 1.