Since this trip was, exceptionally, more of a relaxing vacation, we spent a lot of time at the beautiful pool facilities or by the sea. It is important to know that Santorini has mainly stone beaches, including the one in front of our hotel, which of course did not stop us from swimming in the sea. In June, when we were there, the water had about 22 °C.

But of course we also wanted to explore the island a bit and so we had booked a rental car with which we drove to the small towns of Fira and Oia. The distances on Santorini, which only has a north-south extension of just under 20 km, are very short, so you would have been fine here even with just a scooter. 

Fira, the capital of the island, is located at the edge of the crater at an altitude of about 300m. From there we walked down the 566 steps to the old harbor. Back to we have then chosen the more comfortable alternative, the cable car. The town itself is characterized by its winding alleys, the beautiful view over the caldera and of course numerous restaurants, cafes and souvenir stores.

To Oia, the probably most famous place on the island, we have been twice. Already when entering the promenade, but at the latest when buying a scoop of ice cream for € 3.50, we noticed that this place is clearly more noble than Fira. Also the restaurants became more expensive here, the closer one came to the western end and thus the desired sunset observation places. We therefore decided to enjoy an early dinner with a view of the sea in a restaurant at the beginning of our excursion. We decided for a traditional meal (or at least what we as tourists considered traditional) and so we had gyros with pita and tzatziki.

Afterwards, of course, we followed the crowd to the sunset viewing point. On our first visit to Oia we were "only" about 1h earlier on site, which made the search for a place with a good view a bit more difficult. Therefore, the second time we came even earlier and had the perfect view.