How to holiday in Santorini, Greece

Flights & Accommodation

Our deal included both flights and accommodation to Santorini however we picked the perfect spot for us to be able to explore the whole island. We flew in from Bristol and landed at Santorini National Airport (JTR). Part of the package included coach travel to our residency in Perissa

Quadbike Rental

- Where we got the bike

We got the quadbike from Mike's Bikes in Perissa, where we were staying. Prices were great and the handover process was easy. You have to sign up, show that you can drive it, provide your licence and get your helmets.

At one point during the driving test, I thought the woman was telling me to drive faster but it turns out she wasn't. I still don't know to this day what she wanted me to do but I got through with flying colours which allowed us to explore the whole island easily.

Parking is really simple around the island as you can park in most places on the side of the road. There are however multiple carparks dotted around the island that you can use if you so wish.

Price

The price of the quadbike was roughly €150 for five days. We thought it'd be best to begin our rent on the second day, so that we could chill out a bit upon arrival. The payment was easy however cash only, so we had to go to a nearby cashpoint to get cash. They did however let us return the next day to pay.

Do also note that you have to cover the cost of the petrol however you can get to the other side of the island and back with plenty left in the tank. It cost about €15 to fill up the entire tank and I think we did it two or three times during our visit. The petrol station we used was AEGAN. They also have a toilet to the left side of the building if you need it before a trip out!

Travel times around Santorini

You can reach anywhere in Sanotirini relatively easily if you have a mode of transport available. There is also a bus service that runs on the island however we did not use this. We only used pre-booked coaches to certain locations, one was the trip to the volcanic island in the centre of the caldera.

To drive from Perissa to the most northern part of the island, it took about 45 minutes. The mountain in the middle of the island has only a few routes around it which adds to travel time.

Where To Eat

There's lots of great food around the island. In Perissa we were walking distance from the black sand beach where there were a lot of westernised restaurants allowing for your fish and chips etc however they also had some great seafood and other items on offer. Be warned, if you like souvlaki and baklava, there's plenty to go around.

Some of the best souvlaki we had was at Gyros Place, we also went to To Souvlaki Tou Papou which while by the roadside (quite noisy) was also delicious and open late.

When in the big towns you can just enjoy whatever catches your eyes, restaurants can be wildly different but most of them have beautiful scenes, nice food and lovely staff.

Places To Visit

We went on a journey around the island in an attempt to catch everything we could. This included trips to:

Thirasia

Oia Thera

Mount Profitis Ilias

Akrotiri

Nea Kameni islands

Volcanic Island

Lost city of Akrotiri

Skaros Rock

Things of note

Does Santorini have drinking water?

There is no fresh drinking water available from taps. You must provide you own drinking water however you can get it quite cheap at most shops.

Does Santorini have Donkeys?

They do, don't use them. They are mistreated, over worked, whipped, malnourished and abused. They are primarily there so that tourists who arrive from cruise ships can scale the difficult, steep and long terrain easier. You can read more here.

Are there cats on Santorini?

If you like cats, you're in luck. Santorini is riddled with stray cats that are mostly friendly and looking for a bit of food or water. Don't disrupt should they wish to not be disturbed, nor mistreat them. There are roughly 14,000 cats that die on the Santorini Caldera each year.