Hi,
I have been trailing the forum to see if this is already on there.

Does anyone live in Santorini or has lived there?

I am looking to move there next year and i am going out again in 6 weeks. My husband will be setting up a business out there and we are going on a 'business' trip for 2 weeks.
I would love to meet up with someone who has moved there from the Uk and get some advice from someone who has done it.

Many Thanks

kirsty.

Yia sou! I'm afraid the closest I can get you is Rhodes; my DH moved there from the UK and I went there from the US. Hard to believe, but it's been 5 years since we left so I can't offer much in the way of specifics, but we loved our time there!
I guess my standard advice is 'rent, don't buy' and stay flexible. Gaining language was the hardest, but most rewarding thing I did. And the bureaucracy will drive you mad, you just have to laugh and go with it.

Hiyah, yes. I live in Greece. No i am not a chip. What can i assist you with fekkow Brits?

fekko??? i of course meant fellow. Sorry

Hi,
Well it looks like were moving in jan to Santorini. I know that there isnt alot of brits that live there but that doesnt bother me.
Ant advice on moving to the islands would be great, such as:
Fly or drive?
Get removal men to bring things or drive a car here yourself.
Maybe sell everything and buy it out there, even tho i will proberly lose a lot of money selling my things.
i know i will be renting, and we have a few choices when we get there so we can get somewhere furnised no problem.

Also as we live in the Eu, we dont need a visa. When applying for permanent residency any find any problems with it or as im expectiing , long delay and lots of bureaucracy!!?

Thanks,
Kirsty

Hi Kirsty, it's been ages now since he did it, but my husband moved from the UK to a different island. He bought a cargo-style van, packed it full of everything he was moving and drove/ferried the trip.
Used goods are impossible/difficult to find and furniture is expensive on the islands. Renting can be much more economical and sensible than buying; he rented for 8 years there and still had a better deal than buying/building.

While you do not need a visa, you will need a residency card from the police station. It costs less than 5 euro, but you are supposed to register.

I'm non-EU and did need to get a permanent resident's card (valid for 5 years, about 500 euro) and yes, the long delays and lots of bureaucracy was included at no extra charge.
You'd think the village cops would've been sick of seeing me every three days and would have just signed my papers and sent them in.

Hi Kirsty

I have been also thinking of going to Santorini on a permanent basis and I bumped into this thread. I am actually of Greek origin, having spent most of my life in the UK. I have been visiting Santorini every summer for holidays for the last 15 years and have been thinking of making a permanent move there too. My grandfather was actually from Santorini, Oia so I am lucky enough to have a house over there, so renting etc is not an issue for me. I am not sure which village you are thinking of moving to, but you will find that places like Fira, Oia and Imerovigli are more expensive, than all other areas, but they are so much nicer to live in. I will have to agree with Meauxna and also suggest that buy yourself a van and drive yourselves there. As for furniture, obviously you can use some of the stuff you have from the UK, but you will find out that they may not suit the place that much. Buying furniture in Santorini is more expensive than Harrods, so if you really need something the best idea is to buy stuff from Athens and take with you to Santorini. All electronic devices will obviously work there too so you can take everything from the UK with you.

I am not sure f the nature of the business and the tax arrangements you will make, but as far as I am aware of, if you choose to deal with the Greek system, you will need what is called Arithmos Forologikoou Mitroou (Αριθμός Φορολογικού Μητρώου) which is the same thing as National Insurance. AS for Permanent residency, it is fairly straight forward if you are from the EU, but you will find that there is a lot of bureaucracy with everything in Greece. I guess its good to have it, but it will not be the end of the world if you don't get it immediately.

One of my main concerns is if you have animals. I have three cats myself and of course want to take them with me. However, I am sick worried that they will get poisoned in the winter times, as this is an annual tradition of the Greeks for dog and cat population control. Saying that, things have improved slightly with the constant effort of some locals and foreign people and the local charity.

Learning a bit of the Greek language will be a great advantage as greeks will appreciate the effort you are making, but at the same time a lot of people speak adequate english. Another idea is to meet other non UK expats (if that makes sense) leaving there, from the US, Europe, Australia etc and they can share their opinions and give valuable advice.

There is too much information really for such a move and I think I may have gone a bit out of topic. I am too hoping of going to Santorini in January for a few weeks and try to make it permanent. I have been saying that for a few years, but this will be the first time I go there in the winter months.

You can PM if you want and I can offer honest advice and opinions.
If I don't hear from you, I wish you all the best with your move and hope everything goes smoothly.

Alex

Hi Alex,

Thanks for your reply!
Well i hope you do make the move aswell.
Well i wont be living on the west side, as i know a volcano view is expensive, plus i suspect i will be working all the time to enjoy the view so id rather be saving money and have a nice apartment in a small village.
I think we have one set up for when we move, i cant remember the name of the village but i love santorini so it doesnt bother me where i stay!
Thats great you have a house to move too!
You said you were greek but grew up in the UK..? Can u speak greek or were you to young when you moved over?
i learnt a few things when i was in Santorini last month and i think the residents appreciated my efforts with the language!
Im sure i will be fine when im there!

What will you do for work when you are there?

our business is a restaurant. There is 1 already there which we will part own and we are opening another next door, so thats why we are going in the winter so we can start building work on it, so it can open for the cruise ship season.

We did decide on someone taking our things over, but now we are only taking a few bags! its a bit drastic to sell everything but like you said, furniture might not go with the house!
We are putting some of our possessions with friends and family and when we come back to visit we will move a few things over, or maybe if everything goes well in the summer, we will pay someone to move it for us.
We will just take what we need and worry about the rest later!
What will be, will be!
Well i hope you make the decision to move over, you can come to our restaurant! Its in Fira.

You said furniture was expensive, and i looked at the kiea website in athens and it is much more than Uk ikea.. but still cheap compared to most furniture shops in the UK. So if we have any probs, we will just hire a van and go to ikea in Athens proberly.

We are getting rid of our car this month and will buy a small car or scooter when we get there, are you taking a car?

Thanks for messaging me back, there doesnt seem to be alot of people moving to the beautiful Santorini? which i suppose is good, as it keeps house prices low!

Kirsty

Hi Kirsty

Sorry for the long delay but I have been busy the last few weeks. Happy New Year by the way. I am off for three weeks now and have booked my tickets for Tuesday the 12th . I will be staying in Oia for a week or more if I have too. If you have time we can meet for a coffee and have a chat. If not, here is my reply to some of your questions


Actually I was born in England and my parents decided to go back to Greece when I was 4. When I turned 18, I came back in London to study at Uni, met my girlfriend and then got stuck working in London. My greek is fluent/mother tongue and my English is fluent but with a Greek accent.

Believe it or not, my dream was to start a restaurant, lol, as I love coking, but I have been working in the Financial Services and two of my main hobbies are computers and photography. I will hopefully be coming in January to talk with a couple of people about a possible job with computers and see how it goes. I got to a stage in life where I want to enjoy my lifestyle even if the money is not the greatest, but where I will not have to commute daily for two hours in conjested trains.

I was going to suggest to you to be careful with the builders you choose. We had major issues with the first lot where the charged a lot, did a poor job and we had to redo a lot of the things they did again. We were lucky with the second guy as he was very trustworthy and hard working and his standards were above par. Unfortunately he has retired so I can't recommend him anymore.
If you have not yet found people to help with the decorating, make sure you ask more than one person about good builders. NEVER EVER pay upfront the whole ammount for the work, as you may find yourselves running after builders to come and complete the work...

I agree with you. And if you think IKEA is expensive, just you wait until you visit some other furniture stores.... Far too expensive and very poor quality in my opinion. Hiring a van sounds a good plan, but be aware that you will have to do a return trip and that may cost a bit of money for the van. Saying that, I have never seen a van rental business in Santorini, but there must be one or at least I hope so. Just a thought, but back in the early 90s when we got some furniture to Santorini, we had them delievered to the port near the boat and just loaded them in the boat. Then when we got to Santorini we just had another delievery truck to take the stuff to Oia.

If I make the big decision, I was thinking of selling my car and buying a second hand van to move my stuff back and then also fit other things I will need. I can then use it in Santorini for a while or for a retuurn trip to the UK when I want to stock up on things I will miss. Havent decided yet, but it is just a thought.

Just to make you aware of, second hand cars are not as cheap as they are in the UK. They are actually quite pricey and if you are lucky to find something something that is very cheap, then it is most probably on its last legs. Small cars are the norm there as you have probably noticed already and scooters are fine too, but can be a bit dangerous especially if you are not that used to them.
I am afraid I cannot really point you to the right direction of where you can buy cars/scooters, as I have never done so in Greece.

Also if you are going to buy catering equipment for the new restaurant, it would be a good idea to check the prices in Greece and the prices in the UK too. Something tells me Greece is more expensive by far. I am planning to bring over all my Le Creuset pots, Kenwood Chef and magimix, as I know that they will cost me a bomb in greece. Have a look on this company on ebay as they seem to offer a decent price if you choose to send heavy items. I have not used them personally, but I have used similar services from ebay before to send parcels withint he uk.


Not a lot of Brits, yes, but quite a few Europeans/Ausies/ Americans. Renatal prices are a lot cheaper than the Uk but a lot higher than elsewhere in Greece. Property wise, Santorini is one of the most expensive areas in Greece to buy property. From what you have told me, I am guessing you are either mving to Karterados Vothonas or maybe Vourvoulos which are all very near Fira. How much are you paying if you dont mind me asking? TO give you an example, an Assie I know lives in Oia which is on the North East side with fantastic view of the volcano and I think she was paying 600 euros a month for a one bedrom flat.

Just my 1p worth....I used to live on the Island of Corfu and love the Greeks the lifestyle and culture, I have been to Santorini and wish you all the luck its a splendid Island and I am a bit envious lol.