Seeking Santorini Advice
 

Hello,

Would anyone be able to offer guidance regarding a visit to Santorini?

Not only would hotel recommendations (or warnings) be welcome, but also
I'd love to hear about experiences with meals, sights and nice places to
simply sit and read and nap and look out over the sea.

Also, has anyone taken the hydrofoil from the mainland? How reliable is
that compared to hopping onto an Olympic Airways flight?

Thanks very much

(If you'd prefer to email me, I'm bill at pdi dot com - thanks again)

Re: Seeking Santorini Advice
 

Spiney Norman wrote in
news:[email protected]:

    > Not only would hotel recommendations (or warnings) be welcome, but
    > also I'd love to hear about experiences with meals, sights and nice
    > places to simply sit and read and nap and look out over the sea.

I recommend to take a short hike or two off the beaten paths. Fira ->
Oia along the caldera (described in many good guide books), or the
peninsula south of Akrotiri would be my recommendations. Both offer
gorgeous views along the way. If you go during summer, don't do this on
your first day, but only after you've been accustomed to the heat a
little. Another often overlooke feat is Therasia, the smaller island in the
archipelago. You can do daytrips there.

Concerning hotels and meals, could you be a bit more specific please?

    > Also, has anyone taken the hydrofoil from the mainland? How reliable
    > is that compared to hopping onto an Olympic Airways flight?

Both fast and regular ferries are fairly reliable. (I don't think there
are a lot of hydrofoils any more, they now have high speed catamarans
and things, which cost approx. twice the regular fare). Delays of a
couple of hours are common. Don't be alarmed or annoyed when they occur,
but do take then into consideration when planning your trip.

Domestic flights are quite unrealiable, since your chances of actually
getting a ticket are very small if you don't book several months in
advance. :)

Regards

--
Jetzt kommt das Wirtschaftswunder

Re: Seeking Santorini Advice
 

Spiney Norman wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > Hello,
    > Would anyone be able to offer guidance regarding a visit to Santorini?
    > Not only would hotel recommendations (or warnings) be welcome, but also
    > I'd love to hear about experiences with meals, sights and nice places to
    > simply sit and read and nap and look out over the sea.
    > Also, has anyone taken the hydrofoil from the mainland? How reliable is
    > that compared to hopping onto an Olympic Airways flight?
    > Thanks very much
    > (If you'd prefer to email me, I'm bill at pdi dot com - thanks again)
The following is based on two or three trips to Santorini.
IMHO the most important thing is to get yourself a room on the caldera side
of the island facing the sea and the sunset. Sunset over the volcanic
caldera is one of the wonders of the world. This means you want to stay in
oia or Fira. I prefer Oia, because it is smaller and has a nice little
harbor with fish restaurants within walking distance, also almost all the
hotels face the caldera.

Lots of reasonable restaurants in Oia, but 1812 is the best, but a little
pricey by Greek standards. In fact most things are relativly expensive in
Santorini.

Things to do include a boat trip to the volcano, a trip to the bronze-age
ruins in the south, but mostly you'll want to just kick back and take in
that spectacular view.

"Reliable" and "Olympic airways" almost never appear in the same sentence,
but the flights are reasonably frequent. I never took the hydrofoil, but
took the ferry once which was OK, but very early.

You'll love it