Top things to do on Santorini Island

Visit the town of Oia

This is personally my favourite town in Santorini. It is overwhelming how beautiful the view is from here. I highly recommend staying in this area when visiting Santorini.

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Ride a quad bike to Ammoudi Bay

My friend and I accidentally stumbled upon this small village and were amazed to discover it was used for some of the movie Sisterhood of the Travelling pants 2. It is a fishing village and has around 5 cute restaurants with tables looking over the bay. To get here – keep driving through the town of Oia and you will come across a sign directing you where to go. *Beware parking is a nightmare so best to take a scooter or a quad bike!

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Visit the Ancient town of Thera

Ancient Thera dates back to the 9th Century BC and has the most amazing views of the Island!

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Perissa Beach

A black sand beach with cute artsy souvenier shops, cafes and restaurants. After a hard mornings shopping, you can spend the afternoon lounging on the beach with free wifi and a food and drinks menu. *Usually 5 euros to rent a lounge chair

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Volcanic Crater Tour

A MUST do while in Santorini. The tour includes a boat ride to the island of Nea Kameni where the volcano is located (on a ship – how cool is that!?), there you have the opportunity to walk to the top of the crater, where you get to see Santorini from afar, and briefly learn about the history of the volcano. Afterwards you can go swimming in the hot springs that were created thousands of years ago, then you sail to Thirasia Island, where you can eat in the small taverns near the port, swim, or visit the village of Manolas on the top of Thirasia.

I did my tour with – click here

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Red Beach

This beach is well known for its colour, hence the name. It can be reached either by boat or by foot, lounge chairs are available for rent to lie on the beach. Be prepared to pay for one as the sand is very rocky. Awesome place to visit, surrounded by red cliffs and clear water.

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Try traditional greek food

When in Greece, you must try traditional food. Santorini was my first stop in Greece and I couldn’t wait to try it all. Baklava is my favourite – a sweet nut filled pastry. If you’re on a budget and can’t dine out for all meals like me, kebabs are only around 2 euros.

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Watch the sun set in Oia

Follow the signs in the town of Oia and park yourself up to watch the sun set. It is a breathtaking thing to watch, but I recommend getting their early to secure yourself a spot as it gets quite busy.

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Ride a donkey

Last but not least – have a go at the locals mode of transport and ride a donkey!

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Sleeping Beauty’s Castle – Schloss Neuschwanstein

Whilst visiting a friend in Munich a while back, we took the opportunity to head out on a road trip to Schloss Neuschwanstein – One of the most famous Castles in all of Europe.

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Schloss Neuschwanstein was created by King Ludwig II “The Fairy-Tale King’ of Bavaria. Construction began in 1869 and was never finished, due to the sudden death of Ludwig II in 1886. It ended up being used as a model for Walt Disney’s Sleeping Beauty Castle.

The Palace was intended as a private retreat for the King but became open to the public on his death.

The best view of the Castle is from Marienbrucke (Mary’s Bridge in English), which is just a 10 minute walk from the Castle grounds. Marienbrucke is located over Pöllat Gorge and above a waterfall.

The Castle tours are offered at set times only and have limits on numbers, so I suggest you reserve your tickets online. 

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Unfortunately we made the mistake of trying to aquire our tickets on arrival and didn’t manage to book a tour until 4pm (we had arrived there at 11am!). Luckily we had noticed a sign for the Tegelberg-cable car on our way in, and decided to venture in that direction.

This ended up being a fantastic journey with spectacular views from atop the Ammer Mountains.

The ride to the top takes about 10 minutes and takes you to a height of 2,150 meters, with marvellous views of Schloss Neuschwanstein on your way. From here you can either perch yourself at the cafe, watch paraglider’s jump off into the horizon, or wander around the tracks.

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