Santorini Weekend

After the crazy time away in Singapore and Dubai, Mr B and I took a break from everything and cut ourselves off from social media for a little while. 
Between engagement parties and sorting plans, we didn't have much time for anything else.
One thing we had decided on, was that to get over that holiday - we'd soon need another!


Santorini images seemed to be everywhere at the time so we thought we'd see what all the fuss was about!
After an early morning wake up call, we shot to Gatwick airport ready for our Easy jet flight (I actually really rate Easy jet) to the island of Santorini. Getting off the plane, we couldn't believe how old fashioned the airport was and how quiet the runway seemed. Only our flight seemed to land the whole time we were making our way through. 
Once in the taxi, we zoomed through the tiny streets of Santorini. Some villages were a little nicer than others, I'll be honest. Mr B gasped a sigh of relief every time we rolled off again from a hotel he clearly thought was pretty suspect- there was quite a few of these!
My advice would be to research really thoroughly before going to Santorini. It's really not worth staying in a not so nice part of the island. We went in April which is right at the beginning of the season. Staff are still painting some of the hotels and not everything is set up yet but the prices are so much better.

We arrived at our stop to an absolute sigh of relief! We were further into the island than everyone else but not as far as Oia - we were smack in the middle in a tiny place called Imerovigli.
"White Suites" is an
adults only boutique hotel, sitting right on the edge of the cliff. This means the views are completely epic! The amazing lady who works there is a dream to deal with. She advises everywhere to visit and how to get there. She very kindly upgraded us to the honeymoon suite and guided us through. 
The whole hotel is whitewashed (of course). Our honeymoon suite had it's own gated entrance right at the top of the hotel which meant we had the best view! Walking through the gates, it look my breath away. A private pool, beautiful terrace, cave like bathroom/bedroom and a big round bed. It really was like the images you'd see all over Instagram - magical.
We spent many nights sitting on the huge terrace, transfixed on the utterly spectacular sunsets that Santorini is renown for. 

When we were not staring at the sunsets, we were eating! The hotel has a seriously good breakfast, possibly the best we've ever experienced. We had to order the night before which made sure we always ordered more than we actually needed but that's okay. I always went for their DELICIOUS Greek yogurt filled with bananas, strawberries and other fruits. I'd follow this with the most amazing scrambled eggs with ham and cheese you could imagine. All on a wedge of home made bread - utterly perfect. We'd stay here again just for the breakfast!
We found some really lovely, authentic restaurants in our village that were really reasonable (the rest of Santorini is quite expensive). It's worth using TripAdvisor whilst in Santorini as we used it for every meal we ate - we even left quite a few reviews so make sure you check them out. 
Aim for restaurants that look a little shabby around the edges. If it's busy in a tiny village, I'd say the food is pretty good. Make sure you try a Greek salad as the one we had one our first day was mammoth! It included everything you could imagine. The other thing you MUST try is their seriously good Greek cheese, covered in a light batter (almost tempura) and then covered in honey with sesame seeds sprinkled on top - yum!

We'd recommend hiring quads or a scooter whilst in Santorini even though the public transport is pretty cheap - It's quite tricky to understand the timetables. The quads get you everywhere and with everything quite spread out, it's ideal. Shop around for the best deal or ask your hotel to point you in the right direction as we've heard some stories of tourists being ripped off.
Oia is worth visiting if you don't mind getting up at the crack of dawn. Oia is the city you see all the images of, the ones of the chapels and sunsets. Imerovigli has the best sunset view - you've heard it here first. DO NOT pay for any trip to take you to see it as you'll be better off sitting on your terrace!
Oia gets super busy for most the day. Get up early and see as much as you can as quickly as you can otherwise it gets a little hard to move around without bumping into someone. 

In all honesty, we went to Santorini to completely cut ourselves off from the world and be alone. It is amazing for this. I would not go to Santorini if you are expecting to have a busy, lively sightseeing time - it is not good for this as there isn't THAT much to do. If you love food and need to relax, BOOK NOW!

L xxx