Category: Santorini (page 3 of 12)

Santorini sights and attractions– just as a tourist sees them

January 15, 2018 / / 2 Comments
Share

 Pierre Marteau compiled this overview video of places and attractions he visited during a trip to Santorini in 2017

 

Eye level views:  I discovered a brand-new Santorini travel video on Vimeo today, and wanted to share it immediately so any of my readers planning a first-time visit to the island can see how it really looks in person.

Santorini 2017 is a 9-minute film that Pierre Marteau published on January 14. What I particularly like about the clip is that it wasn’t filmed with a drone, as so many Santorini videos tend to be nowadays. Although drones capture amazing aerial views of the island’s spectacular landscape scenery, no visitor is ever going to see it from the same perspective. On the other hand, Pierre’s eye-level video shows exactly how sights and attractions will appear as you look around while exploring the island.

Places shown in the video include:

♦  Santorini’s main town, Fira

♦  the traditional village of Pyrgos

♦  the black sand beach at Kamari

♦  the romantic and extremely picturesque clifftop village of Oia, which is perhaps the most famous place for sunset viewing in all the Greek islands.

The video also shows what you’ll see riding the cable car to the cruise ship and excursion boat docks in the Old Port below Fira, and while taking one of the popular boat tours to the hot springs and the nearby volcano island of Nea Kameni.  Of course, the video also captures views of some of the beautiful bougainvillea and flowers, colourful houses, iconic blue-domed chapels, and marvellous sunsets that together make Santorini one of the most-photographed places in Greece.

And you’ll see some of the island’s controversial donkeys and mules, which I hope none of my readers will ride while visiting Santorini. If you don’t know why you shouldn’t climb atop any of these animals for a ride up or down the caldera cliff paths, please read my post Don’t ride the donkeys! Why tourists should avoid taking the mule ‘taxis’ on Santorini. 

Note that Santorini 2017 is a compilation video that Pierre put together from several other clips he shot on Santorini. You can view all of those films — which show other top Santorini attractions, such as Akrotiri and Ancient Thera, on Pierre’s VIMEO page.

 

Party events on Ios, Naxos, Santorini & other Cyclades islands during summer 2017

February 25, 2017 / / 2 Comments
Share

The Ocean Club on Naxos party event

Friday October 13 is Greek Me party time at The Ocean Club on Naxos

 

Swing Bar on Naxos live music event

Swing Bar on Naxos presents live jazz, swing and rock music on Friday October 13 and Saturday October 14

 

Akri Bar on Milos party event

On Saturday October 14, Akri Bar on Milos is having a Summer Never Ends party with music by DJ Nikos Zoulias

 

The Ocean Club on Naxos

There’s another Can’t Wait party at The Ocean Club on Naxos on Saturday October 13

 

Naxos Cafe on Naxos live music event

Pantelis Karanikas entertains at Naxos Cafe on Naxos on Saturday October 14

 

Marabou Club on Andros party event

Marabou club on Andros launches its autumn season on Saturday October 14 with guest DJ Deleasis (Stamatis Mavrakis)

 

Koo Club Santorini party event

On Saturday October 14, Santorini’s Koo Club holds its season closing party

 

The Ocean Club on Naxos party event

The Ocean Club on Naxos is hosting a Street Latin Party on Sunday October 15

 

Naxos Bar live music event

Vaggelis Germanos appears for live shows at Naxos Cafe on Naxos on Friday October 20 and Saturday October 21

 

Marabou Club on Andros party event

Hercules Koktsidis will play Greek and mainstream music for the Greek Them All party at Marabou Club on Andros on Saturday October 28

 

~ Updated on Friday October 13 ~

 

Beyond Mykonos:  This roundup of top parties and special events on select islands in the Cyclades is a supplement to my popular Mykonos party scene 2017 post. 

This listing includes major events taking place on Ios, Naxos, Santorini and other nearby islands which many Mykonos partygoers visit during summer holidays in Greece. I have added this party listing in response to numerous requests from readers who were wondering where they could find good parties, besides Mykonos, while they are touring the Cyclades.

 

 

 

Please turn to page 2 of this post to see lots more upcoming parties and special events in the Cyclades.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

Pages: 1 2

First-time island hopping in the Cyclades: How to do it, and what you’ll see when you get there

February 18, 2017 / / 2 Comments
Share

Cyclades hopping, an animated video published by g travel, shows how to arrange a simple island hopping holiday in the north and central Cyclades

 

Island itineraries: If you haven’t been to Greece before but dream about taking an island hopping holiday there, you’re probably wondering where to go, and how to get from one island to the next. With dozens of destination options in six distinct island chains, plus an array of ferry schedules to sift through, it can seem intimidating to set up a vacation. That’s one of the main reasons why many travellers take a Greek Isles cruise or a package tour, or ask a travel agent to arrange everything for them. There’s nothing wrong with any of those approaches if you’re more comfortable with them or you simply don’t have the time to do your own planning. But it’s not that daunting and difficult to do it yourself.

The video at the top of this post, Cyclades hopping, shows how to arrange a simple do-it-yourself trip to one of the most popular island chains in Greece.

The animated film focusses on a few of the Cyclades, the islands instantly recognizable for their “sugar cube” white houses and blue-domed chapels perched on rocky slopes high above gorgeous golden sand beaches and the stunning turquoise waters of the Aegean Sea.

Home to Mykonos and Santorini, two of the most world-famous and popular places in Greece, the Cyclades is where the majority of first-timers get introduced to the island hopping experience. Many get hooked and keep going back, or instead venture off to hop around the other island chains — the Sporades, Saronic, Dodecanese, Northeastern Aegean, and Ionian.

Crete, the biggest island in Greece, isn’t part of a distinct island chain, and is so vast that visitors are typically advised to devote a full two- or-three week holiday there to explore its incredibly wide variety of beaches, historic sites and attractions.  

 

When you watch Cyclades hopping, you’ll gain insights into travelling to Andros, Mykonos, Paros, Antiparos, Naxos, Ios and Santorini. I have posted several videos that highlight travel to those particular destinations on page 2 of this article, so you can see what each of those islands looks like, and get an overview of some of the top attractions and activities they offer. Additional videos offer peeks at other Cycladic island gems, including Sifnos, Folegandros, Syros, Amorgos, Tinos, Milos, Serifos and Kea.

 

Express Skopelitis ferry passenger

A passenger enjoys early morning views from the upper deck of the Express Skopelitis ferry as it departs Egali port on Amorgos en route to Naxos

 

Please turn to page 2 to continue reading and to view videos of islands in the Cyclades chain.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

Pages: 1 2

How to travel to Greece on a student’s budget

February 2, 2017 / / 2 Comments
Share

 Oia village on Santorini

Hotel buildings and infinity swimming pools cling to the sides of the imposing caldera cliffs in Oia village on Santorini island

  

Guest post by Lisa Griffin

Greece is a Eurozone country, and this fact often keeps travelers with a student budget at bay from taking a trip there. Many people think they will require loads of money to travel to Greek resorts. It is a common prejudice which is closely connected to myths that only tycoons and other financial demi-gods  can afford the resorts .

The truth is different. Times of Aristotle Onassis have passed, and now any student can afford cheap holidays to Greece, either taking a trip to a sunny island like Santorini or feeling the antique air of Athens without paying much.

 

 

Students’ leisure shouldn`t be expensive!

Cheap Greece vacations are not a dream anymore. Greece is a highly underestimated budget travel destination. Just follow the simple rule – if you are not a millionaire, don`t pretend to be one. Don`t book expensive hotels; eat out in small traditional restaurants, and use low-cost airfare and transport.  Otherwise, you can turn the pleasure of your vacation into endless money wasting.

A statement like this applies to every country in the world – you can say that any city is expensive unless you’re willing to change your habits and try to look for ways to economize. 

In Greece,  don’t always go for the most popular places. Local people are usually trying to earn money on tourists not caring if they will be satisfied with their expensive services  – tomorrow the flux of tourists will be all the same.  Check Greek island vacation packages for bargains. Often these packages include delightful spots that aren’t as popular as the mainstream destinations, so you can enjoy low-cost services while having all you need for a good rest and entertainment.

Yet even the more expensive Islands like Santorini are accessible to everyone, since you can usually find hostel accommodation for as little as €15 per night. it might be a bed in a tent, but do you need more? People travel to Greek Isles not to sit in a hotel, but to see as much as possible and spend time somewhere on a distant beach. The main thing is to have a shower, a kitchen to cook fresh products bought in local markets, wifi, a place to put your stuff, and a bed to sleep.

Fira the capital of Santorini

Fira, the main commercial center on Santorini. Although it’s one of the most expensive places to visit in Greece, Santorini still offers hostel and other cheap accommodations that suit a student budget.

 

Please click on the link below to continue reading page 2 of Lisa Griffin’s article.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

Pages: 1 2

Amazing winter wonderland scenes from Greece: Part 2

January 15, 2017 / / 1 Comment
Share

Kalavrita Ski Center in Greece

There is snow as far as the eye can see along the road to Kalavrita Ski Center in the northern Peloponnese. The picture was posted to the ski resort’s Facebook page on January 6 

 

Winter wonders: This is the second set of photos I’m publishing on the blog to profile remarkable winter scenery in different regions of Greece — images that have been shared on social media after much of the nation was struck by icy cold temperatures and some surprisingly heavy snowfalls during the 2016 Christmas holidays and up to the second week of January 2017.

Part 1 of the photo feature included snow scenes from Athens, Ioannina, Corinth, Chios, Evia, Rhodes, Sparta, Mystras, Skiathos, Skopelos and Skyros.

 

 

Here in Part 2 I have collected photos from Crete, Nafplio, Epidaurus, Thessaloniki, some of the Cyclades and Ionian islands, plus various locations in the Peloponnese and mainland Greece. Many of the photo captions include links to social media pages or websites where you can find countless more pictures of snowy sites in Greece. (It could be spring by the time you manage to finish looking at the photos on all of the links!)

Click on the link beneath the next photo to view the full series of pictures on page 2 of this post.

 

Winter stormclouds above Nafplio

One of my favourite Greece winter scenes is this spectacular photograph by Thanos Komninos, which captures dark, fluffy storm clouds swirling above and around the Nafplio Old Town and Acronauplia fortress, before leaving the town dusted with a layer of light snow. The photo appeared on the Nafplio Kalimera page on Facebook.

 

CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

Pages: 1 2

Fab video scenes from a reader’s visit to Athens, Santorini and Mykonos in May 2016

May 27, 2016 / / 3 Comments
Share

In his beautifully-filmed Greece – Cinematic Travel Video, Kris Clark spotlights top attractions and stunning scenery from Athens, Mykonos and Santorini

 

Trip highlights:  Readers of my blog occasionally write to say they found my website helpful or inspiring for planning their own trips to Greece.  My favourite feedback message of all arrived just yesterday — and included a link to the wonderful video I shared above.

In a comment posted on my blog, Kristoffer Clark said he, his wife and some friends recently returned from their May 7 – 15 trip to Athens, Santorini and Mykonos.

“We loved it, we used your site to help plan our itinerary. Your site was a big help,” he wrote. “I love to make travel videos of my trips so i wanted to share our Greece one with you.”

It’s such a fabulous film that I can’t resist sharing it here, since I think it superbly captures the essence and tremendous beauty of all three destinations.

And what I like best, besides the gorgeous scenery, are all the smiles, laughs and happy faces in evidence as Kristoffer, his wife and friends enjoy and experience the sights and scenery of three amazing destinations I visited on my  own first trip to Greece. 

If you’ve been to Athens, Mykonos and Santorini before, watching Greece – Cinematic Travel Video will undoubtedly trigger many happy memories for you as well. And if you haven’t been to Greece yet, I’m sure it will quickly convince you that it’s time to go.  What are you waiting for? Start planning!

 

Up-and-coming small wineries to watch and visit in the Cyclades

May 17, 2016 / / 1 Comment
Share

Manalis Winery Sikinos

Wines produced by Manalis Winery on Sikinos (pictured below) are displayed on the winery’s open-air restaurant and events terrace, which offers spectacular views of the sea and nearby islands. Both photos are from galleries in the Manalis Winery website.

 

Manalis Winery Sikinos Greece

 

Cycladic vintners: Winery tours and tastings will be on the agenda for thousands of tourists visiting Santorini this year, no doubt because of the island’s worldwide fame for its local Assyrtiko varietal. 

As I reported in a post on January 21 2014,  Wine Enthusiast magazine cited Santorini and two other Aegean islands in its listing of the world’s top 10 wine travel destinations for 2014. Not surprisingly, winery tours have long been ranked among the leading attractions on TripAdvisor’s chart of Things to do in Santorini. In fact, as of May 17, Santo Wines was the #5-rated attraction on the island, while the Venetsanos Winery and the Koutsoyannopoulos Wine Museum ranked in the top 20 out of almost 300 key attractions on Santorini.

But while the Santorini wineries are attracting the warmest glow of international attention for now, several small wineries on nine other Cyclades islands could be basking in the limelight soon.

Earlier this year, the excellent culture and gastronomy website Greece Is published an informative article entitled 11+1 Unknown, Small Wineries in the Cyclades. Written by Nikoleta Makryonitou, the article notes that the wineries she mentions are among the smallest in the world, so they aren’t top destinations for wine lovers just yet. “Still, there has been a rise in the production of bottled wines and a turn to quality, which are creating high expectations for the near future,” she observes.

 

 

Her article profiles the following wineries, most of which will arrange tours or visits if contacted in advance:

♦ Moraitis Winery on Paros (the only one of the bunch that I have personally visited for wine tastings)

♦ Moraitiko on Paros

♦ Manalis Winery on Sikinos

♦ Korres Family Winery on Naxos

♦ Konstantakis Cave Winery on Milos

♦ Syros Winery on Syros

♦ Mykonos Vioma Organic Farm & Vineyard on Mykonos

♦ Kipos Xydaki on Mykonos

♦ Tinian Vineyards on Tinos

♦ Fonsos Winery on Tinos

♦ Votsari Wines on Sifnos, and

♦  Chrysoloras Vineyards on Serifos

Click here to read Nikoleta’s full article, and be sure to bookmark it for reference should you happen to be island-hopping in the Cyclades this summer. The article provides contact telephone numbers for the various wineries so you can call them directly to inquire about available tours or to arrange visits.

Also take a good look around the Manalis Winery website, where you can view dozens of photos showing the breathtaking, to-die-for views from the winery’s restaurant terrace and special events veranda.  People rave about the amazing views from Santo and other wineries on Santorini, but I think the images show that the views and scenery from Manalis are equally impressive.

Manalis Winery Sikinos

The hillside terrace at Manalis Winery on Sikinos has spectacular views of the Aegean Sea and other islands (Photo from the winery website.) 

The bewitching but dangerous beauty of Santorini’s Red Beach

May 10, 2016 / / 14 Comments
Share

Red Beach Santorini

Santorini’s Red Beach is seen in an image from EscapeGreece.com 

 

[Editor’s Update: If you plan to visit Santorini in 2018, please beware that Red Beach is officially closed to the public. Click here to read about a landslide that occurred on Red Beach in April 2018 and led island authorities to re-issue warnings that the beach is off limits because it’s too dangerous to visit.] 

 

Rockfall risk: Since Santorini enjoys a worldwide reputation for superlative natural scenery, it’s not surprising that the island’s remarkable Red Beach regularly garners glowing accolades from international travel publications and leading lifestyle websites — along with ample attention on social media, where thousands of people have posted selfies that they shot on and near the colourful coastal attraction.

During my routine online work and research, I frequently find articles in which travel magazines and websites declare Red Beach to be one of the world’s “best,” “most beautiful,” “most unusual” or “most colourful” beaches, and recommend it as a “must-see” for anyone visiting Santorini.  Photos of the distinctive strand, which is also known as Red Sand Beach, appear even more often on websites and social media pages dedicated to travel in Greece, and in particular for hotels and tour companies operating on Santorini.

 

 

 

What the articles, posts and photo captions rarely mention, however, is that Red Beach is a veritably perilous place to sunbathe, swim or stroll. In recent years, there have been several significant rockfalls and landslides from the crimson-coloured bluffs that rise behind the narrow strip of scarlet-tinged pebbles and stones, and geological experts believe it’s possible that more cliff sections could collapse onto the beach at any time. (There are anecdotal claims that two beachgoers were killed by a landslide a few years ago, but I couldn’t find any news reports confirming the fatalities or date of the accident.)

 

 

Red Beach Santorini photo by TripAdvisor member Chris B

Red Beach is seen on a sunny April afternoon in a photo by TripAdvisor review contributor Chris B

 

Red Beach Santorini

During peak season in past years, sunbeds have been available for rent, as seen in this photo from the Santorini Hotels Facebook page

 

Red Beach Santorini photo by Cecil Ramirez

In April, Facebook member Cecil Ramirez captured this photo of the imposing red stone cliffs that tower above Red Beach

 

Red Beach Santorini photo by Daena K Nicholas

Major rockfalls have occurred at Red Beach several times in the past decade. Two of the larger landslides are clearly visible in this photo shared on Facebook by Daena K Nicholas

 

Red Beach Santorini photo by Jc Male

Red Beach has been “closed” since August 2013 because of fears more landslides could occur, and since stones and boulders loosen and plunge from the cliffs on occasion. But warning signs like this one, shown in a Facebook photo by Jc Male, have not deterred thousands of people from going to the beach.

 

Red Beach Santorini photo by Daniel Dias da Silva Facebook photo of Red Beach Santorini

Sunbathers sit near the foot of one of the larger landslides, seen in a Facebook photo by Daniel Dias da Silva. Fences were installed to keep people from climbing the cliffs and landslip rubble because that could trigger further collapses of the rock face.

 

Red Beach Santorini photo by Nikky Dudek

The safest way to see Red Beach is from the sea or from a distance on a hilltop vantage point like this one captured in a Facebook photo by Nikky Dudek

 

Please click on the link below to continue reading about Red Beach on page 2 of this post, where you can view videos and dozens more photos of this singular Santorini beach.

 

CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

Pages: 1 2

Older posts Newer posts

This site is secured by Comodo Secure

Book a Ferry in Greece