Santorini – Tia and Ephraim

Instant photo frame mockup, woman on beach image psd

Honeymoon in Greece – 9 days

Greece has been on both of our individual bucket lists for as long as we can remember. So when it was time for us to choose a honeymoon destination, it was a no brainer! Other than wanting to marry each other, we’ve never come to an agreement so fast! Greece has so much to offer: unbelievably gorgeous beaches, unique architecture, rich history and delicious cuisine. It’s such a large country that one trip is not nearly enough to experience the entirety of its beauty, but for 9 days we were able to get a small sample, and we have no regrets (except for not having more vacation days to stay longer). During our 9 days in Greece we visted: Santorini, Crete and Athens.

3 Days in Santorini

We kicked off our honeymoon on the beautifully romantic island of Santorini, where we spent 3 days! Santorini is where you’ll find those picturesque, white, cliff-side buildings and the iconic blue dome churches. Many of those buildings are home to gorgeous luxury boutique hotels with cave suites, infinity pools and caldera views. Santorini is also known for it’s unreal sunsets that will literally take your breath away. We visited Santorini mid-April, just before the high season began and it was perfect. The weather wasn’t scorching, but was more like a cool spring day, and the crowds were more than manageable. In the main areas of Santorini, shops, hotels and restaurants had just opened, but there were no wait times or reservations needed.

Villages in Santorini

A few areas in Santorini that you won’t want to miss are: Fira, Oia, and Perissa Beach. Fira is a lively city center, where you’ll find many boutiques, restaurants and shops. Oia is where you’ll find the majority of the blue domed, white-washed caves and is also where you’ll find the more expensive hotels. Perissa beach is known for its unique black sand that meets the turqouise mediterranean waters.

Dana Villas and Infinity Suites

For a portion of our time in Santorini we stayed at Dana Villas and Infinity Suites. Dana Villas is a luxury hotel with the most gorgeous views of the caldera and the iconic white cliff-side buildings. We chose Dana specifically for its picture perfect honeymoon cave suite, which gave all the right vibes (I mean this was our honeymoon lol) and its prime location. It’s located in Firostefani, just a few short steps away from the center of Fira. The service here was impeccable, from the hosts who greeted us at our taxi to carry our bags down the stairs, to the reception hosts who checked us in and gave us a tour of the property, and even to the waiters at the on-site restaurant who gave us royal dining treatment. There just aren’t enough words to describe how much we enjoyed this hotel and would highly recommend. Given it’s location and amenities, the hotel rate is on the “luxury” end. This is to be expected of majority of the hotels on this side of the Island in Fira/Firostefani, Oia and Imerovigli.

‘Suite’ Views and Infinity Pools

If you’re planning a trip to Santorini, then a luxurious infinity pool is probably on the top of your experience wish list, right?! Many hotels in the Oia, Firostefani and Imerovigli area offer sweet infinity pools with amazing caldera views. Dana Villas has a large infinity pool located at their on-site restaurant, doubling as a daytime lounge and a night time romantic dining experience. The restaurant serves delicious greek inspired entrees paired with some of the best wine. The restaurant is situated with an unobstructed caldera view and includes candle-lit tables sitting atop the relaxing infinity pool. Dana Villas, along with other hotels in the area, also provide suites and villas with private infinity pools for guests’ enjoyment.

Instant photo frame mockup, minimal fashion psd

Luxury Honeymoon Cave Suite

The honeymoon cave suite at Dana Villas has a private terrace with two lounge chair areas surrounding the heated plunge pool at the entrance into the suite. The plunge pool also can be entered from the bathroom shower with a sweet cave-like walkout. It is the perfect place to catch the gorgeous Santorini sunset, while sipping on complementary champagne. The suite is fully equipped with a comfortable queen bed, his and hers plush robes and slippers, a large shower with double rainfaill shower heads, and a nespresso machine. The wonderful hotel hosts also surprised us with rose petals beautifully placed in our room when we returned from dinner one night. It was the sweetest gesture!

Affordable Santorini Hotel

There are more affordable hotels in Santorini, but for a cheaper price you would be giving up the experience of waking up to the view that everyone comes to Santorini to see. However, if you do find yourself wanting to save money by choosing a more affordable hotel in Santorini, know that there is public transportation, private transfer surfaces, scooters, and ATVs for hire that can transport you to the areas where you will be able to enjoy the views you came for. Altemar Suites Santorini is an afforable hotel located in Fira. This hotel also offers suites with private heated pools and all the action of fira at your backdoor, however it does not have views of the caldera, so the premium price tag is discounted here.

Perissa Beach

Our last day in Santorini was spent exploring Perissa Beach, which is most notable for it’s black sand beach. There are a couple of hotels available to stay within walking distance of the beach, which have a much lower price than those in Oia, Imerovigli or Fira. We stayed at Sea La Vie, which was a few steps away from the black sand. The beach is also lined by numerous beach bars, lounges and restaurants. We rented an ATV to explore the entire length of the beach and to go out further into the beautiful countryside of the Perissa Beach area.

Getting Around Santorini

I highly recommend renting an ATV or scooter during your stay in Santorini, as this is one of the easiest (and most fun) ways to explore the island and see things that are off the beaten path. We took our ATV for a drive through the Perissa Beach area, down windy gravel roads, and even spotted a few beautiful horses grazing in an open hill side pasture with amazing water views. Renting an ATV is fairly easy and most hotels in the area will be happy to assist with the process. The host at Sea la Vie actually drove us to the ATV rental location that was closest. He also had coordinated with one of the workers of the rental shop to ensure all of our needs would be met. Within 10 minutes and for less than 60 euros for half the day, we were off on our ATV!