One of my “big” wishes – bucket list and all that – for our trip to Greece (other than Knosssos) was to get to Santorini. From all I had seen and heard, it is a magical place and not to be missed.
After much juggling of our schedule, we managed to make a trip to the island work. I thought I could get there directly from Crete, but that was not possible in the off-season. Instead, the girls and I booked a ferry from Piraeus (Athens) to Thira (Santorini) — and yes, it took some learning of the geography to figure it all out! The ferry websites are complicated, but we managed to arrange all the correct tickets. As we tried to figure out the ferries, I realized that we would have to fly from Santorini to Athens to make all the timings work. And that flying was not much more expensive than the ferry. My $80 mistake? Paying to check our “international” sized suitcases. We could have easily rolled aboard and not paid the cost. The plane from Santorini to Athens was not commuter-sized, but huge.
Once I had the ferry there and the plane back booked, the next question was “Where do we stay?” Many of the Santorini hotels are “No children allowed.” (Harumph. My kids are better behaved, better travelers and more polite than most adults.) But fine, if kids aren’t welcome, then it probably isn’t a place with the vibe we want. After many hours of reading reviews of the different villages and hotels, I settled on Hotel Matina in Kamari. Though not on the “Caldera” – which is the Santorini most people think of, I was not disappointed. There were shops, restaurants, buses and a beach. Actually, I had one small disappointment on arrival. The hotel pool wasn’t filled. But after we came to see how chilly it was in early April, we really weren’t too sad about that minor thing.
Chloe loved the hotel dogs, especially sweet Elsa. The owner came and met us at the ferry and then drove us to the airport very early on our departure morning (at a small cost). His wife, Matina, was a gracious host, helping us with everything from breakfast to bus schedules. This family run hotel was ideal. We even were given a “suite” of two rooms and a bathroom. I don’t think we ever turned on the tv, but we were in Santorini — who needs tv?? There were many books available in multiple languages if you needed a beach book.
The town of Kamari was busy with construction and improvements — we came just before tourist season. Too chilly for swimming, but very pleasant as there were no tourists around — but more on that later.
