676. Day 26 | Sailing around Santorini on a Sunset Cruise

On our last full day in Santorini, we took a boat cruise around the island. We started off exploring the volcano, then it brought us to a hot springs for swimming (well I just stayed on the boat since I can't swim), then lunch, and finishing off in Oia where we watched the sunset from the boat. At the end of the night, the boat brought us back to Thira. We decided to ride the donkeys from the port up to the town. It was my first donkey-riding experience. I was pretty nervous at first but it was really fun. I really enjoyed the boat cruise overall and definitely recommend it if you go to Santorini!




At the volcano. It was an extremely hot day and I wasn't able to make it to all the different sites here.



I really loved the lunch!





The beautiful sunset. I mentioned this in my previous posts that it was my favourite sunset from our days there/that I've ever seen. It was the best experience to watch it from the boat with the live jazz music in the background. & we also had the perfect spot at the front.

The donkeys at Thira. The one I got was a small white one that kept cutting in front and trying to surpass all the other donkeys lol. I held on as tight as I could so I didn't manage to take any pics while on it.




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675. Day 24 and 25 | Sunsets in Oia

In my last post, I left off when we arrived in Oia after a few-hours-long hike over from Imerovigli. We arrived just minutes before the sunset so we weren't able to properly find a good spot to watch it.
Oia is quite different from Thira and Imerovigli. The streets here are lined with luxury boutiques and seems to be a better place for shopping (both fashion and souvenirs). In Thira there are better restaurant/dining options though.
As we arrived later than expected that first night, we ended up coming to Oia again the following day. We made sure to arrive earlier so that we got a good spot for the sunset, and to have a few hours to explore the town as well.

Santorini is well-known to be one of the best places to watch the most beautiful sunsets in the world. So that was what our days were structured around. My favourite was watching it from the cruise boat (which I will post about in the following post). It was the perfect view since we sailed right up to it, or as close to it as possible. We also managed to get the best spot on the boat (the tip at the front) so there were unobstructed views. Also there was a live jazz player so it added to the atmosphere. My second favourite was watching it from our hotel terrace lounge chairs. That was on the first night. Even though there were a few people at the neighbouring terraces, it felt the most private and peaceful. My least favourite was watching it from Oia with the hundreds of other people. It was a different experience altogether.












One of my favourite photos of us.




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674. Day 24 | Hiking Skaros Rock + Road to Oia

The next day, we decided (attempted) to hike up Skaros Rock. It was a very hot and sunny morning and I lost count of how many steps we walked up and down to even get to the base of the Rock. When we got to the bottom of that big chunk at the top, we found out there was no path to get to the top. You would have to vertically rock climb up and down. Needless to say, we didn't do it and ended up just exploring the rest of the area.




We found this church that seemed abandoned. It was nice to explore with nobody else around.

After going around Skaros Rock and back, we were completely exhausted. It wouldn't have been as strenuous of a hike if it wasn't 30C+ though. We had to get back to the hotel for a quick rest before the next activity on our list that day: the hike to Oia.


We stayed at Imerovigli, which was about a 3 hour hike to Oia. There was a lot of uneven terrain, and the path was all loose gravel, so it wasn't the easiest walk. It was extremely exhausting as well especially in the heat, and we ended up arriving way later than we had wanted (to catch the sunset). I forgot at which point I took this photo but I believe it was about 20% of the way there. Oia is that cluster of white buildings on the tip of the island.

There wasn't really anywhere to stop and rest along the way. Luckily we found this taverna (which we later realized was the only place to eat along the way). I'm not sure how/if we would have survived the entire way if we didn't stop here first hahah.



Of course we ordered kebabs. They were really good.


Then we continued our journey. Some parts felt like we were in the desert.







The second rest stop. Ice cold lemonade never tasted as good.


The final stretch! The path became like this.

Finally arrived in Oia!! This is the most popular part of the island to watch the sunset, so by the time we arrived (~15-20min before the sunset), the good spots were already flooded with tourists. We managed to catch a glimpse of it. After that we just walked around a bit, had dinner then took a cab back to our hotel. We ended up coming back to Oia the next day, earlier, so that we could get a good spot for the sunset. I will post the photos from the rest of this day and the next in the following post.

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