It is true, Heaven is a place on earth and it is called……

Santorini

Ok this is a post I have certainly been building up to as I really wanted to ensure I did it justice!

When people say they have died and gone to heaven it is fair to say that are most definitely currently in Santorini and with that most likely staying at Astra Suites. I LITERALLY cannot recommend firstly Santorini and secondly Astra Suites enough, honestly it is something I feel everyone should put on their bucket list as a must visit.

I’ve honestly never had as many “pinch me” moments in my life, when I have been visiting a place as I did when we were in Santorini. It just seemed to get better and better with every day and every turn you took. Adding to this it’s very fair to say I have never taken so many photos of a place in my life but when you look around everyone is doing the same thing and when you talk to them it’s exactly the same as your feeling. You find it hard to believe that this beauty actually exists so you are trying to take pictures to share with people to encourage them to see it for themselves as even the photos don’t seem to do it justice at times.

So I did do a lot of research before going to Santorini and if I had one overall top tip particularly after visiting it would be….. invest in your accommodation. Even just for a couple of days as it doesn’t have to be the full stay, but definitely a minimum of 2 nights I suggest investing in a really nice resort to get the full “experience” as I will explain below.

When you research Santorini you will see there is 4 main area’s in Santorini. Fira the main town with nightlife but probably bottom of the 4 when it comes to views (don’t get me wrong it still has views of the Caldera just not the picture perfect views from some of the other spots) Then there is Firostefani and Oia which is the town at the very tip of the Caldera and famous for the world renowned sunset. Finally you have Imerovigli which in my opinion outshines Oia for Caldera & Sunset views. You will see from my all photo’s throughout the blog but I’ve never seen a sky to turn so many incredible colours in 1 day, stunning!

A quick search of accommodation in Santorini and you will see it can be on the slightly pricier side. I would say to make the most of your Santorini break without leaving you broke if you were on a 5 night break, spend your first 2 nights in Oia in a hotel similar to what we stayed in Best Western Museum Spa Wellness which is incredibly central and right on the main street of Oia so perfect to get about exploring. Then spend the money on 3 nights in a resort in Imerovigli, my pick without a shadow of doubt is Astra Suites. Doing it this way means you get the opportunity to explore the town of Oia which is incredible and although you are in a room without a view of the Caldera (which is saving you a lot of money) you can very easily go for dinner or drinks in some of the many restaurants with rooftop bars and take in the sunset. From there you can spend your time exploring the streets of Oia, renting a scooter or mini car below and exploring the wineries as when you check into Astra Suites (or another luxury resort you decide to go with) you will struggle to ever want to leave so this will definitely be the total chill out, lounge by the infinity pool and soak up the view part of the holiday. Doing it this way will free up a lot of your budget to spend on a room in one of these once in a lifetime resorts which boast those incredible breathtaking views that you see in magazines but can’t believe actually exist.

 

Oia

As I said Oia is a stunning town at the tip of the Caldera that boasts the white streets and blue roofs that is so synonymous with Santorini. It can get busy with the tour buses from the cruise ships so I would advise to get up early-ish (you are on your holidays after all) and spend the morning walking the streets and just taking in the gorgeous Caldera blue view and the warren of side streets stop and have your breakfast and coffee along the way and when you see the crowds starting to arrive that’s when I would suggest to head off and explore the wineries and some of the rest of the Island.

 

Click below to see an amazing video of “Downtown Oia”

Good Morning from Oia – Must Watch Video

 

As hilarious as we looked in it (especially Mark) we ADORED our little topless smart car, we just felt so “Alive” buzzing around in it and the fact it had no roof made it perfect for capturing the odd photo or selfie along the way!

 

Wineries – I will cover off in a proper piece below.

 

Oia Restaurants

Pelekanos Restaurant

So this place was literally across the laneway/street from Great Western Museum Spa Wellness. It’s a perfect spot to watch the sunset but equally gorgeous to have a night time meal at. There is something incredible about sitting there at night looking out in the Caldera and all you can see if the incredible lights of the villa’s of Oia. We had dinner here on the first night we arrived (which was late approx. 10pm) which was gorgeous and then went back the next night to watch the sunset from the bar on the far side of the terrace please see pictures below.

http://www.pelekanosrestaurant.gr/

 

1800 Floga Restaurant

We had a late lunch here, food and view was amazing.

https://www.oia-1800.com/

Candouni

This came highly recommended to us and although it was fully booked so we didn’t get a chance to try the food on ambience alone it looked like a real winner and one I would definitely put on your list to check out when in Oia, maybe just make a booking beforehand.

https://www.facebook.com/Candouni-Restaurant-115561451860562/

Oia Vineyart 

Actually just stumbled across this place on our way to Candouni above. It has a really large wine list and the staff are really helpful and informative when deciding what wine to go for either by the glass or by the bottle. Does gorgeous antipasto platters too. https://oiavineyart.gr/the-cafe-restaurant/

Oia Gefsis

We didn’t eat here but on venue location alone it looked like a very good spot to watch the sunset. http://oiagefsis.com/

Karma

Another restaurant that came highly recommended but we didn’t get a chance to try, but did pass by it so the video of it is below.

http://www.karma.bz/

Click below to see a video of a gorgeous candle lit Karma Restaurant

Karma Restaurant Inside Video

 

Wineries

So when I found out that Santorini had wineries I literally could not contain my excitement, it could have easily been one of the things I talked about the most in the build up to the trip. After living in Perth for 7 years and having wineries on our doorstep that produced really, really good wines moving to Dubai where it is the complete opposite and not alone that you need to take out a small loan to buy a decent bottle of wine was a big shock to the system so there was a lot of pressure on Santorini’s wines to deliver and they certainly did that. So from the offset, Santorini & Greece have their own set of grape varieties that are unique to that region so you will very rarely find a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc on a menu unless its imported.

We visited the following wineries:

Domaine Sigalas

http://www.domaine-sigalas.com/Domaine-Sigalas-winery.html

The closest winery to Oia. Probably has the reputation for producing some of the best wine on the Island which I would find it hard to argue with. Its setting is just gorgeous (take a look at the photos & video below) and you can go for a full wine flight tasting that is definitely enough for 2 people to share and its perfect to introduce you to to Santorini wines and grape varieties – Highly Recommend this winery.

Click Below to see the stunning Domaine Sigalas Winery – Just Stunning!

Domaine Sigalas Winery – Must watch Video

 

Estate Argyros

Adore this place, they have recently built a new Cellar door and its incredible reminded me of some of the gorgeous cellar doors in Margeret River or Mandoon Estate in Swan Valley. We had a fab lady talking us through the wines, showing such attention to us and any questions we had.

Their wines were ace so much so that we picked up a bottle of their Assyrtiko which they are renowned for to add to our growing wine collection of interesting or meaningful wines that we have picked up over the years. – Highly Recommend this winery.

http://estate-argyros.com/el/

Click below to see the full video of the Estate Argyros Winery & Entrance

Estate Arygos Winery – Incredible

Check out the video below to see the Inside of the Estate Argyros Winery – Fab

Inside Estate Argyros Winery

 

Wine Museum  

Definitely a fun thing to do as it gives you an overview of the history of Santorini along with the wine history of Santorini, however when it came to the wine tasting part I really did feel like it was more of a tourist gimmick then a wine tasting that we would be used to doing or that you would experience in say Argyros or Venetsanos.

http://www.santoriniwinemuseum.com/

   

Gaia Wines

Is a winery set on the beach on the far side of the Island but unfortunately on the day we arrived there they made it clear that they were far too busy to look after us. Lovely setting, maybe just double check you have made a booking before you go so you don’t end up like us.

http://www.gaia-wines.gr/wineries/

Check out the video below:

Gaia Winery – Beach Winery Video

 

2 of the wineries that I had really wanted to go too but ran out of time (so there’s another excuse to HAVE to go back to Santorini) was:

Santo Wines Winery

Easily the most famous winery on the Island if not even just for the incredible sunset view it has. Incredible sunset view & great wineries you have me sold, Santo Wines I will be back to visit!

https://www.santowines.gr/en/

Venetsanos Winery

Really all there is to say is look at that view below, who wouldn’t want to do a wine tasting looking at that #winetastinggoals

http://venetsanoswinery.com/

 

 

Imerovgili

When someone says Heaven is a place on earth they are most definitely sitting in Astra Suites. EASILY the best decision we made was deciding to book Astra Suites. I have probably never been as blown away by a hotel & view ever.

http://www.astrasuites.com

 

Check in is such a personal experience! You are brought directly to your room where you are greeted by a bottle of complimentary wine which is being chilled, fresh flower and a fresh fruit plate. The staff then take time to talk you through your room, all the facilities of Astra and then assess what you want to achieve during your stay at Astra ie just relax, do some sight seeing, try new restaurants etc and depending on what your goals are they are on hand to help co-ordinate it all whether that be a sunset cruise around the Caldera, a restaurant booking.

 

If there is EVER any of the video’s worth clicking on I PROMISE it is the links below, to try and get a real feel for Astra Suites you really need to click on the links below – Promise it will be worth it:

Astra Suites View Video

Check in & Room View Video

Pool View Video

When you walk outside your room and the below is your view you know you are blessed:

 

The infinity pool is out of this world and has adjacent to it a pool & cocktail bar with a really attentive bar man Nikos who makes you feel completely at home and that no request is too much trouble at all.

 

 

As we got totally encapsulated by the sunset above it was late by the time we had showered and got ready for dinner and so we decided to give the hotel restaurant a try and boy are we glad we did. It really was such a magical experience one that we will never forget between the food, our incredible waiter and the open air fairytale setting, As we were late sitting to dinner by the time our main courses arrived we were the only people in the restaurant prompting our waiter to ask us did we have any specific music requests to which we responded Michael Buble. Sitting in this gorgeous open air restaurant with the lights and stars twinkling above us and the lights of Imervolgi surrounding us, listening to Michael Buble and eating a wonderful dinner is a very special moment I will never forget #lifemade

 

 

Click below to see the Astra’s really stunning restaurant for yourself:

Amazing dinner Video – Astra Suites

Astra Suites Restaurant Video

 

The next day we had to move rooms as our room had already been booked out for our second night by the time we booked FYI I would highly recommend booking Astra Suites as far in advance as you can as it really does book out fast. I say “had to move” as if it were a bad thing on the contrary we were moving to an incredible Private pool suite which was more expensive that our first room but was literally breathtaking and an ideal room for a honeymoon, special occasion or if you just wanted to treat yourself. There really isn’t anything I can say that will fully sum up just how magnificent this room was so I think I will just let the pictures & videos below do the talking.

Click on the below link to see some incredible room videos:

​

​
​​

 

Breakfast each morning is served on your private terrace:

 

Click below for the breakfast view video – Incredible!

Breakfast View Video

 

To put it in perspective Grace Santorini which I know as being up there one of the world’s most stunning hotels is literally the next hotel over (like a 1 minute walk), you are getting the same incredible view the Grace prides itself on and which makes Grace famous but you aren’t paying the price tag that comes along with Grace and honestly hand on heart I would not want to stay anywhere other than Astra Suites on a visit to Santorini.

 

Imerovigli Restaurants

Athenian House

We ate here on our second night in Imerovigli, really nice restaurant. The food and the atmosphere/setting is gorgeous all be it on the slightly pricer side of Imerovigli restaurants.

https://www.theathenianhouse.com/en/index

Click below to see the gorgeous dinner set up and view:

Athenian House Dinner Video

La Maison

Was another restaurant that was recommended to us, famous for its gorgeous French cuisine.

http://www.lamaison-santorini.com/

Kapari Wine Restaurant

Recommended to us

http://www.kaparisantorini.gr/default.aspx?lang=en-GB&page=15

Above Blue Suites – “Insta” Worthy Restaurant

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g635864-d4324409-Reviews-Above_Beyond_Restaurant-Imerovigli_Santorini_Cyclades_South_Aegean.html

 

Tips

There are ALOT of steps in Santorini, getting to the places/resorts with the amazing views inevitably requires you to climb up and down steps/side of a cliff to get to these places which is just something I never fully realized until I got there. Like when people say steps you probably be like “ah yea steps how bad can they be” but these places are built into the side of the Caldera and what makes Santorini so beautiful is that it has the natural, not-over-developed feel to it but in order to do this a lot of older parts of Santorini such as these dirt/stone tracks that are steep in places have had to be kept. So it is just something to bear in mind if you are travelling with someone with mobility issues or as a family with buggys, I wouldn’t say it’s the most user friendly places in those instances.

 

There really isn’t much more to say other than Santorini you completely blew us away, we honestly never in our wildest dreams expected to find a breathtaking place full of natural beauty paired seamlessly with luxury resort living. I think it goes without saying that we will be back, hopefully the sooner the better as I still find myself gazing at the pictures we took and dreaming of being back there as it really did seem like a dream at times. If you are looking for a honeymoon destination I would 100% recommend it you honestly can’t help but feel totally loved up and happy when you are there especially in Astra Suites.

As always love hearing your feedback or questions,

S x

sinead_mcevoy