Santorini, Greece on a Budget
- mwatros75
- May 13, 2022
- 3 min read
Updated: May 18, 2022
Santorini doesn't have to be expensive! Here's my budget friendly guide/tips for Santorini.
To get to Santorini, Mackenzie and I took a ferry from Athens (Piraeus). The cost was $49.25. We went with the company Blue Star Ferries. We booked this ahead of time - I would recommend to do this. From there, our Hotel in Santorini offered to pick us up from the docks. Our hotel was called Holiday Beach Resort located in Perissa. It had a pool and very delicious feta veggie salads!! Although, the shower water definitely felt like salt water which was questionable. We stayed here for three days and it ended up costing $53.10 per person. For a friendly hotel budget, stay in Perissa or Fira. Keep in mind that Santorini is not a big island- so it's very easy to get from place to place. There are buses that run (very cheap! about 3 euros, if that, for a ticket) and cars/scooters/four wheelers that you can rent.
There are three big cities that I went to on Santorini: Oia, Perissa & Fira. I will give you the rundown on each!
Oia
The big one! The city with the stairs, white buildings with blue tops, donkey rides & an incredible view of the sunset. This is the city that people think of when they go to Santorini. To get to Oia, we rented a four wheeler. This was probably the most expensive part of our trip on Santorini. I believe it was around $80 per person. The drive there didn't take too long - we stopped in Thira on the way there. Parking is limited, so it was nice we had a four wheeler. In Santorini, we walked around and shopped for a bit. We then went to Oia Castle to watch the sunset. Make sure to get here early. We got there about 2.5 hours early and got a front row spot. We brought fruit and snacked on it while waiting for the sunset- it was SUPER cute. I felt like the main character.
Perissa
Perissa is a very romantic place and there is a lot to do around here if you love beaches. We had the four wheeler rented for this day. We headed to the famous Black Sand Beach, where there is in fact black sand. It was different and super cool to see. All along it there are cute restaurants facing the ocean. There's also a lot of cabanas and chairs. I will say - check where the wind is blowing. If its's hitting on one side of the island you will want to be the other side where it's calm. Those winds can get up there! One day it was 22mph winds. And in close proximity to Perissa is the Red Beach. This beach was BREATHTAKING. I've never seen anything like it in my life. It's a volcanic sand beach with red-hued sand. Visiting these beaches were free.
Fira (Thera/Thira)
Fira is the capital of Santorini and also known as "the city that never sleeps" on the island. I have had some friends stay here while solo traveling and they loved it. It was a very welcoming city. We stopped here during the day and the food was INCREDIBLE. I had a gyro and it changed my life no joke. The restaurant we went to was called Karvounaki. We were starving and this place was fast. They showed tf up for us and were so incredibly kind. There's a lot to do here in Fira and where a lot of tours start. We took a volcano and hot springs tour for $26.41. It lasted 3 hours and did not disappoint. They take you on a boat ride to the volcano and then you get to hike the volcano (entry is 2 euros). After that, they take you to swim in the hot spring. There is also a lot of scuba diving to be done in here on the island. We had a tour scheduled with the company Volcano Dive Center but the weather/wind was tooo rough so they had to cancel.
Link to Volcano/ Hot Spring Excursion
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