The sunny islands of Greece

We had a huge day of travelling to get from Turkey to the Greek Islands, catching a bus from Dalyan to Ortaca, then bussing from Ortaca to Mugla, and from there to the port town of Bodrum. Bus costs were starting to add up around Turkey and after a hectic schedule we were looking forward to relaxing on the Greek Islands! After a short ferry we arrived at Kos and I was relieved to say the least when I got a nice new (un-smudged) stamp on my water damage passport! We had officially made it Greece!

Celebrating our arrival in Greece with a local brew

After checking out Kos for a few hours we boarded our ferry to Santorini at 10pm, expecting to arrive there in the early hours of the morning. We awoke to the news that the ferry had technical problems and was unable to dock in the small port of Santorini, we were on course for Athens. Instead of a 5 hour ferry it was going to be a total of 35 hours before we arrived back in Santorini! This caused a massive commotion among the passengers, many who only had limited time in Santorini and some who had flights booked for the following day. There was arguing and shouting and we felt a bit sorry for the reception lady who was getting abused constantly. Luckily we were quite flexible and could organise to extend our stay at the islands. It was nice to be upgraded to a cabin and get a free breakfast and lunch. This was turning into a Greek Island cruise! We even were paid for our lost night’s accommodation in Santorini. Thanks Blue Star Ferries!

Enjoying our upgrade to a cabin aboard the Blue Star Ferry

After another nice sleep in our cabin we arrived in Santorini at 10am. We were staying near the coast in Perissa which was not as touristy as the famous Oia or Fira. There was a nice black pebble beach that we swam at most days and prices were generally cheaper here which was ideal. We found a good food joint close by where we could get Gyros (Greek wrap with chicken, salad, tzatziki and chips) for €2 or massive Greek salads for €4 – this place became our lunch stop for the next few days. On our first night we caught a bus to the main town of Fira to check out the views and see the sunset. The highlight was finding this amazing spot to watch the sunset behind one of the famous blue-domed churches..

The tasty Greek Gyros..

Our local in Santorini - Perissa Beach

View from Fira

View from Fira at sunset

We had been told the best way to get around was on a quad bike so picked up one through our hostel for €20. We were able to check out the entire length of the island in one day, swimming and snorkelling along the way. We started at the eastern point of the island and checked out the lighthouse and red beach (due to the cliffs of scoria in behind). We made the most of our bike and stopped in at two more remote beaches which were well worth it! After stopping in at Perissa for lunch we went to Oia for the afternoon and sunset. This town has more of the blue-domed churches and is a bit classier than Fira. Some of the resorts here were amazing and would set you back a fair bit to stay in! As it got later, hoards of people started arriving for the famous Oia sunset. We had found a good place to watch the sun go down but decided to go somewhere quieter when a busload of Koreans on a tour turned up and ruined the moment. Everyone applauded when the sun went down which we had never seen before.

Red beach - Santorini

Another blue domed church

Town of Oia

Looking back over Oia

Haylee and the blue domes

From Santorini we decided to do a 1 night excursion to the nearby Folegandros which is a bit more remote. Camping was the only affordable option for us on this island which is renowned for luxury resorts, and we paid €10 each to stay in a cabin which was pretty good. We got up early and managed to explore a lot of the island in a day. We visited five nice beaches (and managed to swim at four of them) and checked out the main town of Chora. It was a big day for us after catching the 6pm ferry back to Santorini, but well worth it!

View of Oia from the ferry

Our cabin on Folegandros

Livadi Beach - spot the nudist..

Some more of the sunning Folegandos coastline

Small beach on Folegandros

Angali, one of the main beaches on Folegandros

Awesome blue water

View out to sea from the main town of Chora

 It was back to Perissa for our last night on Santorini and back to the local beach for our last day. We were well and truly enjoying the island lifestyle by now and could easily have stayed longer here in Santorini. We had our ferry back to Athens later that night and got another free transfer to the port by our hostel – which is a must if you are staying in Perissa!

Luckily there were no hitches with our ferry back to Athens and we arrived on time early the next morning. We were glad we only had one full day in Athens as it didn’t interest us too much. We were planning on seeing the Acropolis but couldn’t manage it as it was too hot and we were too tired after our 10 hour ferry. To be honest we had seen our fair share of ruins by now anyway. After a good kip in the afternoon our highlight of Athens was a nice meal out before our flight to Paris in the morning.