Curious how easy it is to get around Santorini walking and taking the bus. We have two teens and aren’t comfortable taking them on the mopeds or quads if that is even legal at their age. Also curious which beaches and areas are best to visit and if anyone has recommendations for places on the caldera that can accommodate a family of four in one unit.
Thank you!
Heather
Anchorage, AK
Yes its easy to get around by bus
Santorini is not known for its beaches (try Naxos for far better). They are, like many beaches in Greece, rocks instead of sand (bring water shoes, in case you don't know about that already. Its painful to walk on the beaches). Red beach is supposed to be good and has the benefit of being right next to the Akrotiri archeological ruins (not castle - two separate akrotiri's), which my teens really liked. We splurged and took a sunset cruise on a catamaran, where they feed you dinner and take you around the caldera. It lasted 5 hours. My kids enjoyed that. I liked it for about 3 hours ;) (Not really our thing so there's that).
As for lodging, we found it hardAirbnb, or whatever site you prefer) for a house or apartment rental. Thats usually the way we travel for this reason, but as I say, especially throughout Greece we stayed in two rooms when we stayed in a hotel or b&b
Back in 2016 we took our 2 teens to Santorini and had a great time! Our lodging was a cave house in Oia (Zoe Aegeas - www.zoe.aegeas.gr) which I highly recommend. The beaches we visited were Red Beach and Perissa Beach. Suggest you consider renting a car - easy driving and more convenient than relying on buses.
Our young adult children loved jumping off the "cliff" at the bottom of Oia. We stayed in Oia in a air bnb but it did not have a caldera view. If you like hiking, the trek from Fira to Oia is simply the most beautiful I have ever done (we did in reverse). You can take the bus back.
We visited red beach as well but realize it is officially closed because there have been rock slides. We walked beyond that area and stayed for awhile. But as others have said, it is rocky on Santorini and the beaches are not the best.
Definitely take them below Oia for the cliff jumping. Walk down the steps or take a taxi to Amoudi Bay, turn left at the bottom, walk along the seawall and over some rocks (stable) to the end. This is what you'll find there: https://tinyurl.com/2kcpfxde
While you're there have lunch at one of the fish tavernas on the wharf. My fave is Katina's.
In Santorini, much of the actual rimside w. caldera view is occupied by hotels, so airbnb's less likely to have that view... you need to be flexible, for instance, look for 1-br units with 2 daybeds in LR for the kids. Or, book 2 rooms. Teens r OK sleeping down the hall from Mom & Dad, after all they manage this at home! THis gives you many more options. For affordable caldera view & walkable to FIra Town & handy for bus, I like Firostephani. This link - https://www.booking.com/city/gr/firostefani.html - is helpful to browse rates & availability (click the "show on Map" ikon to see blue "balloons" for available lodgings right on caldera view, w rates). TIP - to get best advice, give specific dates... I'd recommend places I know but with no dates, they might be booked & thus irrelevant.
