Top Santorini Shore Excursions - page 7

Our half-day Santorini tour with Viator/Holiday Tours was absolutely fabulous and the perfect way to spend your first day on the island! Our guide, Irini, a lifelong Santorini resident, was incredibly knowledgeable about the island’s history and culture. Our driver, Mr. Mike, was outstanding as well — and trust me, that matters on Santorini! The roads are very narrow with steep climbs and tight turns, and we always felt completely safe in his hands. One of the highlights was visiting the oldest Byzantine church on the island, built in 1115, with beautiful historic wall paintings. We also learned about Santorini’s unique method of growing grapes. Instead of vines on trellises like you’d normally see, the vines are trained low to the ground and woven into circular “baskets,” with the grapes growing protected in the center. Visiting in the off-season (late March), the fields looked deserted and just weeds from a distance, but Irini took us into a field and up close you could see the circular shapes and tiny leaves just beginning to sprout. We stopped at several spectacular viewpoints including the historic lighthouse and the Red Beach, both offering incredible photo opportunities. Irini also shared fascinating information about Santorini’s volcanoes, earthquakes, and the prehistoric village that was buried in lava and is now an extraordinary archaeological site. Our tour ended perfectly with sunset in Oia, the famous village with the blue domes and white buildings perched above the caldera. And a special bonus — Irini is an amazing photographer! She not only offers to take photos, she knows how to use different cameras and phones and helps you pose creatively — even lining up perfect shots and making suggestions, then taking a TON of pix for you!. She also offered to film video for us. Thanks to her, I came home with some incredible photos. We also loved learning that Irini is named after Saint Irene, the saint from which Santorini gets its name. Both Irini and Mr. Mike were incredibly helpful, friendly, and passionate about their island. This tour was informative, beautiful, and fun — truly an excellent introduction to Santorini. We contracted them for more help getting around the island as we had no car! Highly recommend this tour for your first day on the island!