Recently updated on January 15th, 2020 at 08:26 pm
Our Greek Island Hopper Trafalgar trip continued with three nights in Santorini.
We opted for a full day island tour with a local guide, visiting two charming towns where we purchased some fresh little tomatoes from a street vendor – delicious! We saw pistachio trees, olive trees and vineyards and later took to the iconic Black Beach and Red Beach. After a swim and lunch we visited SantoWines, a local winery which was very interesting. We enjoyed a guided tour and even got to taste their famous white and dessert wines.
That night, our Travel Director Filippos, invited the group to join him at a local restaurant. We all went and had a wonderful dinner in the centre of Fira. Afterwards, we visited a local bar where we relaxed with a few drinks on the balcony. I enjoyed that Filippos sat and mingled with us on occasions like these.
Another full free day on Santorini, so we took part in the optional Volcano and Caldera Cruise. This turned out to be quite an adventure with a few unexpected challenges, but my boyfriend really enjoyed it. It was actually his best day on the trip! We took what looked like a pirate ship to the island of Nea Kameni, an active volcano in the Santorini archipelago. It’s a big mountain covered in craters and black rocks, and the climb up it is tough so be sure to wear running shoes. We decided to go all the way to the top – exhausting but worth it. The view is amazing.
In the evening, a private coach took us to the beautiful town of Oia for dinner, where we enjoyed a lovely meal at a terrace restaurant. For dessert, Filippos kindly bought us a box filled with traditional Greek desserts, which we shared. Afterwards, we walked around town and stopped to view the famous Oia sunset.
Bidding farewell to Santorini, we boarded the ferry to Athens and again we were upgraded to VIP. Being our last night in Greece, everyone decided to have dinner together at a traditional Greek taverna in the Plaka. This was the best dinner of them all – a real taste of Greek culture. The food was fabulous! Two musicians played and sang the whole time, which was extremely charming. And a group of dancers also did a few entertaining numbers. Opa!
Overall, this was an amazing trip. The pace was slower than our last Trafalgar trip but we still got to see and do a lot of activities. I recommend it to those who want to experience the Greek Islands instead of just visiting them for a few hours on a cruise.
Elise from Ontario, Canada
To read Elise’s full Greek Island Hopper travel tale, visit the Trafalgar Community Forums here.
