Sunsets from Santorini’s Oia – are they really that great?
When ever you mention to someone that you are travelling to Santorini, their eyes light up with pure love and envy. They’ve never even been there, but there is sparkle when the mere word ‘Santorini’ passes the lips and it is on everyone’s bucket list. Is it really so special or just a little place carved into a volcano? It’s small and it’s all really really steep but apparently the sunsets are amazing. It isn’t that great is it? You can get that in most places. But here’s the deal. It really is that special, you really will fall in love with it and you will never recapture the feeling that a Santorini sunset fills your heart with in any other place.
When the plane first descents on to the tiny runway in Oia, and you are met with a tiny airport and it’s all in the middle of no-where, you kind of feel deflated. Is this it? I was expecting a ‘wow’. You have to wait for it and it’s worth it. The heat hits your face and the excitement buzzes. Your coach or taxi starts guiding you through the narrow dusty roads and then your heart dips again with deflation. Passing the vineyards, the pottery places, it’s all quite derelict and you want to be hit with that instant thunder bolt of love. You pull into the main bus station and you’re hit with a souvenir shop and some cafes. Is this it? Where is the image on the postcard?
You will see lots of day trippers either coming in via coach or large ferries and it will become extra extra crowded in peak season; some of the cobbled lanes amongst Oia are very narrow so it will feel like a smaller version of Oxford Street on a Christmas shopping spree. However, to spend an afternoon on a day trip in Oia means you don’t get to experience true Oia and its beauty, at all times of day and night and you really must. It is so decadent and ancient and modern and rustic all in one. You really do get to experience it all here.
There are two splits to Oia. From the bus station, if you venture to the right, you are met with cobbled streets, old book shops, pottery, art aligning the streets, various street sellers and there is a very steep walk down to the ocean. Remember that you are at the top of a volcano so to get the bottom of it, it is best to take a cab or quad. Or if you’re fit enough to walk, take deep breaths and hold on to the sides as this steep descent isn’t advisable to anyone who suffers with heights or vertigo. It is also quite upsetting to see all of the donkeys along this route, but also great to see that no one is using these poor donkeys. If you can’t walk it, then don’t expect them to please.
If you take a left from the bus station, you seem to get a much more modern and trendy Oia, with paved slabs (once you’ve walked the other side of Oia with nothing but cobbles and huge descents and climbs you will feel like it’s silk on your feet in this part of town), and it has a very different feel to it. There are many more expensive volcano caves, spa’s and the famous cliff top restaurants. If you can afford it, then do it, they look quite simply magical and beyond romantic. This side holds the famous spa, Santorni Secrets, and it looks divine and as it says….secret. You also have the spa’s down at the bottom of the cliff. However, you would be exhausted walking up to the town every day and having to get cabs every day would be costly.
Santorini isn’t for the faint hearted. It is busy, it is hot, the climbs and descents can be quite hard baring and exhausting. It all depends what you go there for. If you are couple that just want to stay at the top in a spa, or at the bottom in a spa, and admire the views then you’re in for a treat and it won’t be so harsh on your calf muscles. If you want to explore from top to bottom, wear very comfortable shoes and lots of tanning lotion and a hat (tanning lotion is incredibly expensive in the whole of Oia so bring your own!).
The people of Santorini are incredibly hard working and wonderful and they have great pride in their Island. From the rustic right side to the modern left side, to the cliff side restaurants to the home style back street restaurants, they are so friendly and hospitable. And it shows. Everyone assumes Santorini to be terribly expensive and it can be – you can choose the Michelin star restaurant on a cliff or the hidden traditional Greek. But it is more than reasonable and quality produce and service where ever you go.
Oia is laden with beautiful home made products; from hand painted tiles, pottery, blown glass, trinkets, wood work, jewellery, knit, sculptures and amazing art. It has a wonderful home like artisan feel to it, mixed in with the sea view completely around you. You really are in a new world. You feel free, at ease and at home. This isn’t a hen weekend or a party town – heels aren’t to be packed and if you like a drink, save it for when you are in your hotel or studio as it can be a hazard if you are staying alongside the volcano face – it is STEEP.
Santorini is pure love. To be admired, respected, valued and appreciated. In all its beauty. With the cascading whiteness, the steepness of history and those famous blue domes and stunning churches. So you ask yourself when the ‘wow’ kicks in. It’s coming. Be patient. When you embark the coach, or get out of the taxi, you watch the amazing porters caring ridiculous amounts of cases up and down the death defying steps, you then wind through cobbled streets and see the beautiful sea view, but then and just then, you turn a corner and you gasp. You got your post card moment and it really takes your breath away. You didn’t expect to feel that way. It happened. You will always remember the time you got ‘that view’ and it was everything you hoped it would be and more. It’s love.
As for the sunsets in Oia, there are many places along the front, albeit the pool bar or the roof top restaurants, where you can view this spectacular sight. But when you see it, you feel it. It is silent, you feel at peace and you watch this great ball of orange descent over the most magical piece of volcano and its surrounding islands and you will melt and relax. You will be at one. So are the sunsets in Oia all that? Yes they are. You’re home.
The sunsets in Oia will always be your tireless beauty. If you are there for one day or two weeks, every day at the same time of night you will watch the whole Island ground to a stand still when that orange ball makes its journey in to the sea lanscape. There is peace.
So are the sunsets in Oia worth it. AB-SO-LUTELY!!! They change your life.
(All rights to images – owned by All You Need Essex).
