Hi Rachel - best tip is to take it easy, the pace of life here is magnificent. There is no pressure to do anything at all - no hassle, just pop in if you want to - brilliant. There were 6 of us all adults, and we hired quad bikes. We managed to get round all the main places on the island in a day. We also caught the local bus into Thira - well worth a visit. The sunsets in Santorini are to die for, so pick one of the fantastic sea edge restaurants, order your favourite tipple and sit back & enjoy the views - stunning. I'm sure you'll have a brilliant time. One tip - if you plan on spending time at the beach I'd certainly invest in a pair of beach shoes, as the sand is boiling.

I agree with Helen's post above- A visit to beautiful Oia is also a must. We found a lovely little outside bar on the clifftop where we ordered a cold drink during our Quad bike stop. We had views looking over the caldera, down into the port were the cruise ships come in
This was a pic I took there

17 years since I was there, but remember the wineries, a big hill that you can climb up, a boat trip across to a dormant volcanoe, as well as the previous posts.
It is a great island to hire a moped to get around.

That photo is amazing! Made me even more excited now!

When you say beach shoes would flip flops be ok? That's all I was planning on taking but will look at something else too if you don't think that they'll be suitable.

A trip to Oia is definitely on the agenda, I'd like to go over for dinner overlooking the caldera although that'll probably cost a fortune.

Thanks for the tips everyone, all advice is much appreciated!

Hi Rachel - flip flops would be better than nothing, but if I went back again I'd take my beach shoes. There's plenty for sale on e bay similar to this http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Beach-Shoes-Aqua-Shoes-Rutherford-Surf-Swim-NEW-/380190280925?cmd=ViewItem&pt=UK_ClothesShoesAccessories_BoysShoes_BoysShoes_JN&var=&hash=item9757110c40
Not all the restaurants have astronomical prices, but be prepared to pay a bit more than in your resort.

Thanks for that, I wasn't sure what they were at first! I've found quite a nice pair on ebay, I've been looking for something for the beach that I could go in the water with but was looking at those jelly shoes. These look far more suitable!

They're great Rachel - hubby & I use them for snorkelling too. It's surprising how quick they dry in the sun as well - they're a sort of foamy nylon matrial, if you understand what I mean.

Hi Rachel

Our first visit to Santorini was 10 years ago when we stayed in Perissa, we then returned for 4 nights last month, when we combined it with a stay in Naxos. On our first visit we hired a car for just 3 days - though we normally hire a car for most, if not all, of the time in Greece, this was more than enough to explore all of the island, which is really not that big. On our latest trip we didn't bother with a car at all. The busses are quite frequent (hour or half-hourly) and reasonably cheap - all start in Fira town. You can get a printed timetable at the bus station in Fira and the relevant timetable will also be on the bus stops. I'd certainly consider just using busses to visit Fira, Pyrgos (see below) and Ancient Thera, if you go there. You may also want a few car-free days on the beach.

Oia has already been mentioned and is well worth a visit. If you are feeling energetic and into walking, the walk from Fira to Oia is amazing - all along the caldera with breathtaking views all the way. All but a couple of hundred yards of road is on tracks or paths and is about 5 miles. We walked there and got the bus back.

If you like ancient ruins, then Ancient Thera is worth seeing. It is on the headland between Perissa and Kamari. You can walk up a path from Perissa but it is steep - about 400 Metres. From Kamari a zig-zag road leads to the top which you can take a car up, or as we did this time, you can catch a minibus for 10 euros return bookable at a little tourist office in Kamari near one of the bus stops. The site shuts at 2.30 and on Mondays. If you didn't want to bother with a car to do this, I believe a water taxi runs between Perissa and Kamari.

We also enjoyed visiting the little hill town of Pyrgos - the Perissa bus to Fira stops there. The town was built in and around a Venetian castle (now mostly gone) and has lots of little winding streets to explore and a few gift shops and tavernas. It is very pretty and well worth a visit.

Fira town is probably worth at least a couple of visits. Again if you like museums, there are a few including the "Museum of Prehistoric Thera" which contains some of the finds and frescoes from Akrotiri, which unfortunately isn't open at the moment. It's amazing to think how sophisticated a society was there 3,600 years ago! Walk up through Firostefani to Imerovigli along the caldera for some amazing views. You can go down to the harbour and come back on donkeys or the cable car and it is possible to get boat trip to the volcanic island of Neo Kameni and swim in the hot springs - though we haven't done this. Try to spend an evening in Fira too - it is great to watch the sunset and the town looks magical when the lights come on.

You might be interested to see my photos, to whet your appetite. There is a link on the "Santorini pictures" thread, posted yesterday.

Hope you have a wonderful time. Maria

Maria, thank you SO much! That's fantastic. I'll make notes from what you've said so I know what not to miss! I think we'll be able to save money by not hiring a car for the 2 weeks then, maybe just the odd day hire here and there for when we want to do our own thing.

Is it a difficult walk along the caldera from Fira to Oia? Sounds like something I'd love but don't want my legs to give up on me half way! My boyfriend is great, but I think carrying me might be one step too far!

Rachel x

Hi Rachel

The walk isn't difficult, there is a bit of upping and downing but as you end up lower down, I think there is more downhill if you walk to Oia - and the views are most amazing. You cannot get lost - you just follow the caldera! The walk is mainly on donkey tracks and ranges from concrete lanes, cobbled sections and gravel tracks - wear something comfortable for walking on uneven ground like trainers - we had walking type sandals which were fine apart from getting the odd bit of gravel underfoot! There are several places on the route where you could stop and get a drink or snack, so you can take your time. If it did get too much, you are never very far from the main road that runs between Fira and Oia, so you could always give up and catch the bus!

Hope you will report back and let us know how you enjoyed your holiday. Have a great time!

Maria

Just thought I'd give everyone an update!

I got back from my holiday last week and I want to be back there already! Santorini was the most amazing place I've ever been. The apartments were fantastic and the view from our balcony was amazing. Perissa was lovely and I really liked the fact that you could walk along the beach road without being hassled to go into bars and restaurants. We did a few afternoons in Kamari and while I loved it there we did get annoyed that we couldn't walk in peace without being jumped on!

We hired a car for 4 days in the end and loved being able to go anywhere we liked as the island is so small that you don't need to worry about limiting yourself to the highlights. Our best day was probably the first day of our car hire where we just aimlessly drove down random roads that led to nowhere to see what we could find at the end of them! We did have a bit of a car accident unfortunately where a crazy woman on a bike changed her mind about the turn she was about to make and drove into our car instead. I wasn't having a massive panic about the car hire company ripping us off with repair charges but luckily they reported it to the police instead which protected us from being ripped off by anyone. It did waste nearly a day's car hire though as my boyfriend had to go to the police station to report it which was a bit of a drive away, and had to wait for the woman from the hire company to be ready to take him too, we really found out the meaning of "Greek time" that day!

We did a boat trip round the caldera and up the volcano which was stunning, my only complaint with this was probably our own fault in that we booked it through Thomsons rather than looking for what we could find in the local agents. We found a trip that was 12 hours for 28 euros that did the caldera, the volcano and hot springs, and few hours on thirassia, a few hours somewhere else and then the evening on the boat to watch the sunset. We did a bit of a trip round the caldera, up the volcano and a visit to the hot springs for 50 euros.

We found a bar to watch the sunset on the main road heading from Akrotiri and I have to say I was a little dissapointed! The view over the caldera was stunning but the sunset wasn't really anything out of the ordinary. I preferred the day we got up early and headed down to the beach to watch the sunrise, I thought that that was far more spectacular.

Thanks for all your advice everyone, it was much appreciated!

Rachel