A Travel Guide to Santorini, Greece

Santorini, Greece has been one of those magical places that have been on my bucket list since for years. Santorini is the famous place where the white washed homes are tucked away in the hills where you can view the most beautiful sunsets. After being on Santorini for five days and four nights I can honestly say that it is even more beautiful in real life. From the blue domes, to bougainvillea flowers, to the most perfect sunsets - every corner of Santorini is a breathless moment and an Instagram picture worth taking.

First off, let's get to know Santorini and it's beautiful towns. The most popular places in Santorini and where you will most likely stay are Fira, Firostefani, Imerovigli, or Oia. Fira is the capital of Santorini which flows into Firostefani. The next town from Firostefani is Imerovigli. The last town is Oia. There are also many more towns outside of these. To get around Santorini we rented an ATV (which our hotel dropped off at our hotel for us) and ventured out. One of our favorite towns we visited was the old town of Pyrgos. You may have also heard of the term "Caldera" which is a large depression surrounded by the walls of a volcano. Our hotel faced the Caldera which was breathtaking!

WHERE TO STAY IN SANTORINI

Hotels can be quiet expensive but they are worth the splurge! We stayed in Firostefani at the beautiful Homeric Poems. The reason we chose this location was that it is outside of the crazyness that Fira has to offer but yet it is close enough that you can walk to Fira in about 10-15 minutes. It is a beautiful hotel and there are different room options depending on what you want. Our room was gorgeous with the most beautiful view of the Caldera. The view of the sunset in the evenings was unreal.

White Dress: Rails / White Sneakers: Sperry
Straw Bag (from Santorini, Similar)
Earrings: DFTI Boutique (Similar)

Dress: Tularosa / Sneakers: Sperry

Tank: JCrew / Leggings: Nike / Sneakers: Nike

WHERE TO EAT IN SANTORINI

You can't go wrong with any of the places at Santorini honestly. All the food is so fresh and every single meal we had was amazing! Homeric Poems has an amazing breakfast so we ate out for lunch and dinner each day.

Here are my top favorite places:

Aktaion (Firostefani)
Lucky Souvlaki (Fira)
Palia Kameni (Cocktails - Fira)
Scala (Oia)
Pito Gyros (Oia)
Ammoundi Fish Tavern (Oia)
Kantouni (Pyrgos)

WHAT TO DO IN SANTORINI

Explore the small cobblestone alleys in Fira and Oia

Go on a sailing tour - Our hotel booked a sunset sailing tour which lasts 5 hours through Spiridakos with a few stops that includes snorkeling, swimming in the hot springs, and to watch the sunset. They cook you dinner and they had all the wine and beer you want. This was one of our favorite activities.

Hike from Fira to Oia - This is a 7 mile hike which takes about 3 to 4 hours depending on how fast you walk from Fira to Oia. Make sure to get an early start as the sun can be strong around noon and bring water! There isn't many places to stop between Imerovigli and Oia.

Rent an ATV - I think an ATV is the best way to really get to know Santorini. You can rent an ATV for about $35 Euros a day. We drove the ATV to the lighthouse and the beautiful town of Pyrgos.

Walk down to Ammoundi Bay (Fisherman's Tavern) - We walked down the donkey path and had a wonderful lunch down at the bay area at Ammoundi Fish Tavern. 

Wineries - Santos Winery was my favorite with the most spectacular views. 

Watch the Sunset - The most popular place to watch the sunset is in Oia, however, we had the most amazing views of the sunset at our hotel.

Take a Cooking Class - This was an activity we did not get to do but if we had an extra day this is a must-do!

Beach - Explore the different beaches

BEACHES

There are a number of beaches and they are all very different from each other. The Red Sand Beach you have to hike through the rocks to get too. The White Sand Beach is only available by water taxi. My favorite was Kamari Beach which is the only beach I saw with the most beautiful beach bars, hotels, and beach.

TRAVEL TIPS

The best time of year to travel is right before the high season which runs from June to August. We went during a perfect time at the end of May and would recommend this time of year to everyone! The weather was warm and the nights were cool. The island was busy but was not as busy as it gets during those key months

ATV rental for the day is fairly cheap. It cost us about $35 Euros for the day. You do have to make sure to get your international permit before you go to Santorini.

Mykonos Travel Guide

Top: Zara / Jeans: JCrew (On sale!) / Sandals: Greece Slides
Sunglasses: Sperry (Similar) / Purse: Tory Burch

One of the places that has been on my bucket list is the beautiful island of Mykonos, one of the Greek islands, in the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea. Mykonos is world famous for it's party scene, beautiful beaches, white washed homes and cobblestone alleys. Our days were spent exploring Mykonos (beaches and towns) and our evenings were spent exploring the small cobbled alleys of Mykonos town and exploring the many restaurants and bars.

Where to Stay

We stayed at a luxury hotel the Mykonos Theoxenia Hotel and I would highly recommend it! The room was really very comfortable and was walking distance to Mykonos town - the hotel is right next to the famous windmills. The breakfast each morning was also buffet style and was soo good with many food choices.

Little Venice (Mykonos Town)

Little Venice is famous for where the restaurants meet the sea. It is one of the most photographed landmarks on Mykonos. Little Venice, in my opinion, is the best place on the island to shop, dine and grab cocktails. You can buy anything in Mykonos Town. My favorite things to shop for include jewelery, hand-made greek sandals, straw bags, resort wear, and linen shirts for my husband!

In terms of places to dine one of our favorite places to eat is Niko's Taverna. I also loved that there were many places open late night which include Jimmy's and Souvlaki Story. For cocktails Caprice is one of those perfect places to let loose and have fun. Some other of my favorite bars include Semeli, ARGO and BAOS.

The beautiful cobblestone alleys and bougainvillea trees are un-real! One of my favorite things to do was to walk in Mykonos town and get lost in the alleys.  Make sure to stop and look up you will always find pops of color from the famous bougainvillea trees!

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Watch the Sunset

The sunsets are so beautiful in Mykonos. One of the evenings we sat on the beautiful patio area of our hotel and watched the sun go down. 

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Earrings: Bauble Bar / Watch: Movado Bold

Visit the Windmills

The windmills are another iconic feature of Mykonos. It's another great location to watch the sunset from and the crowds starting lining up as early as 6:00PM (sunset was around 8:30PM).

Beaches

We rented an ATV for the day which was dropped off at our hotel (approx $60 euros for the day) and we headed to Elia and Paradise beach. Paragos is another well known beach. Elia beach is a little bit on the quiet side while Paradise beach is a total party scene. The water was some of the most clearest water I have ever laid my eyes on.

Mykonos was so memroable and beautiful. I would highly recommend it to everyone and hope to go back one day!

White Ruffle Top Under $100

Top: English Factory / Jeans: JCrew
Block Heel Sandals: Vince Camuto (Similar)
Purse: Tory Burch / Sunglasses: Sperry (Similar)

This white ruffle off the shoulder top is giving me all the feels lately! I love the bow ties on the arms and how much this top makes any outfit feel instantly dressy (and at the price point of $59 this top is one of my favorite purchases for spring!). I have this looked paired here with a pair of jeans but it would look amazing with a pair of shorts.

I have been on a blue and white color kick lately probably because we are off to Greece this evening and I am so excited as it's been on my bucket list for years! We will be in Mykonos and Santorini so if you have any recommendations please let me know! Make sure to follow along my travel adventures on my Instagram @MyGoldenBeauty.

I am linking some of other my favorite white ruffle tops below!

Blue Eyelet Dress

Dress: H&M (Similar) / Shoes: Vince Camuto (Similar)
Watch: Movado / Earrings: Givenchy / Crossbody Purse: Tory Burch

I hope everyone had a good weekend! Over the weekend I was up in Connecticut visiting my parents and celebrating Mother’s Day with my momma! Since it was raining over the weekend, we went out to brunch Saturday (to beat the Sunday crowds) and then a movie. Then on Mother's Day Sunday we made brunch for her. I love spending time with my family and the older you get you learn to cherish these moments and memories more and more!

Today’s look is this beautiful blue eyelet dress. I also like that the dress comes with a tie so you can wear it as loose or as tight as you want. It's honestly soo comfortable and I can think of so many ways to wear it. I can’t wait to pair this dress with a pair of white sneakers and a jean jacket – it’ll be perfect for vacation next week!

I linked a few other of my favorite eyelet dresses in the widget below!

Striped Wrap Blouse and SheIn Clothing Review

Wrap Blouse: SheIn (c/o) / Jeans: JCrew / Sandals: Vince Camuto (Similar)
Crossbody Purse: Tory Burch / Necklace: Kate Spade
Watch: Movado / Sunglasses: Sperry (Similar)

Today I am giving you another look from SheIn specifically this pretty black and white striped wrap blouse. I can’t wait to pair this top with some white pants or shorts for the summer! I also like the tie and wrap detail of the blouse. I am wearing a size small for sizing reference.

SheIn Clothing Review - Is it too good to be true?

When you see a $20 shirt that’s much cheaper than something you saw for $50 at the store – you start to question if the website is legit! Well I'm here to put all your fears aside. I am one of those individuals that get nervous ordering from websites that aren’t name brand. After my floral dress post went up on Tuesday (you can view the post HERE) I received many questions and messages on Instagram regarding SheIn clothing and my experience with them.

As someone that has been working with SheIn I've personally had a good experience with them and my thoughts are as follows (Please note that I would NEVER share any products with my readers that I did not like or have a good experience with. All opinions are my own).

Quality of Clothing

SheIn is an awesome website for trendy pieces for less. With the pricepoint of SheIn clothing don't expect to get a luxury item (or cashmere, silk, etc. - you get the point!). I’ve gotten several pieces from SheIn and have not been disappointed in the quality. This dress that I wore on Tuesday is a dupe of a Zara dress that I own (view that look HERE and HERE) and what’s funny is that I like the SheIn dress so much more! It's primarily due to the fact that the SheIn dress comes with an adjustable slip whereas the Zara dress does not. Even the wrap blouse I am wearing in today's post the material is nice and thick.

Sizing of Clothing

My best word of advice when it comes to sizing is do not only rely on the store’s pictures! Most of the clothing have reviews and a lot of times girls will even upload their photo to show how it looks on them. I find these photos sooo helpful so you can see how the clothing fits on a real person. Most of the clothing I received from SheIn for dresses and blouses are a size small (I'm 5'7" for reference).

Shipping + Returns

I have not had any issues receiving SheIn pieces and everything has arrived on time (or faster than expected!). SheIn offers free shipping and returns which is awesome. Their return policy is as follows "Use our return label to postmark your first return within 40 days from the purchase date, we’ll cover the cost of your first return shipping." 

Overall, SheIn is a great website to find trendy items at an affordable price so you don't spend a fortune on the “hottest” new trend for the season. Most trendy items will be out by the time next season or next year rolls around so SheIn is a great place to find those items!