Greece Travel Vlog Part 3: Crete to Santorini
Subsribe to my YouTube Channel: http://bit.ly/2kSRcAw
We took a bus from Chania to Heraklio, to the ferry port. This was a 2hr bus ride and was €15pp. There is a port in Rethimno which is an hour ride from Chania, but the ferry runs every other day, and the day we were leaving it was not running, so 2hrs to Heraklio we went. The bus was just like a greyhound bus, but with comfy seats….I slept the entire ride.
Ferry Heraklio-Santorini €156 for 2 people
We took the Minonan Lines Santorini Palace and I splurged for the VIP tickets which were well worth it. The seats were large and comfortable, there weren’t a lot of people, and there was table service. Well worth the splurge.
VIP Seating
Transportation in Santorini
I booked ground transportation through Viator. It’s a great website for booking tours and transport. There was a man waiting with a sign with my name on it at the port. I booked shared transportation so I knew we’d be waiting for others, but I didn’t think we’d be waiting an hour! The company was Sunbird Travel Agency and the cost was €34 for 2 people. The car was a Mercedes van, it was very nice and comfortable, but the hour wait I could have done without. My husband and myself, and another couple had to wait for a group of 3 girls who came in on a different ferry. That wait was entirely too long. Private transfers were like 150 euro so this was a bargain. I also booked them for our return back to the port.
Santorini Transportation
Hotel – View Hotel by Secret $466
This hotel was definitely a splurge, and well worth it. It just opened in May so everything was new, and it was a 10 minute walk to Oia. To stay in Oia was a minimum of like $700 per night. The prices were insane! So finding this little gem so close to Oia was a big score. Breakfast was included, and they had a great spread. They have lunch and dinner service, and their food was delicious, but everything on the menu is pretty pricey. The staff was so friendly. I would definitely stay here again.
Santorini is just so beautiful with all of the white buildings, and churches with blue domes. The sunsets were out of this world. I had never seen a purple and pink sky before. It truly took my breath away.
When I’m on vaca I always do a catamaran cruise. It’s a great way to see places you would never see on foot. I booked this through Viator as well, it was €171 for 2 people. The company was Sunset Oia. I have to say this was the best catamaran that I have been on. I have never been on a catamaran with flushing toilets! Usually you have to pump until everything goes down. They cooked the food on-board which I’ve also never seen on a catamaran. There was a huge grill at the back of the boat. The crew could have been more lively, but maybe that’s a Greek thing. We still had a great time.
We ate at Skiza our last night. The food was amazing, and we had a rooftop Caldera view. Our entire meal with drinks and dessert was only €54. I thought that was such a steal for such a great meal.
Days 7-8 – Santorini to Athens
We took the ferry from Santorini to Athens. It was a 5hr ride. . I wanted to fly which was a little over an hour? But reading the reviews of the 2 airlines that flew to Athens had me terrified. There were a ton of cancellations and I didn’t want to risk missing our flight to Madrid, so ferry it was. We took the SeaJet ferry and it was €140 for the both of us. This time I was cheap and didn’t go for the VIP, but boy did I wish I did. While the seats were comfortable, albeit a little tight, there were a ton of people in the regular seating. VIP is definitely worth the splurge when traveling the Greek Isles….Trust me!
Me in the Ferry seat
Once we arrived in Athens we headed back to the airport. We had about 2hrs before our flight so we headed to the Goldair Handling CIP Lounge. This lounge had a pretty good food and alcohol spread, and comfortable seating. The lounge could use some updating because there were no outlets at the seats. They were all at a pretty nice table that looks like it was later added to the lounge. We boarded our flight and headed to Madrid.
Madrid Hotel: Vitium Urban Suites
I booked this room through Agoda for $70.78. The room was quite small, but it was clean and had everything we needed for our 12 hour stay. The best thing of all is it was located right on Gran Via. The location was absolutely perfect, and right in the center of Madrid. We had dinner that evening at a cute little restaurant, and my main mission for the next morning was to head to the Adidas store and score some swag; which I did, but I won’t reveal it now because it is my NYC marathon outfit! I also hit up Primark of course for some souvenirs, then we hightailed it to the airport. We didn’t get to visit the lounge in Madrid because we didn’t have much time after shopping.
I hope you enjoyed my Greece Vlogs, hopefully you had a chance to watch the videos as well. I’ll be documenting all of my trips going forward, so hopefully I’ll get better at this video thang. Thx for reading and watching!
