Wine Tasting at Santo Winery & Relaxing on Santorini’s Red Beach

We couldn’t leave Santorini without going wine tasting at least once during our stay here. After checking out reviews on the Internet, we decided to visit Santo Winery, the largest one on the island. We caught the bus to Fira, then boarded the bus to Perissa/Perivolos. Santo Winery is one of the stops along the way to Perissa/Perivolos, so it was a very easy trip even though we were without a rental car. Once inside the tasting room, we were presented with a few different options, so we chose the most complete option: a cheese, tomato tapenade, and bread platter, complete with 12 different tastings (white, red, rose, and dessert wines). The views of the Caldera from the outdoor tasting area were magnificent and provided the perfect backdrop for wine tasting. Although the winds picked up while we were outside, it was still a beautiful day. We enjoyed the whites more than the reds, but overall we were pleasantly surprised with the wines of Santorini. After a couple of hours at Santo, we walked towards the main road and waited for the next bus to Akrotiri.
Our plan was to spend the rest of the afternoon relaxing at Red Beach near Akrotiri. However, as we were waiting, we saw no Akrotiri buses drive by. We flagged down a taxi instead and paid 12 euros for a direct ride. Upon arrival, we quickly realized that Red Beach is accessible only after a small hike through a hill of red rocks. We followed the line of beach goers, and once at the top we saw the blue and white umbrellas on the red sand below and knew we were in the right place. Thao scored an umbrella and beach chairs from a couple who were packing up to go, so luckily we didn’t have to wait at all. Out of all the beaches that I’ve gone to in Santorini so far, the water at Red Beach was the clearest and most refreshing. After enjoying the beach for a few hours, we caught the bus back to Fira. Of course, we had to grab a couple of gyros to hold us over until dinner. We returned to Lucky’s Souvlaki because the first time around was so good.
We must have hit every souvenir shop in the heart of Fira before we caught the bus back to Oia. We made it just in time to catch the final Oia sunset during our Santorini trip. Since Thao had yet to walk down to Ammoudi Bay, we headed down the 300+ steps as the sun was setting. Once we arrived at the port at the bottom of the steps, the sun was barely over the water…perfect timing! Based on the reviews that Thao read, we chose to eat our final Santorini dinner at the seafood restaurant, Dimitri’s. We were directed to go inside and choose our fish. The owner recommended a white, buttery fish and it ended up being exactly what we wanted. The fresh seafood dinner combined with the setting overlooking Ammoudi Bay was perfect.
Our plan was to take a taxi into Fira to experience the nightlife in Santorini, however due to the limited number of taxis on the island, we were informed that all the taxis on the entire island were busy. We met a couple from Chicago on their honeymoon, who we were going to share a cab with until we heard the news. Not having any other options but to stay in the quiet town of Oia for our last night in Santorini, we found a local bar and ordered a couple of glasses of wine. Our planned night of partying in Santorini became a mellow night overlooking the moonlit waters of the Caldera. Oh well! We figured we could save all of our partying energy for our next destination, the island of Mykonos.

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