Top Dream Days of 2017, A Sunrise Hike and Sunset Cruise in Santorini
We covered a lot of ground in our weeklong jaunt with Heritage Tours to Greece in April. Stops included Athens, Nafplion, Spetses, Mykonos, Delos, Paros, and our last stop, magical Santorini. It had been 25 years since Lisa and I were on the island for our honeymoon and it felt just as enticing. Especially the day we woke up with the sunrise to hike atop the ridge and then watched the sun set that evening aboard a yacht in the Aegean waters. Santorini exceeds all expectations, with stunning vistas of the caldera and its volcanic islands. We wandered off at 7 am from our room at Mystique, striding atop a bluff above the whitewashed buildings. To the right was the caldera, to the left more majestic islands that make up the Cyclades. The entire walk from Oia to Fira is 9.5 kilometers, approximately 3 hours, but we got sidetracked by donkeys and a snack bar selling damn good lattes and never made it past Imerovigli. Later that same day, we bordered a private yacht for a sunset cruise. Now nestled within the caldera, the scenery was a mesmerizing mix of aquamarine waters, jagged volcanic islands, and the whitewashed houses on the island clinging precariously to the cliffs. Add the reddish/orange/pink orb of a sun melting into the sea, shading this scene with the full spectrum of color, paired with a glass of crisp Santorini wine, and you have a fitting ending to a memorable trip.