If you are thinking, or planning a trip to Santorini, Greece but are unsure if it is a great place to bring a baby or toddler, you have come to the right place. 🙂 We went to Santorini with our, back then, 5 months old baby, and I’m sharing my tips and tricks here when traveling to Santorini with Baby or small children.Â
Santorini has always been on our bucket list, and I’m so glad we went, even though we didn’t know how our first trip with a baby would be. Flying and exploring a new country is completely different when you are adding a little person to the mix, but I’m glad that didn’t scare us and we made it possible anyway. Here are my top tips for Santorini with a baby or toddler.
This post is all about Tips for traveling to Santorini with a baby.
7 Helpful Tips when traveling to Santorini with Baby
1. Leave the Stroller
We brought our stroller, which had the car seat attached, but we didn’t even use it once. Why? Because Santorini is basically all stairs and cobblestones. Our 5-month-old was in the baby carrier every single day and it was super easy to get where we wanted and she loved being carried around everywhere.
Most restaurants also offer high chairs, if your child can already sit at the table. Ours didn’t, so she sat on our lap for all meals, which we were used to already.
2. Transportation
My baby does not like car rides. I have no idea why but I was so glad to find out, Santorini has a great bus system. To explorer the island, we were able to go everywhere by hopping on and off the bus. Public transportation was actually pretty comfortable and the rides were never really long. There is also the option of renting a car for the day, which is great if you have small children that enjoy car rides.
3. Where to Stay in Santorini
There are many awesome kid-friendly hotels on the island with amazing views and pools but we ended up booking a cute little Airbnb, right in the center of Fira. Our apartment didn’t have breathtaking views of the sea but we wanted to be right in the center, in order to be close to restaurants, shopping, and the bus stop. We usually travel on a budget and the hotel prices in Santorini aren’t the cheapest. Our apartment had a small kitchen, which was nice and we were able to cook some meals at home and save money on eating out. Our Airbnb host provided us with a crib for our baby and we had a little patio area with a table and chairs to hang out in during nap times, which was very relaxing.
Our little Airbnb was only 2 minutes away from a little supermarket but tucked away and quiet. We’ve enjoyed a couple of meals outdoors and the kitchen has everything we needed for the time we spend on Santorini.
4. Avoid High Peak Season
Santorini is a very popular place to visit (for obvious reasons) and can get very crowded. When traveling with little children, it’s much more relaxing to travel off-season. We visited Santorini at the beginning of October, which was the perfect time. The weather was still nice but there were way fewer people than during the summer months and it was also not as hot. Plus, flights are usually cheaper. Since Santorini is not known for its beaches, we weren’t really going there to hang out at the beach every day, which would have been a bit cold to go swimming, but we did see people going in the water even in October.
5. Visit the Volcano of Santorini
One of our favorite things we did during our trip was the excursion to visit the Volcano of Santorini. We booked our tickets online (https://www.santorini-view.com/boat-volcano-tours/volcano-hot-springs-tour-caldera-boats/) and hopped on a boat at the old port of Fira. The port is only accessible by foot or cable car. We decided to walk down the 587 steps, which I don’t recommend with a baby or small child because it’s very exhausting and you have to walk in between donkeys and lots of people. The cable car isn’t free but you get to the port in about 3 minutes.
The boat ride was very relaxing and we had the opportunity to jump in the water. I stayed with the baby while my husband went for a dive and it worked out perfectly for her nap. Hiking up the volcano was so fun and we had our baby in the baby carrier the whole time. We saw many families with kids hiking the volcano as well and it was overall a great experience and definitely a must-see when visiting Santorini.
6. Spend a day at the beach
Even though Santorini doesn’t have white sandy beaches like other Greek islands, spending some time at one of their beaches is a must. We’ve visited Red Beach, which was a bit of a hike to get to. It was a unique beach and we got to enjoy a stunning view of the red cliffs and the water.
We spend a couple of hours just relaxing at Kamari Beach. It was a bit windy that day but we enjoyed the view and fresh ocean breeze. There were plenty of great restaurants and shops and it was also very kid-friendly and had beach chairs to relax in.
7. Enjoy a Sunset Dinner
When I did my research on what to do while in Santorini, watching the sunset in Oia was one of the suggestions. I also read that it gets extremely crowded and so we decided to watch the sunset in Fira, the city we stayed at. And let me just tell you, there is nothing romantic or special about watching the sunset cramped together with 300 other people lol. So here are suggestions if you want to watch the sunset, but away from the crowds.
Have dinner at one of the many oceanfront restaurants (come early because it will get crowded) and if you are in Fira, you can watch the sunset along the wall as well. Of course, there is no way of avoiding tourists but it will definitely not be as crowded as Oia Castle. You can simply stop and watch the sunset anywhere along the low walls of Fira.
If you are planning to visit Santorini with your baby or toddler, I hope you found some helpful tips here. Feel free to ask me any questions!
This post was all about helpful tips when traveling to Santorini with a baby or toddler.
