chobby100 -- Before we went, I originally was looking for a place to stay in Oia and kind of had my heart set on it. But ultimately I'm glad we didn't. There is so much more to Santorini than Oia and Fira, and my favorite things were driving around the island and hiking around the caldera. If you are looking for things to "do" (like nightlife) then I would stay in Fira. To us, nightlife consisted of enjoying the sunset on our balcony with some wine, then going out for dinner at a local taverna -- so Imerovigli was perfect for us. To be honest there isn't a whole lot in Imerovigli. There was a little taverna down the street called Taso's which was delicious but the service was nothing to write home about other than the fact that the waiter/owner served us shirtless and he looked like my grandfather! We went to dinner in Fira one night at Nicholas Taverna (which was great), in Oia two nights, and at Taso's two nights. Never had a bad meal.

Bookmarking this thread for myself because of the great info on Santorini wineries- thanks, Lisa!

Hi Lisa. Enjoyed hearing about your Greece trip. We're in the planning stages of 2007 trip to either just Greece, or Greece & Italy combo.

Santorini and Folegandros were the exact 2 islands I was interested in and sounds like you loved them both. I saw the order of your itinerary above--what was your transportation from place to place? Did you fly to Santorini, ferry to Folegandros? How did you return to Athens?

I have always wanted to go to Greece but have heard stories of the way they treat stray cats and other animals and it would really break my heart so see. No amount of beauty could make up for that. i am wondering about your experience regarding number of strays you encountered. (I would want to take them all home...)

The stray cats (and some dogs0 are an inevitable part of the Greek Islands., But I've seen them elsewhere as well. By the end of the season they're fat and sleek from handouts from compassionate tourists.

vicky,
When we were in Mykonos, we had a family of kittens on our porch for 2 days. We completely fell in love with them. They were in a cardboard box, and their mamma would take care of them.
On the third day, they were gone.
We were so upset. The housekeepers were so upset, too, and suggested foul play was involved. They seemed to know "who had done it".
Oh, it was awful.
But truly, I didn't see any other stray cats...
Dina

lhopp -- We flew from Athens to Santorini, took a ferry from Santorini to Folegandros, and hydrofoil from Folegandros to Athens. We lucked out that the ferry and hydrofoil happened to be running on the days we needed -- lots of other folks we met had been stranded because the ferries & hydrofoils do not run in high winds and they had been cancelled for several days in a row. There are no flights to or from Folegandros.

Vicky -- Stray dogs and cats are a fact of life in many places, from big cities in the U.S. to Athens to Cape Town to Bangkok. I never saw them ill-treated -- in fact, they sit at the feet of tourists at cafes and eat scraps. You can see some photos of (pretty healthy-looking, in my opinion) the dogs and cats we encountered during our time in Greece on our homepage at homepage.mac.com/lisaandmarktravel. I finally got around to captioning our Greece photos and adding a second set. You can see them at http://homepage.mac.com/lisaandmarkt...toAlbum20.html and http://homepage.mac.com/lisaandmarkt...toAlbum22.html

Your photos are fantastic! What kind of camera do you use? If you have more, put them online! =D>

Thanks Lisa-your pictures are fabulous! Definitely reinforces that we want to go to Santorini & Folegandros! We're hoping to combine Greece & Venice next June--although looks like you had wonderful weather in September as well.

I posted separately a question about our trying to choose the islands for our itinerary--we were thinking of doing Santorini, Folegandros, and one other island, but I'm wondering if it may be too rushed with only 2.5 days (with travel time) on each one. And, it seems like the ferries can really throw off the best of plans. Did you feel 5 days each was just right on Santorini and Folegandros, or too much?

Thanks for the nice feedback on our photos. My husband takes the credit for all the Greece ones -- he used a Konica Minolta 7D. I took lots too but they are all film -- I haven't graduated to digital yet.

lhopp -- We could have easily spent 7 days on Santorini. I thought 5 days was perfect on Folegandros.

Lisa - We will be traveling in late May/early June - doing Athens/Crete/Folegandros/Santorini.

Which ferry company did you use for the trip to/from Folegandros? We are planning to take the hi-speed ferry from Crete to Santorini on a Saturday, planning to continue onto Folegandros that day and stay on Folegandros for 3 nights at the Anemomilos Apartments.

Any help would be appreciated.

- Lori

I want to say it was Blue Star? There was only one option.

Greece has captured my imagination. I am wondering if any of you have been to Rhodes? It does not seem to be such a popular destination so I am interested in your feedback. Thank you.

HI All, I really need some help/direction and would greatly appreciate your feedback. Travelling to Greece in June and was considering Santorini for three nights, Crete for four nights, and Athens for one (unfortunately, I only have eight nights). Some people say Crete's not worth visiting unless you spend a full week there. Do you think I will be disappointed (and rushed or overwhelmed) if I only spend four nights there? Also, is Folegandros a good option for my first trip to Greece?

Hi Lisa! Loved your review and photos. We will be staying at the Anastasis in May. Did you take a taxi from the dock or did you take the hotel's transfer? Thanks

We did arrange for the transfer in advance and it worked out fine. We were met by a man who had a sign with our names on it, which Despina arranged for us in advance. We just e-mailed her a few days before arriving to reconfirm we would be met.

Thank you for answering! Despina wrote that we should have no problem getting a taxi, so maybe that is what we will do.

Hi Lisa,
Thank you to all you have written - and your pictures were amazing and inspired me to stay at Anastasis when i go to Santorini this August. Anastasis Aptartments look so beautiful but I am just concerned about staying far from things. You said you rented a car when you were there. If we don't plan to rent a car, would staying in Imerovigli be too secluded? It sounds like it might be a problem to get dinner if we want to go into Oia or Fira. If we don't rent a car, how long is the walk to Fira from the hotel? Does Anastasis have a snack bar or anything for food during the day? I am choosing between Anastasis and Volcano's Villas (which is in Oia and closer to civilization). What would you recommend doing?

Hi swinggal -- there is a bus stop right next to Anastasis, and Despina will give you the schedule. We took the bus once when we had hiked to Oia and did not feel like walking all the way back to Anastasis -- it is very easy and cheap (and while we waited a few minutes for the bus we used that time to write some postcards). If you don't feel like waiting for a bus you can always call a taxi. Fira is not very far though -- we meandered as we walked so it's hard to say but I want to guess maybe it was 30 minutes walk? There is no snack bar at Anastasis but there is Taso's Taverna which is very close (1-2 minute walk) and had really good home-style cooking, and another in the other direction which we didn't try, plus there are other places in Imerovigli and Firostephani which are closer than Fira. There is one restaurant which Despina recommended which will send a car to pick you up and take you home which we heard was great but didn't try. You could also rent a scooter to get around. We bought yogurt, cheese, olives, bread, fruit, nuts, wine, juice, coffee, etc. which we kept in our room -- we had fruit & yogurt & juice & coffee for breakfast on our balcony every morning, and in the evenings we would have cheese and olives and nuts with a glass of wine before dinner while we watched the sunset. I haven't been to Volcano View so I can't compare it -- probably just depends on how important it is to you to be in the middle of things. We liked the quiet, but if you want to be able to walk to lots of different restaurants close by you might want to stay in Oia. Whatever you decide, I'm sure you'll have a fantastic time.

Lisa, thanks to you and your husband for sharing your gorgeous photos!