GREECE - Santorini (Kamari)

18:01 Travel Bunny 0 Comments

Kamari is a coastal town on Santorini’s east coast. Kamari beach is famous for its black volcanic sand and pebbles, sandwiched between Aegean Sea and Vouno Mountain. Ancient Thira is also reachable from Kamari. Findings from its excavation are now on exhibit at the archeological museum in Fira.



Santorini International Airport also known as Thira Airport is also close to Kamari. I arrived at Santorini late at night that day, so I decided to stay at Kamari for the night.



The promenade that runs alongside Kamari beach is pretty lively at night.



Taverns, restaurants and souvenir shops lined this promenade. Well, I decided to come back the next morning.



The view of Vouno Mountain from the terrace of the hotel where I stayed.



Chez Sophie is the hotel where I stayed for a night.



It is close to Kamari beach and has its own swimming pool.



Kamari Beach.





The black beach of Kamari offers a wide range of facilities such as sunbeds, umbrellas and various water sports. It was still early in the morning, so the beach area was quiet.



Directly above the beach is Ancient Thira. Ancient Thira is a mountain-top settlement that dates back to the 9th century. A winding road that starts from Kamari leads to the ancient town which was named after the mythical ruler of the island, Theras.



In the next morning, my hubby hiked up the mountain in an attempt to reach Ancient Thira.









Road signage that shows the way to Ancient Thira. It is open daily except for Monday, from 8am to 2.30pm.



Kamari town as viewed from the mountain.







The ancient city was inhabited from the 9th century BC. Today it is open to the public.



There are various hiking trails to Ancient Thira. Another 1 or 2 more hours of hiking? Are you kidding me? My beau abandoned his plan to reach at least the Prophet Elijah Monastery as we had other plans in the afternoon.





By now, Kamari town looked so small from above. Time to head back, I guess.





Strolling on the promenade of Kamari. I really love the laid back atmosphere here. It might not be as famous as Fira or Oia, it’s still a charming town in its own right.



Plenty of Santorini souvenir to get here, at a cheaper price too. The fridge magnets are sold for as cheap as 1 euro per piece. I bought a dozen here.







Shopping is a girl’s favourite past time.



I found a nice restaurant to have brunch.



The restaurant facing the beach.



This traditional Greek dish is called Moussaka. It’s an eggplant or potato-based dish with meat. Delicious!



After brunch, we headed to the beach, of course.



The black sand beach at Kamari.





Even though it is known as black sand beach, its not the fine sand you would imagine. It's actually black pebbles.








The clear blue sea.



People jumping from the rock.





Even though Santorini owes its popularity to the western side of the island, the eastern side such as Kamari is definitely not to be missed. Moreover, its cheaper to stay here at the eastern side of the island.



After that, we went back to the hotel and spent some time at the swimming pool.





Well, we had a fun time at Kamari. It’s time to discover the rest of Santorini too.