Day 1: Santorini late arrival

Saturday, 13th July 2019

Our outbound flight for this trip was with Norwegian Air, a 5:20 p.m. departure from Gatwick into Santorini. We arrived at the airport in good time and settled down at the Red Lion Wetherspoons in the North Terminal departure lounge for a drink and snacks.

There was a slight delay in boarding, coupled with a short wait on the tarmac before we taxied to the runway, meaning we took off around 40 minutes later than scheduled. We made up some of the time during the flight though, landing shortly after 11:30 p.m. local time.

Knowing we would get to the hotel very late, I’d opted for us to spend the first night somewhere cheap (well, Santorini cheap). We would then move to new accommodation the next day. At first, I tried to find somewhere we could walk from the airport as there would be no local buses running late enough for us to use. I didn’t really find anything viable, so instead picked somewhere closer to Fira so we could walk to our next hotel. Villa Koronios fit the bill perfectly and only cost us €85 for the night, including breakfast. After booking, I contacted them to arrange a private transfer from the airport which cost an additional €10 each.

Clearing security proved to be a slow process as they only had one person at the desk checking passports. Eventually, we made it to the exit where a driver was waiting. He led us to a rather fancy minibus, complete with leather seats and neon lights – a touch overkill for just the two of us, but it did make us feel a bit like VIPs!

The journey to Villa Koronios took about 15 minutes. By the time we reached the hotel it was nearly 1am and we were pretty tired. As the reception had closed, I’d been told via email that our room would be unlocked and the key left inside, so we headed straight around the pool to room 13, dumped our rucksacks on the floor and went to bed.