SANTORINI

Santorini always seems to inspires 'oohs' and 'aahs' whenever it's mentioned, but after spending a week there in June I left feeling underwhelmed. The highlight of the island and the bit that you see on all the postcards is the sugarcube village of Oia perched at the end of the island overlooking the sea. This is the place to go and see the 'amazing' sunset, and thanks to the very organised bus services on the island you can get there very reasonably and very cheaply. Alternatively you can view the sunset from the islands capital, Thira, another sugar cube style installation hanging of the side of the volcanic island. Cruise ships pull into the island and take the cable car from Thira's port up to the shops, it's 4 euros each way but there really is nothing to see in the port except a couple of small boats, and well lots of sea. Thira is pretty enough, with lots of narrow whitewashed streets, a bit like Ibiza but with no real people watching hub.

We stayed in Perissa, just round the corner from Kamari, a more commercial version of Perissa. A huge rock separates Kamari and Perissa, so you can get to Perissa by climbing over the rock (1 hour up and 1 hour down) or you can take a water taxi round there. Kamari has lots of restaurants and bars vying for your business but it is all very manmade, commercial and not very greek. One bar or restaurant looks pretty much like the rest but if you like to fall out of your villa or hotel straight onto a lively 'strip' then this is the resort for you. Perissa is a quieter resort comprising of two main thoroughfares, one on the beach (black volcanic grit and most definitely not sand) and the other is the main road through the town. All the bars and restaurants are incredibly similar in quality and price, we ate most nights at Gods Garden which was very good value for the same food that was served everywhere else, and Grandma's Kitchen was a cafe/takeaway serving fresh souvlakis and quick snacks.

We stayed at the Meltemi Hotel on the main road which was excellent value for money although the breakfast was minimal and bland, the service and rooms were what you would expect for the price. The Meltemi had a great sized pool, unlike a lot of the hotels we passed who seemed to have a paddling pool masquerading as a swimming pool so I would check the dimenions of your pool before booking if you're a keen swimmer.