Cliffhanging Villages: Santorini (Greece) vs. Positano (Italy)

Remember Cliffhanger? That movie from the early 90s with Sylvester Stallone? A lot of you folks may be too young to remember. In fact, I was also VERY young at that time, ahem. So, why am I bringing up a dusty movie in a travel blog? Well, because the key protagonists of this blog post are hanging on a cliff. And they are doing so in a pretty spectacular manner, just like the stunts in the movie.

Santorini

The magic of Santorini

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Whilst the Cliffhanger movie addresses predominantly a thrill-seeking male audience, Santorini is for softies - a honeymooners dream. The most famous of Santorini’s villages is Oia, a small town of about 1,600 inhabitants “hanging” on the north-western cliff of the caldera that forms the island of Santorini. But there are more interesting, cliff-hanging villages on this side of the island such as Imerovigli and Thera.

Santorini is one of the few places where even an absolute amateur with an absolutely crappy camera (I’m talking about me, in case you didn’t notice) takes one perfect photo after the other. You want proof? Ok here you go! All photos taken either with a 2012 Smartphone or an old digital camera.

Magic white and blue of Oia

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You like sunsets? Santorini has the best sunsets in the world. I’m generally not a big fan of superlatives, but there is a reason why so many people come here to get married and/or spend their honeymoon here.

Sunset over Thera on Santorini's West Coast

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Isn't it romantic?

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You enjoy colour contrast, such as brilliant white against a red-brownish landscape and bright blue roofs and ocean? Santorini’s got you covered as well. You might notice that I’m talking about white stuff a lot recently as you can see here and here. I’m making a mental note that I will stop doing that for a while after this post.

Amazing colour contrasts on Santorini

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One thing that is a little bit annoying about Santorini is the inconsistent quality of hotel rooms. Due to the large amount of overseas honeymooners, the island - and especially our “cliffhangers” Oia, Imerovigli and Thera - are littered with hotels that call themselves “5 star boutique” and almost all of them offer fantastic views of the Caldera. But we found that the quality of the rooms can vary quite dramatically - even within a hotel. We actually booked the honeymoon suite (we were not honeymooning...) in a hotel called “On the Rocks” which is part of the Small Luxury Hotels of the World brand.

Our little cave

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The picture shows our bedroom and describes what you should be preparing yourself for: a lot of hotels actually built caves into the cliffs. And it’s not gigantic caves, either. We wanted it like this and found it quite charming. But we also saw the room of another couple who stayed at the same hotel and it was quite impossible to move in that room without bumping into either the walls or each other. So, one piece of advice: If you book a hotel on Santorini, don’t just book a hotel, make extra sure you book the right room! And don’t forget to enjoy these views!

Wine with a view

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Relaxing on the rocks

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Positano

Just like Santorini, the beautiful Amalfi Coast is a honeymoon destination par excellence and Positano is one of the coast’s most precious gems. We went there quite a long time ago, in 2008, and back then we decided to travel by train from Napoli to Sorrento and by bus from Sorrento to Positano. Not a good decision. The drive from Sorrento to Positano is just under 16 kilometres (not even 10 miles) but it takes a full 40 minutes due to the extremely windy roads. 40 minutes that feel like 40 eternities when your partner has a severe problem with motion sickness. Let’s just say she was very relieved when we finally arrived....

View of Positano from the village of Praiano

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However, the torture was worthwhile and Positano did not disappoint. Just like the villages on Santorini, Positano is clinging precariously to the cliffs that surround it, facing the deep blue mediterranean sea.

Hang in there Positano!

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Though Positano has a pebble beach (you can see a small piece of it in the picture below) this is not primarily a beach location. Positano itself is more of a see-and-be-seen place where you stroll elegantly through the tiny alleys up and down the hill with your Ferragamo sneakers and have a shot of Limoncello every now and then. Dolce Vita - life is sweet in Positano!

Positano in the front, and Praiano in the back

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If you get tired of Positano, hop on a Scooter and explore the villages around - Praiano, Ravello, Amalfi: just simply writing down these names is making my pulse relax and dream of more Limoncello and Bruschetta.

Fresh Bruschatta - yummy!

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The Scooter was our choice of transportation because the fresh air on the scooter eased the motion sickness of my partner so she could enjoy the beautiful coastal scenery, too.

The Verdict

Coming to the end of this little blog post, we still need to answer the question: which cliffhanging village is most beautiful? The answer is - as always - it depends on how you look at it. Santorini’s beauty is a little more in the face - the contrast between the whitewashed buildings, the barren, volcanic landscape and the deep blue ocean is almost unbeatable. Positano’s beauty is a little more subtle. The coast is very green and - whilst not being extremely colorful - the villages’ colour palette is a little more vivid and diverse. Sometimes, Positano is confused with Manarola in Cinque Terre, which is another, even more colourful, coastal jewel in Italy. Unfortunately, I haven’t been there yet, but would love to hear your thoughts about any of the mentioned destinations!

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All images are my own work. All Rights Reserved.