2024 and 2025 SANTORINI PAINTING HOLIDAY | Art retreat in Greece
“A very well orchestrated week which had us painting and enjoying every minute with a great group on Santorini. Stunning painting areas, nice food, and the tutoring was spot on! I came away with so much and cannot wait to return for another trip!”
Join us this year for another exciting painting holiday on the wonderful island of Santorini, Greece!
OUR DATES ARE SPECIFICALLY CHOSEN FOR PERFECT TEMPERATURES.
Beginners and artists of all levels welcome!
What's included in our Santorini art holiday?
Tuition (Learn or improve composition, colour dynamics, values, perspective and more.) Beginners welcome!
Art materials provided. Paints, paintbrushes/pencils, aprons, small accessories like tape etc.
Art Equipment is provided on this Santorini painting holiday. Board and stool. Optional easel. CHOICE OF MEDIUMS: Recommended: Watercolours, drawing or gouache. More experienced artists: Pastels, acrylics or oils.
Accommodation with a pool: 7 nights in an ENSUITE ROOM at a hotel on Santorini island.
All restaurant meals included (except on the free day) with wine at dinner. Breakfast only option Also available.
Wine tasting at a Santorini winery.
Breathtaking painting and sight-seeing 100% on Santorini island: Fira, gorgeous OIA, the mysterious archeological site of Akrotiri, Red Beach, Blue Dome church, and lovely Amoudi Bay.
A private driver with a comfortable chauffeured van for local transportation to painting sites on the island.
A free day to explore the island or simply relax by the pool to swim and paint.
Our group stays at a lovely hotel within walking distance from Fira’s shops and restaurants.
DATES:
THIS YEAR’S DATES: MAY 28 - JUNE 4 2024 - 1 LAST ROOM AVAILABLE!!! (Bookings close May 1st!)
NEXT YEAR’S DATES: MAY 10 - 17 2025 - NOW OPEN FOR BOOKINGS
PRICES:
£175 at booking. The remainder 90 days prior to the holiday.
Please note: A knee surgery or a son’s wedding could pop up after you book! This is why our booking payments are transferrable for a period of 24 months after the date of purchase under our Terms.
Accommodation: ALL ENSUITE ROOMS at a lovely hotel with a swimming pool in Fira, Santorini, just minutes from commodities.
You are coming on your own (like most participants). ENSUITE ROOM in Single Occupancy:
£175 Booking payment + £1590 for the week. BREAKFAST ONLY. (You pay for your meals separately; Perfect for light eaters or special diets).
£175 Booking payment (paid at booking) + £1890 (paid 90 days before the holiday) for the week. ALL RESTAURANT MEALS INCLUDED (except on the free day).
You are coming with a PAINTING friend or partner and wish to share an ENSUITE ROOM in Double Occupancy:
Per person: £175 Booking payment + £1290 for the week. BREAKFAST ONLY. (You pay for your meals separately; Perfect for light eaters or special diets).
Per person: £175 Booking payment + £1590 per person for the week. ALL RESTAURANT MEALS INCLUDED (except on the free day).
You wish to come with a NON-PAINTER (shared Ensuite Room):
£175 Booking payment (each) + £1590 for the week (painter) + £845 (non painter). BREAKFAST ONLY. (You pay for your meals separately; Perfect for light eaters or special diets). Everything listed included except for art materials and equipment for the non painter.
£175 Booking payment (each) + £1890 for the week (painter) + £945 (non painter). ALL MEALS. Everything listed included except for art materials and equipment for the non painter.
Not included: Getting to Santorini accommodation, meals on the free day in the All Meals plan. City tax (£1.50 per night pp), minibar consumptions if applicable, personal travel insurance. Drinks or snacks outside of meals.
PRACTICAL INFORMATION: Fira is 15 minutes away from the airport on the island of Santorini. Plenty of buses and taxis take travellers back and forth. Our hotel is within walking distance from the heart of Fira where you will find numerous shops and restaurants. As a participant, you get free time either in the morning or after most painting sessions. You also get a free day to explore the island or relax by the pool and paint!
Important: You must be able to walk at a normal pace around town and on our outings.
after a week of painting and relaxing with our lovely group on the island of Santorini, you will have a hard time letting the island and your new friends go by Day 8!
TYPICAL DAILY SCHEDULE:
DAY 1 Meet up at the accommodation in Fira, Santorini at 6.00 PM. The airport is just 15 minutes away from Fira. Dinner with a glass of wine at a local restaurant.
Comfortable chauffeur-driven van to take our groups to painting sites and to our wine tasting!
DAY 2 After breakfast, your tutor will distribute your art materials and equipment and will give a watercolour demonstration for beginners. Those using other mediums will try out their paints on a chosen subject. Lunch and painting session in Fira, within walking distance. You will be amazed by the irresistible cycladic architecture, purity and beauty of Fira!! Dinner in Fira.
ABOUT FIRA: (Pronounced “Feera”) is the modern capital of the island of Santorini. It is a city of whitewashed houses built up on the edge of Santorini island’s 400 metres high Caldera on the West side of the island. Fira is easily attainable by car within roughly 15 minutes from the Santorini (Thira) International Airport. It is also reachable from its small fishing port either by car, donkeys, or by cable car! The centre of Fira is lively with restaurants, hotels, shops, a bus and taxi station, banks, and pharmacies. Fira offers a 180° 18-kilometre dreamy mediterranean view of the islands of Nea Kameni and Thirassia.
Fira/Thira/Thera?: There is some general confusion about the name Fira, which is not be to confused with Thira (with an ‘I’, but also sometimes written Thera) which is the official name of Santorini island. The old name was revived in the 19th century as the official name of the island and its main city, but Santorini is most widely used. Thera was named after the Spartans’ leader who colonised it.
PARTICIPATIVE DEMO BY THE POOL:
2023 Group 1
PAINTING IN FIRA:
DAY 3 Breakfast. Morning painting session at beautiful and world famous OIA. We paint one of OIA’s authentic windmills above the Aegean sea. Lunch on site in OIA. Free time to sightsee and shop. Wine Tasting and delicious local dishes at a local winery.
About OIA (pronounced “ah-yah”) is a charming whitewashed village North West of the island throning proudly on abrupt cliffs giving some of the world’s most breathless views. Its population is roughly 1600 people. Oia prospered from Eastern Mediterranean trade with Alexandria to Russia. It is known for its beauty, its fort and its windmills. The settlement of Oia is mentioned in various travel studies as being part of the scene before the Venetian rule. In the 17th century, Jean de Thevenot (French traveller in the East who wrote helpful journals) baptised it Castelli San Nicolas but the name was changed to Oia in the 1850s.
A little Santorini history: Hayreddin Barbarossa (year 1537) conquered the Aegean islands and placed them under the rule of Sultan Selim the second. Santorini however remained under the control of the Crispo family until 1566, then shortly after that onto the rule of a certain Joseph Nasi. After his death in 1579, it became part the Ottoman Empire.
The unfortunate 1956 earthquake destroyed part of OIA village, but it was since then rebuilt in the same charming style.
DAY AT FABULOUS OIA!
SOME WELL DESERVED WINE TASTING!!!
Wine tasting with 2023 group 1
2023 wine tasting with group 2
DAY 4 Breakfast. Free Day. Plenty of ideas to spend a lovely day on Santorini island. Stay in Fira to shop and sightsee or perhaps take a daily cruise to visit the islands and their volcanos? Or just relax by the pool! (Meals and activities are not included on the free day).
DAY 5 Breakfast and lunch in Fira. Gorgeous afternoon painting session at one of Santorini’s blue domed monuments, in a quiet part of the island. Get your white and blue paints out!!! You’ll be able to feel the essence of Santorini and paint its true spirit. Dinner with a glass of wine at a local restaurant.
DAY 6 Breakfast, sightseeing at the mysterious Lost City of Atlantis in Akrotiri. Then sightseeing over Red Rocks beach. Relaxed afternoon with a painting session by the pool with lunch. Dinner with a glass of wine at a local restaurant.
About AKROTIRI: Village of the island of Santorini, located 15 kilometres South of Fira. Its Minoan Bronze Age Akrotiri archeological site is on the most important of its kind in the Aegean region. The first population known to have lived onsite dates back to the Late Neolithic times (at least 4000 BC). During the Early Bronze Age (3000 BC) a large settlement was founded and in the Middle and early Late Bronze age, it was extended and became one of the main urban centres and ports of the Aegean region. A large part of the settlement had a notable drainage system with multi-storeyed buildings and magnificent wall-paintings, furniture, etc. Akrotiri showed great sophistication and prosperity. The various objects found in the buildings indicate import from travel and trade with Crete, Mainland Greece, the Dodecanese, Cyprus, Syria and Egypt. Severe earthquakes destroyed Akrotiri around 1650 B.C. Volcanic rock covered the island, leaving it smothered, dormant and ready to be rediscovered by modern civilisation.
