The Greek aesthetic really is appreciated all over the world even in the far-flung reaches of Vietnam, where this Santorini-lookalike cafe in blue and white is blooming with pink flowers. A spectacular sea view draws in the Greece-loving crowds.
Son Tra Marina Cafe in Danang, Vietnam, may make visitors feel as if they’ve stepped into a mini Santorini. Sky-blue chairs, doors, and window shutters, coupled with a white-stone exterior and wooden awning, along with a seaside location, do give this cafe a truly Greek feel.
The Greco-Vietnamese cafe is not the only ode to the Santorini aesthetic around the world. There is a village in Spain that is also reminiscent of the Greek island, and its residents want to ban tourists from visiting.
Binibeca Vell, on the island of Menorca, draws tourists all year round thanks to its distinctive whitewashed houses. Built in the 1960s and once a fishing village, today, only about a thousand people live there. Like Santorini, it is visited by 800,000 people every year, typically between May and October.
Previous tourists have called it the “most beautiful village on the island” and have raved about its cobbled streets, restaurants, and harbor.
Binibeca stretches one and a half miles along the coast and includes the original ‘Binibèquer Vell,’ or old portion, as well as the new portion of ‘Binibèquer Nou,’ a natural progression with many of the homes and villas in keeping with the original design. At the very eastern point of Binibeca is Cala Torret, a small village that feels isolated but is actually part of it.
Dream Land in Dali in Southwest China’s Yunnan province resembles the cosmopolitan Greek island.
The Santorini-lookalike resort is built on the side of the Cangshan mountain range, which overlooks a lake and consists of tourist inns, boutique hotels, cultural businesses, holiday apartments, and small winding streets with flowers and plants.
It covers around 3700 acres with a construction area of about one million square meters and a total investment of eight billion yuan.
It is loosely based on Greece’s Santorini. Chinese who loathe it call it “Fake Santorini.” However, anyone who has visited Greece’s Santorini knows it is far from authentic.
Not surprisingly, Dali is the focus and destination for many social media influencers as well as those in search of iconic wedding photographs.
The charming town of Sidi Bou Said could easily be mistaken for Greece’s Santorini, but a three-course traditional Tunisian meal and a night’s stay is a lot less expensive. It is located around twelve miles northeast of the capital, Tunis.
The town offers stunning ocean views, and its streets are lined with immaculately painted white buildings, with doors and window shutters all the same shade of blue. It overlooks the luminescent Bay of Tunis, with a steep road leading down to a pleasant beach and marina.
Named after a religious figure who lived there, Abu Said al-Baji, it was previously known as Jabal el-Menar. The town itself is a tourist attraction and is known for its extensive use of blue and white. It can be reached by a TGM train, which runs from Tunis to La Marsa.
Located on a high rocky point jutting over the sparkling water of Punta Ballena, Uruguay sits the Casapueblo, a magical sculptured hotel/museum often referred to as the “Greek island of Uruguay” or the “Santorini of Latin America.”
The structure’s Cycladic-inspired architecture, combined with Punta Ballena’s amazing sunset views, makes it seem like a small village on the island of Santorini in Greece.
The strikingly beautiful white building, a short 15-minute drive from Punta del Este, was built by the famous Uruguayan artist Carlos Páez Vilaró. Today, it is a museum, art gallery, and hotel that welcomes thousands of visitors every year.
This complex looks like nothing else in South America. As you explore the winding cave-like corridors containing artifacts and unusual lighting, it gives you a mysterious feeling—and getting lost here is an entertaining experience.
There are no room numbers on doors since the hand-painted tiles on your key match tiles on your door tiles, and each room is unique.
For some time, Casapueblo has welcomed various personalities from the national and international spheres. However, it is mainly artists, painters, and sculptors who stay there and partake of its many wonders.
Conferences, presentations of books, and cultural events often take place in the spectacular oceanfront hotel and museum.
This retreat, the Anantara Santorini Abu Dhabi, opened to the public in February this year and is an hour’s drive from the capital’s downtown. The aesthetic is entirely inspired by the cosmopolitan Greek island.
It’s a mosaic of white and blue, punctuated by arched corridors and doorways. Its custom artwork, ambient music, and detailed embroidery on the linen all create the illusion of a Mediterranean paradise.
Anantara Santorini Abu Dhabi
افتتاح فندق انانتارا سانتوريني في ابوظبي
فندق بطابع يوناني بين أبوظبي و دبي
يوفر العديد من الغرف ومسبح جميل وشاطئ خاص بالاضافة الى مطعمين و صالة رياضية وسبا
. pic.twitter.com/g2ku8UCfJh— سعوديون في الإمارات (@saudi_n_dubai) February 25, 2024
But, beyond the intricate decor, for Rachid Bakas, the property’s general manager, it’s Abu Dhabi’s natural beauty that truly solidifies the link between both places.
“You see the color of the sea next to us, and then the concept really comes together,” Bakas told CNN Travel. “The idea of Santorini really fits within this location, and that’s what makes this design immaculate.”
Its cheapest room costs roughly $800 per night, which is double the average of Greece’s Santorini hotels during high season, according to Tripadvisor. Bakas said it is the exclusivity that draws people in.
“This gives you that intimacy, this gives you that privacy. It’s a hideaway – which you might not have actually in Santorini because especially in summer, everywhere is packed, everywhere is busy,” he told CNN Travel.
While hoping to leave an impression on the guests, the hotel staff also work hard to remove certain marks. The white walls are kept impeccably white, and there’s a team dedicated to just that.
Just four hours from Bogota, Colombia’s capital, on the highway that connects it to Medellin, visitors to the country will find La Aldea Doradal, Antioqia, a tiny village carved into a hillside that is known as Colombia’s Santorini.
The whitewashed houses, blue window frames, and cobbled streets truly summon the atmosphere of the Greek Cyclades island.
La Aldea was originally built in 1980, and before this, the hillside was an empty private construction lot. Gustavo Torres, who has lived in the village for more than 25 years, reportedly explained that Pablo Escobar, the infamous drug lord, owned at least one house in the region. The home was known as Hacienda Napoles, which has now been transformed from a country estate into a theme park.
There are even rumors of Escobar sending an architect scout to Santorini to pick up on some local Greek elements to replicate in Doradal.
You can get to Doradal by renting a car or by hopping on a local bus from Bogota or Medellín. When visiting La Aldea, be sure to bring loose clothing along, as the weather can be quite hot and humid. The temperature here varies little throughout the year, so there is no right ‘season’ to visit Doradal.
