Santorini

Undoubtedly Santorini is one of the top destinations for vacations in Greece and worldwide. Thousands of tourists visit the island every year for their summer vacations and many of them are not first comers. The scenery of the island is so romantic and its views so enchanting that tourists from the other side of the world come here to get married.

Santorini is a unique and very special island not only because of its natural beauties, the incredible view of the caldera, the famous sunset and the luxurious resorts situated on it, but because it is a volcanic island with a volcano that sleeps and wakes from time to time to rock Thira (as it is also called) and then sleep again. The huge eruption which occurred years ago was probably the biggest in recorded history and it changed the island morphology a great deal. The results of this catastrophe are still evident nowadays. The beaches of Santorini have black sand, special kinds of wines are produced because of the soil’s particularity and archaeological sites such as the one of Akrotiri attract many visitors since they were kept almost intact from the eruption until today because they were covered in volcanic ashes. Santorini is almost surreal…

How to get to Santorini

Santorini is the southernmost island of the Cyclades. Since there is an airport you can get there by airplane. There are several flights on a daily basis with Olympic Airways and Aegean Airlines from Athens (approximately 50 minutes) and connecting flights to Mykonos, Rhodes and Heraklio.

If you decide to travel by boat have in mind that the journey lasts about 9 hours or 4,5 with the high speed from the port of Piraeus, where boats leave daily. During the summer there are also connections to Thessaloniki. Especially during the summer months Santorini is linked to most of the islands in the Aegean via ferry boat and high speed ferries, either directly or through lines from Piraeus and Thessaloniki.

Santorini Villages

Santorini is full of traditional villages with whitewashed houses, cobble-stone narrow streets and friendly villagers moving around with their donkeys. All of them attract tourists and the shops and cafes are always busy.

One of the most visited villages is Fira, which is also the capital of the island. It offers an exquisite volcano view and it is full of expensive jewellery and souvenir selling shops, clubs, cafes and restaurants. On its narrow streets you will often notice artists from all over the world offering to draw your portrait, street singers and instrument players.

As we move towards the north the first place we bump into is Firostefani which is a part of Fira. Firostefani hosts some of the most beautiful luxurious resorts overlooking the caldera with the splendid view. There are also some taverns and cafes as well as a public parking space.

After leaving Firostefani we can reach Imerovigli, a beautiful and quiet village and also one of the top areas in Greece for accommodation. It is famous for its view and many tourists visit it throughout the year.

Moving on towards the north you will come across Oia or Ia, the most photographed village in Greece. Life is quieter here than in Fira, with fewer bars but the cafes and restaurants are quite many and there are also many shops flooded by tourists. The main reason why tourists visit Oia is the spellbinding sunset view for which hordes of people gather in the afternoon and wait for hours till the sun sets to take photographs.

All the way to the other side, towards the south, is Akrotiri which hosts one of the most important prehistoric settlements of the Aegean which is saved from the volcanic eruption until today mainly because it was covered in volcanic ashes.

As far as the most preferred seaside villages are concerned, these are Kamari and Perissa. Kamari attracts more families because of its long black-sand beach, a characteristic of the island. On the premises you will find many hotels, restaurants, shops and cafes but overall it is a quiet place although it attracts many tourists. Perissa on the other hand is more noisy. It is connected to the beach of Perivolos which is full of beach bars, cafes and taverns usually preferred by younger crowds. The wildest parties are organized there during the summer months.

Apart from the villages mentioned above Santorini has dozens more which are worth a visit. Some of those are Megalochori, Amoudi, Emporio, Pyrgos, Finikia and Armeni, all with their own, distinctive character.