Santorini, Greece
Caldera sunsets, cave hotels, and volcanic wine. Go in the shoulder months, when the cruise ships thin out.
Best time to visit
Weather by month
Cost
Serves travellers at Budget→Ultra-luxury level. Typically around $280 a day on the ground.
Ranges are typical costs, not quotes. Check the real price before you book.
What's on
Ifestia Festival August
Volcano re-enactment with fireworks
Worth knowing
Cards everywhere; cash for small tavernas and beach kiosks. Rounding up is enough.
money · editorial
The caldera villages are built on stairs, hundreds of them, with no lifts and no vehicle access to many doors. Luggage and knees both suffer.
know before · editorial
High summer, when cruise passengers fill the rim at midday and the heat is flat and shadeless. Much of the island shuts through the winter.
when not to go · editorial
Oia for the sunset and the crowd that comes with it. Fira for buses, noise and convenience. Imerovigli and Firostefani for the same view with less traffic. Kamari and Perissa on the east coast for flat ground, sand and no cliff steps.
where to stay · editorial
Buses run from Fira to the main villages, and the caldera path from Fira to Oia is a couple of hours on foot. A car helps for the east coast beaches and is a burden in Oia, where parking barely exists.
getting around · editorial
Fly in direct in season, or take the ferry from Piraeus, a few hours on the fast boat and most of a day on the slow one. The road up from the port to the caldera rim is slow when ships are in.
getting there · editorial
Quests
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Oia
The white village on the northern tip, high on the caldera.
Fira
The capital, hanging three hundred metres above the water.
Red Beach
A cliff of volcanic scoria dropping straight into the water.
Akrotiri
A Minoan town buried by ash in 1600 BC and preserved by it.
Imerovigli
The highest point on the caldera rim, between Fira and Oia, and the quietest.
Amoudi Bay
Three hundred steps below Oia, down at the water.
See
Walk down the Oia steps to Ammoudi
Eat
Eat Santorini fava and tomatokeftedes
Santorini fava
A purée of yellow split peas grown in volcanic soil, with onion and lemon.
Santorini cherry tomato
It grows on almost no rain, pulling moisture from the mist. Sweet and concentrated.
Vinsanto
Assyrtiko grapes dried in the sun. Sweet, amber, and made here for centuries.
Moment
Watch the sunset from Imerovigli, not from Oia
The Oia sunset with everyone else
They applaud at the end. It is embarrassing and you will applaud too.
Enter the caldera by boat
Only from inside can you see that the island is the rim of a volcano.
Trail
Fira to Oia along the caldera rim
Ten kilometres along the edge, with no shade at all. Set off before eight.