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Santorini Travel Guide: Reviews, photos, & videos
With its whiter-than-white houses and geranium-draped, blue-painted balconies, and absolutely spectacular views of the sea, Santorini looks like a postcard. And it is. As it turns out, most of the photos you see on postcards and wall calendars were, in fact, taken on Santorini. Santorini was once a round island and got its present crescent-shape through one of the biggest volcanic eruptions in recorded history. Since that 17th century eruption, the island’s plunging rock walls wrap around an enormous crater or caldera. The capital city of Fira sits high up on a cliff with a stunning view of the caldera.
Santorini has long been a favorite of honeymooners, but it attracts lots of other travelers as well, especially to the beach towns along the eastern and southern shore, where the best beaches are found. Along the southern shore, the beaches are colored red and black from volcanic rock and the ash of volcanic eruptions. The black sand gets very hot to walk on, so bring some flip-flops. Visit the still-active volcano on nearby island Nea Kameni, and go for a dip in the hot springs on Palia Kameni. Explore the Roman ruins of the ancient city of Thera, perched high atop a mountain between Kamari and Perissa on the southern shore, and visit the Minoan city of Akrotiri just south of the capital Fira.
