Hotels Santorini
What to see by car: Santorini
 
The island offers a versatile landscape with, on the one hand, steep darkish
rock formations, and, on the other hand, beaches and pretty white villages.
Besides that, there are several interesting monuments and the inactive volcano.
Pirgos, a village on a steep hill just above the island's port at Athinios,
is a maze of narrow pathways, steps, chapels, and squares. Near the summit of
the village is the crumbling Venetian Kastro, plus several public squares with
excellent views of the surrounding countryside. There is a merciful absence
of tourism, and the central square just off the main road has the only shops
and cafés in town.
The Church of the Panagia at the hamlet of Gonias Episkopi is an astonishingly
well-preserved 11th - 12th century Byzantine church. As is often the case, the
builders pillaged the classical buildings and you will see the many fragments
they incorporated into the walls and two ancient marble altars' supporting columns.
There are also frescoes: keep an eye out for the figure of a dancing Salome.
Santorini's beaches aren't exceptional, being composed mostly of black, volcanic
sand; but a little over halfway down the east coast you will find Kamari beach
which is the largest and most popular on the island. The natural setting at
the foot of cliffs rising precipitously toward ancient Fira is excellent, but
does tend to get a bit overcrowded in the summer.
If you are after something a bit different, try out the red beach at the end
of the road to Akrotiri which is composed of small red volcanic pebbles. The
best of the beaches are Baxedes and Koloumbos, near Ia at the north end of the
island.
When you get bored of the beach, find your way to Akrotiri, an incredibly well
excavated ancient Minoan town which offers accurate glimpses into the lives
of these people before the great volcano of Santorini devastated the island
and sent shock waves throughout the region several centuries ago. It tells a
daunting history of the island's volcanic past.
You can also catch a tour bout out to the small remaining peak of the volcano,
sunken in the island's vast caldera, and bath in hot springs and wander among
the smouldering sulphur. The boat continues onto remote villages on the isolated
islands of the caldera's outer reaches, where rural Greek island life is scarcely
changed in the past few decades.
Selection of hotels in this region:
Click below for a
full list of hotels and online booking
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