- Updated on: 2024-04-06
How long can you live without magic? And when you honestly admit it to yourself? A day passes, then another, then a week, and it turns out that not a single magical minute has passed. Everything seems fine, but somehow… ordinary. Scientists have proven, and we have repeatedly confirmed in our experience, that a person cannot live long without magic – he begins to feel sad, stunted, bored and sighing heavily.
Fortunately, man is a strong-willed and free creature, and when necessary, he can arrange a vacation for himself. To compensate for the acute lack of magic in the body, nature created our beautiful island of Santorini!
Discovering Santorini
Santorini is the most famous Greek island: millions of tourists from Europe, America and all over the world visit it every year!
Santorini is best known for its picturesque villages perched on sheer cliffs: Fira, Imerovigli and Ia, which offer spectacular views of the caldera, a crater formed after the volcano erupted in the 16th century BC.
There are countless places, events and things to see and do on our island. However, this diversity can be a trap: if you do not know beforehand what to do in Santorini, how to find the best places, which sights to visit, where to catch the sunset, which beach to swim in, where to eat… There are a lot of questions, and it is better to solve them in advance, without wasting precious time already being on the island.
There is definitely more to the island than just sunsets in Oia or shopping in Fira, so our goal is to show and tell you everything there is to know about Santorini.
We live on the island and are happy to share our experiences, observations and tips with you, and if you wish, we can help you fully organize your vacation in Santorini.
Santorinika Travel Agency
Our articles and reviews contain all the useful information about the island: we tell you about the towns and villages of Santorini, about the volcanic beaches of the island and not only – our website about Santorini contains all the necessary facts that you will need for a perfect trip around our island.
Let’s start with a brief introduction to the island so you can learn all about Santorini.
Location of Santorini
The island of Santorini is part of the Cyclades archipelago and is washed by the warm Aegean Sea, which is part of the Mediterranean Sea. The island is located 200 kilometres south-east of Athens, 150 kilometres south of Mykonos and 130 kilometres north of Crete.
The Mediterranean archipelago of the Cyclades takes its name from the word “kiklos”, meaning “circle”, because its islands are arranged almost in a circle, and Santorini is the southernmost of them. The island and volcano of Santorini on the map of Greece – in the shape of a crescent in the center:
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Politically, the island belongs to Greece, and indeed it is the heart of millions of tourists from all over the world. However, it is important to understand how this place came to be, as Santorini is a true volcanic island.
Santorini volcano
Geologically, Santorini is part of the Mediterranean volcanic arc. Santorini’s magma is a re-melted North African plate that sinks beneath the Eurasian plate. There it melts and the red-hot magma rises to the surface as a lighter substance compared to the deep magma.
The present beauty of Santorini is the product of an ancient catastrophe.
Once, many millions of years ago, Santorini was an ordinary looking island covered with sedimentary rocks: clay, sand and pebbles. But in its depths there was a volcano that one day woke up and changed the picture of these places forever: the pressure in the depths of the volcano increased and the magma, which had no outlet, finally exploded the volcanic cone.
The island was literally submerged, the resulting crater was filled with boiling water, and huge waves – tsunamis tens of meters high – went in different directions from the island.
There is a suggestion that a powerful volcanic eruption and the tsunami that followed it formed the basis of the biblical story of the Flood of the world.
The tsunami destroyed everything in the islands of the Aegean Sea, in the coastal settlements of Greece, and even in northern Egypt!
Caldera Santorini: the size of the island today
A caldera, a crescent of black vertical cliffs with azure seawater in the center, has formed on the site of what was once an entire island. Since then, the area of the island is only 76 square kilometers, and the coastline is about 70 kilometers long. In other words, the crater of the volcano was flooded by the sea, and a small part of the vent was left around it. This is where we live.
The caldera of a volcano is a huge basin. It is formed by the collapse of the crater during an eruption.
The sea surface of the caldera is comparable to the island itself, measuring around 52 square kilometres, and its depth is around 400 metres! This is what the caldera of Santorini looks like from the air:
Our island is 16 kilometres long and 1 to 5 kilometres wide. At its narrowest (or highest) point, the island is visible from edge to edge! It takes about 20-30 minutes to drive from one coast of Santorini to the other, even if you take the longest road from north to south. In other words, the island is quite small and everything is close by.
Nature, climate and weather on the island Santorini
Santorini has a very mild and pleasant climate: we do not have really cold winters and the summers are always sunny and more than hot. However, strong winds often blow around the island, so be prepared for them even in summer.
Precipitation on the island is quite low, not exceeding 30-35 centimeters throughout the year. In separate sections of the site we tell you more about the climate and seasons on the island, as well as the weather and water temperature in Santorini. The forecast is given in real time.
Santorini seasons: when is the best time to visit the island?
The tourist season on our island lasts almost all year round. You can visit Santorini even in winter – some hotels are open all year round, and the most elite and expensive hotels reduce their prices significantly during this time, and many of them have heated swimming pools.
If summer heat and beach vacations are important to you, then the best time to visit Santorini is from April-May and until August-September, when the whole island is not only alive, but buzzing with life! All the hotels, taverns and bars are open, all the excursions and boat trips are available and of course the island is sunny and hot.
If you are tired of crowds of strangers in narrow streets, it is better to go to Santorini at the beginning of the season – from mid to late April, when it is not very hot. Or you can plan your holiday in Santorini at the end of the season – September and October, when the number of tourists on the island decreases considerably.
The main towns and attractions of Santorini
The towns of Fira, Firostefani, Imerovigli, Oia and Akrotiri are situated on the edge of high cliffs and face west. They are probably the largest and most famous towns on our island. From here you have a magical view of the caldera, the volcano and the sunset.
The coastal villages of Kamari, Perissa and Perivolos are located on the eastern and southern sides of the island. Here there are no steep cliffs, the coast is gentle and you can watch the sunrise instead of the sunset. It also has the best volcanic beaches on the island.
We have marked all the towns and places of interest on the island on a special interactive map of Santorini with attractions.
Useful info
Currency in Santorini
The currency is the Euro. You can pay by card almost everywhere, but buses only accept cash.
The voltage in the network
The voltage in all sockets is 220 volts. The plug is a standard “European” two-pin plug, so no special adapters or plugs are required.
Time in Santorini
The time zone is GMT+2.
Traffic in Santorini
We drive on the right-hand side of the island. Be prepared for the fact that in some places the roads are very, very narrow and the concept of lanes is virtually non-existent. Parking is also very limited and some towns have either a lot of pedestrianised areas or one-way streets.
Transport on the island
We have only 23 regular buses and about the same number of taxis. In summer they are always busy and in winter only every second one goes to work 🙂 But the island is well developed for private transfer.
Airport and seaports
The island has only one small airport, located in the central part of the east coast. There are four seaports, but only one is used for passenger traffic, the new port of Afinios in the center of the west coast near the island’s capital. The other three ports (Fira, Vlihada and Amoudi) are mainly used for excursions and cruises around Santorini.
Island Holidays: Is Santorini very expensive?
Over the past few decades, Santorini has become quite an expensive island – a fact that cannot be denied. The popularity of the island continues to grow, which means that the prices keep rising. However, a holiday in Santorini does not have to cost a fortune. The main thing is to plan properly.
Of course, a week in a small hotel or house in Fira, Imerovigli or Oia with views of the caldera and the sunset will really break the bank, but if you are prepared to stay in less posh but quieter and more peaceful places by the sea (for example in the villages of Kamari or Perissa) then a week’s holiday will be quite affordable.
For example, in midsummer, just renting a week’s vacation on our island can cost 10,000 euros if you choose Grand Suite with private pool and caldera view in Homeric Poems in Firostefani. But a week at the Kafieris View, literally across the street from this hotel, can cost around €900 for two – eleven times cheaper! In short, there are several options.
We know most, if not all, of the hotels, villas and apartments on the island. Some of them we stay in ourselves, so our selection of interesting hotels in Santorini is regularly updated with new accommodation options.
How many days needed to visit Santorini?
Come for at least two or three nights: firstly, you’ll have the opportunity to watch the sunset several times (from Fira and Oia – a must!), and secondly, we have plenty to see and do on the island and for several more days.
You can walk around the towns, you can walk along the caldera on a hiking trail from Fira to Oia, we also recommend not only excursions around the island but also boat cruises around Santorini. If you want archaeology, you can go to Akrotiri and ancient Fira, but if you want a beach vacation, you should definitely go to the south of the island.
It is much better to try to come to the island for at least a week: the island is small, but there are many sights and you will definitely find something to do in Santorini. In addition, our island has great beaches that you can definitely devote a few days to. Where else can you find beaches with black sand or bright red stone and fine pebbles nearby?
If you’re staying for a few days, it’s possible that by the end of your second week, after you’ve explored all the sights of Santorini, you might get bored. Then we suggest a flight to Crete or Mykonos or a boat trip!
What can be useful for holidays in Santorini
Are you planning a holiday in Santorini? Or are you already on the island? We are happy to help you organise your vacation! Check out tips, services and offers:
