Santorini

The star cultural attraction of Fira is its small but excellent Archaeological Museum. Among the artifacts on display are artful vases and amphorae from the Archaic period, as well as the famous blue monkey frescoes, retrieved from your second cultural must on the island: the ruins of the Minoan Bronze Age city of Akrotiri on the southern edge of the island. Perhaps more so than at any other inland location on Santorini, you should be prepared to be wowed at Akrotiri: This is an active excavation site where thanks to the addition of modern elevated walkways you can explore the buildings and layout of a settlement that was inhabited in the16th century B.C. —that is, long before Santorini’s infamous volcanic eruption buried it all in a mountain of ash, creating a tsunami that wiped out the Minoan civilization in nearby Crete. Colorful frescoes, carved storage vessels and other art treasures continue to be unearthed here. Whether you visit the museum in Fira or Akrotiri first is up to you, but both are truly musts.). It’s a thrilling experience and window into an epic past that shaped world history.

At just 37 square miles Santorini is a small island, so one of the best things you can do here is to simply walk around and enjoy the amazing, unique-in-the-world views. Quad biking and four-by-four safaris are options, but it’s even exhilarating to simply stroll along the clifftop path between Fira and Oia — count on about three hours if you do but it’s time well-spent. The village of Imerovigli, midway along the path, is actually the village with the highest elevation on the island, hence its nickname “the balcony of the Aegean.”

The clifftop village of Oia, on the northern tip of Santorini, is famous for its glorious sunset views high over the caldera and nearby Therasia island. In this quintessential Cycladic island village, blue-domed churches and white-painted houses perched on the cliff—many of them actually dug into the volcanic rock—compete for your attention. There are myriad enchanting restaurants and boutiques—be sure to pop into the justly famous Atlantis Books and browse to your heart’s content—mixed in with the flowing whitewashed houses and blue-domed churches. If you prefer outdoor activities, you can also descend around 200 very scenic steps to have a look around the idyllic little port of Ammoudi. If you’re feeling somewhat bewitched by it all, or that you could stay a month, don’t worry: That’s just Santorini working its timeless magic.

While it’s amazing to admire the shimmering blue sea surface of the flooded caldera from the cliff tops, a boat excursion will bring the Santorini’s volcanic remnants into sharper focus. This is the best way to see the black lava islets of Palea and Nea Kameni (Greek for “old and new burnt islands”) You can take a dip in the hot springs on Palea Kameni and inspect the edge of Santorini’s still active volcanic crater on Nea Kameni. Santorini is a glamorous destination by any measure, but these geological dramas are reminders that nature is what put the island on the map—literally!