HOLIDAY IN SANTORINI   >   GREECE


The world famous Greek island of Santorini is the southern most island of the Cycladic group in the Aegean Sea, and is located 63 nautical miles north of Crete.

Santorini's famous beaches are spread out mainly along the eastern side of the island. Each beach has special characteristics, which make it unique and outstanding. The black shining pebbles, the unique land formations, the black, white and red sand, make up an unforgettable scenery.

Capital city of Santorini : Fira.


car hire, holiday rentals, hotels, tour operators, travel guides, travel to santorini

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Car Rentals / Motor Rental 

  Motorrental Santorini



  Sixt   -   

Holiday Homes / Apartments

  Holiday-rentals.uk 
Rentals in Santorini: self-catering rentals, holiday cottages, villas & apartments.

Hotels Santorini

  Hotels in Santorini   -   Hotel Guide Santorini
Hotels in Santoríni, Oía, Thíra, Airport Santorini Airport (JTR) 
Brochures of the hotels, room rates, hotel packages, special offers and last minutes, including real-time booking facilities.

   -   Hotels in Greece
Ebookers is a leading pan-European online travel agency specialising in worldwide travel.

  Hotel Village Mathios [ Akrotiri ]   -   deluxe lodgings
Set amongst the green vineyards of the peaceful Akrotiri village, only a short distance away from the volcanic beaches.

Travel Agents / Tour Operators

     -   Santorini Holidays

  [ ATOL 230 ]   -   Flexible Luxury Holidays Santorini
Sovereign is a specialist tour operator with more than 30 years experience.



     -   Greek Islands Sailing Adventure

   

   -   Create your perfect trip to Santorini
Flight, Hotel and Car.



  Santorini Dive Center   -   two locations on the island
  Oceanwave Tours
Private Tours, Guided Tours, Boat ToursTransfers, Weddings, Transportation, Private Boat Tours and their exclusive 'Sunset Picnic'.
  Volcano Diving School in Kamari
Diving in Santorini is an unforgettable experience. There is a multitude of underwater caves, walls and reefs, and rich marine life. In and out of the water, Santorini offers the perfect mix. Be prepared for unique holidays, that you will treasure forever.

Travel Guides Santorini / Related books

 

Travel Guides Santorini  [ amazon.co.uk ]

Transport / How do I travel to Santorini

Regular and special seasonal flights are offered to the island of Santorini from Athens, Thessaloniki,  Mykonos and Rhodes.

  Santorini Airport   -   see HCAA or Greece Airports

  Athens International Airport and Santorini Airport

  Airline Tickets Santorini / Bargain Flights
Flight tickets Santorini, price comparison possible

There are several boats daily to Piraeus as well as other islands.

  Flying Dolphins
Offer large ferries & Hydrofoils going to Naxos, Paros, Syros, Ios,Folegandros, Sikinos, Sifnos, Herakleio (Crete), Mykonos & Santorini
  Blue Star Ferries 
The Blue Star Paros & Blue Star Naxos going to Santorini.
  Minoan Lines  -  Information about sea routes, cruises
Offers routes going to Herakleio (Crete), Santorini, Paros, Naxos, Syros, Tinos, Mykonos,Skiathos & Thessaloniki

Travelling by bus within Santorini is not without its quirks. Although there are routes to most of the main areas, bus timetables& frequencies change regularly (according to the seasons)

Donkeys and mules in Santorini are part of the native charm of the island and can be loads of fun. During the summer the main business of the day is carting the tourists up and down the endless steep steps which connect Fira town to the small port below and Ia to Ammoudi harbour. They are extremely adept at negotiating the steps, but they do have a tendency to go very fast and take the bends like racing motorcycles.


Links 

  Santorini Tourist Board

  Fira  -  Capital City of the island of Santorini
It is the most touristic of Santorini villages and a stop for most cruise ships. The street are filled with all kind of shops, traditional and modern [ many jewelry ],souvenir shops, restaurants, bars and nightclubs. Despite of all the tourism, the landscapes are fantastic. Small houses in the traditional architecture, blue domed churches , sun-bathed verandas, stepped streets and as a background, an endless blue around the black islands of the volcano.

  Thirassia   -   Islet
The largest of the chain of islets that remain from the ancient Strogili [ before the volcanic activity ] and the only one inhabited. Main village : Horio / Manolas. Hot spings.

  Akrotiri
The ancient city at Akrotiri is not merely the most important archaeological site on the island, it is also, thanks to its excellent state of preservation and the wealth of finds it has yielded, the most important prehistoric settlement found anywhere in the Eastern Mediterranean. Akrotiri could be called the prehistoric Pompeii of the Aegean.
  Athinios port   -   at Athinios port all the ferry boats arrive from the other ports of Greece
The port has daily connection from Piraeus, Paros, Naxos, Ios and Crete. There are also weekly ferries to all other islands of the Cyclades.
  Emporio village   -   beautiful village 11 km from Fira
The characteristic architecture with its narrow alleys makes you think that you are inside a fort.
  Exo Gonia   -   small settlement at the slopes of Mesa Vouno [ Profitis Ilias mountain ]
This tiny village is like another world. Quiet, with nice view towards the sea and the flat land where the airport lies. At the church of Agios Charalambos you can see the entire island.
  Ia   -   Oia is world known for its quite life and fantastic sunset
It's obviously the most beautiful and picturesque of Santorini villages, hanging from the cliff. Oia offers you a different angle of view of the volcano (Palia & Nea Kameni) and of the small island of Thirasia. Oia is also build in a traditional way with blue domed churches, sun-bathed verandas, stepped streets. Many of the buildings are built into niches in the rock. There are also plenty of tourist shops, but less commercial than in Fira.
  Imerovigli
Imerovigla is a beautiful and peaceful village, a perfect village to stay.
  Firostefani   -  o ne of the spots with the best view on the island
Firostefani is the nearest village to Fira [ 1 km away ]. Here you find there one of the most famous blue domed churches of Santorini which post card made it round of the world.
  Kamari   -   largest beach resort - tourist hotspot on the southeast side of Santorini
The beautiful beach extends all the way to Monolithos.
  Karterados   -   traditional village just 2 Km to the South of Fira
Karterados was built inside two rivers, almost invisible from anywhere. It's name means the watching - hidding spot. Traditional Santorini architecture.
  Kontochori
Megalochori   -   located between Pyrgos, Emporio and Akrotiri
Traditional architecture with vaulted houses and calderimia [ stone-cobbled narrow pathways]. Handy base for exploring the island: within easy distance of Akrotiri and the beaches of Perissa, Perivolos, Agios Georgios and Vlihada of the South coast.
  Messaria   -   a village situated 4 km southeast of Fira, surrounded by gardens and vineyards
  Monolithos   -   small seaside village, 9 km southeast of Fira
The village has an amazing beach with an endless sandy shore and crystal clear waters.
  Perissa   -   one of Santorini's best beaches
The feature that makes Perissa unique is the fact that is the best protected beach from the summer Aegean winds [ called "Meltemia" in Greek ]. Perissa lies right next to Profitis Ilias mountain, totally protected from the North.
  Perivolos   -   located between Vlihada and Perissa
Endless beach, ideal when north winds are blowing.
  Pyrgos   -   beautiful village on a hill-side - highest point of the island
Glorious view [ full 360 panoramic view of the island]. All Santorini lies before your eyes. Pyrgos was the capital of the island untill 1800.
  Vlihada   -   last beach in the row of Perissa and Perivolos before Akrotiri
  Vothonas   -   small rock village.
As the coastal villagers did with the Caldera, so the people of the interior dug their houses into rocky walls of a ravine long.
  Vourvoulos   -   traditional village at the northeastern side of the island
Vourvolos is in the periphery of the capital town, Fira [ ca 2.5 km ] with small virgin beaches full of sand hills.

  Mesa Vouno
The strategic qualifications of the site attracted the attention of the Lacedaemonian colonisers of the island who founded their city upon the limestone rock of Mesa Vouno. From the 9th century B.C. until the spread of Christianity, the city of Mesa Vouno was the only urban center of the island.

  Cable Car in Fira
The cable car travels up the path and in three minutes time you're comfortably in the beautiful town of Fira, Santorini's capital,which is at the altitude of 220 meters.
  Panagia Episkopi   -   located in the village of Mesa Gonia
This beautiful Byzantine church of Panagia Episkopi is considered to be the best example of traditional ecclesiastical architecture of the island Santorini by Mathaios Mendrinos, author of the booklet "The Church of Episkopi in Santorini". The church has survived the invasions of Venetians, Francs, Russians and Turks and still remains as an inspiration to the islanders. See Santonet.gr

Cuisine -  Santorini Foods / Recipes

The island's cuisine, dependent on locally grown produce, fish and seafood from the Aegean Sea, has become timely again today by proving once more how delicious and healthy this cuisine truly is. 

The tomato croquettes made from tiny, delicious tomatoes, the split pea puree known as "fava" with all its different versions, the white aubergine with its firm body, the wild rabbit, the fish with capers, the salads with caper leaves, the fresh goat cheese and the sweet "melitinia" have found their place once again on the restaurant menus. Together with the drink "tsikoudia", the wonderful white wines, and the sweet dessert wine "vinsanto", the Santorini cuisine satisfies even the most demanding plates.

The island produces especially excellent dry white wines (a wide choice of over sixty local brands), dry red wine (in very small quantities)  and sweet dessert wines (vinsanto).

History of Santorini

Two great civilizations have left their mark on Santorini. The one belongs to prehistoric times and is that which is coming to light in the excavations at Akrotiri. The other is the Greek civilization and is represented by the ancient city located on Mesa Vouno.

  Minoan Eruption
The Minoan eruption of Thera [ ca. 1600 BCE ] was one of the largest volcanic eruptions on earth during the period of written human history. The eruption destroyed most of the island of Thera / Santorini, along with the Minoan towns nearby and on the coast of Crete, contributing to the collapse of the Minoan culture...
Contents : Physical effects, Dating, Historical impact [ Minoan civilization, Chinese records, Impact on Egyptian history, Greek traditions and Biblical traditions ].

  Archaeological Museum
In Fira, the island's capital, stands the Archeological Museum in which are housed finds representing the island's long history. The Museum contains collections of sculpture (ranging from the Archaic to the Roman period), inscriptions (ranging from the Archaic to the Roman period) and vases and clay figurines (dating from the Geometric to the Hellenistic periods).
  Folklore Museum
Located in Kontohori, Fira, in a cave house built in 1861. The museum displays workshops of carpenters, barrel makers, shoe makers and tinsmiths as well as an original old winery, a gallery with works of local current artists and document archives.
  Museum of Prehistoric Thera
The Museum of Prehistoric Thera, located in   the island's capital Fira, is not an ordinary provincial museum. Its special contents, masterpieces of art in the prehistoric Aegean, such as the famous wall-paintings and the unique gold ibex figurine, place it on a par with the Acropolis Museum of Classical Greece (Parthenon sculptures) and the Vergina Museum of Northern Greece.
  Naval Museum of Thera
In Oia, the picturesque traditional town on the northwest side of Santorini, an old mansion has been restored and converted into a museum that houses the Maritime History of Thera.
Rare Figureheads, Seamens Chests, old Maritime Equipment, Models of old and new Theran Ships, Aquarelles featuring old Sailing Vessels as well as rare Photographs and a Library, all register year by year the contribution of the Therans to the glorious History of the Hellenic Navy.

  Die minoische Katastrophe - ein Vulkan verändert die Welt [ By Volker J. Dietrich ]
  Timeline - Prehistoric Archaeology of the Aegean
  Thera 2006 Expedition
In April to June 2006 a team of oceanographers from the United States and Greece conducted studies of the sea floor around Santorini and inside its flooded caldera. The goals of this expedition were to determine the distribution and thickness of the submarine pyroclastic deposits from the eruption, and to contribute to an understanding of the evolution of this important volcano

Music, Arts & Culture, Events

  Kamari Jazz Festival
On September 24th the church Panagia Myrtidiotissa celebrates with a festival where the food and the wine is plentiful.


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