Last Updated on August 30, 2026
Santorini is incredibly beautiful, in a way only a Greek island can be. You realize it every day at sunset…
Estimated reading time: 9 minutes
By Jim Ferri
If you’re looking for what to do in Santorini, for starters, just admire the incredible beauty of the island. You’ll quickly realize why few ever forget it, it’s beauty and charm are that captivating.
Located in the southern Aegean Sea, Santorini is part of the Cyclades group, a clutch of 200+ islands southeast of mainland Greece. They are picture-perfect Greece, islands with white cubic houses, blue-domed churches, and dramatic scenery…everything people picture the iconic Greek islands to be.
Santorini is one of the best and most popular Greek islands, a near-magical place of picturesque white villages clinging to towering cliffs, fascinating archaeological sites, and multicolored beaches lapped by a cobalt-colored sea. Most famously, however, it’s a front-row seat to the most spectacular sunset you’ll see anywhere. It’s also one of the leading contenders for being the lost city of Atlantis.
Originally called Thira (Fira in English) by the Dorians of ancient Greece, the island was renamed Santorini by the conquering Venetians. Although Greeks today still know it as Fira, the rest of the world knows it as Santorini. At times this can be a bit confusing, since when you buy airline or ferry tickets the island is often listed as Thira instead of Santorini.
Despite the confusion over its name, it remains a must-see port on many cruises, which is how I first came to know it years ago. Then I spent too few hours on the island before the finale of a spectacular sunset signaled the return to my ship.
On this return trip, however, I arrived via high-speed ferry from Rhodes, determined to spend a few days experiencing more of this incredible island than I could via a cruise ship.
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Close to Fira, A Superb Santorini Hotel Experience
There are many boutique hotels in and around Santorini, especially around the main town of Fira. Rather than stay in the crowded town, however, I opted for the Voreina Gallery Suites, only 10 minutes by car from Fira. It’s well-placed in the center of the island, a location that provided more freedom to explore.
Voreina is a small property with only nine suites. Each has a private pool and terrace that provides a wonderful view over the island. My terrace was a great place to relax with a glass of quite good Santorini wine at the end of the day, as I looked across the vineyards to the white cities of Santorini and Pyrgos in the distance. At first I didn’t realize that what I was seeing were vineyards, since the vines lay close to the ground and are woven into little basket-like shapes to protect them from the sun and wind.
While my room was excellent, what put everything over the top was Voreina’s service, with its small staff doting on all the guests. Even though Voreina does not have a restaurant, the staff would fetch one’s dinner from the Selene Restaurant in nearby Pyrgos. The Selene has been described as “well regarded” by the London Times and listed in the 101 Best European Restaurants by DailyMeal.com.
I called the front desk, placed an order for “ravioli with briam” (vegetables between two large sheets of pasta and baked in a fresh tomato sauce, a Greek favorite). It arrived in my room in about 20 minutes and was delicious. Breakfasts included an assortment of bread and fruit, tea and coffee, homemade pastry and marmalade.
The “Pompeii of Greece” on Santorini
I found another wonderful benefit of the Voreina to be Lefteris Zorzos, its affable manager/owner. Lefteris is also an archaeologist who knows Santorini well and, after arranging a car rental, suggested several things for me to do on the island.
Among them was Akrotiri, a 3,500-year-old Minoan outpost, which is Santorini’s “little Pompeii”. It was buried under ash during the volcanic eruption that formed the island as it exists today. Pompeii, by comparison, met its fate only 1,900-or so years ago.
Excavation of Akrotiri was undertaken in 1967. Today you can walk through the streets of the small city where some houses are three stories high. You can also walk on the platforms above for a bird’s-eye view.
Most incredible is that the entire site is an enclosed, air-conditioned environment that makes it comfortable, even on the hottest island days. Many of the beautiful frescoes and ceramics unearthed there are now at the Archaeological Museum in Thira.
Not far beyond Akrotiri is Red Beach, so named for the color of its high cliffs and the rock and sand. It’s a popular spot for those who arrive by boat. It can be reached by car but its cliff-side trail is a bit precarious.
I didn’t find it that impressive. If you’re short on time, you’re better off skipping it. Head instead to one of the many popular beaches on the other side of the island near Peerissa. You’ll find both white-sand and black-sand beaches there and beach-side cafes as well.
A Walkabout in Pyrgos
I spent one afternoon wandering up and down the little steps and lanes of lovely Pyrgos. It’s the little town whose lights twinkled at me across the vineyards every night.
Pyrgos is the highest spot in the center of the island and the town wraps around the ruins of Kasteli Castle. Since it’s off the beaten tourist track, it was much quieter than Firá and easy to walk about.
One of the first things I noticed when I started my Pyrgos walkabout was that the two main churches in town are quite close together. In fact, they’re only about a block apart.
After I topped in a little shop, I asked the shopkeeper if there was a reason for such an odd location. With a slight grin, she told me, “So they can see each other.” “Really,” she continued, “we have 46 churches in Pyrgos.”
I continued along, wandering aimlessly (as is my habit) through a warren of streets. I quickly came across several more small churches and also found, as expected, numerous shops and restaurants.
One of the latter was the Kasteli Bar & Restaurant where a dozen or so people were enjoying a magnificent view across the island from their perch on the restaurant’s terrace. Continuing along, however, I soon found a tiny restaurant reminiscent of a small living room. I sat down and enjoyed a great salad and wine before continuing my Pyros ramble.
Later that afternoon, I drove back to Firá and joined hundreds of others on their clifftop perches watching the sunset. Although picturesque, it was a bit disappointing since smog over the water dulled the colors. I made up my mind to try my sunset luck in Oia on the far end of the island the following evening.
Beautiful Oia on Santorini
Oia (pronounced “ee-a”) is another great place to visit on Santorini. However, the road to Oia, as Lefteris had warned me, was challenging at best. I also found it torturous in the dark, with numerous twists and turns.
Adding to the “adventure” were the several buses that squeezed by me en route, some not even slowing down. But even so, Oia was so spectacular I made the trip twice.
Oia is quintessential “don’t miss” Cyclades… colorful bougainvillea and bright red geraniums set against whitewashed houses trimmed in blue, with the cobalt sea as a backdrop. Three hundred steps below it is the tiny port of Ammoudi, comprised of a couple of tavernas and a handful of colorful fishing boats in the cove.
You’re not in Oia more than five minutes when you realize how much less frenetic it is than Thirá. It’s a much smaller village with narrow lanes and walkways winding up and down, twisting here and there through a maze of buildings so bright in the noon sun that the place can be near-blinding.
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It’s a wonderful Cycladic town, one of the most spectacular in the Aegean. I’s also a much better and more popular location for viewing the evening spectacle. Click here to see a (very short) video of Oia.
As the sun slowly started its drift towards the horizon, thousands of people gathered along the walkways, on terraces, and on every other stand-able spot on the west-facing side of the village. Everyone was entranced by the sun making its slow slide towards the sea.
It was a beautiful, serene moment, with hardly a sound to be heard. Everyone appeared captivated by the evening sky morphing through a palette of pastels. Then, as the last speck of sun slid below the horizon, a huge cheer went up from the crowd, all of us feeling we had just witnessed a once-in-a-lifetime event.
Well…until tomorrow evening, anyway.
If You Go:
Greek National Tourism Organization
305 East 47th Street
New York, NY 10017
Tel : (212) 421-5777
https://www.visitgreece.gr/en
Voreina Gallery Suites
Pyrgos – Santorini
Tel: +30 22860 30700
[email protected]
www.voreinasuites.gr
Hello Jim
This article on Santorini has come at such a perfect time. It’s a well written n detailed piece.
We are planning our Greece trip in April this year. Needed help with a few questions
Are 3 days enough on Santorini?
How did u travel to the island n back?
We have 2 teenagers with us who love beaches and swimming. Are there any good fine white sand beaches on Santorini, where we could spend some time in the water too?
We intend to do Crete too. Any idea of inter island travel?
Hi Kinni,
I’m glad you enjoyed the article. You’ll likely love Santorini and, yes, three days (that would be four nights) is enough on the island. This was my second trip to the island. The first was by cruise ship, that was quite limiting time-wise, which is why I recommend staying there a few days.
On this trip I traveled to Santonrini by ferry from one of the other islands, which I enjoyed (i was island-hopping a bit). You can take a ferry between Crete and Santorini; if you want to fly I believe you’d have to fly back to Athens first.
Unfortunately, although you can go swimming, you won’t find any fine white sand beaches on Santorini, as you do on other islands. All of its beaches are composed of pebbles and coarse volcanic sand. The water, however, is usually beautifully clear.