Santorini

Santorini rewards a holiday with more than one perspective. From the caldera rim, white villages and hotel terraces look across a vast volcanic seascape. At water level, old harbours and dark beaches give the island a different scale. Inland, vineyards and villages reveal a landscape shaped by agriculture as well as tourism. Choose your base around the experience you want. Oia has the classic cliffside setting and a remarkable concentration of hotels and restaurants; Imerovigli offers another commanding caldera position. Fira adds museums and town life, while the south and the hills around Pyrgos invite a less concentrated itinerary. The distinction between a caldera stay and a beach stay matters more than a hotel's headline description. Our edit brings those contrasts together: carefully designed places to stay, restaurants that range from ambitious tasting menus to accomplished island tavernas, and experiences that explain the landscape. Make time for Akrotiri and the prehistoric museum, taste the wines among their vines, and leave an afternoon free for the sea. Santorini is most rewarding when the schedule allows you to look beyond the sunset.