13 Wonderful Things To Do in Santorini, Greece

We only arrived on Santorini because of a storm. Originally, the plan was to visit the Portuguese island of Madeira for a couple of weeks of hiking in its hills, but the flight was cancelled just an

We only arrived on Santorini because of a storm.

Originally, the plan was to visit the Portuguese island of Madeira for a couple of weeks of hiking in its hills, but the flight was cancelled just an hour before departure. Plagued by strong Atlantic winds and rains, no plane could land or take-off there for a couple of days.

We returned home with full suitcases and an empty schedule, and ran through the list of places we could catch a flight to in the coming days to give us sunshine and a sense of somewhere else.

Without that storm-driven spontaneity, we don't know if we'd have ever ended up in Santorini.

A little Greek island with a big reputation, all we knew about it beyond the beautiful white villages dusting the steeps hills were the negatives: the overcrowding of Oia, the daily docking of cruise ships, stoic donkeys suffering under the weight of too-heavy visitors and their luggage, rooftop trespassing influencers, and some crazy, crazy prices.

For the ancient Greeks though, the actions of humans were predestined, and it only seemed fitting that Along Dusty Roads' first trip to Greece would be determined by the Fates. Indeed, in their mythology, Santorini was created from a piece of dirt hurled by Poseidon's son, and perhaps the god of the seas and oceans played some role in that storm over thousand miles away.


The Best Things To Do In Santorini, Greece
Savour the Caldera of Santorini
You will see and hear a lot about the caldera a lot in Santorini, but its significance is often undersold.

Santorini is itself a volcano, and the cluster of islands that make up the archipelago of the same name were formed from several eruptions over millennia, with the most cataclysmic occurring around 1600 BC (over 3,600 years ago). Known as the Minoan Eruption, with a ferocity 100 times more powerful than that which buried Pompeii, it wiped out much of Crete and its Minoan civilisation, caused ash to fall as far away as Greenland, and is thought to have directly caused a two-year volcanic winter.

So, it was pretty damn big.

It also caused the centre of the volcanic island to collapse into the sea; the eruption devastated and created Santorini in an instant, cracking it from a single whole into three separate islands of Thera, Thirasia and Aspronisi.


And so, the caldera isn't some random Greek word meaning 'viewpoint' or 'pretty bit of the sea'; it's a Spanish term, slightly different to crater, relating to the large depression left when a volcano erupts and falls in on itself.

From these big bang origins, the beautifully steep, sharp edges of Santorini’s crescent-shaped western side were hewn. Home to the most famous whitewashed villages and resorts, many plans are shaped by the contours of the caldera and appreciating it from the water, on a trail, on a boat tour, from the skies, or from your private pool by day or sunset is without doubt one of the best things to do in Santorini.

Where | The caldera of Santorini runs along the western side of the island, from Oia in the north down to Akrotiri, and there are no shortage of viewpoints and places to stop all along that elevated part of the island to appreciate it or get a different perspective. There's loads of accommodation, restaurants, and bars perched on the caldera offering its sweeping vista over the sea, and we’ve shared several throughout this post, but that setting comes at a premium.

Book | A small-group catamaran trip around the caldera with snorkelling, swimming in hot springs, food, and an open-bar or opt for a luxurious private trip.

Eat | Widely recognised as being one of Oia’s best restaurants, Lycabettus Restaurant (part of Andronis Luxury Suites) offers absolutely breathtaking views over the caldera.

Plan // 23 Things To Know Before You Visit Santorini (published soon)

Stay in the Caldera Villages
With such a dramatic and beautiful setting overlooking the Aegan Sea, the majority of visitors dream of being based on the caldera for that signature, exclusive Santorini experience and aesthetic - which is why the the trio of Oia, Firostefani, and Immergivoli and have grown into the places to stay and be seen on the island.

The three vertiginous villages are impossibly perched atop and along the periphery of the steeply-sided caldera crescent, dusting its rough green-brown terrain like icing sugar. Linked by road and a spectacular hiking trail on the northwest side, their whitewashed layer cakes of luxury hotels and exclusive restaurants overlooking the water are absolutely beautiful and quintessential of the Greek islands.

All of them will feature on your holiday itinerary, but if you're dreaming of the unique setting and romantic experience of staying in any of the three, it's important to set expectations accordingly: in high season, we're talking thousands per night at the best, and hundreds per night at the average.