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In 1995 I visited the island of Santorini in Greece for the second time for two weeks. My first visit was in 1987 when we did a combined tour with one week on Crete and one week on Santorini. One week was a bit too short. Two weeks on the other hand was a bit too long.
Santorini is a quite expensive island, as was so also before Greece got the Euro. Why? Because of all the tourists and all the large cruising-ships that come to the island with tourists staying very short stretches of time.
The island is beautiful even though it does not have much of trees, mostly bushes, and very low wine-plants. The island produces very good wine. The most fascinating is of course the live volcano out in the Caldera, and some excavations.
Most hotels are on the southern side of the island. I stayed in Kamari on the south side both times. That is quite close to the airport which the first time I was there was a military airport and not for tourists and the only way to get there was by boat, but the second time was a joint tourist-military airport. Due to the closeness to the airport you got the airplanes flying over you when at the beach. The food on Santorini is adjusted to tourists and quite dull – and expensive. Even the sunchairs are expensive.
The town of Santorini – which is also called Fira – is dramatic up on the cliff, and so is Oia, another town on the cliffs, almost entirely white, easily reached by regular bus.
The beaches are stony, black volcano stones.
At Kamari there is a small chapel up on the mountain that you can walk to via a quite strenuous path up the mountain, and if you continue on, up on the mountain, there is excavations and a view of Kamari that is really beautiful.
You can visit the volcano by boat. Bring good shoes that can take the heat through the earth.
Otherwise, stroll in the town of Santorini and admire the fantastic view. It IS a beautiful island.
I passed Santorini again in 2000 on my way to Naxos as the only way to get to Naxos was to fly to Santorini and then go by boat. That meant a couple of extra hours in the town of Santorini waiting for the boat.
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