PERFECT ISLANDS
15 islands to cover all tastes, from cultural breaks to castaway fantasies
SANTORINI, GREECE
OPOPULATION 15,000
OSIZE 35 square miles
Few volcanic eruptions have adjusted
geography for the better quite like the blast
that shook Santorini more than three
millennia ago, an explosion that turned a
single island into a curious chunk of land
shaped like a broken Polo mint. What stands
today is a place quite unlike any other:
windmills, churches and whitewashed
houses cascading down cliffs that were once
the rim of a mighty volcano, blue sea having
long since replaced bubbling magma below.
Holidays in Santorini follow an established
routine: idling on beaches of red volcanic
sand, rambling the alleyways of hilltop
villages or visiting the crumbling ruins of
Akrotiri – an outpost of the Minoan
civilisation until it was destroyed by said
eruption around 1620 BC. All, however, are
but a prelude to the daily drama of watching
the setting sun shimmering in the waters of
the Southern Aegean, from a whitewashed
balcony high in the cliffs.
OGETTING THERE Fly from Singapore or Kuala
Lumpur to Athens first on KLM with one layover in
Amsterdam. From here, fly on Aegean Airlines to
reach Santorini (from US$55; en.aegeanair.com).Best for Atmosphere
perfect
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