Caldera, then the marble island
Santorini is given exactly enough time to see the volcano properly and no more — early mornings and a caïque at sunset, not a day spent queuing for Oia. The second half moves to Naxos, where a mountain interior, working farms and empty west-coast sand absorb the trip's remaining days without any sense of decompression from the first.
- Length
- 7 days · 6 nights
- Months
- Late May – early October
- Stops
- 4
The route on a map
1 · 3 nights
Imerovigli, Santorini
Caldera views a short walk from Fira, without Oia's crowd flow.
2 · A day here
Oia, Santorini
Visited at eight in the morning, before the coach groups arrive.
3 · 2 nights
Naxos Chora
The Cycladic port town, with the Portara framing the harbour mouth.
4 · 1 night
Tragaea valley, Naxos
Olive groves and Byzantine chapels twenty minutes inland from the coast.
Day by day
Day 1
Arrive Santorini
Sleep · Imerovigli
Flight via Athens or ferry from Piraeus; settle in and walk the caldera path to Fira for a first dinner.
Day 2
Volcano by boat
Sleep · Imerovigli
A caïque out to Nea Kameni's crater and the hot springs at Palea Kameni, back in time for the light to turn.
Day 3
Villages and wine
Sleep · Imerovigli
Pyrgos in the morning, an assyrtiko tasting at a family cellar near Megalochori in the afternoon.
Day 4
Ferry to Naxos
Sleep · Naxos Chora
A high-speed ferry of roughly two hours; afternoon free to walk the Kastro and the waterfront.
Day 5
Inland Naxos
Sleep · Naxos Chora
Halki and Filoti villages, the Byzantine church of Panagia Drosiani, dinner back in the Chora.
Day 6
The Tragaea and the west coast
Sleep · Tragaea valley
A slow day at Plaka or Mikri Vigla beach, then up into the valley for Naxian cheese and citron liqueur.
Day 7
Depart
Departure
Morning ferry or flight back to Athens.