Explore Santorini & the Cyclades by area

Base yourself on the caldera rim and this hub explains where to look next, covering Santorini's clifftop villages plus six further regions arranged around them, connected mostly by KTEL bus, quad and, for most of them, a ferry crossing. Santorini Caldera covers the village strip along the cliff — Fira, the island's capital, together with Firostefani, Imerovigli and the rock of Skaros, Oia and Ammoudi Bay below it, Fira's old port with its cable car, the Fira-Oia caldera path, and Karterados.

Santorini South groups the covered Minoan site at Akrotiri and its lighthouse, the Red Beach, Vlychada and its eroded ash cliffs, Kamari and Perissa either side of Mesa Vouno, Perivolos, and Ancient Thira. Santorini Inland covers the hilltop villages of Pyrgos and its kastro, Megalochori, Emporio and its citadel, Exo Gonia, Vothonas and Messaria, the monastery of Profitis Ilias at the island's highest point, the Assyrtiko wine estates, and the ferry port of Athinios. Volcanic Islets groups Nea Kameni, the black crater where the caldera cruises land, Palea Kameni with its rust-coloured hot springs, and the quieter island of Thirassia across the water.

Near Cyclades covers Ios, Folegandros, Sikinos, Anafi and Amorgos, plus the Small Cyclades of Koufonissia, Schinoussa, Irakleia and Donoussa, all reachable as a longer day out or an island-hopping stop. Central Cyclades covers Naxos, Paros and Naoussa, Antiparos and Despotiko, Mykonos and Delos, better suited to an overnight than a rushed return crossing. Western Cyclades rounds out the hub with Milos and its Kleftiko and Sarakiniko coastlines, Pollonia, Kimolos, Polyaigos and Sifnos, the furthest reach of the ferry network from Santorini.

Each destination page below sets out what a visit actually involves and whether it suits a morning on the caldera, a boat trip to the islets, or a full day of island hopping, since ferry schedules and sea conditions make distances on a map a poor guide to actual travel time here.