Things to do in Pyrgos

Pyrgos sits inland, on a hill in the centre of Santorini, and it looks nothing like the caldera villages: no cliff edge, no sea view from the lanes, just a stacked kastro of whitewashed houses climbing toward a ruined Venetian fortress.

Walk up through the narrow streets, past the blue-domed churches, to the top of the kastro and you get the one view on the island that takes in Santorini as a whole rather than a slice of caldera cliff. It's a genuine alternative to sunset in Oia, without the crowd that fills the Kastro Byzantin ninety minutes before dusk.

Pyrgos is roughly 15-20 minutes by car or bus from Fira, and the walk up to the highest point takes about 15-20 minutes on foot from the village centre. There's little commercial infrastructure here beyond a few tavernas and shops.