Santorini, Greece

Why go

Santorini is what is left of a volcano that blew its own middle out, and the villages sit along the rim looking down into the water that filled it. That is the whole trip in one sentence: you wake up, open a door, and the drop is right there. Walk the caldera path from Fira to Oia in the late afternoon and the whole island turns the colour of the inside of a shell. Swim off the black sand at Perissa where the volcanic grit holds the heat. Take the little boat to the hot springs and float in water that smells faintly of iron. People come here for one photograph and stay for the quiet between the villages.

Good to know

• Fly into Santorini (JTR), or into Athens and take the ferry
• Four nights is enough, six if you want a boat day
• Oia for the view, Fira for getting around, Perissa for the beach
• July and August are hot and crowded, and prices roughly double

Best April to June, and September.