Most people come to Santorini for the sunset in Oia. Fair enough -- it is a good sunset. But the island has a depth that the Instagram crowd misses entirely, and that is what this site is about.
I'm Dave Briggs, a British travel writer who has been based in Greece since 2015. Before that I spent 25 years on the move -- cycling from England to South Africa, sailing across the Med, visiting roughly 100 countries along the way. Greece turned out to be the place that stuck, and Santorini is the island I keep circling back to.
Not for the cruise-ship crowds in Fira, but for the things you find when those crowds leave. The Minoan ruins at Akrotiri, buried under volcanic ash for 3,600 years. The basket-trained vines of Assyrtiko, growing in volcanic soil that produces wine unlike anything else in the Mediterranean. The caldera trail from Fira to Oia before the day-trippers arrive. The black-sand beaches on the east coast where you can actually hear yourself think. The tiny island of Thirassia, ten minutes by boat and a world away.
Every guide on this site comes from trips I have taken myself, usually more than once. I have strong opinions about which boat tours are worth the money, which beaches are overrated, and which wineries actually let you taste properly rather than just selling you a photo opportunity. Those opinions are in the guides.
I also run Greek Ferry Travel, covering ferry routes and island-hopping across the Greek islands, and write at Dave's Travel Pages, where I have been publishing travel guides since 2005.