Santorini tours

Volcano, hot springs, Thirasia, Oia, sunset tours, red beach, caldera, sailing boat, catamaran tours, full days tours, bus tours, archaelogical tours, semi-private trips, private tours, honeymoon cruises. These are the keywords you may try to analyze when deciding on your Santorini tour and get puzzled at the end! Santorini is a small island, offering though countless options for land or boat tours. Here are some guidelines and tips that may help you demystify all that "hot" keywords:


Volcano: Sometimes referred to as "Nea Kameni" (i.e. the bigger of the 2 volcanoes), this is an active volcano (last eruption took place at 1950 A.D.) and is located in the sea at the centre of the caldera. Many tours include the volcano in their programs, so you can walk on the old path and see the fumes coming out of the active crater.

Hot Springs: One can find many hot springs all around Nea Kameni and Palea Kameni. The most popular ones are those of Palea Kameni that contain sulfur and the temperature is constantly 35 Degrees Celcius (95 Fahrenheit). Some private trips go just across at the Hot Srpings of Nea Kameni. After the walk on the volcano, a mud bath will both relax you and gives you energy for the rest of the tour. It has been proven that minerals contained in Hot Springs can be healing for diseases such as arthritis, rheumatisms and others.

Thirasia: That's a tiny beautiful island once being connected with Santorini. Time has freezed there and all aspects of live follow the old traditional rhythms. Picturesque fishermen ports, small family tavernas, white small houses carved on the stone, narrow paved streets compose a fascinating scenery. Usually included in the 6-hour (or more) tours, Thirasia is a key point to realize the history of Santorini and experience moments of real Greek life.

Oia: One of the best preserved villages of Greece, Oia has been famous for its sunset. However, what many guides forget to say is that -probably- the best picture of the sunset is the red colors houses get when the sun slowly sinks in the waters. Oia is a classic destination for many tours: bus tours, boat excursion and private land tours. Depending on the tour, apart from seeing the sunset, you might have time to hang around in the village and make shopping.


To be continued...


More of tours you can find at MySantorini.com Santorini tours section!

Santorini volcano tours

You don't have to have to be a volcanologist to observe an active volcano and feel its energy; only a few hundreds meters away from the shores, lies the volcano of Santorini. Consisting of 2 islands, Nea Kameni and Palea Kameni, it offers a great opportunity to learn all about Santorini's history, walk on the stones of magma and swim in the therapeutic Hot Springs.

Here's a list of the tours that include the visit at the volcano:

1. Volcano - Hot Springs tour: 3-hour tour to explore the craters of the volcano, touch the lava and swim at the Hot Springs of Palea Kameni at a temperature reaching 40 degrees Celcius.
2. Caldera Round Trip: 6-hour cruise to see all Caldera islands. Apart from Volcano and Hot Springs, you'll visit the picturesque island of Thirassia, an tiny island preserving its character all over the years.
3. Caldera Round Trip from Oia: Same trip, but starting from Oia; ideal for those who stay in a hotel/villa in Oia.
4. Caldera Sunset tour: Aboard a beautiful sail boat on the 18th century, you visit the volcano, swim at the Hot Springs and see the famous sunset on board. This cruise includes dinner + live jazz music!
5. See Santorini in one day: That's a combination of Santorini land and boat tour. Actually, it's the Caldera round trip + sightseeing by bus on the island + sunset at the village of Oia.
6. 3-hour private caldera tour: Private tour by motor yacht to see the volcano (not necessary to walk there), swim at the Hot Springs and sail around the Caldera. Traditional meze onboard!

All the trips above include English speaking guides and run daily.

Enjoy!

Santorini Caldera Tour from Oia

That's the all-time classic Caldera round trip, but starting from Oia, not from Fira or Athinios port. For those who stay in Oia and would love to taket the boat to the Volcano, Hot Springs & Thirasia from Oia, that's a good option indeed.

The trip start at 10:15 from Ammoudi port and at 10:30 from Armeni port and ends at 15:45 at Ammoudi or Armeni again. Walk on the hot stones of the active volcano, swim at the healing warm waters of Palea Kameni island and visit the traditional settlement of Thirasia for a journey back to time! The guide will always be with you and answer every question. All these take part aboard a beautiful wooden boat.

At 27 Euros per person, that's a deal!