The perfect Cyclades village: clifftop Oia, on Santorini’s northern tip
Culture
1 SANTORINI
When excavations began at Akrotiri in 1967, what they uncovered was phenomenal: an ancient Minoan city buried deep beneath volcanic ash from the catastrophicThera Eruption of 1613 BC. Wooden walkways allow you to pass through various parts of the ruined city (00 30 22860 81366; 8am–8pm Apr–Oct, 8am–3pm Nov–Mar; £10.50, guided tour £8.50).
2 AMORGOS
Dramatic Amorgos is a delight for history buffs.The remains of the ancient city of Minoa, as well as a Mycenaean cemetery, lie above the port of Katapola, and the old capital of Hora is capped by a 13th-centuryVenetian castle. But the island’s crowning glory is the 11th-century Moni Hozoviotissis monastery, seemingly embedded into the cliff-face high above the sea on Amorgos’s east coast (8am–1pm & 5pm–7pm).
A boat on the beach in Hora shows a more relaxed Mykonos