As crowds and temperatures alike ease from their peak-season highs, September is the perfect time to escape to Santorini, the best-known of the Aegean-scattered Cyclades – for reasons that become obvious as soon as you lay eyes on it. Formed from the rim of a collapsed volcano, its ring of multicoloured cliffs soar 300 metres high, their tops crowned with an implausible snowdrift of white-painted houses. Up here, in picturesque towns such as Fira and Oia, visitors are rewarded with grand views over island-dotted seas, and sunsets that blaze over the water and bathe the island in rosy light. For prime gazing, Canaves Hotel in Oia is amongst the best bases – set in 17th-century wine caverns carved out of the cliff, its rooms, terrace restaurant and infnity pool all face dizzying panoramas. Beyond Oia and Fira, Santorini’s countryside is ripe for exploration, with its quiet villages, ancient Minoan sites and vineyards. If the sea beckons, strike out on a boat, whether for a sunset sail or a day-long trip. Canaves offers a cruise around the island, with options to snorkel in gin-clear waters, swim in hot springs, lounge on sandy beaches and feast on local food.
Oia’s whitewashed buildings are largely made with pumice stone, keeping them cool in summer and warm in winter
PHOTOGRAPHS: MICHAL KRAKOWIAK/GETTY IMAGES, MARK SISLEY, OLIVER STREWE/GETTY IMAGES
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