Romantic, authentic, and accessible, Santorini is the most beautiful island in Greece's most stunning archipelago, the Cyclades. Plunging cliffs, burning black-sand beaches and deeply scarred hills make the landscape as dramatic as the cataclysm that created it.

From about 2000 to 1500BC, one of the most advanced societies in ancient Greece flourished on this island, drinking native wine and producing murals now on display at the National Museum in Athens which show fun-loving sea animals frolicking in the ocean. But in 1500BC a massive volcanic eruption put a stop to all the fun and excitement by burying every sign of civilization beneath millions of tons of lava, thus creating the caldera (basin) that is now Santorini's harbor. In 1976 the excavations, as in Pompeii, unearthed a complete town, except that no bones were found in the excavations; the fate of the Santorinites remains a mystery. A bus tour to the site, which is called Akrotiri includes a visit to the Profitis Ilias monastery which hovers at the top of Santorini's highest peak, and a stop at a winery for local wine-tasting (3000-3500dr).

But even philistines with no interest in Santorini's past wallow gleefully in its present: long black beaches against cobalt waters, tiny cliffside towns, spectacular landscapes, small artist communities, and jazzy nightlife. The two main towns on the island are cliffside Thira, the center of the island's nightlife accessible by donkey or cable car, and Oia, an escape from the rest of the world which is so gorgeous and romantic that its a popular site for weddings and honeymoons (contact Karvounis Tours -tel. 71 290 to arrange an impromptu wedding if the spirit moves you).

Famous for its local wine and heart-stopping sunsets, Santorini is the island most frequently chosen for artists' renditions of Greece, and the perfect place to turn a platonic travelling companion into a less-platonic one. With its whitewashed houses, sunny beaches and abundant local crafts and architecture, Santorini offers all the beauty of traditional Greece combined with some of the most sophisticated nightlife and travel services in the country; it's the perfect combination of authenticity, beauty, and ease.