The santorini tomato museum sits in a converted tomato paste factory on the waterfront at Vlychada, and it is the best small museum on the island. The Tomato Industrial Museum D. Nomikos was built in 1945, worked until 1981 and was left with its boilers, cauldrons and canning line in place. We bring guests here on our south-coast itineraries because it explains what Santorini did for a living before the caldera became a photograph, and this page covers what you see, what it costs and how to fit it into a day.
Santorini is a dream destination for every person on this planet. It combines everything, offering experiences and emotions that are impossible to find anywhere else. See what you can experience in 24 hours with Santorini Tours.
1. Don’t miss the sunset in Oia – Sunset Private Tour
Just before sunset, take a seat at the ruins of Oia Castle or on a terrace by the caldera and watch the pastel houses turn first pink and then deep blue as the sun sinks behind Thirasia. Enjoy the silence that spreads, while the only sounds are the clicks of cameras. Stay a little longer to watch the twilight bathe the rocks, then get lost in the alleys of Oia.
Take a private Santorini sunset tour. First, you will enjoy your wine at Venetsanos Winery. Then you will visit the iconic Blue Dome Church in Firostefani, and finish the Santorini sunset private tour by watching the sunset at the scenic village of Oia.
2. Santorini Wine Tour
Visitors in Santorini have the opportunity to participate in private Santorini wine tours and tastings, watch the production process, tour the cellars, or simply indulge in the Santorinian wine, gazing at the unique view for hours.
With a history of over 3000 years of winemaking and a wide range of indigenous varieties such as Vinsanto, Assyrtiko, Aidani, Athiri, Mavrotragano, Mantilaria, it is no surprise that the wines of Santorini are highly celebrated.
In our Santorini private wine tour you will visit 3 of the best wineries of Santorini in 2025. Our Santorini private wine tour can offer a taste of the island’s renowned wines, grown in the volcanic soil.
3. Take a Santorini semi private tour and enjoy the highlights of Santorini
In 5 hours, the Santorini semi private tour of Santorini Tours successfully captures the essence of Santorini and all the highlights of the island. By taking this tour, you will visit Oia, Firostefani, Megalochori and Black Beach (Perivolos). This tour of Santorini offers a perfect way to fully experience the island’s stunning beauty, rich history, and unique culture.
4. Time travel through the Bronze Age city of Akrotiri
From Akrotiri, you will see from above the houses with their frescoes, which were left sealed under the volcanic ash. Go early to avoid the crowds from the tour buses and take your time to admire the artifacts, such as jars, looms, and elaborate wall paintings. Combine your visit with a stop at the nearby archaeological museum in Fira for a fuller picture of this ancient trading center.
You may take our Santorini private historical tour and get to know the unique history of Santorini.
5. Relax on the black beach of Perissa
The fine, black volcanic sand covers the entire coast. With our Santorini private impressive tour, you will visit Oia, Firostefani, Prophet Elias Monastery and the unique black beach.
Black Beach or Perissa is the largest beach covered with black sand. Diving there is truly a unique experience, but you need to be careful because it is steep and deep. An extension is Perivolos, famous, popular with young people, and not only, full of beach bars, restaurants, and parties.
The landscape, composed of black volcanic lava together with the sandy seabed and the deep blue color of the crystal clear waters, composes an impressive setting.
6. Visit Santorini’s beautiful villages
Firostefani is considered a unique place, offering visitors an unbeatable view of the volcano and the islets that surround it, due to its special location. Finally, in Firostefani, you will find remarkable food suggestions, while it is also an alternative, more peaceful location to enjoy the sunset.
Emporio is the largest settlement in the southern part of the island and one of the most interesting villages of Santorini and Cyclades in general, especially from an architectural point of view. There you will find the most beautiful and best preserved castle of Santorini, with the houses built next to each other, in such a way that their walls also create the castle wall.
Pyrgos is the highest village and point of the island, the old capital, with mansions and the Venetian Kastelli dominating the top. Megalochori is one of the most picturesque villages of Santorini. Although it is only nine kilometers from Fira, there you will not find tourists at every step, but a village that moves at different rhythms as if it had emerged from another era.
Furthermore, this particular settlement is inextricably linked to wine, since it is located in the heart of the Santorini wine road. Finally, do not miss the opportunity to get lost in the stone cobblestone streets of the village and visit the churches with their unique architecture and bell towers.
You can see all these beautiful villages by taking a Santorini private full-day tour. With this tour, you will also visit Black and Red Beach, the Akrotiri Archaeological Site, Profitis Ilias, Oia, Firostefani, Venetsanos Winery, and Imerovigli.
Take a Santorini private tour in summer 2025
Santorini is not just an island; it is a setting. It is one of the most popular destinations that attracts hundreds of thousands of tourists from all over the world every year. The relatively small Cycladic island with a great history and an even greater present is waiting for you to discover it from one end to the other of its magnificent caldera.
If you want to get to know the island even better, Santorini Tours offers private tours in Santorini. The tours are designed to meet the unique preferences and desires of every discerning traveler, offering an intimate exploration of the beauty of Santorini. You can explore the island by taking a tour of Santorini this summer.
From private tours to hidden gems known only to locals, Santorini Tours creates tours that immerse guests in the rich culture, stunning landscapes and the unparalleled beauty of Santorini. With a dedicated team of Santorini tour guides, the private tours ensure that every moment is tailored to perfection, creating memories that will remain unforgettable long after your trip in Santorini in summer 2025 is over.
Read more about Santorini Tours:
- Santorini Sightseeing Private Tour
- Exclusive Shore Santorini Private Tour
- Impressive Caldera Santorini Private Tour
- South Part Santorini Private Tour
- North Part Santorini Private Tour
- Santorini Historical Private Tour
- Santorini Sunset Private Tour
Santorini Tomato Museum: The Short Answer
The Tomato Industrial Museum D. Nomikos sits in a converted tomato paste factory on the waterfront at Vlychada, on the island’s quiet south coast. It is the best small museum on Santorini and almost nobody goes to it. The santorini tomato museum tells the story of the island’s other crop, the small dense tomato that grows in volcanic ash without irrigation, and of the canning industry that employed most of the island before tourism existed.
Where the santorini tomato museum is. Vlychada, on the south coast, next to the marina and below the pumice cliffs, about twenty minutes from Fira by car.
What the santorini tomato museum was. A tomato paste factory built in 1945 by the Nomikos family, working until 1981, and left with its machinery in place.
What the santorini tomato museum is now. A museum since 2014, run by the Santozeum group, with the original boilers, cauldrons and canning line preserved where they stood.
How long you need at the santorini tomato museum. Forty-five minutes to an hour and a half, depending on whether you take the audio guide.
What the santorini tomato museum costs. Around five to eight euros for adults, with reductions for students and children, and an audio guide available.
Santorini tomato museum opening hours. Roughly April to early November, ten in the morning until six or eight in the evening depending on the season.
Is the santorini tomato museum worth it. Yes, and particularly on a windy afternoon or as part of a south-coast day.
Who it suits. Anybody interested in industrial history, food, or what this island did for a living before the caldera became a photograph.
Children. Good for older children who like machines, and thin for small ones.
The santorini tomato museum setting. A striking industrial building on the water, with an art space, a cafe and one of the least visited beaches on the island outside.
Combining the santorini tomato museum. Vlychada beach, the marina tavernas, Akrotiri and the lighthouse all sit within twenty minutes.
The one-line answer. The santorini tomato museum is forty-five minutes that explains more about this island than any sunset, and it costs less than a coffee in Oia.
The Tomato Itself
To understand the museum you need the crop, because the Santorini tomato is genuinely unlike any other.
The variety behind the santorini tomato museum. A small round tomato, roughly the size of a cherry tomato or a little larger, deep red and very dense.
The name. Santorini tomataki, the little Santorini tomato, protected as a PDO product.
How it grows. Without irrigation, in volcanic ash soil, drawing moisture from the sea mist that settles at night.
Why that matters. Almost no water means almost no dilution, so the sugar, acid and flavour concentrate to an extraordinary degree.
The skin. Thick and tough, which was a problem for the table and an advantage for canning.
The taste the santorini tomato museum is built on. Intensely sweet and sharp at the same time, and completely different from a supermarket tomato.
When it grows. Planted in spring, harvested from late June through July and August.
How much is grown now. A fraction of the historical crop, because tourism pays better than farming and land near the rim is worth more as a hotel.
The PDO protection. Granted to keep the name attached to the island’s own crop rather than to anything grown elsewhere.
Where you eat it. Tomatokeftedes, the tomato fritter, plus salads, sun-dried tomatoes and the island’s tomato paste.
Where you buy it. Supermarkets and village shops sell the paste and the sun-dried version year-round.
The connection to the museum. Everything in the santorini tomato museum exists because this one small fruit could be canned and exported, and for sixty years it paid the island’s bills.
What You Actually See Inside
The building was left as it was when the last shift ended, which is what makes it worth the trip.
The santorini tomato museum boiler room. The steam plant that drove the whole factory, with the original boilers in place.
The santorini tomato museum cauldrons. Vast copper and steel vessels where the tomatoes were reduced to paste over hours.
The santorini tomato museum canning line. The machinery that filled, sealed and labelled the tins, still standing in sequence.
The santorini tomato museum labels. A wall of original printed tin labels, and the graphic design alone is worth the entry.
The chimney. The brick stack outside, a landmark on the Vlychada waterfront.
The santorini tomato museum oral histories. Recorded interviews with the women and men who worked the line, played through the exhibition.
The photographs. Black and white images of the harvest, the carts, the women sorting, and the factory at full production.
The santorini tomato museum audio guide. Available in several languages and genuinely worth taking, because the objects need the story.
The art space. The santorini tomato museum shares the site with a contemporary art space that mounts changing exhibitions.
The santorini tomato museum cafe. A small cafe on the site with a terrace over the water.
The santorini tomato museum shop. Tomato paste, sun-dried tomatoes, books and prints of the old labels.
Santorini tomato museum accessibility. The main floor is largely flat and navigable, with some industrial thresholds.
Photography. Permitted, and the interior is one of the most photogenic spaces on the island.
The lasting impression. A working factory frozen in 1981, which on an island of white villages and infinity pools is a genuine surprise.
The Island Before Tourism
This is the real subject of the santorini tomato museum, and it reframes everything you will see for the rest of the trip.
The economy. Vines, fava, barley, capers and tomatoes, grown on volcanic ash without irrigation, and exported by sea.
The wine trade. Santorini wine went to Russia and France through the nineteenth century and built the mansions in Oia and Megalochori.
The factories behind the santorini tomato museum. At their peak there were more than a dozen on the island, canning paste for Greece and for export.
The workforce. Largely women, working long summer shifts through the harvest, and their voices are the best part of the exhibition.
The pay. Seasonal and low, and for many families the only cash income of the year.
The boats. Paste went out by caique from Vlychada and the other small harbours, because there was no port road worth the name.
The 1956 earthquake. It destroyed much of the island, emptied the villages and drove a wave of emigration to Athens and abroad.
The decline. Mainland competition, mechanisation, cheaper water elsewhere and a shrinking workforce closed the factories through the seventies.
The last factory, now the santorini tomato museum. The Nomikos plant at Vlychada stopped in 1981, and the building stood empty for thirty years.
What replaced it. Tourism, from the eighties onwards, which now employs almost everybody on the island.
What survived. The vines, a small tomato crop, the fava and the capers, and a food culture that came out of scarcity.
Why visitors should care. Because the caldera villages look like a holiday and were built by people doing hard agricultural work on very little water.
The museum’s argument. The santorini tomato museum makes that case in one hour, with machinery and recorded voices, and it is the most honest hour available on this island.
Getting There and Making a Day of It
Driving to the santorini tomato museum. Twenty minutes from Fira, twenty-five from Kamari, thirty-five from Oia, with parking at the Vlychada marina.
The bus to the santorini tomato museum. A Vlychada service runs from Fira in season, infrequently, and it is not a reliable way to time a visit.
A taxi to the santorini tomato museum. Possible and expensive, and getting one back from Vlychada is the difficult half.
With a driver. The simplest option, and the santorini tomato museum fits naturally into a half-day south-coast route.
Vlychada beach beside the santorini tomato museum. Immediately outside, with pale wind-carved pumice cliffs that look like a moonscape and very few people on the sand.
The marina. Fishing boats, two or three tavernas and one of the best value seafood lunches on the island.
Akrotiri, fifteen minutes from the santorini tomato museum. Fifteen minutes west, the Bronze Age town buried by the eruption, and the best pairing with this museum.
Why they pair. One is the island’s oldest catastrophe and the other its last industry, and together they cover four thousand years.
The lighthouse. Twenty-five minutes west, at the island’s south-western tip, with the best sunset that is not in Oia.
Red Beach and White Beach. Nearby, dramatic, and both with access issues worth checking before you go.
Emporio. Ten minutes inland, the largest and least visited village, with a medieval kastelli and cheap tavernas.
Perissa and Perivolos. Fifteen minutes east, black sand and beach clubs, for the afternoon after the museum.
The half-day santorini tomato museum route. Akrotiri at opening, the santorini tomato museum at midday, lunch at the Vlychada marina, the lighthouse at sunset.
The windy-day route. The same in reverse, because the museum is indoors and the beaches are not.
Santorini Tomato Museum: Questions People Ask
Where is the santorini tomato museum? At Vlychada on the south coast, in the old D. Nomikos tomato paste factory beside the marina, about twenty minutes from Fira.
What is the santorini tomato museum? A preserved tomato canning factory built in 1945, closed in 1981 and opened as a museum in 2014, with the original machinery in place.
How much does the santorini tomato museum cost? Around five to eight euros for adults, with reductions for students and children, and an audio guide available.
How long does a santorini tomato museum visit take? Forty-five minutes to an hour and a half with the audio guide.
When is the santorini tomato museum open? Roughly April to early November, from ten in the morning until six or eight in the evening depending on the season. Check before travelling in the shoulder months.
Is the santorini tomato museum worth visiting? Yes. It is the best small museum on the island and the only place that explains what Santorini did before tourism.
Is the santorini tomato museum good for children? Good for older children who like machinery, thinner for small ones, and the outdoor space helps.
Can I get there by bus? In season there is a Vlychada service from Fira, infrequent, and a car or a driver is far more reliable.
Is there parking? Yes, at the marina beside the museum, and it is rarely full.
Is there a cafe? Yes, on site, with a terrace over the water, plus tavernas at the marina a short walk away.
Can I buy the tomatoes? The shop sells paste, sun-dried tomatoes and other products. Fresh tomatoes are a July and August crop.
What else is nearby? Vlychada beach, the marina tavernas, Akrotiri, the lighthouse, Emporio and the southern beaches.
Is it accessible? The main floor is largely flat, with some industrial thresholds from the building’s working life.
Can you take photographs? Yes, and the interior of the santorini tomato museum is among the most photogenic spaces on the island.
Eating the Tomato, and the Rest of Vlychada
Tomatokeftedes. The island’s tomato fritter, made with grated Santorini tomato, onion, mint and flour, fried and served with a dip. The dish everybody orders.
Where they are best. Village tavernas rather than caldera terraces, and in July and August when the crop is in.
Sun-dried tomatoes. Dried in the open on racks, intensely sweet, and sold in oil in every supermarket.
Tomato paste. Still produced on the island in small quantities, thick and dark, and the best souvenir after the fava.
Tomato salad. With capers, chloro cheese, oil and paximadi rusk, and in season it needs nothing else.
Pseftokeftedes. The mock meatball, made of tomato and flour, which is what the island ate when there was no meat.
Where to eat after the santorini tomato museum. The Vlychada marina tavernas, with fishing boats in front of the tables and grilled fish at village prices.
The beach by the santorini tomato museum. Vlychada, with wind-carved pale cliffs behind the sand, quiet even in August, and the strangest landscape on the island.
The marina by the santorini tomato museum. Small, working, with fishing boats and a few yachts, and none of the caldera crowd.
The art space. Changing contemporary exhibitions in the factory complex alongside the santorini tomato museum.
Sunset at the santorini tomato museum. Different from the caldera, over the open sea, with almost nobody watching it.
The tomato festival. Santorini has begun holding a tomato festival in late June, celebrating the harvest and the island’s food heritage.
Buying to take home. Paste, sun-dried tomatoes, capers and Santorini fava all travel well and all pass airport security in checked luggage.
The pairing. A morning at the museum and a plate of tomatokeftedes at the marina afterwards is the most complete hour of Santorini food history available.
Visiting With Us
Why we include it. We take guests to the santorini tomato museum on our south-coast and food itineraries because it is the stop people remember and never expected.
The south-coast santorini tomato museum half day. Akrotiri excavation, the museum, lunch at Vlychada and the lighthouse, in one afternoon with a driver.
The santorini tomato museum food day. A winery in the morning, the museum at midday, and a taverna lunch built around the island’s own produce.
The santorini tomato museum wet-day plan. When the meltemi makes a boat trip miserable, this is the indoor stop that saves the day.
Cruise passengers and the santorini tomato museum. Tight for a six-hour call from the old port, and workable with a private car if the museum is the priority.
Families. Pairs well with Vlychada beach afterwards, which is shallow, quiet and strange enough to hold a child’s attention.
Photographers. The factory interior, the pumice cliffs and the marina in one twenty-minute radius.
Santorini tomato museum opening times. We check them on the day, because shoulder-season hours change and a closed door at the end of a drive is nobody’s idea of a tour.
Santorini tomato museum tickets. Bought at the door, and rarely a queue.
Getting back. Vlychada is the hardest place on the island to leave without a car, which is the main argument for a driver.
Combining with the volcano. A morning caldera cruise and an afternoon at the museum makes the island’s geology and its economy the same story.
What to send us. Your dates and whether you want the food version or the history version, and we will build the santorini tomato museum into a half day that ends with lunch on the water.
Every Village and Site on the Island
Any of these can be built into a private day. Each has its own page with what to see and how long to allow.
Caldera villages: Fira · Firostefani · Imerovigli · Oia · Finikia · Baxedes
Inland villages: Pyrgos · Megalochori · Emporio · Mesaria · Karterados · Vothonas · Vourvoulos · Exo Gonia · Mesa Gonia · Pigadia
Beaches: Perissa · Perivolos · Kamari · Vlychada · Monolithos · Red Beach · White Beach · Agios Georgios · Agia Paraskevi
Sites and landmarks: Akrotiri · Ancient Thira · Akrotiri Lighthouse · Nea Kameni · Palia Kameni · Thirasia · Athinios Port
All our tours: All Santorini tours · Full day tour · Sightseeing tour · Personalised tour · North part tour · Horse riding · South part tour · Sunset tour · Shore excursion · Caldera tour · Food experience · Wine tour · Historical tour · Small group tour
Planning and services: Famous sights tour · Private transfers · Transfers to Oia and Finikia · Transfers to other villages · Villages of Santorini · History of Santorini · Tours near you · Languages we guide in · Food and fun tours · Gay friendly tours · Our tour buses · Daily tours · Day tours · FAQ · Gallery · Tour photo gallery · About us · Contact · Blog
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