Santorini may be relatively small in size, the information you have, however, is so much that you find it quite difficult to arrange your schedule, so it’s better to trust Santorini Tours. You can find Santorinitours and you can call us on 694 457 7918. A small island in the Cyclades has managed to become world famous and every summer thousands of tourists flock there for its surreal landscape, the abundant view of the Aegean and the sunset.
Of course summer is the season when Santorini knows its great glories as it is flooded with tourists who want to admire the beauty of the island. It is even considered the island of lovers who arrive there to live romantic moments. But what about winter?
Santorini is definitely not like most islands. This is because the season does not end in September or October but continues until November. Basically the winter for most tourist shops is the months of December, January and February.
Winter in Santorini
The island of dreams, as it is called worldwide, is re-established with winter colors, softer rhythms but with the same mysterious charm. Even in the winter months you will find ways to have a good time, eat nice food and find some of the nicest accommodation at lower prices.
Of course, the image that you will see as soon as you reach the most touristic points of the island, that is, all the villages on the Caldera, such as Fira and Oia, has nothing to do with summer.
In the heart of winter you will see closed hotels and restaurants, shops in a row with shutters down and sealed and few tourists and locals. The traffic in winter is transferred to the innermost villages of the island such as Messaria.
There you will find everything open. It is no coincidence that there live locals and professionals who have their businesses in the summer in the tourist places of the island. Life there in winter will remind you more of the daily life of a village than the cosmopolitan Santorini.
Seafood with winter flavor
Santorini is famous for its fava beans and seafood. What is certain is that in winter you will enjoy them better on the one hand because the restaurants are not so crowded to serve on the other hand because the prices are better.
Dare to take a trip to a different, calmer Santorini, but one can only enjoy it from the end of November until March. When the island moves at a slower pace. A Santorini that is now in the top tourist destinations in the world for at least 15 years.
Start from Pyrgos
Pyrgos, in the heart of the island, is a good, alternative choice for accommodation in Santorini, as long as you do not have a dream of a lifetime to sleep and wake up in the Caldera. It is almost equally far from the north and the south, built high – higher than any other settlement of Santorini – it overlooks land and sea may be one of the last villages that were used for tourism.
Indeed, a walk in the old part of the village, which was overtaken and characterized as traditional and preserved, is indicative of the relatively recent turn in tourism. However, it is also extremely interesting, as it passes through narrow cobbled streets with manicured buildings on the left and right, most of them tight-fitted together – this is how the villages with a fortified character on the islands- while all the roads seem to lead to the top.
In Kastelli and even more to the highest point of the village, where the church of the Entrances of the Virgin dominates, while nearby is the Virgin Mary who celebrates the Fifteenth of August and is one of the oldest churches on the island. You can take a tour of Santorini!
Pyrgos is a picturesque village, like the rest, less popular, villages that we visited and that still retain their color and architecture: Megalochori with the most beautiful square of Santorini, Emporio with the highest bell tower on the island of Palia Panagia or Mesaria with the old factories and mansions – some restored and others half-destroyed by the earthquake of ’56, when they were permanently abandoned.
Nice and the cave old houses that we meet here and there; the cave dwellings without foundations, which are narrow and long, carved either in whole or in part in the Thera land and have a vaulted roof.
Definitely you should go in Akrotiri
However, the prehistoric settlement revealed by the archeological dig at Akrotiri was also built with wisdom. It is necessary to visit the covered and well-preserved archeological site, where you will learn everything about the excavations and much more about the fact that the place you visit was first inhabited in the Late Neolithic period, around 4500 BC, while the 18th century BC had developed into a city.
The location was ideal for a safe anchorage, as it was protected from the north winds and the morphology of the soil favored the development of agricultural activities. It is a common secret, after all, that the fava made by Akrotiri and Emporio is the most delicious.
The area of the excavations is close to 14 acres and only a small part of the prehistoric city has been discovered. Other interesting information is that the construction was dense and the buildings were multi-storey with rich murals, organized warehouses, craft spaces, excellent urban planning with streets, squares and a sewer system, which passed under the cobblestones and was directly connected to the houses.
