Best of Santorini, Private 4 hour Island tour including Oia

Visually, Santorini is the most spectacular of the isles in the Cyclades. With its brilliant flooded caldera, high cliffs and charming villages, it is the Greek Isle of everyone’s dreams. Our tour will take us to Santorini’s highest peak, crowned by the Mount Profitis Ilias Monastery. At 883 feet, Mt. Profitis Ilias rugged landscape is largely composed of volcanic rocks as a result of hundreds of eruptions during the last two million years, some of them being large caldera-forming events. Here, in this remote spot, we’ll have an ideal photo opportunity to capture the beauty of this ancient island.

We’ll discover the village of Pyrgos, which was the capital of Santorini until 1800. Here we’ll be able to admire the beautiful old houses and the Venetian Fortress crowned by several churches.

Our half-day tour then takes us to one of the island’s most famous traditional wineries. Viniculture is an ancient art in Santorini, and the fact that vines thrive at all is amazing considering the fact that the island has limited water resources. But the volcanic soil is an excellent medium for producing grapes, especially the Assyrtiko grape – a rare, white variety.

After our visit, we’ll drive through the countryside to visit Oia. This traditional Greek village of whitewashed cubes is perched impossibly high on cliffs at the north west tip of the island. Here, take in the stunning views of the island from one of the charming cafés or stroll above the rooftops of the homes carved into the cliffs and gaze into the deep blue waters of the caldera far below.

From Oia village, we’ll return to the cliff top town of Fira. Our tour ends here.

This traditional Greek village of whitewashed cubes is perched impossibly high on cliffs at the north west tip of the island. Here, take in the stunning views of the island from one of the charming cafés or stroll above the rooftops of the homes carved into the cliffs and gaze into the deep blue waters of the caldera far below.

Pyrgos is the largest preserved village on Santorini and the island’s former capital. Strategically built in the heart of the pre-volcanic hinterland and at the foot of Mt Profitis Ilias, Pyrgos affords panoramic views. The Venetian castle is one of the five on the island of Santorini and dates back to the 13th century. The fortified settlement is amphi-theatrically built on the hill and offers superb views of both sides of the island. The village has many churches: the church of Theotokaki with its beautiful frescoes and old icons, Agia Triada, the church of Agia Theodosia, the Archangel Michael and many others.

Our tour will take us to Santorini’s highest peak, crowned by the Mount Profitis Ilias Monastery. At 883 feet, Mt. Profitis Ilias rugged landscape is largely composed of volcanic rocks as a result of hundreds of eruptions during the last two million years, some of them being large caldera-forming events. Here, in this remote spot, we’ll have an ideal photo opportunity to capture the beauty of this ancient island.

Venetsanos winery or Santo winery, located on the cliffs, overlooking the magnificent caldera of Santorini. The Venetsanos family has a very long tradition in producing wine. Originally was produced for the island and subsequently it was exported extensively, and particularly to countries such as Russia. It was built in 1947 by Venetsanos family and became the first industrial winery on the island. Its most distinguished feature is the structural design, which essentially used gravity, facilitating energy efficiency, at a time when access to electricity and other energy sources was very limited. The winery was built in an unconventional manner constructed from above and moving downwards.