Akrotiri archaeological site
A Minoan town buried by the eruption, its streets and multi-storey houses intact.
Duration
1 hr 30 min – 2 hrs
Best time
In the morning
Entry price
To confirm
Akrotiri was a prosperous Cycladic town, buried under metres of ash by the Minoan eruption of the sixteenth century BC. The ash preserved everything: the streets, the two- and three-storey houses, the plumbing, the frescoes.
No skeletons have been found, and no valuables: the inhabitants had time to leave. It is the best surviving window onto Aegean life in the Bronze Age, and the site is entirely roofed — so it can be visited at midday in August.
Getting there
In the south of the island, next to Red Beach. Bus from Fira, forty minutes, or by scooter.
What the price covers
paid entry, rate to confirm; roofed, so it works in the heat
What to bring
- International driving permit
Rules on site
The site is roofed and shaded by the structure: it is the right visit for the hot hours. The most famous frescoes are not here but in the Fira museum, where they were moved.
Other places in Santorini
- Oia and its sunsetWhitewashed houses stepping down the cliff, blue domes above the caldera.
- Fira to Oia trailTen kilometres of ridge above the caldera, linking the two villages.
- Red BeachDark red sand and cliffs at the foot of old volcanic flows.
- The caldera by boatNea Kameni volcano, the hot springs and Thirassia, seen from the water.