Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
of Prehistoric Thira in Firá; see p.436), at the southwestern tip of the island; the site
was inhabited from the Late Neolithic period through to the seventeenth century BC.
Kókkini Ámmos
(Red Beach) is about 500m from the site and is quite spectacular,
with high reddish-brown cliffs above sand of the same colour. It's a better beach than
the one below the site, but gets crowded in season. More secluded black-sand beaches
lie under the surreal, pockmarked pumice stone that dominates the lunar coast around
Cape Exomýtis
at the island's southern extremity. Both
Vlyhádha
to the west and
Áyios
Yeóryios
to the east of the cape are accessed by decent roads branching of from the
main one to Embório, though no buses run here and there are no amenities to speak
of. An hour's walk west of ancient Akrotíri, a lighthouse marks the tip of
Cape Akrotíri
,
which offers better views of the caldera than even Ía itself.
6
ACCOMMODATION AND EATING
AKROTÍRI AND THE SOUTH COAST
Caldera View Resort Megalohóri
T
22860 82010,
W
calderaview-santorini.com.
Situated 2km from
Akrotíri and very near the Red Beach, this modern
bungalow complex, only opened in May 2011, has arguably
better sunset and cald
era v
iews than any other location on
the island. June-Sept.
€90
Delfinia
Akrotíri
T
22860 81151.
Wonderfully situated
at the water's edge, just below the bus stop, this is a grill
taverna that offers fresh seafood and the catch of the day.
Try the lightly fried calamari (€15), which is perfectly
cooked.
Daily noon-10pm.
Anáfi
A ninety-minute boat ride to the east of Santoríni,
ANÁFI
is the last stop for ferries
and is something of a travellers' dead end. It was so for the Argonauts who prayed to
Apollo for some land to rest; he let the island emerge from the sea for their repose. If
rest is what you crave, you'll have it here in abundance. Not that this is likely to
bother most of the visitors, who come here for weeks in midsummer to enjoy exactly
that: its seclusion. Although idyllic geographically, Anáfi is a harsh place, its mixed
granite and limestone core overlaid by volcanic rock spewed out by Santoríni's
eruptions. Apart from the few olive trees and vines grown in the valleys, the only
plants that seem to thrive are prickly pears. The quiet, unassuming capital,
Hóra
,
provides a daring dash of white in a treeless, shrub-strewn hillock, its narrow, winding
streets offering protection from the occasionally squally
gharbís
wind that comes
unencumbered from the southwest.
The beaches
The glory of Anáfi is a string of south-facing beaches starting under the cliffs at
Áyios Nikólaos
. These - along with
two nearby monasteries - are
accessible by bus, although walking
is still an option. The nearest beach
is
Klisídhi
, east of the harbour, which
has 200m of gently shelving sand.
The next big beach is
Roúkounas
with some 500m of broad sand
rising to tamarisk-stabilized dunes;
the craggy hill of
Kastélli
, an hour's
scramble above the beach, is the site
both of ancient Anáfi and a ruined
Venetian castle. Beyond Roúkounas,
it's another half-hour on foot to the
first of the exquisite half-dozen coves
N
Vígla
(582m)
Zoödhóhou Piyís
(Temple of Apollo)
Kastélli
Kálamos
(450m)
HÓRA
Áyios Nikólaos
Kalamiótissa
Klisídhi
0
2
ANÁFI
kilometres
